Ber Weyde

One of the most dramatic episodes ever witnessed in a Manx church was acted in old St. Patrick’s of Jurby in November 1661. The vicar, Sir William Crowe, had been …

Bishop Wilson tells us in his ‘History of the Isle of Man’ that “there are a great many laws and Customs which are peculiar to this place and singular” in …

At Kirk Michael, 31 July 1712, one Alice Knakill, alias Moor, of Kirk Lonan, confessed to a charge of having taken up some earth from under a neighbour’s door, and …

Among the accustomed unwritten laws of the Manx Church was the following:   “That he or she that call a man a ‘Dog’ or a woman a ‘Bitch’ shall wear …

Ballaugh Church on the Isle of Man must be the oldest still in use, after Kirk Maughold. Among its hoary tombstones is one ornamented with carvings of unchristian tramman leaves …

Chibber-yn-rhullic ‘Well of the Graveyard’, is a medicinal spring, now much overgrown on the summit of South Barrule. This is the spring which was believed to have direct communication with …

FAIRIES – “The fairies are baking,” is said of a sunshine-shower. The old people used to say: “Ta ny ferrishyn fuinney tra ta’n ghrian soilshean as y fliaghey tuittym“, i.e. …

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 …

In Viking times, the Danes were called ‘DHOO-GAEL’, that is black foreigners, while the Norwegians were called ‘FIN-GAEL,’ fair strangers. It has usually been supposed that this was a distinction …

First it’s story… Above the entrance to Glen Roy, the West side of the Laxey valley is seamed with a series of small watercourses, beside each of which was perched …

There is a little farm named Ellanbane, once the White Island set in a lake in Lezayre. In Elizabeth I’s last years it was the home of Huan Standish, whose …

Time will change the fairest flower, Time will change the gayest bower, Time will waste the giant oak, Time will end all human hope. Time the palace walls erases, Time …

In the old days Culain, the smith of the gods, was living in the Isle of Man. It was the time when Conchubar was at the court of the King …

A wedding with none of the bride’s relatives in attendance was called a ‘Crow’s Wedding’ and there is the following rhyme: The little wedding of the crow Went over the …

I’m near wore to a shadder, Miss Quilliam, Gerrin’ all them wans off yestiddy, Dhressed up in theer bes’, nate an’ tidy, For the Sundaa School Anniversary. For theer’s Grandaa …

From ‘A HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN’ by Joseph Train (1844): A neighbour of mine who kept cattle, had his fields very much infested with this animal, by which …

When Paie Cregeen married Gorry Karran in Rushen Church she thought she was the happiest girl in the Isle of Man. Gorry was one of the crew of ‘The Morning …

The Moddey Dhoo is a black hound in Manx folklore that reputedly haunts a number of places on the Isle of Man, the most famous being Peel Castle on the …

The following item of news was communicated to the Mona’s Herald newspaper, by a correspondent, in 1847:   “We are sorry to state that the same disgraceful conduct has again …

There is an old cottage in Spaldrick, which I wish to choose as a type, which has been inhabited in succession by four generations of a very long-lived family (who …

♫ Ushag veg ruy ny moanee doo, Ny moanee doo, ny moanee doo, Ushag veg ruy ny moanee doo, C’raad chaddil oo riyr ‘syn oie?   Ushag veg ruy ny …

Ta Cashen ersooyl gys yn aarkey – Cashan has gone to Sea ♫ O, Cashen has gone to the fishing, And glad enough is he to go; His wife has …

Almost invariably there was a spring or a gentle stream nearby every Keeill. It served the purpose of baptism and retained the respect associated with it in pagan times. It …

The ‘soddhag-rheynney‘ (dividing-cake) was an extra bit of dough baked in a flat cake, broken into small pieces, and scattered on the kitchen floor or just outside the house for …

Things which are simply lucky or unlucky in a general way are almost innumerable but I have seen no mention of what is called the “even ash,” a twig which …

Fairy flowers (red campion) should never be brought indoors at any time. If by chance they are, that night the fairies will come for them and then woe betide the …

The patronal saint of this parish was St. Christopher, but he was better known in Ireland under his Gaelic name ‘Conchenn’, meaning ‘dog-head’ or ‘wolf-head.’ In the Greek churches St. …

An account by Joseph Train (1844) “According to my friend, Mr. Forbes, the only quadruped peculiar to the Island of which it can boast, is the tail-less cat, called in …

During the Continental wars, corn was, in the British Isles, frightfully dear. With peace came a fall in prices and farmers were in despair. Then foreign corn was prohibited, and …

An extract from Mona Douglas and her Songs by George Broderick. 4.4. The Sea Invocation (Geay Jeh’n Aer) ‘Collected, and the English version of the Manx traditional words by Mona …