Ber Weyde

♫ Oie-vie noght, Babban boght, Safe in Mammy’s arms you res’; Villish veg, Babban beg, Coo, my birdie, in your nes’! Babban beg, Villish veg, Shut your eyes, my pretty …

Fairies? They’re in Glen Aldyn still Whatever you may say; I’ve seen them over by the mill, I’ve met them coming down the Gill; And underneath the bridges They’re just …

There is a story, sir, of a witch that lived in Glen Rushen on the Isle of Man. She could command the wind to blow so sudden as to dismast …

Mist on the fields, and a deepening summer twilight, Cattle passing homeward along the narrow lane; Lily-pools that gleam in the darkness of the meadows, Music of the night-breeze in …

This happened about one hundred years ago, as my mother has told me: Where my grandfather John Watterson was reared, just over near Kerroo Kiel (Narrow Quarter), all the family …

Were there ever Druids on the Isle of Man? I have often been asked this question in the Island but I did not expect to be able to produce a …

They say that if a man would keep from getting his face washed for nine days, he would see the wind as well as the black pig. (source Manx Notes …

The first day came from the bitter north Was there ever so cold a Spring? But the sun shone out for an hour at noon, And we heard the cuckoo …

When the marrying couple were in poor circumstances it was the custom to leave a dollan (sieve) in an unobtrusive but convenient spot in the kitchen and into this every …

Lately I have learned from a Lezayre source that even the sprays of the keirn or mountain ash – the luckiest thing that grows – should never be brought into …

Thousands of years ago, at the time of the Battles of the Giants in Ireland, Finn Mac Cooil was fighting with a great, red-haired Scots giant who had come over …

In 1778 the question of the defence of the Island, owing to the withdrawal of the English troops there, became an urgent one and the Keys called upon the Lieutenant-Governor …

An an interesting article from Jan 2010… THE Isle of Man’s magical past is being uncovered by a leading authority on ancient and medieval paganism. Professor Ronald Hutton, Professor of …

The law of the Ring, the Rope and the Sword, by which a single woman was given the choice of seeing her violator hanged, beheaded, or married to her, has …

Those red caps remind me that red, and even blue, was preferred by the small Manx fairies to green in their attire, and this is especially true of the fairy …

“When trees in calm air move, then speak the dead.” We know that Odin was the god of both wind and storm and war. To him the temple in Upsala …

The Battle of Skyhill in 1079 took place about one mile (1.5 km) west of Ramsey, Isle of Man in 1079. This was during the third and final time that …

(M) = Manx; (S) = Scandanavian ►ANAGH COAR (Annacur) (M) – marsh of the herons. ►BALDWIN (M) – Scand. Boldair, ‘homestead dale.’ It is tempting to derive this name from …

A rare 14th Century Bishop’s seal discovered in 2012 by a metal detecting enthusiast on the Isle of Man, has finally been declared Treasure Trove at an inquest in April. …

FREE DOWNLOAD: Manx National Heritage has produced a 36 page document entitled CELTS IN MANN. It’s a great read and the contents include:   • Celtic Places & People • …

Mona Douglas, MBE RBV (1898-1987) was a Manx cultural activist, folklorist, poet, novelist and journalist. She is recognised as the main driving force behind the modern revival of Manx culture …

Kathleen Faragher (1904 – 1974) was the most significant and prolific Manx dialect author of the mid twentieth century. She is best known for her poems first published in the …

Josephine Kermode (1852-1937) was a Manx poet and playwright better known by the pen name “Cushag”. Margaret Letitia Josephine Kermode was born on September 18, 1852, at 73 Parliament Street, …

From a letter in 1846…   “A Wesleyan preacher, named Corjaig, declared some years back that he witnessed the departure of all the fairies of the Isle of Man from …

The battle took place in 1275 at Ronaldsway in the southern part of the Isle of Man between a Scottish army and the Manx. The battle crushed the final attempt …

The Glashtyn is a fabulous creature and a shapeshifter in the folklore of the Isle of Man. The popular idea of him is that he is a hairy goblin or …

Local government (Manx: gurneilys ynnydagh) in the Isle of Man was formerly based on six SHEADINGS, which were divided into seventeen parishes (today referred to as “ancient parishes”). The Island …

Newly-married women were sometimes “buitched ” (bewitched) by the jealousy of men who had wanted to marry them and had been disappointed. One result of this was a sort of …