Chapter 1 of The McBrides A Romance of Arran is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The McBrides A Romance of Arran is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS. Crotal, lichen. "A traill," you sluggard. Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks. Bothanairidh, summer sheiling.
Chapter 1 of The McBrides A Romance of Arran is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
very dark wood of any of several blackwood trees
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
the capital of Scotland; located in the Lothian Region on the south side of the Firth of Forth
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
plural of “expression” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
relating to or characteristic of the Celts
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
any of several eruptive skin diseases characterized by hard thick lesions grouped together and resembling lichens growing on rocks
From this reading “Crotal, lichen.”
give or make a list of; name individually; give the names of
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
a long narrow natural elevation or striation
From this reading “Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.”
the provincial capital and largest city in Ontario (and the largest city in Canada)
From this reading “The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "A traill," you sluggard.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.
very dark wood of any of several blackwood trees
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bothanairidh, summer sheiling.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.
any of several lichens of the genus Parmelia from which reddish brown or purple dyes are made
From this reading Crotal, lichen.
the capital of Scotland; located in the Lothian Region on the south side of the Firth of Forth
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
plural of “expression” — the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
relating to or characteristic of the Celts
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
any of several eruptive skin diseases characterized by hard thick lesions grouped together and resembling lichens growing on rocks
From this reading Crotal, lichen.
give or make a list of; name individually; give the names of
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.
verbal abuse; a crude substitute for argument
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
a long narrow natural elevation or striation
From this reading Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.
plural of “rock” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Cleiteadh mor, big ridge of rocks.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bothanairidh, summer sheiling.
an idle slothful person
From this reading "A traill," you sluggard.
plural of “son” — a male human offspring
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading Bothanairidh, summer sheiling.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
the provincial capital and largest city in Ontario (and the largest city in Canada)
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "A traill," you sluggard.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Ryerson Press, Toronto William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh and London LIST OF GAELIC NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "A traill," you sluggard.
Chapter 1 of The McBrides A Romance of Arran by John Sillars holds 146 sentences, grouped into 30 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 146 sentences of The McBrides A Romance of Arran, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The McBrides A Romance of Arran by John Sillars exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 146 sentences, grouped into 30 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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