[Eala]

Glen Fiddich

Had a bit of fun with a co-worker several years ago when he asked me what "Glen Fiddich" meant in English. It was difficult, esp. because the name isn't in Gaelic orthography. The best I could come up with was "Valley of the White Worm" (or something like that).

Later I learned it was from older Gaelic, "of the Deer."

[AnAmericanMother]

My faithful old "Dwelly's Gaelic-English Dictionary" (1911) tells me that "fiadaich" means "abounding in deer." It's the a's dropping out that makes the confusion. . . they should have dropped the i's, but Dwelly was the first to try to standardize Gaelic orthography.

[AnAmericanMother]

The idea of the worm comes from fideag - a different word entirely, because the d is pronounced as a j (as you probably know).

Fiadaich as a verb (fiadaichadh) means hunting deer, and by extension prowling around in wild places. So "Glenfiddich" could also mean "the wild glen" - the glen where there are lots of deer and opportunities for hunting.

[AnAmericanMother]

Oops . . . make that fiadachadh. Forgot "broad to broad and slender to slender." Which is probably how the distiller came up with "fiddich" in the first place!

(if you think my spelling is bad in English, you oughta see my Gaelic! -- but I bet the spelling police would never have caught me if I hadn't turned myself in! :-D )