National Islands Plan - Draft

Innis

Gus guth làn faoileagmhor a thoirt dha na h-eileanan-sa –

na clèibh de dh’innis-mharannan ’s stacan uaibhridh

na clachan-staire agus drochaidean cuimhne,

na tasgaidhean facail, pràisichean agus hieroglyphan gneiss,

na gleocan geòlasach, bàtaichean sgeireach agus raointean gluasadach,

na h-imleagan-sa, na puingean-deiridh-sa, na h-iomallan-fairge gun chrìoch,

na nid sgairbh, na h-uirighean-sa, garaidhean agus spòran air fleod,

na pòcanan adhair, na cuachan breò agus na comharran-stiùiridh

nan seasamh gu diongalta an aghaidh nan sruthan, ag ath-aithris

uisge, bùrn is sàl dhan a’ ghaoith – bhiodh feum agaibh èisteachd

ris an t-sluaisreadh aig an t-shoormal ann an geodha

ri gugail peedie na curracaige a’ sgiathadh atween wadders

agus ris a h-uile duine a tha eòlach air an iomadh ainm ac’

agus a chleachdas iad mar chairt-iùil airson faighinn hame

Innis

To give full, gull-throated voice to these islands –

these woven creel archipelagos and proud stacs,

stepping stones to themselves, word-stores,

crucibles and memory bridges, these hieroglyphs of gneiss,

geologic clocks, rocky lifeboats and omphaloi,

sand-shifting landing strips, these end points and infinite

coastlines, cormorant ledges, holts and hovers,

floating spores, pockets of air, bioluminescent nests

and landmarks each braced against their own currents,

their every fresh reiteration of water tilted to the winds –

you must listen to the sluaisreadh at the shoormal,

to the peedie calls of the curracag atween wadders,

and to all those who tend their many names

and depend on them to navigate their ways hame

Pàdraig MacAoidh / Peter Mackay – Scotland's Makar

Innis Gaelic : n. island; sheltered valley protected by a wood; choice place (Islay). Frequently anglicised as ‘inch’.

v. tell, recount, relate

Scots: n. lodgings, quarters; a lodging-place; a person’s residence or dwelling-place; a town-residence; an innhouse