Ber Weyde

Though only part of the mound remains, it is probably a Bronze Age burial site which was reused for Christian or pagan inhumations in the medieval period; its name though …

A monarchy under a feudal system was a political machine from which the element of free choice was as far as possible eliminated. A ruler, whether king or lord, ruled …

Of the men who worked on the series of carved crosses left on the Isle of Man as a memorial of the Viking Age, only one name has come down …

The low, sandy north-western shores of the Isle of Man provide a good approach for flat-bottomed boats as the Vikings discovered some twelve hundred years ago, and one of the …

In the second half of the 19th century the principal cottage at the top of Port Mooar in Maughold, was occupied by two men named Kissack, father and son, both …

By Ellie Shimmin. February 28th, 1915. Today is my birthday, seventy-four years. I was born in the year 1841 in the parish of Ballaugh. I was baptized and catechised for …

It was customary to keep this festival on the eve of the first of February, in honour of the Irish lady who came over to the Isle of Man to …

After a few visits to the church last year and the door locked on each occasion, it was lovely to find it open yesterday. As with so many of the …

At 20m in diameter and 4m high, Broogh Fort is almost hidden from the road by hedgerow but on seeing the monument notice on a field gate and entering, it’s …

The customs on this eve and on May-Day were, until quite recently, commonly observed on the Old Style dates of May 11 and May 12. ►TRAIN in 1845… “Many of …

At a recent gathering of the World Manx Association, held at the Nunnery, the Attorney-General (Mr. Ramsey B. Moore), in his address, remarked upon the growing habit of Manx parents …

The old Manx people had a saying that there were three places where you could make a living – in the curraghs, on the hills and by the sea. In …

The Manx church was the social as well as the spiritual centre of the Manx parish. At the Parish Cross, which stood outside every churchyard fence, people gathered after service …

“Have you ever seen seven kingdoms all in one day?” “Seven kingdoms?” says you, “Aw – get away!” “It’s true as I’m breathing, not a lie do I tell, Now …

On the Isle of Man every ditch had to be full of rain or snow on St Bridget’s Day so that the old Caillagh, or hag, could not gather brasnags …

A lovely scene at Maughold with a traditional Manx thatched cottage and perhaps a mucklagh giark (hen house) to the side as some hens are pecking away at the ground. …

The transition in the Viking world of pagan beliefs to the final embrace of Christianity is depicted on this stone. The Vikings brought pagan religion to shores already believing in …

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 …

Enter Cutlar Mac Culloch, a powerful rover from Galloway who made repeated excursions into the northern parts of the Isle of Man around 1507. He would carry off all that …

This is said to be the bitterest curse in the Manx language: “The stone of the church in the corner of thy house” (Clagh ny killagh ayns corneil dty hie). …

The curse and ritual of the Skeab Lome (Besom of Destruction) does not appear to have an exact parallel in any other nation’s folklore, though the association of the broom …

As Laa’l Breeshey (St Bridget’s Day) approaches on 1st February, here is a Manx Folksong to St Bridget called ‘Vreeshey, Vreeshey’. ♫ Vreeshey, Vreeshey, tar gys my hie, tar gys …

Once on a time there lived at the bottom end of Cornah gill a family of the name of Sayle, and the Mermaid who had her haunt up Bulgham way …

In the 1920s a number of strange reddish lights were reported, two and sometimes three at once, moving about a man’s garden adjoining the Claddagh, “as big as the rear …

The incubation period of cholera can be as short as a few hours, the time it takes for the ingested vibrio cholera to get to its natural habitat, the human …

Mention the word ‘cycling’ and ‘Isle of Man’, and many people will automatically think of Mark Cavendish and Peter Kennaugh, two modern day sportsmen who have achieved amazing success to …

Every parish in the Isle of Man had its wells, wells that in the distant past played an important part in the lives of the community. Many of them were …

Water is silver, but wine it is gold, So give it me mellow, bright, pure and old; I mind not its clime, be it Xeres or Cape, So ’tis honest …

I had a very good childhood with brothers and sisters and a good mother and father. We lived in Tynwald Street in Douglas where I was born in 1925. I …

In pre-Reformation times and for many years afterwards, the feast of the patron saint of a church or parish was observed by a religious service in the church, often an …