V^M^ .^x 3o\)n Canvas §>tanl£p Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation us^^ http://www,archive.org/details/accountofpastpreOOwoodrich • » • ; '• t » • •% • *■ • • • ,• t • • • • ,a , a a* • ; a ^ »,'• » » a a • • a a a to face the Tid, MAP OF THE ISLE OF MAN . Sand &• Sandstone ant represented hy the caiour ofyeUow. Mea.^Iaie . day ^Lue and Grey n'iidx slate iy (hat of^rey. Limestone . by that of pink . ohold AX ACCOUNT OF THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF THE ISLE OF MAN ; INCLUDING A TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION; A SKETCH OF ITS MINERALOGY: ' , AN OUTLINE OF ITS LAWS, "WITH THE PRIVILEGES ENJOYED BY STRANGERS AND A HISTORY OF THE ISLAND. ; % GEORGE r^OODS. " Quis nescit, primam esse historia legem, nequid falsi dicere < ' audeat i delude, neque ver^ non audeat ?" CrcsRo de Oratore, Lib.ti. LONDON: iPRINTEZ) FOR ROBERT BALDWIN, 47, PATERNOSTER-KOW, AND WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBUBWU. 1811. C. B^dwin, Primer, Kcvf Bndge-stTcet, London* To Thomas SrEmiRT Traill of Liverpool, M.D. thisWbrh is dedicated, as a mark of esteem, and as a testimony of gratitude for the great assistance which he has ren- dered to the Author in its mineralogical department. B97im PREFACE. Having resolved to visit the Isle of Man, a place remarkable for the singularity of its lav^s, customs, and privileges, my curiosity prompted me, previously to setting off, to gain every information in my powder respect- ing it. With some difficulty I procured a map of the island, but tried in vain to pur- chase any book upon the subject. During my stay in Man, I heard various complaints of the w^ant of such a publication, and vras thereby determined to submit to the indulgence of the public the present collec- tion of facts and observations. This is, I believe, the only work w^hich combines, w^ith a description of the country, a history of the island, and an outline of its law^s; and the only one w^hich has even touched upon its mineralogy. Tl PREFACE. Of the subjects mentioned in the title page, I make three divisions ; the first containing a general and particular description of the state of the island ; the second, an account of its constitution, laws, and privileges, the latter relative to strangers; and the third, its history from the earliest tradition to the present time.* * Since the writing of this preface I have met with a book, published in 1808, entitled, " A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Isle of Man, with a view of its society, manners, and customs ; partly compiled from vari^ ous authorities, and from observations made in a tour through the island in the summer of 1808, dedicated to hi? Majesty, by Nathaniel JefFerys, formerly representative in parliament for the city of Coventry." 12mo. p.^ 200, price 8s. — This title page, the author considers " a sort of literary licence for picking and stealing." It is the duty of a person, who writes for the public eye, to give every information in his power, upon the subject he has chosen ; to examine authorities, and to relate many things which have been related before. The authorities of the Jeweller to the Prince of Wales appear to have been Robertson and Feltham. Had the treatise been valuable, iwould have checked my own presumption. The period often or fourteen years makes considerable alteration iii the appearance of an improving country ; and the author has not been careful to separate what continues to be tru& from that which is so no longer. ^ ' 4 PREFACE, Tli Nineteen pages of the preface relate to his former publi- cations, and his transactions with the Prince of Wales. They contain an apology for his past conduct, and an assurance to the public that the subsequent liberality (a powerful argument) of his Royal Highness has convinced hkn of his former errors. CONTENTS. BOOK L jl general and particular account op thb ISLE OF man. CHAP. I. Situation and extent of the Isle of Man, Etymology of its Name, A sketch of its Mineralogy t*age 1 CHAP. IL A fem tuords on Manh Zoology • • ',^^ CHAP. IIL On the Population^ Climate, Buildings, and Agriculture of the Island , 3D CHAP. IV. On the Manufactures of the Island 54 CHAP. V. On the Trade of the Island ^ 60 CHAP. VI. On the Herring and the Herring Fishery • 69 CHAP, VIL The Arms of Man. Manh Fencibles. Religion 84- b CONTENTS. CHAP. VIII. On the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, Lan^ guage, Attractions of the Island * . Fage 90 CHAP. IX. Douglas 103 CHAP X. From Douglas to Castletown , 118- CHAP. XI. From Castletoton to the Calf of Man and Peel 139 CHAP. XII. From Peel to Kirk Michael '. 