EARRAIG, 15, an attempt, a tugging of a person to frighten him or a sudden darting upon a person to frighten him. Thug mi earraig orra cheana said by a ghost who came to frighten people. 17: Thug iad earraig air falbh no air a dhol gu cuan ach b’fheudar dhaibh tilleadh, [they made an] attempt [to go away or put to sea but they had to turn back]. VI 157: Bheir e ’n earraig bhuaidhe, he will make a bold attempt. See Tàthadh, 51.
TÀTHADH, 51, tugging. ’S e earraig tàthadh na ribeadh thoirt air duine gus eagal a chur air, [an ‘earraig’ is giving a man a tug or pull to frighten him]. 126: Ann an tàthadh a chéile, fitting into one another properly. I 368: B’e sin na caoraich ’s na gobhair a thàthadh ri chéile, sin a dhianamh dhutsa [that were mating sheep with goats] is a proverb signifying extreme difficulty or impossibility to be encountering in trying to execute any project.
Dwelly gives for earraig: “Shift; the last shift, great deal ado, greatest strait.”
Most references I can find for earraig use it in the sense of an attempt at something difficult, but it’s used more in the sense of causing fright in the 19th century Cape Breton periodical, Mac-Talla: “The enemy came upon them in waves; but they suffered an earraig – when they met the cold steel, they were lucky to get away.”
Màiri Thormoid in Eriskay didn’t know it: “we didn’t have it at all. You’d think we would, because they were terrible in Eriskay for ghosts and things. We could have had it, because they were so fond of ghosts – there was a ghost in every place around.”