Browse Nearby Entries
Birlinn
1 reference results for: Lymphad
Wikipedia
A Birlinn comprised a class of small galleys with 12 to 18 oars, used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. Variants in English and Lowland Scots include "berlin" and "birling". It probably derives ultimately from the Norse byrðingr, i.e. a ship of burden.
They appear in Scottish heraldry as the "lymphad" (a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic long fada, meaning "long ship" - confusingly long is actually the word for "ship", and fada means "long" in English)
Birlinn Chlann Raonaill (the Birlinn of Clan Ranald), by Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair is one of the notable literary representations of the birlinn.
"Birlinn" is also the name of a Scottish publisher, who publish books under a number of imprints, including Birlinn, John Donald, Polygon, Mercat and Tuckwell. Birlinn Limited 
are based in Edinburgh.
External links
- Clan Sinclair
- Birlinn.org
- Stormy seas ahead in boat battle
- GalGael.org- using the Birlinn to rebuild community in Scotland
- Mallaig Galleys
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 14:54:09 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 14:54:09 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Share This:
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.