151 CHAP. XIII. From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, Laxey, Douglas; thence to Kirk Marotvn, 166 BOOK II. ON THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE ISLE OF MAN. CHAP. I. On the Constitution, . , 17? CHAP. II. On the Revenue 20$ CHAP III. On the Rights and Liberty of the Person, . , 2S3t CHAP. IV, On Property.^ , . . . 24 f (JONTENTf. CHAP. V. On Private Wrongs and their Redress, t7^^^j77l\ Page 251 CHAP. VI. On Public Wrongs and their Punishment, • •7*7 #••«••» • 273 CHAP. VII. On the Privileges enjoyed by Debtors, « , • • • • • 294? CHAR vin. The Sale ofths Island. $0| BOOK IIL THE HISTORY OF THE ISLA.ICD. CHAP. I, J^rom the earliest Tradition to the Reign ofGodred Crovan 32? CHAP. II. From the Conquest ofGodred Crovan to the Revestment ^the Island in the Croxvn of England in 1765. 354 ACCOUNT OF THE ISLE OF MAN- BOOK I. CHAPTER I, Situation and Extent of the Isle of Man. Ety^ mology of its Name, A Sketch of its Miner a-' logy, iVlAN is an island in the Irish Sea, distant from St. Bee's-head, in Cumherland, thirty nau- tical miles; from Burrow-head, in Scotland, sixteen miles ; and from Strangford, in Ireland, twenty seven miles ; the latitude of the middle of the island being fifty four degrees and six- teen minutes north. Its length rather exceeds thirty miles, and its mean breadth ten. Etymologists are not agreed respecting the derivation of its name. Bishop Wilson sup- B S Etymology of the Name. posed it io be {»-ei albbreviatioii of Manning, it» present Ma^iks appeliation, signifying^, in that language^ among; this isle being surrounded bj other territories. Some suppose it to be derived from Mona, a word which they imagine, but without sufficient authority, to have been used by Caesar to denote this island. *" Mona and Monoida are classed by Ptolemy under the head of Irish islands : Pliny informs us that Mona and Monapia lie between Ireland and Britain :f and the Mona of Tacitus is undoubt- edly Anglesey ; since he relates in his Annals the circumstance of the infantry of the army of Suetonius crossing from the main land in flat- bottomed vessels ; and of the horse partly ford- ing the passage upon the shoals, and partly swimming over. And, again, we are informed, in the life of Agricola, that the army under the * Alterum (latus Britanniae) vergit ad Hispaniam atque 6ccidentem solem : qua ex parte est Hibernia, dimidio minor^ ut EestimatuF) quam Britannia: sed pari Spatio transmissus, atque ex Gallia est in Britanniam. In hoc medio cursu' est insula quae appellatur Mona : complures praeterea minores objectae insula existimantur. Ccesar, de Bello GalUcOi Lib, 5, Cap, IS. f Ifiter Hyberniam ac Britanniam, Mofiai, Monapia, Ric- iiea, Vectisj Silimnus, Andros. Plin* Lib, 4, Cap, 16. 2 Its Summits a^id Rwers. 3 command of that general crossed the straits without the assistance of any vessels, and so frightened the inhabitants by the boldness of such conduct^ that they sued immediately for peace. Perhaps the words Mona and Man may both of them be derived from the ancient British word mdn, accented grave in Owen's dictionary^ and signifying zvhat is isolated. This island is divided into two unequal por- tions by a chain of moderately high mountains, running from north-east to south-west, broken at one part, between mount Kreevey and South Barrule. The most considerable summits are Snawfel and North and South Barrule, the two last forming its extremities. The height of Snawfel, as taken by the barometer, is five hundred and eighty yards above the level of th^ sea ; and the two Barrules are inconsiderably lower. The high land between North Barrule and Mount Kreevey gives rise to several rivers, the chief of which empty themselves into the sea at Ramsey, at Laxey, and at Douglas. Ramsey river is the largest ; and the flat country, through which it finally runs, permits upring^ 4r Sketch of the Mineralogy. tides to produce their effect upon it two miles from the sea. The northern branch of Douglas river rises on the western side of Mount Garra- han. The northern side of South Barrule con- tributes a portion of its waters to Peel river, and another to the river of Glenraay. The southern side sends forth a streamlet, one of the branches of Castletown river, which joins the other branch, a Utile above Athol bridge, run- ning nearly south. All the streams are very shallow; and smaller ones, not large enough in summer to turn a mill, are very