Cameron War Cry - this is the shout given upon the signal to charge:
Da thaobh Loch Ial, 's da thaobh an Lochaidh! Lochial, Lochial !
Literally; "Two sides of Lochiel, and two sides of the Lochy! Lochiel! Lochiel!"
However, a better idiomatic approach might be; "Both sides of Lochiel and both sides of the Lochy. Lochiel, Lochiel!"
As I recall, the war cry stems from a period when the Camerons were disputing the rights to the banks of the chief's eponymous loch in the Cameron homelands. The meaning is clear in that context - the Camerons must rally on both flanks of their chief, thus protecting him from harm, and were also asserting their right to both shores of the lochy.
The word taobh means a side ( Irish taobh, Early Irish tóeb, táib, Old Irish tóib, Welsh, Cornish, Breton tu: *toibos, root steibh, sti, stiff, standing; Latin tîbia, shin-bone (pl.))
As to pronunciation - there were once many dialects of Gaelic, and the surviving dialects remain quite diverse. the Camerons anciently spoke a dialect known as Lochaber, once common from the Isles up through the Great Glen. It is now growing rare in Scotland, but an antique version survived to a degree in Nova Scotia, Canada, particularly in Cape Breton.
One of the characteristics of the Lochaber dialect is that the letter L has a W sound when used in conjunction with a broad vowel (A, O, U). Thus, the name Calum (usually pron. "Kuh-luhm") would be pronounced "Kuh-wuhm." I have never learned when or why this occurred. Also, in Gaelic, a consonant followed by an "H" is ellided, thus in this case the "T" in Thaobh becomes an "H" sound.
I can't write (and most people cannot read) the specialist linguistic script that would probably be most accurate in rendering the phrase, and Gaelic is very difficult to render phonetically, but I will do my best. However, it would pay to try to get a native speaker or advanced learner to help, if you can find one near you, to get the finer nuancesAnyway, here it goes:
"Dah hōōv Lockēēahl, iss dah hōōv ahn lockēē! Lockēēahl, Lockēēahl !"
(Note: all phonetics are rendered as in English, thus; the ah in "dah" as in Eng. "Ah", double ee as in week, hoov as in Hoover, and "lockey" as in "lock" and "key" etc.)
****************************************************************************************************
Clan Cameron Rallying Cry - used to gather and ready the clan before the battle, and possibly in this case to cast aspersions on the enemy.
The phrase is usually rendered; "Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil", though more properly, "a so" should be an seo or anseo). This was the old war cry of the Clan Cameron. It was used to inspirit the clan in battle, and was cried as they rushed down upon the enemy in many battles and desperate actions across the years, including Killicrankie and Prestonpans. (For a description of that action, and others, see:
www.clan-cameron.org/battles/1745.html )
The meaning is usually rendered; "Sons (or more properly, children) of the hounds, come here and take flesh" but perhaps a more idiomatic translation might be; "Come here you sons of bitches and get meat!"
Linguistically, the first noun is a plural form of the collective noun clann (meaning progeny or offspring, usually translated "children"), and here would most likely mean "Chidren of the dogs", an insult to the opposing clans and a taunt to incite them to combat.
(Another interpretation could be that it was a call to the Camerons themselves. While this seems at first glance counter-intuitive, consider that US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daley [twice winner of the Medal of Honor], is reputed to have led his men "over the top" of the trenches in WW I with this phrase; "Come on you S.O.B.s! Do you want to live forever?" Gunny Daley would have doubtless done well among the historic clansmen, who highly admired physical bravery.)
As to pronunciation - this would also be Lochaber dialect (see above):
"Kwownnah ("ow" as in Eng. "clown", but note the W sound I mentioned) năhn kăhn, hēēgēēv ăhn-shōw iss yāyv shēēv feē-yōhl"
A college friend of mine from Cape Breton (whose parents are native speakers) agrees with this rendering.
However, another friend with a PhD in linguistics, who is a learned but fluent speaker of both Irish and Scots Gaelic wrote:
"As to the phonology, I'll take the common denominator approach to dialectal differences and amend your phonetic script to the God-awful phonetic renderings familiar to English learners of Irish and Scottish Gaelic":
"Khwownnah (as in Eng. "clown") nahn kuhn (as in Eng. "sun"), higiv uhn-shōw iss yayv shiv fyoly" (The last ly represents an "l" pronounced with the tip of the tongue.)
;D. Sorry for the late response, but like I said you probably got it all sorted none the less. I look forward to hearing from you in the future and do let us know if we can assist you further.