Words…..Crannogs…..Bartholomew Barker…….
by Bernie Bell - 09:20 on 07 August 2022
Just a bit of the madness of today’s world…..
I received this petition and thought I’d share it as a language is not a commodity to be traded – it belongs to the people of the nation it belongs to.
Words – everyday words – are there for us to use – we invented them – they’re ours. My sister had a dog called Cariad - it’s a word, in Welsh, it means love. My Mum used to call me ‘a ghra‘ - ‘ghra’ is Irish for ‘love’.
What is ‘love’ supposed to smell like anyway?
‘It’s a mad world, my masters….’
NO to trademarks on everyday Welsh words/’Na’ i nod fasnachu eiriau cyffredin ein hiaith!
Amanda James started this petition - it now has 4,846 signatures - if you'd like to sign it too - diolch!
BILINGUAL-ENGLISH LANGUAGE BELOW
"Mae gwneuthurwr canhwyllau ym Mhenybont-ar-Ogwr wedi nod masnachu’r geiriau ‘Cariad’, ‘Hiraeth’ a ‘welshcake’ ar gyfer eu dibenion proffesiynol. Golyga hyn na all unrhyw fusnes canhwyllau arall ddefnyddio’r geiriau hyn na’r termau.
Nid teclyn hysbysebu na gimic yw’r iaith Gymraeg. Mae’n endid byw a hanesyddol sydd tu hwnt i derfynnau’r Swyddfa Eiddo Deallusol (IPO).
Ni ddylai busnes nac unigolyn gael yr hawl i hawlio perchnogaeth ar y geiriau hyn, nac unrhyw eiriau a chymalau sy’n unigryw i’r iaith Gymraeg (neu gyfeirio at unrhyw agwedd ar Gymreictod, fel ‘welshcake’). Nid ydynt yn eiddo i unrhyw un person. Maent yn eiddo i ni i gyd, ein cenedl, ein diwylliant, a’n treftadaeth.
Dylai’r Swyddfa Eiddo Deallusol (IPO) wrthdroi y nodau masnachu hyn, a sicrhau na fydd ‘camgymeriadau’ fel hyn yn digwydd eto, drwy lunio rhestr o eiriau a chymalau Cymraeg na ellir mo’u nod masnachu. Nid yw’n caniatáu unrhyw gais nod masnachu am ‘Love’, er enghraifft, ac eto mae ‘Cariad’ (y gair cyfatebol) yn cael ei ystyried yn dderbyniol.
......................................................................................................................
A candle maker in Bridgend has trademarked the words ’Cariad’, ’Hiraeth’, and ’Welsh Cake’, for their own professional use. This means that no other candle business can use these words and terms.
The Welsh Language is NOT an advertising feature, or a gimmick. It is a living, historic, entity, that is beyond the scope of the Intellectual Property Office.
No business or individual should have the right to claim ownership of these words, or any words and phrases that are unique to the Welsh language (or refer to any aspect of Welsh ness, such as ’welsh cake’). They don’t belong to any one person. They belong to us all, to our nation, to our culture, to our heritage.
The Intellectual Property Office should overturn these trademarks. After all, it has refused to grant trademark applications for ’Love’, for instance, yet ’Cariad’ (the equivalent) is deemed acceptable."
*********
This brought back a memory…some years ago there used to be music nights upstairs in the Royal, Stromness. One time, a woman sang the Welsh national anthem - in Welsh – and she sang it beautifully – just one voice - clear as can be.
When she finished, the room was absolutely still.
*******************************************************************
And now for something completely different….. the UHI are going to investigate the crannogs of Orkney…
This is very, very interesting. I’m not aware of a lot of attention being paid to the crannogs – and I have a liking for crannogs – for small islands, generally. This stirred up lots of thoughts about crannogs….I’ll begin with a brief mention of the Wasdale one, here….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/02/10/living-in-a-box-then-and-now/
And….Stenness…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/06/14/the-house-on-the-hill/ .
While on the subject of words - and their pronunciation. Years ago, I was at a Harvest Home here in Orkney, and was talking with the woman sitting next to me who lives near that end of Stenness Loch. I asked about the crannogs – pronouncing the word ‘crannoog’ – with a long-drawn out ‘o’ - as the Irish do – which translates as ‘young tree’, as that’s what they were built from. She corrected me and said it should be pronounced ‘crannog’ with a strong emphasis on the short last syllable. (Apologies for both attempts at explaining the pronunciation!)
We realised that it was simply a difference in pronunciation between Ireland and Orkney/Scotland. Same language root though - young tree.
The Irish crannog I’m most familiar with is the one in Lough Gur, County Limerick, Republic of Ireland…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/12/20/time-lines/
Lough Gur is part of a sacred landscape including Grange Stone Circle an associated monuments. One dry summer the water level in the lake was very low and my Great-nephew walked across to the crannog – how I envied him that experience! A crannog……in that lake – considering the significance that the local folk put onto that lake and the whole landscape around it…….my oh my.
There’s a crannog at the end of Lough Talt, County Sligo. This photo, taken from Crummis Hill ( which I climbed in my youth!) shows the situation of Glennawoo crannog and also gives a good idea of what crannogs tend to look like…..
There are tales of the area around Lough Talt, here…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/05/26/awareness/
One thing, leading to another……
*******************************************************************
Bartholomew Barker https://bartbarkerpoet.com/ has done it again – few words – much meaning……
Fraiku: Uhura
She opened hailing frequencies
to a prismatic future— taking us
where we’d never gone before.
Nichelle Nichols, 1932-2022
So it goes…
When I first read this, and the comments to it, I thought – the whole crew of the Enterprise was a revolutionary concept at that time. Scots, Asian, American (North & South), Russian, African. I remember the Star Trek film ‘The Voyage Home’ where Chekov was innocently wandering around 20th Century San Francisco asking where he could find a nuclear submarine – with that accent!!!
Then it struck me - just what Bartholomew is saying here – of course - Uhura was the Communications Officer – she opened the hailing frequencies – made first contact.
My Oh My.
*******************************************************************
Here’s one I made earlier….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/02/09/money-moneymoney/
Add your comment
