Sacred Texts  Legends/Sagas  Celtic  Index  Previous  Next 

U

Udail, oscillate, oscillation; 'udalan' a swivel.

 

Uilm, uilim, coffer, treasury, offertory, a bag for alms; akin to 'ulaidh,' treasure?

 

Uinicinn, lamb-skin; from 'uan,' lamb, 'cionn,' skin.

 

p. 373

Uraisg, a monster, half-human, half-goat, with abnormally long hair, long teeth, and long claws, frequenting glens, corries, reedy lakes, and sylvan streams; an unkempt, untidy man.

A glen in Killninver, Argyll, is called 'Gleann-uraisg,' 'Gleann na h-uraisg,' glen of 'uraisg,' glen of the 'uraisg.' Many stories are told of the 'uraisg' possessing this glen, the appearance, the action, and the speech of this supernatural creature being graphically described. The 'uraisg' is not unfriendly to the friendly beyond showing them scenes, and telling them of events above the world, upon the world, and below the world, that fill them with terror. Strong men avoid the glen of the 'uraisg' at night.

In the Coolin Hills, Skye, there is a place called 'Coire nan uraisg,' corrie of the 'uraisgs,' and adjoining it another place called 'Bealach Coire nan uraisg,' the pass of the corrie of the 'uraisgs.'

 

Usga, usgar, holy, sacred, precious, jewels.

Siud mar dh’ orduichinn-sa dhusa,
Nighean righ le or ’s le usga.'

 

That is what I would ordain to thee,
The daughter of a king, with gold and gems.

 

 

 


Next: Names of Those From Whose Recitation the Poems Have Been Recorded