Ber Weyde

Even the poorest of people tried to keep a cow to supply them with milk and butter. Selling the butter, along with eggs at market, was an important way that …

There were differences between women’s work on the crofts and small farms, and that on the large farms. On the small crofts women turned their hand to almost any job …

We have two descriptions of Manx homes in the early 18th century, one from George Waldron, a customs officer and the other from Bishop Wilson. Bishop Wilson wrote in 1722 …

Eleanor Brennan (always known as Nelly), was born in Douglas in humble circumstances on 26 January 1792 some months after the death of her Irish father who was a boatswain …

Rummaging through W Walter Gill’s ‘Manx Dialect Words & Phrases‘ (1934) this morning.  I find it is one of those books whose example sentences in particular, can sometimes transport you …

I found an old file I created some years ago where I had recorded some words and their meanings from Archibald Cregeen’s ‘A Dictionary of the Manks Language‘ (1835). Here …

I am a true-born Manxman, an’ I like the good oul’ style, I’m nava in a hurry for it’s best to wait a while – It doesn’t do to be …

Manx folklore is a curious mixture of that of various races.  The population, based on a Gaelic and Pre-Celtic stock, but crossed with Scandanavian and tinged with the Lancashire and …

Lovely time wandering around the fair field and as ever, meeting people (even after 30 years!) and having a good catch-up.  Great array of stalls and I particularly liked the …

Profanation on the Sabbath was one of the commonest offences and the breaches of the holy days were very varied in character.  Men were presented for grinding snuff; for selling …

⬥Did you avar heer the lek of yandhar? Whey, they say they’re are things talkin’ at Jimmy Juan Nan’s. ⟡Aw, well, well, man! I’m nor a bit surprised at that. …

Farming has been in the blood of my ancestors for generations of Kellys and I descended from a long line of tenant farmers here on the Island. The good farmer …

When I was a little boy, we lived over by Sloc. One day, when I was six years old, my mother and my grandmother went up the mountain to make …

Lovely visit last week to the tholtans and well.  Blue skies though a deceptively piercing wind.  I could not tell if there was any water in the well though the …

Drift Nets Herring and mackerel used to be caught entirely by drift nets.  Drift nets drift in any direction that the tide may take them and act as barriers to …

For thousands of years great shoals of herring entered the coastal waters of the Isle of Man. Probably there were herring fleets in the days of the Norse Kings of …

Below is the final chapter from Lancashire Sketches (third edition) published by Edwin Waugh in 1869.  It is quite lengthy but a delightful read.  I do not know how accurate …

‘Nan Wade’ was a well-known Manx wise woman whose gifts of healing and charming were held in high esteem and much sought after.  She specialised in producing herbal remedies and …

It is very hard for us to imagine homes without a gas or electric cooker and a fridge or freezer to keep food fresh. How did Manx people manage when …

I was at a mini-workshop today at Cregneash and went for a walk around the village afterwards.  The village was very quiet with no tourists, the odd jogger, a few …

Bannaghtyn ec yn shass greiney souree shoh. Greetings/Blessings on this Summer Solstice.

We first hear of the Quakers (aka Society of Friends) in Lord Fairfax’s time (1651-1660), when the governor prohibited anyone from receiving them into their houses, and the Quakers themselves …

Together they sit in the eventide, A mongrel dog by his master’s side, Both of them bowed by the weight of years. A trembling hand strokes the silky ears; Brown …

Most precious of all things in my childhood is the remembrance of my grandmother. Tall and stately even to the end, she had all the dignity of some high-bred dame …

Some entries from A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect (1924) compiled by AW Moore with the co-operation of Sophia Morrison and Edmund Goodwin. MHINYAG [minjag] (Mx. minniag) – a pinch, …

On the Isle of Man, the little red woman of Carraghan when travelling through the hills was sometimes followed by a goose. Though she was most often seen flitting about …

This I have always longed to do The sea said, as the spring wind blew – There is a house on Gansey Bay; Would I carry her away! A little …

New website for Isle of Man Wells – another of my interests.  Many of the wells have been forgotten and neglected for years and I would like to highlight their …

As Manx as the Hills is delighted to be an Environmental/Culture partner of UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man. Among the Isle of Man’s many special attributes is that it is …

Happy Laa Luanys.   It’s that time of the year when the bounty of the land and the strength of the summer days bring us a much needed harvest. May …