Ber Weyde

This expression is applied to a friendly match-maker, introduced by the young man, to relate to the parents of the girl of his heart – in glowing terms – what …

Thou little tailless cat with coat of jet, Whose amber eyes with ecstatic dew are wet, As on my lap thy paws beat even tread, “In-out, in-out” – as though …

Considered an unlucky day. T. Moore who helped Dr. Clague write his book ‘Reminiscenes’ told me that his grandfather would not allow his household to go from home on Easter …

It was formerly believed in the Isle of Man that Roman Catholics were buried with a loaf of bread and a hammer. The latter was to be used in knocking …

Over sixty years ago, the Irish Folklore Commission made recordings of the last native Manx speakers. In doing so, the Commission ensured the preservation of the Manx language for generations …

The Crosh Vushta or mustering cross was the means by which the country was raised to defend it and stern were the rules that governed its use. The assembling token …

The old fishermen thought it very lucky to catch the first bee they happened to see in April. It was the sign of a good herring season, they said. I …

“An’ what do you fin’, Mrs Cottier, To do in the counthry?” says she With an edge on her vice like a knife blade! Fancy talkin’ so condescendin’ to ME! …

Below is an interesting ritual from a 1938 publication (privately published) by Manx author W. Walter Gill. “From a Southside source, anonymous by desire, I learn that a woman who …

This poem is about Manx Folklorist William Cashen who was custodian/guardian of Peel Castle and who died whilst on duty there in 1912. The old man ceased and in the …

The man that was telling this story said he knew the house and the young men as well, and that the house was haunted by the fairies. There was one …

Brushing the dust at the head of four (cross) ways, and putting the dust over man, or beast, was thought to take away the evil eye. I have heard people …

Fairies are very light and I suppose the strong winds have blown them away, as they are not allowed to come into the houses in stormy weather as they used …

One day this winter we had no bread for tea at Orry’s Dale. On inquiring the reason the next time the baker’s cart came, the boy who drove it said …

When a man was out of his senses, he was sometimes carried out in a boat, and a rope was put about his neck, and then he was thrown out …

I think it was in the beginning of September that I was working in the garden, when a robin began to sing on the top of a hedge close by. …

Castletown 100 years ago by Flaxney Stowell (d.1916)… Mill Street branches off from Malew Street, about, half way up on the right hand side. It gets its name from the …

One winter’s night a large ship came into the bay, near the Stack rock. The look-out cried “Breakers ahead!” but it was too late. The vessel was pitched on the …

In 1822, the vessel ‘Racehorse’ was lost off Langness on the Skerranes, about two miles out to sea. The night of the wreck was one of thick darkness, and there …

I have heard an old story that long ago there used to be a great deal of kids on the top of the mountains or on the headlands of the …

“Big Robin, big Robin, take a smoke, take a smoke, take a smoke.” “I have no smoke, I have no smoke.” “Buy, buy, buy.” “I have not a penny, I …

At a certain time of the year, the young men and young women of the Isle of Man were summoned to Castletown and the Governor, deemsters (judges), coroners (who carried …

Oh! lament for the days that are past and gone, When the sun of glory bright, On the fairest Isle of the ocean shone With freedom’s holy light; When the …

Saint Conan (7th century – January, 684), also rarely known as Saint Mochonna, was a bishop of the Isle of Man and an Irish missionary. Extract from a report by …

The Isle of man is full of Fairy lore.  A good Manxman does not speak of fairies — the word ‘ferrish’, a corruption of the English, did not exist in …

There was a curious belief that the cats of the Isle of Man had a king of their own who lived as an ordinary house-cat during the day but at …

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 …

The Isle of Man was known to the authors of the Old Irish sagas by several names: Inis Falga, the Noble Isle; Eamhain Abhlach, the Happy Place of Apple trees …

Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century who is traditionally attributed with the authorship of the ‘Historia Brittonum’, the History of the Britons. This is a purported history …

A talking mongoose in the 1930s received extensive press coverage, attracted ghost-busters, psychic investigators and numerous reporters, and provoked a sensational court action for libel. In September 1931 Gef (pronounced …