Manx Language
Officer,
[Contact details redacted]
Tynwald Committee; Education Bill 2020
August 6th 2020
Dear Chairperson and committee members,
I am writing to you to express my concerns about the Education Bill, specifically the wording around the teaching of Manx Gaelic, (more traditionally known in English as Manx, or the Manx Language). I am a civil servant and my job title is ‘Manx Language Officer’. I have not been asked for any input at any stage of the drafting of the Bill. Having the read the draft bill online I did submit an opinion via my line manager on the 11th of Febraury 2019 to say that the proposed wording did not mention the Manx Language specifically. This was subsequently changed, but then I saw that the new wording of the curricular order in the latest draft was as follows:
(3) The curriculum must, in particular, — (a) include education in religion, ethics and values, avoiding proselytising for any particular religion or religious approach; (b) include education about Manx Gaelic, Manx culture and Manx history;
I was verbally assured that the word about in clause (b) would be changed to in, but the bill proceeded to its first reading without this change being made. In my opinion the prepositions in in clause (a) and about in clause (b) are in the wrong places. I did not, and will not, comment further on the implications of the wording education in religion, but I did raise my concerns about clause (b) with my line manager as soon as I saw the wording education about Manx Gaelic. I was verbally assured that this was a mistake and that it would be changed. Unfortunately, it was not.
Education about the Manx Language is clearly not the same as teaching the language, and would jeopardise the teaching of Manx. If I had been consulted I would have drawn attention to two legislative instruments that would have at least maintained the wording around the teaching of Manx of the 2001 Act. In 1985 Tynwald passed a resolution “That Manx Gaelic should be supported and encouraged by all agencies of Government and Boards of Tynwald so far as they are practically able”. Also, in 2003, the United Kingdom, with the agreement of Tynwald, signed The Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages with Part Two protection level for the Manx Language (see Appendix 1). The 47 member Council of Europe was set up after the Second World War to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law, it is not a branch of the European Union and Brexit does not have any implications for commitment to the charter). Adherence to the charter is overseen by a ‘committee of experts’ who submit regular reports. The key objectives and principles of part two of the charter that you should be aware of is for “the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages”.
I would therefore suggest that the wording of the new Education Act should be reflective of that objective, and either stay with the wording of the 2001 Act, or incorporate the wording of the Council of Europe Charter, which could be:
(3) The curriculum must, in particular, — (b) include education about Manx culture and Manx History, and provide for the teaching and study of the Manx Language.
In my role of Manx Language Officer I oversee the Manx Language Unit’s provision for the teaching of Manx in schools, and helping fluent speaking pupils maintain their fluency by teaching a limited number of lessons through the medium of Manx in years 7, 8 and 9. As there are no off-the- shelf resources for teaching Manx the team have to produce all teaching and testing materials to cater for pupils from those starting with no Manx in Year 4 to fluent speaking pupils in Year 13.
Living in the Isle of Man in 2020, unless you go looking for Manx you might be oblivious to the vitality of the language. You will see Manx on signage, might hear an occassional phrase, or might know of someone who can speak the language. You will not ever be expected, or required to understand or speak Manx in general life. Manx speakers will almost always switch to English out of politeness if a non-Manx speaker is present. Nevertheless, there is a community of speakers on the Island of many hundreds of fluent speakers, and hundreds more less-fluent speakers, who love the Manx language and care deeply about its survival. There are also many people around the world who, because of government recognition of Manx, consider the Isle of Man as beacon of hope in world of cultural conformity.
I have attached a history of the language (Appendix 2) to this submission which may be of interest as it provides some context for the decline and revival of the language, particularly in terms of legislation and education. I would be willing provide oral evidence in support of maintaining legislative protection for the teaching of Manx, rather than teaching about Manx, should that be required.
Lhiuish lesh arrym,
Rob Teare.
