Please translate "Poll a' Bhathaid" into English. I believe it may be
Scottish gaelic.

Hello niggywiggy

This means "The Drowning Pool". It could be a placename.

As you'll see in my sources below, there is more than one way of
spelling the word for drowning. I found it online as:

bhàthaidh
bàthaidh
bàthadh
bhàthadh

I didn't find it ending in "d" without a final "h" as in your version,
but am confident "the drowning pool" is the correct meaning, as there
isn't anything else it could be.

Poll can also mean water-hole, bog and other wet places.

Scottish Gaelic words starting with a simple "b" change to "bh" in
some circumstances, but you need to look them up in the dictionary as
if they had no "h".

Gaelic dictionary
(searching with "bath*")
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/sbg/lorg.php


My other sources for this answer were:

"Toll a' Bhàthaidh" means "The drowning hole".
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/gaelic/pdfs/placenamesP-Z.pdf


Poll a'  - used in placenames
"poll nm puill g puill pl 	
pool, pit, deep stagnant water, wet meadow 
Poll a' Bhainne , Poll a' Choire 
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/didyouknow/placenames/gaelicglossary-m-r.html

More Scottish pools called "poll":
http://www.speyfishing-grantown.co.uk/poolpictures.htm

"18 December 1862, still remembered as the 'Day of the Great Drowning'"
http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/sub_section.jsp?SectionID=7&currentId=196

The previous page appears in Gaelic as:

"18mh dhen Dùbhlachd 1862, latha air a bheil cuimhne fhathast mar 'Là
a' Bhàthaidh Mhòir"
http://www.ambaile.org.uk/gd/sub_section.jsp?SectionID=7&currentId=196


I hope this is helpful, but let me know if you have a query about my answer.

Best wishes - Leli


Additional searches:

Bhàthaidh OR Bàthaidh OR Bhàthadh OR Bàthadh drowning 
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Bh%C3%A0thaidh+OR+++B%C3%A0thaidh+OR+Bh%C3%A0thadh+OR+B%C3%A0thadh+drowning+&btnG=Search&meta=

Bhathaidh OR Bathaidh OR Bhathadh OR Bathadh drowning 
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Bhathaidh+OR+Bathaidh+OR+Bhathadh+OR+Bathadh+drowning+&btnG=Search&meta=

"Poll a' " gaelic
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22Poll+a%27+%22+gaelic&btnG=Search&meta=

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Request for Answer Clarification by niggywiggy-ga on 07 Mar 2005 13:37 PST

Sorry, I meant to add a comment:
Your answer makes good sense as the Drowning Pool is behind an old
Scottish manse and is believed to have been a witches' ducking pond
where if the witch drowned she was innocent, but if she floated she
was guilty ! It was tough in those days !!

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Clarification of Answer by leli-ga on 08 Mar 2005 00:52 PST

Thank you so much for the feedback.

It's fascinating to hear the story behind the question.

Glad I could help - Leli