Talk:Dallan

Latest comment: 17 years ago by MaryJones in topic Untitled

Untitled

edit

I haven't expanded this page, because I don't know any more about St. Dallan than what is written here. What I have done is to alter it, as it gave the misleading impression that the Irish (Gaelic) word "dall," meaning "blind," came from the name of the saint, rather than the other way round.

"Dall" is the ordinary Gaelic word for blind. According to MacBain's "Etymological Dictionary of Scottish Gaelic," it is related to the Welsh "dall" (pronounced differently) and the English "dull" (with an obvious shift in meaning there).

"Dallan" literally means "a blind man." The feminine form would be "Dallag." Neither of these forms is in common use with this meaning - at least, not in Scottish Gaelic. "Dallag" is one of the words we use in Scottish Gaelic for a mole.

Cailean Macleòid, 1st September 2006

This page is a mess. I added a couple of notes on Dallan Forgaill's poetry, but that's not enough. Either this become a disambiguation page and a page on Dallan Forgaill is created, or we get rid of the irrelevant items and make this a page on Dallan Forgaill. MaryJones 05:18, 24 November 2006 (UTC)Reply