Appendix 1. Extract of Part Two of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages:
The objectives and principles pursued in accordance with Article 2 are: 1. In respect of regional or minority languages, within the territories in which such languages are used and according to the situation of each language, the Parties shall base their policies, legislation and practice on the following objectives and principles: a. the recognition of the regional or minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth; b. the respect of the geographical area of each regional or minority language in order to ensure that existing or new administrative divisions do not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority language in question; c. the need for resolute action to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them; d. the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life; e. the maintenance and development of links, in the fields covered by this Charter, between groups using a regional or minority language and other groups in the State employing a language used in identical or similar form, as well as the establishment of cultural relations with other groups in the State using different languages; f. the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages; g. the provision of facilities enabling non-speakers of a regional or minority language living in the area where it is used to learn it if they so desire; h. the promotion of study and research on regional or minority languages at universities or equivalent institutions; i. the promotion of appropriate types of transnational exchanges, in the fields covered by this Charter, for regional or minority languages used in identical or similar form in two or more States. 2. The Parties undertake to eliminate, if they have not yet done so, any unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference relating to the use of a regional or minority language and intended to discourage or endanger the maintenance or development of it. The adoption of special measures in favour of regional or minority languages aimed at promoting equality between the users of these languages and the rest of the population or which take due account of their specific conditions is not considered to be an act of discrimination against the users of more widely-used languages. 3. The Parties undertake to promote, by appropriate measures, mutual understanding between all the linguistic groups of the country and in particular the inclusion of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to regional or minority languages among the objectives of education and training provided within their countries and encouragement of the mass media to pursue the same objective. 4. In determining their policy with regard to regional or minority languages, the Parties shall take into consideration the needs and wishes expressed by the groups which use such languages. They are encouraged to establish bodies, if necessary, for the purpose of advising the authorities on all matters pertaining to regional or minority languages. 5. The Parties undertake to apply, mutatis mutandis, the principles listed in paragraphs 1 to 4 above to non- territorial languages. However, as far as these languages are concerned, the nature and scope of the measures to be taken to give effect to this Charter shall be determined in a flexible manner, bearing in mind the needs and wishes, and respecting the traditions and characteristics, of the groups which use the languages concerned.
Appendix 2 A Brief History of the Manx Language
Manx is a Goidelic language related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Celtic was spoken by iron-age tribes in large swathes of Europe in the pre-Roman era. Celtic of the pre-Roman era has been described by scholars as subdivided into ‘Continental Celtic’ and ‘Insular Celtic’. Insular Celtic was spoken in Britain and Ireland. Manx shares a high percentage of its core vocabulary, word order and idiom with the earliest extant examples of Insular Celtic.
At some point in history Insular Celtic developed into two distinct branches, Goidelic, spoken in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, and Brythonic, spoken in Britain as far north as the Clyde. A third branch, Pictish, did not survive and very little is known about it. After the Roman conquest of Britain, Latin became the status language of the occupied areas. After the fall of the Roman Empire a new language, English, with mostly Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman French elements originated in England, and both Goidelic and Brythonic fragmented from language continuums into three distinctive branches each (Goidelic; Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, Brythonic; Welsh, Cornish and Breton).
As there are few records of written Manx prior to the early seventeenth century (the administrative language of the government and the established church was English) it is difficult to pinpoint when Manx began to develop as a distinctive language. Manx certainly had developed as such by the time Bishop Phillips began to organise translations of the Book of Common Prayer and parts of the Bible around the year 1610 — about sixty years after church services in England began to be conducted in English, rather than Latin. Manx had by this time incorporated words from Latin, Norse, Anglo- Norman and Northern dialects of English, moved away from the Latin based writing system maintained in Scotland and Ireland and rationalised some aspects of Goidelic grammar (although we can also say that Manx also preserved some Old Goidelic vocabulary and grammar lost in standard Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic).
Whilst the secular administration had little need to write down anything in Manx, the Church had to interact with the people over matters of their daily lives, produce sermons in the language, translate the service and the gospel readings, provide some basic education to the masses, and educate clerics. The writing system devised for Manx by Bishop Phillips did not prove to be very popular, and by the time of Bishop Rutter (1661-1663) a system of writing recognisable to present day Manx speakers had been developed. (Rutter seems to have been very keen on the language and a number of secular Manx songs and poems are attributed to him).
