Perthshire Gaels

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yeh, there are a lot of variations, many of them down to dodgy spellings by the OS blokes collecting names. but also partly because Gaelic was a purely oral language for many years, so different people would write it in different ways

the current dictionary spelling is cailleach which means an old woman; a nun; the veiled one; the last handful of standing corn on a farm; the circular wisp on the top of a corn stalk

but it is also used to mean a witch or a hag, since all old women are clearly witches! although there is a specific Gaelic word for witch - buidseach

Cheers
Andy

No wonder Gaelic's so difficult.
Cheers,
TE (;>0)

And if you come to Ireland it's <b>Calliagh</b> :-)

The calliagh (pronounced Kally-ach - with ch the same as 'loch') was the primary goddess of the SW of Ireland, especially around the Dingle and Beara peninsular, but her name was well known in the north. Her house was on top of Slieve Gullion: http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1008

The word can also mean nun in Ireland, too. Nicely enough one of the first nuneries recorded in Ireland was at the base of Slieve Gullion!!!! Here http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1009