What do those square buttons say?

[OC Richard]

We've all seen them, and probably most of us have a jacket with them, the square silver/nickel/chrome buttons with the tiny lion and the enigmatic Gaelic inscription.



The button at upper left, what's that letter that looks like an upside-down U?

What is that squiggly line at lower right?

Why do some of the other letters change from button to button?

Clann nan Gael an Grallib na Crelle?

Or is it na Creile?

There are no such words "grallib" or "crelle" or "creile" in my Gaelic dictionary, what could it mean?

The first thing is to go back to some older buttons, and badges, where we find

Clann na Gaidheal (an) Guallibh (a) Cheile



Helpfully the Malcolm MacLennan Gaelic dictionary gives

na Gaidhil an guaillibh a cheile

"Gaels shoulder-to-shoulder" cf guala "shoulder" and ceile with various meanings of match, spouse, together, etc.

Then we find Our Gaelic Proverbs by Angus MacGillivray (1928) which gives

Clanna nan Gaidheal 'an guallibh a cheile

which he explains as "friendship".