Recognising the lack of printed resources in Manx 1697 Bishop Wilson had a law passed in 1697 requiring parents to send children “as soon as they are capable of receiving instruction”, to school until they could read English on the penalty of a fine of shilling a quarter. Wilson was not an enemy of the Manx Language though, and he worked hard to make printed resources in Manx available. He oversaw the publication of the first book in Manx, Coyrle Sodjey in 1707, had his sermons and prayers published in Manx and began the process of having the Bible translated into Manx. There is no reason to suppose Wilson would have considered the teaching of English to be detrimental to Manx. Knowledge of English was necessary for advancement as it had been the language for offical records of the Island’s administration, both temporal and spiritual, since the reformation, and was the language of trade and advanced education. It seems therefore that a large number of Manx speakers were bilingual during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and many English words (some Northern dialect words) entered the language at this time.
As printing had standardised the English language a century before, so did the first printed work in Manx. Although Manx spelling is closer to English spelling than it is to either Irish or Scottish Gaelic, there are some features that are not intuitive for English speakers, eg; the letter y is usually pronounced as it is in myrtle rather than how it is in many.
Bishop Hildesley (1755-1773) recognised that the majority of Manx people could not understand English well enough to read the Bible or follow an English church service. Hildesley’s school system seems to have been aggressive in installing high standards of English in its pupils, as recalled in a letter to the Manks Advertiser of Thursday, June 06, 1822;
“Several years ago Bishop Hildesly ordered the schoolmaster of his diocese not to allow Manx to be spoken in his school; and, as a penalty on boys who ventured to express their thoughts in the language they best understood, they were marked with a brand of infamy, called the sign of Manx—and were punished, and justly, for having it upon them.”
Nevertheless, Hildesley also recognised that Manx remained the first language of the majority of the Manx people, at least outside of the classroom. Hildesley made the translation of religious works into Manx the main priority of his time as Bishop. He had 1,000 copies of the New Testament printed, arranged for the entire Bible to be translated and left money in his will for its publication.
The last editor of the Manx Bible project, who also produced the a dictionary and grammar for the language, was Dr John Kelly. Kelly took manuscript sections over to Whitehaven to be printed as they were completed. In 1771 Kelly was shipwrecked in a storm on the approach to Whitehaven harbour and held the manuscript portion of Deuteronomy to Job out of the water for five hours until he was rescued. The entire Bible was ready to printed by December 1772, shortly after which Bishop Hildesly died.
Unfortunately, despite the huges efforts made, Manx Bibles were not despatched to the Island. In 1803 an open letter to the Manx Advertiser accused Bishop Hildesley’s successors of refusing to pay the shipping charge for delivery and offered to pay for the shipping by subscription. In 1805 the Manx clergy, with the financial help of legacy funds left by Manx clergy to the Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge, sponsored an edition of the Book of Common Prayer, but it was not until the ‘Isle of Man Auxiallary Bible Society’ was set up in 1812 that a renewed effort was made to get the Manx Bibles printed and distributed, and finally, in 1819, a thousand Manx Bibles were delivered to the Island and distributed, at a price of six shillings each.
In the early nineteenth century children were still required to attend school and learn English, (or pay a fine and attend Sunday School for an hour once every three weeks if their parents needed them to work). Manx remained the day to day language of the common people and this was recognised by the parochial schools, which taught through the medium of Manx.
The teaching of Manx required the employment of native Manx clergy. A letter to the Manks Advertiser of Thursday, January 10, 1822, raises the issue of the appointment of clerics who could not speak adequate Manx and praises the Bishop for committing not to admit any candidate for the Manks Church, “even to Deacon’s orders” before proving fluency in Manx. However, non-Manx speaking clergy and schoolmasters continued to be appointed and letters of complaint continued to appear in the papers, including a complaint about the appointment of a non-Manx speaking Archdeacon, whose job it was monitor the Manx language proficiency of the clergy. In response, in 1837 Tynwald passed an Act To prevent the INDUCTION of CLERGYMEN who are not fully conversant with the MANX LANGUAGE to PARISH LIVINGS within this Island. Nevertheless, church appointments continued to be made without regard to Manx language ability, and letters continued to complain about the lack of provision for Manx throughout the century.
