Gaelic

Tha àiteachas gu mòr na phàirt de dhualchas na Gàidhlig, le mòran dhaoine aig a bheil a' Ghàidhlig an sàs ann an àiteachas.

Ach chan eilear a' bruidhinn air tuathanasan mòra an seo, mar a chithear air taobh an ear na dùthcha, ann an Siorrachd Obar Dheathain is air Machair Aonghais, 's ann a thathar a' bruidhinn air croitearachd.

Math dh'fhaodte gum bi cuid a' smaoineachadh nach eil daoine nan cabhag air an dùthaich, gur e beatha shìtheil shocair a th' aig croitearan sna h–eileanan is air a' Ghàidhealtachd, ach 's gann gum bi iad nan tàmh!

Bidh croitearan ag èirigh leis a' ghrèin agus ag obair bho mhoch gu dubh, agus gu tric bidh barrachd is aon obair aca a chumas a' dol iad fad na h–ùine.

Bidh diofar obraichean rin dèanamh aig diofar amannan den bhliadhna; àm breith nan uan is nan laogh, a' trusadh nan caorach is a' chruidh aig diofar amannan airson an rùsgadh, am biadhachadh, no an toirt gu fèilltean–reic is eile.

Anns na seann làithean, rachadh daoine dhan àirigh leis a' chrodh as t–samhradh, bhiodh mòine air a buain as t–earrach, agus thogadh iad feamainn mar thodhar mus cuireadh iad am buntàta, ach [gheibhte ] gheibheadh iad taic bhon choimhearsnachd airson a leithid.

Bidh cuid a' smaoineachadh nach eil buain na mònach no togail bheathaichean mar bhiadh math don àrainneachd, ach 's e dòigh–beatha a tha math do dhaoine a thig nar dèidh a th' ann an croitearachd.

Tha meas mòr aig croitearan air an àrainneachd timcheall orra agus tha àiteachas beag bith–beò a' toirt dhuinn biadh math ionadail.

English

Agriculture is a big part of Gaelic heritage, with many people who speak Gaelic involved in farming.

But we are not talking about large farms (here it is not large farms that are being talked about), as can be seen in the east of the country, in Aberdeenshire and the Plains of Angus, but crofting.

Perhaps some think that people in the country are not in a hurry, that crofters in the islands and in the Highlands have a peaceful and relaxed life, but they are rarely idle!

Crofters get up with the sun and work from dawn to dusk, and often have more than one job that keeps them going constantly.

There are different jobs to be done at different times of the year; lambing and calving time, gathering the sheep and cattle at different times to shear them, feed them, or take them to sales and so forth.

In the old days, people would go to the sheiling with the cows in the summer, peat would be harvested in the spring, and they would gather seaweed as fertiliser before they would plant the potatoes, but support came from (would be got from) the community for such things.

Some people think that cutting peat or raising animals as food is not good for the environment, but crofting is a way of life that is good for those who will come after us.

Crofters have a great respect for the environment around them and (small–scale) subsistence farming provides us with good local food.