frequent. The northern portion of the island is a light sand, resting on a bed of common clay : the greatest portion of the island consists of a barren soil, resting on grey wacke-slate, and on clay- slate: a small portion around Castletown is composed of lime-stone of transition : and the mountains are formed chiefly of strata of clay- slate, much intersected by veins of quartz, and which seem to rest on mica-slate, a mineral that occurs on the sides and summits of several of them, and which probably rests on granite. The dip of the strata, whether of slate, of lime-stone, or sand-stone, is almost invariably sofith-east. The chief metallic repositories are Sketch of the Mineralogy, 5 reins of lead and copper ores near Laxey, at Foxdale, and at Breda-head, near Port Erin. Such is a general view of the distribution of the mineral productions in the island. I shall now give a detailed account of the individual mineralogy, beginning with the mountains. North Barrule, the northern extremity of the chain, is composed of mica-slate, covered by clay-slate. The new road, from Ramsey to Laxey, is cut in the side of this mountain, and exposes its internal structure, which consists of mica-slate covered by a shining clay-slate, form- ed of thin laminae. The clay- slate covers it to the summit in saddle-shaped strata. Snawfel, the next important one, is composed of the same materials as North Barrule. The clay-slate, which is more glossy, and of a more micaceous appearance, covers the mica-slate in mantle-shaped strata, leaving the latter project- ing through them io form the summit. The mica-slate contains much quartz, which is often crystalised in transparent pyramidal crys- tals. The clay-slate on this mountain becomes less shining as we descend, that is, as we recede from the mica-slate, and gradually gives way to grey wacke-slate. This appearance is a very* 6 Sketch of the Miner a logy, general one in primitive countries ; the oldest strata of clay-slate gradually approximating the more crystalitie appearance of the primitive rock on which they rest^ a» they approach it. The sides of Snawfel are generally covered^ to the depth of several feet^ with turbary, the surface of which is green with mosses and rushes. The verdure continues to the top^ and is frequently studded with the snowy tufts of Eriophorum vaginatum and E. polystachion, (cotton grass.) Here and there the strata of the mountain are exposed to view. Penny-pot (perhaps Pfen-y-pont*) is com posed of clay-slate to the summit, resting in all probability upon mica-slate. The clay-slate resembles exactly that ^f North Barrule in colour, lustre, and the thinness of its laminse, Thii Si the most marshy of the mountains ; and the ascent, even in dry summer weather, is consequently tedious and unpleasant. Mount Kreevey is very rugged and precipi- tous near the road from Douglas to Peel. The strata nearest the surface are glossy clay-slate, traversed by many large veins of quartz, which are * i. e. head or hill of the bridge. Sketch of the Miner^alogy. f often two or three feet thick, and generally con- tain a considerable quantity of mica. Mic^- slate lies immediately under the clay-slate. South Barrule, the southern extremity of the ridge, presents on its north side many blocks of granite, composed of silvery mica, reddish white feldspar, and grey quartz. These are too numerous and too huge ever to have been trans- ported by human art. Fragments of mica-slate make their appearance on several parts of the mountain, but the prevailing rock is a clay^ slate similar to that of Pen-y-pont, From these facts it is highly probable that the nucleus of this mountain consists of granite. This arrangement may also be considered as that of the great mass of the island, except that, in the plains, the common clay-slate gives place to grey wacke-slate. In tracing the strata from Douglas towards Castletown we find that the grey wacke-slate continues from the high land to the sea shore, without interruption, as far as the first creek, northward of Derby-haven. In approaching the shore from the mountains, the clay-slate becomes less and less shining, exhibiting more the appearance of a mechanical deposit, till it 8 Sketch of the Mineralogi/. passes into grey wacke-slate. Here its fresFi fracture is dull; and the strata, which, near Douglas, are highly inclined, dip only 10^ or 15®, At this place we find a bluish grey lime- stone, containing impressions of shells and other marine exuvi«. It lies over the grey wackd-slate. The line of stratification is