As early as the 1820s the teaching of the Manx Language was coming under attack and occasionaly a letter would appear in the papers advocating for the Island to ditch the parochial school system and adopt the English National School curriculum. These letters were always vociferously replied to by defenders of the language, who praised the language, defended accusations that bilingualism was detrimental to English, and countered the accusations that very little published material was available in the language, and that the language was in decline.
In 1822, in response to the Church’s failure to appoint Manx speaking clergymen a ‘Manks Society’ was formed by twelve members of the clergy “to teach the inhabitants to read the Holy Scriptures in the Language they best understand”.
Although the Manx clergy, if not the Bishop, were doing their best to make provision for Manx speakers, the secular authorities were less consilatory. Not only executive officers, but also judicial officers of the Island’s government were appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and some could not speak Manx. The Attorney-General, and sometimes the Deemsters were often therefore unable to communicate with juries, plaintiffs and defendants, and monolingual Manx speakers had to address the court through interpreters.
After vociferous complaints from the Attorney General that some juries could not understand English a property qualification Jury Act was passed in 1833 with the intention of establishing English as the language of the courts. Defendants could therefore be, and were, condemned to prison, transportation or death by courts in which the defendants spoke a different language to that of the judge and jury.
King William’s College was opened in 1837 and for most of the nineteenth century was the only significant provider of secondary education in the Isle of Man. It was partly funded by legacies and donations expecting that the school would train Manx speaking clergy and scholars and executive officers. In fact, Manx was even used in the original appeal for subscriptions of 1831, that ended with;
“ Lhig da ooilley Cummaltee ELLAN VANNIN troggal orroo, as cur yn Obbyr er y hoshiaght, as nee JEE T’ayns Niau ad y Vishaghey.” (Let all inhabitants of the Isle of Man rise up and advance the work, and God in Heaven will reward them.)
Even before the school had begun lessons an editorial in the Manx Sun was complaining that the teaching positions were being filled by scholars educated elswhere who could not speak Manx and that; “This is a most serious evil, when it is considered that in every parish the ecclesiastical duties are required in the Manx tongue. In some parishes scarcely any other language is used, and the great body of the natives prefer their prayers and Church service in their native tongue.” Manx Sun, Friday, July 08, 1836; Page: 4
Although prizes for Manx were awarded in the early years of the school, it seems from the following extract from a letter to the Isle of Man Times that the school had begun to neglect the teaching of Manx soon after its foundation:
“Bishop Shirley should know this, and take care (as the only method of curing dissent) that all who offer themselves for the Manx church should have a thorough knowledge of that venerable language—the Manx—and set about that which has been neglected by his predecessors since the time of Bishop Hildesley, who only wished to live to see the Scriptures printed in Manx; and, die when he would, he would then die happy : and so he did — he lived to see his last and greatest earthly desire accomplished, and went to his great reward next day. Bishop Shirley, I humbly submit, seeing the necessity I have pointed out of having those entrusted with the spiritual welfare of the people of Mona thoroughly acquainted with Manx language, should lose no time in establishing a PROFESSORSHIP of MANX in King William’s College thereby restoring the Barrow fund to its original legitimate purpose—the education of Manxmen for the Manx Church. Isle of Man Times, Saturday, February 13, 1847; Page: 3
In fact, Bishop Shirley seems to have been firmly against the language (describing it in his memoirs as “an unmitigated portion of the curse of Babal”) and 1860 the Manx Herald was complaining in an editorial that the teaching of Manx was being completely neglected by the school:
“By the way, what are the authorities of King William’s College doing with the £100 which they receive in order that there might be an annual prize for the best Manx scholar? Surely they will not refuse to do the work for which they took the money! If so, certainly the £100 should be taken away, and employed for the cultivation of the native language.” Mona's Herald, Wednesday, February 01, 1860; Page: 2
The poorly financed parochial schools continued to recruit suitably qualified teachers who could also speak Manx. There is plenty of other evidence from the mid nineteenth century that Manx was the common language of the Island beyond the Churches (for example, an 1845 poster for a Douglas brothel ‘Naight Noa’, an 1863 wanted poster ‘Eam er y Theay’, ballads such as the 1873 ballad ‘Yn Lugger Olive’ and newspapers advertisements such as an Juan Dawson and Son’s 1876 advertisement for sewing macines).
