[Dòmhnall] Tha an sgeul a’ tòiseachadh leis a’ bhiobhair. Mus tàinig na h-Eòrpaich bha co-dhiù trì fichead millean dhiubha’ falach ann an coilltean Aimeireagaidh.
[Dòmhnall] ’S e seo bian a’ bhiobhair a bha na tùsanaich a’ sealg bho shean airson blàths a chumail riutha. Thòisich iad ga reic ri seòladairean Eòrpach a thug dhachaigh leotha iad. Nuair a thèid am bian a chaitheamh tha e a’ fàs bòg ’s cha b’ fhada gus an d’ fhuair na h-Eòrpaich a-mach gun robh e mìorbhaileach math airson a bhith a’ dèanamh adan. Thòisich gnìomhachas mòr, ùr a bha a’ dol a thoirt buaidh air eachdraidh nam mìltean thar mhìltean dhaoine.
[Dòmhnall] Cha robh companaidh eile a bha cho ainmeil anns a’ ghnìomhachas ris an Hudson’s Bay Company.
[Dòmhnall] Tha an-diugh sreath bhùithtean mòr aca air feadh Chanada. Thàinig na bùithtean faileasach a tha seo dìreach bhon chiad chompanaidh a chaidh a stèidheachadh le cùmhnant rìoghail ann an Lunnainn ann an sia deug trì fichead ’s a deich airson bian a’ bhiobhair a cheannach bho na tùsanaich a bha ga sealg.
[Dòmhnall] Bha làn-sheilbh aig an Hudson’s Bay Company air còirichean malairt a-steach do mheadhan na dùthcha ’s an Artaig. Bha millean gu leth mìle ceàrnagach fearainn aca fon chùmhnant rìoghail, ceud uimhir ri Alba gu lèir, ’s bha a h-uile càil ga stiùireadh à York Factory.
[Dòmhnall] Chan eil ach deich bliadhna fichead bho chaidh York Factory fhàgail bàn. Tha e an-diugh làn thaibhsean. Tha e mar gum biodh ceannaichean nam bian a bha an seo tro na linntean fhathast ga thathaich. ’S e àite iargalta a th’ ann, fiù ’s aig an àm as fheàrr den bhliadhna, leis na cràlagan ’s na cuileagan gad ithe.
[Dòmhnall] ’S e meadhan an t-samhraidh a th’ ann an seo aig York Factory ’s a dh’innse na fìrinn tha a’ ghrian gu math blàth ach dìreach troigh no dhà sìos tha an talamh fuar, reòite. ’S e seo “An Talamh Fuar”, ainm a bh’ air bilean ghinealaichean de cheannaichean Gàidhealach ’s a th’ air a dhol dhan chànan againn, a’ ciallachadh “ ceann a tuath Chanada”.
[Dòmhnall] Fad ceud bliadhna cha robh duine a’ cur dragh mòr sam bith air an Hudson’s Bay Company. Bha iad a’ dèanamh airgead mòr às na bèin a bha na tùsanaich a-staigh tron dùthaich a’ sealg dhaibh, ach mu mheadhan na h-ochdaimh linn deug dh’èirich buidheann ùr a dhèanamh spàirn an aghaidh na companaidh Shasannaich agus b’ e Gàidheal a bh’ air a’ ceann.
[Dòmhnall] Cha robh duine a bu gheur-chuiseach an sin am-measg nan Gàidheal na Sìm MacThàmhais, air an robh am far-ainm am “Marquis”. Thug sin e gu bhith na cheannard air a’ chompanaidh a bu shoirbheachaile a chaidh a-riamh an sàs ann an obair nam bian, an North West Company.
[Dòmhnall] Bha freumhaichean an North West Company air Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba.
[Dòmhnall] An Gart Beag ann an Srath Fharraigeag, deas air a’ Ghleann Mhòr.
[Dòmhnall] ’S ann an seo ann an seachd deug ’s a leth-cheud a rugadh Sìm MacThàmhais ann an dùthaich a bha sgapte briste an dèidh Bliadhna Theàrlaich. Bha athair MhicThàmhais aig Cùl Lodair còmhla ris a’ Phrionnsa, ach coltach ri iomadh Gàidheal eile dheigheadh fear a’ Ghairt Bhig air a’ cheann thall dha na rèisimeidean Gàidhealach a shabaid nam Frangach ann an Ameireaga agus ’s ann ann an Ameireaga a gheibheadh a mhac a chumail.
[Dòmhnall] Rinn MacThàmhais agus iomadh Gàidheal ga thilleadh a dhachaigh ann am Montreal. Bha e air a dhol a dh’fhuireach anns na coimhearsnachdan Gàidhealach an ceann shuas New York nuair a bha e ceithir bliadhna deug, ach coltach ri iomadh saighdear eile ann an arm a’ chrùin b’ fheudar dha Canada a thoirt air an dèidh Cogadh Saorsa Ameireagaidh. Cha b’ fhada gus an do rinn e ainm dha fhèin an seo.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Na h-Eilthirich, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 1999.
