In what has been said we have endeavoured to treat generally of all that is really best worth seeing in Man, dwelling briefly on those topics, whether of history or topography, that seem really of most validity, and passing in silence those aspects of the island—luckily few and often temporary—that appear to the writer not in harmony with its true and permanent charms, and in some cases even repellent. It would be pleasant in conclusion, did only space permit, to dig down a little deeper into the treasures of its place-names and local traditions, and to review the many quaint notices of its history and curiosities that are scattered up and down in the pages of old writers. It is not clear that Camden had ever visited Man, though he gives a short account of it at the end of his Magna Britannia. The natives, he observes, lived chiefly on oat-bread; whilst both the sheep and cattle were smaller than in England, "nor have they such stately fronts." Part of his description is embodied in a letter that was sent him by the Bishop, John Merrick. "The women," says this letter, "whenever they go out of their own houses, as if mindful of mortality wrap themselves up in the linen that is to serve for their shroud." Similarly, the late Augustus J. C. Hare says that a married woman in Northumberland, "in moments of gloom," will take out and try on her grave-clothes, which she always procures as part of her trousseau, "and find comfort in the inspection of the mournful linen." "Such women," continues the Bishop, "as are capitally convicted are sewed up in a sack and thrown from a rock into the sea. The natives in general are clear from stealing and begging from door to door, extremely religious, and to a man exact in their conformity to the church of England." Preaching in Jersey, in 1692, the learned Canon Falk thus boasted, in similar strain, that that island did not then contain a single dissenter. Giraldus Cambrensis, as cited by Camden, has a somewhat amusing story. The island lies, he tells us, "in the midway between the north of England and Ireland, occasioning no small dispute among the ancients to which of the two it belonged. The dispute was at last thus settled. As venomous creatures were found upon trial to live here, it was unanimously judged to the Britans." Ireland, it is well known, now possesses no poisonous reptiles: they were banished from its precincts by St. Patrick.
Camden, very shrewdly, makes the further observation that "the natives, however, in language and manners come nearer the Irish, but with a small mixture of Norwegian." This is curiously confirmed by the modern study of place-names, which indicates a considerable Norse settlement. Other place-names are strongly Erse in character—e.g., the familiar Balla (in Ballasalla, Ballabooye, Ballaquine, etc., and ninety-three others). Slieau, as a generic name for mountain (Slieau Ruy, Slieau Ree, etc.), and Glen for a mountain-ravine. "The map of the island," says the late Canon Isaac Taylor, "contains about 400 names, of which about 20 per cent. are English, 21 per cent. are Norwegian, and 59 per cent. are Celtic. These Celtic names are all of the most characteristic Erse type." The old Manx language, in fact, is still not altogether dead, though one no longer hears it spoken as Welsh is spoken in Wales, or as Gaelic in the Highlands of Scotland. Gough, in his additions to Camden, prints two specimens of this old tongue, though the present writer will not vouch for their orthography. The charitable disposition of the people, he says, "is marked by this proverb: Tra tayn derrey vought cooney lesh bought alley, ta fee heme garaghtee: i.e., When one poor man relieves another, God Himself laughs outright for joy." "It is curious to observe," adds Canon Isaac Taylor—if we may revert for the moment to the subject of place-names—"that the names which denote places of Christian worship are all Norwegian; they are an indication of the late date at which heathenism must have prevailed, and help to explain the fact that so many heathen superstitions and legends still linger in the island."
[INDEX]
The principal reference is given first after names.
Quick Links to Index Letters
[[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[P]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[W]]
[A.]
Andreas, [21]
[B.]
"Baase Illiam Dhone," [59]
Ballaugh, [18]
Baregarrow, [31]
Barrule, N., [6], [18], [31], [44]
" S., [31], [48]
Beinn-y-Phott, [38], [18], [37]
Bishop's Court, [30], [29]
Bradda Head, [8], [31], [49], [51]
Bride, [21]
[C.]
Calf, The, [48], [49]
Carnanes, The, [49], [51]
Carraghan, [37]
Castle Rushen, [53], [28]
Castletown, [53], [10]
Christian, William, [56], [57]
Clagh Ouyre, [18], [38]
Cobham, Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, [13]
Colden, [18], [20], [37]
Contrary Head, [49]
Corna Dale, [43], [44]
Cronk Fedjag, [51]
Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, [51], [38], [49]
Cronk Urleigh, [31]
Curraghs, The, [21]
[D.]
Dalby, [50]
" Lhag, [50]
Deemsters, The, [23], [22]
Derby, Charlotte de la Trémoille, Countess of, [56]
Derby Haven, [53]
Derby, James, Earl of, [55]
Dhoon Glen, [45]
Douglas, [7], [10]
[E.]
Eagle Mount, [31]
[F.]
Fleswick Bay, [51]
Foxdale, [48]
[G.]
Glen Audyn, [39]
" Helen, [19]
" Laxey, [45]
" Maye, [50]
" Mooar, [36]
" Roy, [45]
" Rushen, [50]
Great Wheel, The, [46]
Greeba Castle, 19
" Mill, [18]
" Mountain, [18]
Guthred the Dane, King, [54]
[H.]
Hall Caine, Mr., [19]
Hango Hill, [58]
House of Keys, [23]
[I.]
Injebreck, [37], [7]
Irish Elk, [55]
[J.]
John, Presbyter, [44]
Jurby, [21]
[K.]
Keeil Woirrey, [43]
King William's College, [58]
Kirk Braddon, [21], [42]
" Maughold, [8], [21], [40]
Kirkmichael, [8], [18], [25], [42]
[L.]
Laxey, [45], [36], [39]
Le Scroop, Sir William, [26]
Levinz, Bishop Baptist, [27]
Lhargey Ruy, [18]
[M.]
Malew Church, [58]
Manx arms, [26]
" Crosses, [41], [40], [21], [29]
" Museum, [54]
Merrick, Bishop John, [60]
[N.]
Neb, River, [10], [19]
[P.]
Peel, [10], [7], [8]
" Bay, [11]
" Cathedral, [21]
" Hill, [49]
Port Erin, [52], [7]
" St. Mary, [52]
Pre-conquest architecture, [11]
[R.]
Ramsey, [39], [7], [18]
Reneuriling, Hill of, [31]
Rhenass Fall, [20]
" River, [35]
Round Tower, [11]
Russel, Bishop Thomas, [30]
Russel, Bishop William, [30]
Rutter, Bishop Samuel, [12]
[S.]
Saint Germain's Cathedral, [12]
" John's, [18], [22], [55]
" Maughold's Head, [40]
" Patrick's Island, [11], [8], [10]
" Trinian's Chapel, [19]
Sart Fell, [20], [31], [35]
Slack, The, [51]
Slieau Dhoo, [31]
" Froghane, [31]
" Ruy, [18]
Snaefell, [33], [7], [18], [24], [31], [32], [36], [38], [46]
Sodor and Man, Bishopric of, [30]
Spanish Head, [48]
Spectre "Dog," [14]
Stanley, Sir John, [26]
Stanley, Sir Thomas, [13]
Sulby, [18]
" Glen, [31], [32], [36]
[T.]
Tholt-y-Wilt, [36]
Tynwald Hill, [22], [31]
[W.]
Wilson, Bishop Thomas, [25]