In 1872 Governor Loch saw a new education act through Tynwald which incorporated in full the 1870 Westminster Education Act. The act made education compulsory up to the age of thirteen, made religious instruction non-demoninational, and made English the only language of instruction. For the Manx Language it was catastrophic. Although supporters of the language regularly promoted popular evenings of secular Manx Language plays, songs and poetry around the Island, and numerous letters, poems, carvals and speeches were printed in the Manx papers right up until 1914, (and in fact, some issues of the mid 1870s had more Manx in them than English) the language, both in the Isle of Man, and amongst the diaspora community in Ohio, fell into steep decline.
Although Manx continued to be spoken on a daily basis in some industries, such as agriculture and fishing, it was in a fragile state. The census data from 1901, 1911, 1921 and 1931 recorded if speakers spoke ‘English’ or ‘Both Manx and English’. Recent research suggests that Manx speakers were being judged solely on their English language ability by data collectors — for example, some people are recorded as speaking ‘Both’ in 1901, but ‘English’ in 1911. Nevertheless, the figures show a sharp decline in those decades of Manx ability in younger, school-age people.
The largest fall occurs between 1911 and 1921; before and after the First World War, and reveal the impact the conflict had on the language. 8,261 young Manx men (82.3% of the military age population) enlisted. 1,165 died and 987 were wounded. Many others found employment elsewhere after the war. The census shows a fall in the number of Manx speakers over the decade of 1,486.
By the mid twentieth century there were very few native speakers of Manx left. A movement to support the language had led to the formation of the Manx Society (Yn Çheshaght Ghaelgagh) in 1899, but it received very little government support or recognition, even from the Manx Museum. Many older Manx people had been traumatised by their schoolings’ sanctions against Manx and were reluctant to pass whatever they knew of the language to their children and grandchildren. Students of the language had to seek out volunteer led classes and older speakers who were willing to teach.
Ned Maddrell, considered to be the last of the twentieth century’s native speakers of Manx, passed away in 1974. The Manx Language was kept alive during the twentieth century by academic Manx clergymen and the volunteer teachers of Yn Çheshaght Ghaelgagh. One of the oldest Manx speakers and volunteer teachers for Yn Çheshaght Ghaelgagh currently living is John Crellin. John learnt Manx from his neighbours in rural Andreas in the late thirties and served as a gunner in the Royal Navy during the Second World War; fighting at the Battle of Malta, the Battle of the Atlantic, and covering the landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Leslie Quirk was another volunteer teacher. Leslie toured the Island with Éamon de Valera in 1947 to record the last generation of native speakers. Leslie, along with a group of friends, had also learnt Manx in the 1930s and continued to teach the language up until his death in 2004. With the help of the Irish Government, the Irish Folkore Commission supported Manx field workers in collecting recordings of Manx speakers that have been a valuable resource for students of the language ever since.
Although Manx had been mostly neglected by scholarly academics in previous decades, in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s Manx attracted the studies of scholars, notably; Adrian Pilgrim, Robert Thompson and George Broderick. The work of these scholars supported the work of a new generation of volunteer teachers of the language, notably Dougie Fargher, who produced a new dictionary for the language, taught over the radio, led a team of volunteers who taught extra-curricular classes at schools, and held evening classes in pubs and private houses all around the island, and Brian Stowell, who wrote courses for learners and campaigned for recognition of the language.