[Donald] The story starts with the beaver. Before the Europeans arrived there were at least sixty million of them hiding in America’s forests.
[Donald] This is beaver fur that the native people hunted from the days of old to keep them warm. They started selling it to European sailors who took it home with them. When the fur gets worn it becomes soft and it wasn’t long until the Europeans discovered that it was really great for making hats. A huge new industry began that was going to impact the history of the tens of thousands of people.
[Donald] The most famous company in the business was the Hudson’s Bay Company.
[Donald] Today they have a chain of large shops across Canada. These glossy shops came directly from the first company that was established by royal contract in London in 1670 to buy beaver fur from the natives who hunted it.
[Donald] The Hudson’s Bay Company had total possession of the trading rights into the middle of the country and the Artic. They had one and a half million square miles of land under the royal contract, one hundred times the size of the whole of Scotland, and everything was directed from York Factory.
[Donald] It is just thirty years since the York Factory was left unoccupied. Today it is full of ghosts. It is as though the buyers that were here through the centuries still frequent it. It is a foreboding place, even at the best time of the year, with the creepy crawlies and the flies eating you.
[Donald] It is the middle of summer here at York Factory and to tell the truth the sun is quite warm but just a foot or two below the ground is cold, frozen. This is “The Cold Land”, a name that was on the lips of generations of Highland buyers and that has come into our language, meaning “northern Canada”.
[Donald] For one hundred years nobody really bothered the Hudson’s Bay Company. They made large profit from the furs that the inland natives hunted for them, but around the mid eighteen century a new group arose that would compete against the English company and it was led by a Gael.
[Donald] There was nobody more pereptive than Simon McTavish, nicknamed the “Marquis”. That led him to be the boss of the most successful company to ever work in the fur industry, the North West Company.
[Donald] The North West Company’s roots were in the Scottish Highlands.
[Donald] Garthbeg in Stratherrick, south of the Great Glen.
[Donald] It was here in seventeen fifty that Simon McTavish was born in a shadowy, broken country after the Jacobite Rising. McTavish’s father was at Culloden with the Prince, but like many other Gaels the man of Garthbeg would eventually go into the Highland regiments to fight the French in America, and it is in America that he would get to keep his son
[Donald] McTavish and many Gaels who returned here made their home in Montreal. He had gone to live in the Highland communities north of New York when he was fourteen, but like many other soldiers in the crown’s army he had to go to Canada after the War of Independence in America. It wasn’t long before he made a name for himself here
This programme, Na h-Eilthirich, was first broadcast in 1999.
[Dòmhnall] Tha an sgeul a’ tòiseachadh leis a’ bhiobhair. Mus tàinig na h-Eòrpaich bha co-dhiù trì fichead millean dhiubha’ falach ann an coilltean Aimeireagaidh.
[Dòmhnall] ’S e seo bian a’ bhiobhair a bha na tùsanaich a’ sealg bho shean airson blàths a chumail riutha. Thòisich iad ga reic ri seòladairean Eòrpach a thug dhachaigh leotha iad. Nuair a thèid am bian a chaitheamh tha e a’ fàs bòg ’s cha b’ fhada gus an d’ fhuair na h-Eòrpaich a-mach gun robh e mìorbhaileach math airson a bhith a’ dèanamh adan. Thòisich gnìomhachas mòr, ùr a bha a’ dol a thoirt buaidh air eachdraidh nam mìltean thar mhìltean dhaoine.
[Dòmhnall] Cha robh companaidh eile a bha cho ainmeil anns a’ ghnìomhachas ris an Hudson’s Bay Company.
[Dòmhnall] Tha an-diugh sreath bhùithtean mòr aca air feadh Chanada. Thàinig na bùithtean faileasach a tha seo dìreach bhon chiad chompanaidh a chaidh a stèidheachadh le cùmhnant rìoghail ann an Lunnainn ann an sia deug trì fichead ’s a deich airson bian a’ bhiobhair a cheannach bho na tùsanaich a bha ga sealg.
[Dòmhnall] Bha làn-sheilbh aig an Hudson’s Bay Company air còirichean malairt a-steach do mheadhan na dùthcha ’s an Artaig. Bha millean gu leth mìle ceàrnagach fearainn aca fon chùmhnant rìoghail, ceud uimhir ri Alba gu lèir, ’s bha a h-uile càil ga stiùireadh à York Factory.
[Dòmhnall] Chan eil ach deich bliadhna fichead bho chaidh York Factory fhàgail bàn. Tha e an-diugh làn thaibhsean. Tha e mar gum biodh ceannaichean nam bian a bha an seo tro na linntean fhathast ga thathaich. ’S e àite iargalta a th’ ann, fiù ’s aig an àm as fheàrr den bhliadhna, leis na cràlagan ’s na cuileagan gad ithe.
[Dòmhnall] ’S e meadhan an t-samhraidh a th’ ann an seo aig York Factory ’s a dh’innse na fìrinn tha a’ ghrian gu math blàth ach dìreach troigh no dhà sìos tha an talamh fuar, reòite. ’S e seo “An Talamh Fuar”, ainm a bh’ air bilean ghinealaichean de cheannaichean Gàidhealach ’s a th’ air a dhol dhan chànan againn, a’ ciallachadh “ ceann a tuath Chanada”.
