On Dalby mountain the old Manx people used to put their ears to the earth at ‘Sheean ny Feaynid’ (the Sounds of Infinity), to hear sounds which were like murmurs. …
Customs
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This is earth from a spot where three land boundaries (ooir ny tree cagleeyn) meet which was sprinkled on a person afflicted with the evil eye. It was considered one …
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The purifying virtue of fire was often used to destroy the malignant power present in a dead or dying animal, and so prevent further misfortune, and to discover the person …
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A Manx wedding is one of the traditional social occasions of which the memory has not been allowed to die on the Island. Life is not now always recognisably Manx, …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …