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So is
it Arran or Aran? A-run or R-run? Or none of the above?
By Judith Lloyd
Friends
and I were having a discussion about the islands of Scotland the other day
and someone mentioned the Island of Arran (pronouncing it R-ran). We were
immediately rebuked by the lone (born in Scotland, Scot) about how it
could only be an American who would pronounce an A like an R. He told us
that the pronunciation was A-run. So being suitably educated by said
Scotsman we went about our business and lo and behold two days later while
assisting in a booth at The International Festival a young Scots woman
stopped by and started talking to us about her home on the Isle of Arran
(pronouncing it R-un). So now, as you would expect, I am thoroughly
confused since I have been told two totally separate pronunciations by
‘the experts’.
Then just
to add to the confusion I am looking for an Aran (I thought) cardigan for
my granddaughter to match her brother’s pullover. In searching the
internet I had entered fishermen’s weave and the search gave me sweaters
from Aran and sweaters from Arran. Now this was just mere hours after the
above conversations about the pronunciation of Arran/Aran. With my
curiosity piqued I did some further investigation on these two places and
discovered that they are two sets of islands. The islands of Aran (and
I’m not even going into attempting to decide how to pronounce that) is in
Galway Bay, Ireland. It is these islands that are famous for their
sweaters. The second set of islands (actually one island) is the Isle of
Arran in the Firth of Clyde on the southwestern shore of Scotland. There
is actually a song called the Arran Boat Song, which is sometimes referred
to as Queen Mary’s Escape from Loch Leven Castle. (Shades of Skye Boat
Song). Since the Duke of Hamilton was Mary’s guardian it would seem
likely that if she was escaping from anywhere it would be to his
stronghold, Brodick, on Arran.
It
appears that the names Aran and Arran are interchangeable in many
instances, which is further confusing. If I want to find Aran sweaters I
can just as easily type in Arran and get the same results. I wonder what
the Irish and the Scots think of that. I didn’t find anywhere that the
Isle of Arran is noted for its sweaters, however. It is however noted as
the place of legend where Robert the Bruce hid in a cave after he was
defeated by the Comyns and, having watched a spider spinning a web across
the opening try several times to connect its silk from one side to the
other before it succeeded, determined if a small spider could try so many
times then so could he.
Our young
Arran visitor said that her island was sometimes referred to as a mini
Scotland since it had both highlands and lowlands within its borders.
The outer rim is the main tourist area with sandy beaches, golf courses,
and even palm trees in the southern area (because of the influence of the
Gulf Stream). Hard to think of Scotland having palm trees. The inner
area is mountainous and abounds with wild animals. On the eastern edge of
Arran is Brodick Castle as I mentioned above. This was once the home of
the Dukes of Hamilton. So it is easy to see why Arran is thought of as a
miniature of Scotland though none of this decides the question of the
island’s name pronunciation for possible future conversations. |
