Fairy Tales
Back to homepage
The Buggane of The Smelt
There was once a Buggane living at The Smelt that was a terrible annoyance. He’d make himself as big as a house or small as a black beetle. One time he’d be like a tall man with his head under
Read More
The Witch of Slieu Whallian
It was Midsummer Day, and the Peel Herring Fleet, with sails half set, was ready for sea. The men had their barley sown, and their potatoes down, and now their boats were rigged and nets stowed on board and they
Read More
Manannan’s Weather
When Juan Quirk was a bit of a boy, nothing would do but his mother must tell him a story every night before he went to bed. And a special kind of story it had to be. He was all
Read More
Twisting the Rope
Many a long year ago there was a young farmer of the name of Gorry Kermode that had a farm away up in the mountains. When he married and took Katriney his wife to live in that lonely place, every
Read More
Tehi-Tegi the Enchantress
“With lips of rosy hue, Dipp’d five times over in ambrosial dew, She led them to their destruction.”~ Old Poet. Long hundreds of years ago there was a witch in the island who made herself the finest and cleverest looking
Read More
The Ballad of Manannan beg mac y Leirr
(Little Manannan, son of Leir) Little Manannan was the son of Leirr, he was the first that ever had her; but as I can best conceive, he himself was a heathen. ‘Twas not with his sword he kept her, nor
Read More
The Cormorant and The Bat
There was a time in the olden days when the cormorant and the bat took counsel together to do something for the poor as they had compassion on them, and they went into the glens gathering wool to make clothing
Read More
The Wisest Living Creature
And then there was the Miller’s Cat who seems to have had the power of human speech. By some mischance the Miller had put himself in the power of a wicked giant and could only win free by answering certain
Read More
The Wonderful Goat of Laxey
There was once an old woman living in Laxey Valley that had a wonderful queer goat. White she was, with curving horns at her and amber eyes. There wasn’t another goat anywhere that gave such rich creamy milk, winter and
Read More
How the Herring Became ‘King of the Sea’
The old fishermen of the Isle of Man have it to say that years and years ago the fish met to choose themselves a king for they had no deemster (judge) to tell them what was right. Likely enough their
Read More