Sir, – In response to Kieran O'Rourke's question (December 10th) as to whether the word "clag" is peculiar to Leitrim, I can assure him that the "cleg" is alive and well in the Glens of Antrim and widespread throughout Ulster. Nobody could confuse the bite of an Ulster "cleg" or a Leitrim "clag" with the miserable nip of a midge. – Yours, etc,
MALACHY THOMPSON,
Renmore,
Co Galway.
Sir, – I first encountered “clag” in the lexicon of Ross Murray, of Edinburgh, who used it to describe a low-lying wet mist or cloud obscuring mountain tops. Hence the term could be deployed to describe one’s situation as being “all clagged-in ”.
The highland midge, on the other hand, is a notorious and vicious beastie. – Yours, etc,
GERRY FLYNN
New Ross,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – Clegs were clags when I was growing up in north Longford during the 1960s and, as far as I am aware, are still clags in that part of the world.
Cleg or clag, their only redeeming feature is that they fly relatively slowly, which makes them easy to swat. – Yours, etc,
MEL O’HARA,
Mullingar,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – Growing up in Middlesbrough in the 1960s, anything muddy that stuck to our wellies when I was a child was known as being “claggy”. Perhaps it was related to the word referring to insects that stick to people.
There was even a local nightclub with a very sticky carpet was affectionately known as the “claggy mat”. – Yours, etc,
ANDY PRICE
Stokesley,
North Yorkshire.