The situation of indigenous languages in the British Isles first became an overtly political issue in the early years of the twentieth century, when the Irish language became associated with republicanism and seperatism. When Manx had been the majority language, the Manx speaking community had been, for the most part, deeply conservative and loyal to the British Crown. During the twentieth century, probably because there were few learning materials for Manx, Manx Language supporters began to study Irish, which was supported by the Irish Government, and even began to incorporate vocabulry and idiom from Irish into Manx. This tendancy began with J.J.Kneen in the 1920s, and continued through until the end of the twentieth century.
Perhaps as early as the 1960s the Manx Language had begun to be associated with republicanism and nationalism. Political groups, such as Fo Halloo and Mec Vannin, and The Celtic League, tied the issue of language rights in with their nationalist agendas and some Manx speakers became involved in nationalist politics. With the Troubles only a few miles across the water in Belfast, the Manx Language came to be seen by some politically dangerous, and perhaps because of the political stigma that became attatched to the language, calls for the government to recognise the language were mostly ignored.
By the mid 1980s there was a renewed interest in the language and an understanding at many levels of Manx society that Manx culture and language were unique, uniquly intertwined and of great instrinstic importance. Besides the nationalist groups, there were academics, conservative businessmen and politiciains (such as Charles Cain and Charlie Kerruish), and otherwise non- politically aligned groups, such as Caarjyn ny Gaelgey, all looking for support for the language. In 1985 Tynwald passed a resolution “That Manx Gaelic should be supported and encouraged by all agencies of Government and Boards of Tynwald so far as they are practically able”. The Speaker’s comments recognized that “this Government and recent Governments have shown an astonishing disregard for the need to both preserve and promote that (Manx Heritage).”
In 1991 the government established the post of Manx Language Officer and the teaching of Manx in schools was re-established. Almost thirty years later, Manx classes run in all government primary schools in Years 4, 5 and 6, consisting of one thirty minute class per week for two terms of each school year. The classes are voluntary, either opt-out or opt-in, and teach basic vocabulary and grammar, as well as some traditional Manx songs, sayings and rhymes. The classes are also intended to teach pupils about languages generally and lessons discuss the functions of parts of speech, such as ‘noun’, ‘verb’ and ‘tense’. In four of the Island’s secondary schools pupils can opt to continue studying Manx as a curricular subject and sit for GCSE and A Level equivalent certificates. Pupils who are already fluent in the language can also continue to study one or two subjects per week through the medium of Manx up until Year 9. In total 1,528 pupils are currently learning Manx at various levels, some to fluency, some perhaps only some basic phrases and vocabulary.
The fluent speaking pupils come from Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, the Manx medium primary school established in 2001. Pupils from Bunscoill Ghaelgagh all reach a high level of fluency by the age of eleven and interact with Manx speaking teachers at secondary school in Manx. Many, but not all pupils who have learnt Manx either in Bunscoill Ghaelgagh or with the Manx Language Unit continue to be involved with the language after leaving school.
There are also adult classes for learners around the Island, and online classes. The new availability of online learning resources and video-conferencing meetings has also helped the Manx diaspora engage with the language and there is now at least one fluent speaker again in Ohio, who teaches others and is now a regular visitor to the Island.
Some pupils who learn Manx in school go on to study linguistics at university and post-graduate level. Manx is now regularly discussed at academic conferences, particularly those concerned with preserving linguistic diversity. New academic research on Manx has in turn supported teachers in improving their understanding of the language, particularly in re-asssessing the some ‘non-traditional’ aspects of the language that crept in during the twentieth century.
In 2003, Tynwald voted in favour of a motion presented by Steve Rodan for the United Kingdom to sign the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages with Part Two protection level for the Manx Language (See Appendix for details of the provisions). The provisions of the charter were vital in encouraging teachers to put in the work required to reach the level of fluencey needed to teach in the language. There are no university courses for Manx, so the security provided by the charter was crucial in persuading potential teachers that the Isle of Man Government was sincere in its long-term intention to support the language and the hard work required for mastery of the language would not be in vain.
Compliance with the European Charter is overseen by a committee of experts that periodically submit reports to the European Council. (The 47 member Council of Europe was set up after the Second World War to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law — it is not a branch of the European Union). The key commitment of that the Isle of Man has committed to in regards to the teaching of Manx is “provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages”.