[Dòmhnall] Fad ceud bliadhna cha robh duine a’ cur dragh mòr sam bith air an Hudson’s Bay Company. Bha iad a’ dèanamh airgead mòr às na bèin a bha na tùsanaich a-staigh tron dùthaich a’ sealg dhaibh, ach mu mheadhan na h-ochdaimh linn deug dh’èirich buidheann ùr a dhèanamh spàirn an aghaidh na companaidh Shasannaich agus b’ e Gàidheal a bh’ air a’ ceann.
[Dòmhnall] Cha robh duine a bu gheur-chuiseach an sin am-measg nan Gàidheal na Sìm MacThàmhais, air an robh am far-ainm am “Marquis”. Thug sin e gu bhith na cheannard air a’ chompanaidh a bu shoirbheachaile a chaidh a-riamh an sàs ann an obair nam bian, an North West Company.
[Dòmhnall] Bha freumhaichean an North West Company air Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba.
[Dòmhnall] An Gart Beag ann an Srath Fharraigeag, deas air a’ Ghleann Mhòr.
[Dòmhnall] ’S ann an seo ann an seachd deug ’s a leth-cheud a rugadh Sìm MacThàmhais ann an dùthaich a bha sgapte briste an dèidh Bliadhna Theàrlaich. Bha athair MhicThàmhais aig Cùl Lodair còmhla ris a’ Phrionnsa, ach coltach ri iomadh Gàidheal eile dheigheadh fear a’ Ghairt Bhig air a’ cheann thall dha na rèisimeidean Gàidhealach a shabaid nam Frangach ann an Ameireaga agus ’s ann ann an Ameireaga a gheibheadh a mhac a chumail.
[Dòmhnall] Rinn MacThàmhais agus iomadh Gàidheal ga thilleadh a dhachaigh ann am Montreal. Bha e air a dhol a dh’fhuireach anns na coimhearsnachdan Gàidhealach an ceann shuas New York nuair a bha e ceithir bliadhna deug, ach coltach ri iomadh saighdear eile ann an arm a’ chrùin b’ fheudar dha Canada a thoirt air an dèidh Cogadh Saorsa Ameireagaidh. Cha b’ fhada gus an do rinn e ainm dha fhèin an seo.
Chaidh am prògram seo, Na h-Eilthirich, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 1999.
[Donald] The story starts with the beaver. Before the Europeans arrived there were at least sixty million of them hiding in America’s forests.
[Donald] This is beaver fur that the native people hunted from the days of old to keep them warm. They started selling it to European sailors who took it home with them. When the fur gets worn it becomes soft and it wasn’t long until the Europeans discovered that it was really great for making hats. A huge new industry began that was going to impact the history of the tens of thousands of people.
[Donald] The most famous company in the business was the Hudson’s Bay Company.
[Donald] Today they have a chain of large shops across Canada. These glossy shops came directly from the first company that was established by royal contract in London in 1670 to buy beaver fur from the natives who hunted it.
[Donald] The Hudson’s Bay Company had total possession of the trading rights into the middle of the country and the Artic. They had one and a half million square miles of land under the royal contract, one hundred times the size of the whole of Scotland, and everything was directed from York Factory.
[Donald] It is just thirty years since the York Factory was left unoccupied. Today it is full of ghosts. It is as though the buyers that were here through the centuries still frequent it. It is a foreboding place, even at the best time of the year, with the creepy crawlies and the flies eating you.
[Donald] It is the middle of summer here at York Factory and to tell the truth the sun is quite warm but just a foot or two below the ground is cold, frozen. This is “The Cold Land”, a name that was on the lips of generations of Highland buyers and that has come into our language, meaning “northern Canada”.
[Donald] For one hundred years nobody really bothered the Hudson’s Bay Company. They made large profit from the furs that the inland natives hunted for them, but around the mid eighteen century a new group arose that would compete against the English company and it was led by a Gael.
[Donald] There was nobody more pereptive than Simon McTavish, nicknamed the “Marquis”. That led him to be the boss of the most successful company to ever work in the fur industry, the North West Company.
[Donald] The North West Company’s roots were in the Scottish Highlands.
[Donald] Garthbeg in Stratherrick, south of the Great Glen.
[Donald] It was here in seventeen fifty that Simon McTavish was born in a shadowy, broken country after the Jacobite Rising. McTavish’s father was at Culloden with the Prince, but like many other Gaels the man of Garthbeg would eventually go into the Highland regiments to fight the French in America, and it is in America that he would get to keep his son
[Donald] McTavish and many Gaels who returned here made their home in Montreal. He had gone to live in the Highland communities north of New York when he was fourteen, but like many other soldiers in the crown’s army he had to go to Canada after the War of Independence in America. It wasn’t long before he made a name for himself here
This programme, Na h-Eilthirich, was first broadcast in 1999.