The Isle of Man Books by Agnes Herbert
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISLE OF MAN DESCRIBED BY AGNES HERBERT ILLUSTRATED BY DONALD MAXWELL Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L. 1 610 below ANCH THE ISLE OF MAN BOOKS BY AGNES HERBERT Two DIANAS IN SOMALILAND: The Record of a Shooting Trip. With numerous Illus- trations. Demy 8vo. Two DIANAS IN ALASKA. By AGNES HERBERT and a SHIKARI. With numerous Illustrations. Demy 8vo. BOOKS BY DONALD MAXWELL THE LOG OF THE GRIFFIN : The Story of a Cruise from the Alps to the Thames. With no Illustrations by the Author and COTTINGTON TAYLOR, of which 16 are in colour. Demy 8vo. A CRUISE ACROSS EUROPE : Notes on a Freshwater Voyage from Holland to the Black Sea. With nearly 200 Illustrations by the Author and COTTINGTON TAYLOR. Demy 8vo. THE PROMENADE, DOUGLAS . I . THE . i ISLE OF MAN DESCRIBED BY AGNES HERBERT WITH FOREWORD BY A. W. MOORE C.V.O., M.A., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF KEYS, AND 32 COLOUR PLATES BY DONALD MAXWELL & & & LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMIX 74797 COLOUR BLOCKS AND PRINTING BY CARL HENTSCHKL, LTD. TEXT PRINTED BY WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PLYMOUTH JPA n o TO V. E. BRADDA FIELD MY LOVE TO THEE IS SOUND, S4NS CRACK, OR FLAW The climate's delicate ; the air most sweet ; Fertile the isle the ; temple much surpassing The common praise it bears. The Winter's Tale \ FOREWORD FRESH from her triumphs in the mighty hunting- grounds of Somaliland and Alaska, Miss Herbert comes to the tiny, but, as her book shows, the happy, hunting-ground of the Isle of Man. Manx-men and Manx-women are her quarry, not lions and bears. To me the chief charm in a charming book are the keen, yet loving and delicate, appreciation of the and their and the intimate and ^YTO people country, humorous description of their manners and customs ; an appreciation and a description possible only to one who, like Miss Herbert, was brought up amongst them. There is, however, much besides this. Archae- ology, Folklore, and the Herring Fishery are lightly and pleasantly dealt with. Even the Serbonian bog of Manx history is not shunned, and, in the manner of Waldron of old, is enlivened with apt anecdote and illustration. It is clear, nevertheless, that Miss v^ Herbert leaves the Duke of Athol and his congeners with relief, and that she gleefully betakes herself to the more congenial society of the Phynnodderee, the Glashtin, and the Buggane. I have been trying to find original epithets to depict the effect of this book upon me, but, as I am obsessed x FOREWORD with the words "bright, breezy, and bracing," used in a well-known advertisement to describe Mona's Isle, I have tried in vain. After all, these words do describe Miss Herbert's book. I am certain that, when any native of Mona reads it, he or she will not "... hear the wavelets murmur As they kiss the fairy shore." On the contrary, they will see the big waves sparkling in the sunlight and romping into Port Erin bay before a stiff north-wester. It is a book which should appeal to the visitor, who, though not a student of things Manx, wants something more than a guide-book. It will certainly appeal to the native, who will promptly enrol Miss Herbert in the little band which, in the words of our beloved poet, Tom Brown, endeavours " To unlock the of the island treasures heart ; With loving feet to trace each hill and glen, And find the ore that is not for the mart of commerce." A. W. MOORE PREFATORY NOTE IN presenting this slight record of the Isle of Man as I know it, I hope it may not be thought that I pre- tentiously lay claim to have attempted the writing of a history of Manxland. That has been compre- hensively done again and again, and by very able pens. It has been considered advisable to touch lightly on the Great Happenings which have given the island its distinctive character and unique and ; although inadequately dealt with, many far-reaching events having been disregarded altogether as being too technical for a book of this kind, the brief outline of historical fact is, I think, correct and reliable. With no sinister piratical intention, I have freely pillaged contemporary histories and picked the ancient records of other times. By a general refining process, a system of odious comparisons, the historical items have been arrived at and garnered together. In the archives of the ages I found all that is required to com- " pound what might be called an original recipe for a Manx haggis." Colour books, as you know, must, for some occult reason, run on the tramlines of tradition. The history, folk-lore, customs, natural beauties, etc., etc., of