??? Cunningham's motto in Scots Gaelic ???

[shawhighlander]

Does anyone know Clan Cunningham's motto in Scots Gaelic?

Thanks,

[Highland Logan]

I would hazard a guess at "Thar · Graip · Thar"

Frank

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Does anyone know Clan Cunningham's motto in Scots Gaelic?

Thanks,

I would be cautious about translating someone's motto into another language on three counts:

1) the motto as given (in this instanceOver Fork Over) is actually "locked" in law as it is part of the overall heraldic achievement of the Chief of Clan Cunningham.

2) language is more than mere words; it has meaning and nuance and intent to communicate an idea. Over Fork Over could be interpreted to mean mount your horses, as in the phrase to "fork leather and ride". It could also mean "hand it over" as in "fork over the money". Or it might be used in the sense of lifting or tossing, as in "go fork out the stables".

3) simple confusion: The correct motto is Over Fork Over and to render it in gaelic will diminish it as a symbol and cause confusion. When a Cunningham clansman sees the Unicorn Head in the buckle and strap it is the motto that sets his clan apart from clans Oliphant, Preston, and Ramsey all of whom use a unicorn's head as their clansman's badge.

Finally, and this is a personal observation, there is something that smacks of fakery when a centuries old motto is rendered into gaelic to make it seem "more Scottish", implying as it does that having the motto in English (or Latin, or Greek, or Hebrew, or French) makes it somehow "inferior".

It may be intellectually satisfying to know something in gaelic, but it smacks of arrogance to impose that knowledge on a word or phrase that was never intended to be rendered in that language.

[shawhighlander]

My Cunningham friend will smile at the intellectual nature of this reply...I will copy and paste this to her. Moran taing!