Na h-Eich-Uisge Bheò!

After centuries of mercilessly munching small children, soft animals and random strangers, fate has dealt its final blow to our infamous Kelpies, who are now doomed to evermore roam with a rather large dark-coloured Human stuck in its centre to remind him of his evil deeds.

Not all is lost however, and passersby need no longer fear meeting their fate at the bottom of a loch, but can safely savour Scotland's Kelpies, secure in the knowledge that the steady hand of their Scots & Gaelic-speaking riders will wield their powerful, ancient magic & keep these beautiful yet fearsome Kelpies under entirely child-friendly control*...

*Kelpies may occasionally delight in sniffing passersby, not entirely quietly pondering their general tastiness, how yummy they'd be in his tummy, the delicious CRUNCH their bones would make... ssshhhh BAD Kelpie!!

Most people laugh... which is really.. annoying.. Children love it when Kelpie chases them, but with the aforesaid annoying Human stuck in his middle to torment him for all eternity and remind him of his evil deeds, he can't run as fast to catch up with them anymore.

Pooh... On the other hand, Festival Health & Safety Crews rather appreciate that aspect.

As we said...Pooh. For which the Gaelic is 'Daingead', & Kelpie speaks that too!

Giants!

Nobody wants a big, fat hairy bilingual Gaelic-speaking Giant to literally leap out from Scotland's rich mythical lore, terrorise event guests and visitors and chase after children, threatening to chomp them for their dinner... do they?

If the children from our last gig ever stop yelling 'CHASE ME!!!', 'no, CHASE MEEE!!'... we might have a chance to get back to you on that one...

Here's a rare shot capturing two of our Giants when they were way more young, slim and handsome than us...

Is àbhaist do Ghráinne Mhór a bhith a' fuireach ann an Èirinn uaine ach thog i oirre bho chionn ghoirid do Ghàidhealtachd na h-Alba airson beagan creachaidh. Tha i air còrn ceilteach agus claidheamh cugallach a thogail air a triall ach, nas fheàrr buileach, thog i Gàidhlig na h-Alba le còmhraidhean càirdeil (sa mhòr-chuid) ri muinntir an àite. Tha i a' coimhead air adhart ri tuilleadh creiche a dhèanamh (agus a bhith a' nochdadh a h-obair-ealain Cheiltich a tha anabarrach snog – agus sgrìobhte gu h-iomchaidh air a màs..) ach dè a' chiad àite eile far am bithidh i?

Tha i gu math dèidheil air Fèisean cuideachd! Is toil gu mòr leatha dearbhadh a chur air com-pàirtichean, gus an innsidh iad dhi dè na tha iad air ionnsachadh – no bithidh aca ri sàbaid claidheamh a dhèanamh rithe! Na gabh dragh... chan eil cron sam bith dhà-rìreabh sna claidheamhan aice!

"An amazing force of nature in its purest form – a terrific role model. Sometimes I've been lucky enough meet people who no matter what language they speak can communicate with anyone –  Ariel is one of them."

Dan Gordon, scriptwriter for the Lyric Theatre/Ulster Scots Agency/Foras na Gaeilge Pat and Plain Project, 2012.

© Ariel Killick 2014