the xii PREFATORY NOTE chosen country constitute the literary raison d'etre of " " these volumes. Spade work does not daunt me ; but when the ground has been previously dug for miles around, what can the most conscientious tiller do save throw up the soil afresh, and re-plant it ? My best thanks are due to my friends, Mr. P. G. Ralfe and Sir John W. Carrington, C.M.G., for much kindness and help in connexion with this book. I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of Mr. A. W. Moore, c.v.o., M.A., Speaker of the House of Keys, whose kindly good-will permits me to make use of much of his research, and who honours my book by contributing a foreword. AGNES HERBERT CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. INTRODUCTORY . 3 II. DESCRIPTIVE AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL . 19 III. TYNWALD AND LEGISLATION . 32 IV. TRADITION AND EARLY HISTORY . 44 V. MIDDLE HISTORY . 60 VI. LATER HISTORY . 75 VII. HERRING FISHERY AND SOME INSULARITIES . 89 VIII. A CRUISE ROUND THE ISLE . .no IX. A TOUR INLAND . *33 X. FOLKLORE . 169 XI. CUSTOMS PAST AND PRESENT . 195 XII. MANX WORTHIES . ... 218 XIII. THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLE . 235 XIV. MARRIAGE CUSTOMS . ... 253 XV. THE CLOSE AND SPRING TIME . 268 GLOSSARY . ... 273 ILLUSTRATIONS > THE PROMENADE, DOUGLAS . Frontispiece FACING PAGE MANNANAN'S MANTLE . ... 4 DOUGLAS: THE ARRIVAL . ... 8 THE FAIRY GLEN . ... 12 MAP OF THE ISLE OF MAN . ... 20 SNAEFELL, FROM SULBY GLEN . ... 22 THE VERGE OF THE CURRAGH . 24 DHOON GLEN . ... 32 RAMSEY . ... 38 BRADDA HEAD . ... 54 JURBY POINT . ... 72 A VALLEY IN THE SOUTHERN HILLS . 82 THE QUAY, FROM THE CASTLE, PEEL . 90 PEEL BAY . ... 94 PEEL . HARBOUR . ... 100 MAUGHOLD HEAD . no ST. PATRICK'S ISLE, PEEL . 112 CRONK-NY-IRREY-LHAA . 116 THE SOUND . ... 122 CASTLETOWN . 126 OFF DOUGLAS HEAD . 130 CASTLE RUSHEN . ... 146 DOUGLAS HEAD . ... 154 THE CURRAGH COUNTRY . ... 158 xvi ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGB - THE AYRE . ... 162 A MANX GLEN . ... 176 LAXEY . ... 202 LEAD MINE AT LAXEY . ... 212 GLEN AULDYN . ... 220 THE CAVES OF BRADDA . ... 230 SULBY VILLAGE . ... 242 OLD LEAD MINE IN RUSHEN . ... 250 THE RETURN . ... 268 THE ISLE OF MAN THE ISLE OF MAN CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Steering with due course toward the isle. Othello. This island's mine. The Tempest. " " I AM invited to write the text for a colour book " on the Isle of Man, and I ask myself, What is a colour " book ? A volume of painted scenes, an artist's conception, a world of beauty limned for you on India paper ? Or may the letter-press take a hand in the " colour scheme as well ? For the Isle of Man, this little world, this precious stone, set in the silver sea," is all colour, from the golden glowing glory of the cushag and the gorse, the precipitous grey-black cliffs, seamed across with myriad tints, the green of the swelling hills, the crimson heather, to the whiteness of the straw-thatched cottages whose tiny windows reflect in shafts of quivering light the fierce slanting rays of the summer sun. Come. We'll see the little island Manx people " always call it the lil islan'," because there is only 4 THE ISLE OF MAN one island in all the world to a son or daughter of Mona in the early afternoon of a sleepy summer day. We are making for Port Erin, on the south side of the small territory, coming from Ireland, and as yet can see but a dim grey wraith on the horizon, enveloped in a filmy cloak of gossamer. That is Mannanan's mantle. He was a magician of olden times, a selfish magician enough, and all his energies were directed towards the successful weaving of a fairy web of gauze, which he cast about the island at will, rendering it undiscoverable. When the cloak and the sky merged the land was hidden, so that none knew a little world lay beneath the enshrouding mist, and Mannanan indulged his mania for solitude to the full, and lived the simple life in solitary state. Mannanan has gone now. He was driven away by unbelief, for here, in Britain, we are too clever nowa- days to take magicians seriously. Even the Manx children are beginning to have their doubts of the authenticity of the fairy rings, and question very much whether the Phynnodderee, the King of the Manx Brownies, really did haunt the glens, and rang the fairy bells o' nights. The soft haze which sometimes lies over the Isle of Man is all that is left of the reign of Mannanan. He quitted the scene of his necromantic reign so hurriedly he had no time to pack ! The faint ghost of the land takes on clearer pencil- lings, darker grows the outline, clearer yet, masses of emerald green streak off into the purple hills.