dis- tinct, and in some places filled up with a thin layer of white clay, which seems very pure. The clay does not in the slightest degree ef- fervesce with acids. The limestone contains veins of calcareous spar ; and, along the coast, it is much corroded on its surface by the action of the weather. The strata arc generally from one to four feet thick, dipping 10° or 15® to- wards the south west, A considerable portion of the lime-stone tract exhibits alternations of lime-stone with grey I wacke-slate, the strata of which are but a few inches in thickness. This circumstance demon- strates the lime-stone to belong to the class of rocks denominated by Werner "^ rocks of tran- sition." This lime-stone, in colour and in the organic remains which it contains, very much resembles the lime-stone of transition found on the mountains near Crook-Inn, on the Moffat Sketch of the Mineralogy, 9 ^oad in Scotland. The clay found in the in- jsterstices of some of the strata of lime-stone most probably arises from the decomposition of the grey wacke-slate by the constant action of the weather. Indeed this slate^, where exposed to the air, is^ for the most part, friable and crumb- ling. With the small interruption of the isthmus and promontory of Langness^ the lime-stone con- tinues along the winding shore to the further part of Pool-vash bay. Here it is highly indu- rated, and rests upon a glossy clay-slate intersect- ed by veins of quartz. A little to the south it becomes still more indurated, and is quarried, below high water mark, as a pretty good marble for tomb-stones, the formation of which is fa- cilitated by the increased thinness of the laminse. The steps to St. Paul's church in London are from these quarries, and were presented by Bishop Wilson. A short sandy isthmus joins the promontory of Langness to the main land. The promontory and the islet of St. Michael are composed of grey wacke-slate, excepting a small tract, a few yards wide and some hundred yards long, on 10 Sketch of the Mineralogy. the north western side of the promontory, ad- joining the sands of Castletown bay. Here we meet with a breccia^ composed of rolled pieces of quartz in a siliceous base^ resting on a glistening slate. Some of it approaches to horn porphyry. The inland boundary of the lime-stone tract extends from the creek first mentioned to Ba- lasalla^ including that village ; and thence, crossing the Castletown river, to Pool-vash bay. At Athol bridge, on the Castletown river, grey wacke-slate is found. Following the stream for a quarter of a mile we find lime-stone, and near it a quartzose rock, like that at Langness : but these are the only places where I have ob- served it. Continuing our descent, we find a small quantity of compact brown iron-stone, lying immediately under the breccia. It crosses the bed of the river near a mill. The breccia continues for about a hundred yards further, and then gives place to lime-stone. Clay-slate appears again at Port le Murray bay, and is composed of very thin laminse with a silky gloss; and much traversed by veins of quartz. The surface of the layers has that Sketch of the Mineralogy, 11 peculiar undulated appearance, which was, I believe, first noticed by Sir James Hall. Clay-slate constitutes the upper rocky mi- neral to Spanish head ; round, from thence, to Port Erin, and, with little interruption to Peel. There is a quarry of a very tough clay-slate below high water mark at Spanish-head, which is raised in blocks, ten or twelve feet long, eight, ten, or twelve inches broad, and four, six, or eight inches thick. These are employed for purposes which, in other countries, are effected by beams of wood, as for gate-posts, and alpine bridges over streamlets. The Calf of Man is a small island, separated fram the main by a gut of about one hundred yards. The summit of this island is upwards of five hundred feet above the level of the sea; being nearly equal to the high land of Spanish- head. The strata consist entirely of a glossy bluish-grey clay-slate, more inclined to tlie east, and less regularly stratified than the slate- rock on the main. I was told that marble was to be found in the Calf; but it proved to be whitish quartz, found sometimes in detached masses; and frequently forming veins in the slate. There 1 2 Sketch of the Mineralogy,. are several huge masses of slate rock separated from this island ; one of which^ the Borough^ is perforated bj a natural arch. The circuit of the Calf may be about five miles; its area^ six hundred acres. Between Port Erin and Kirk Arbory, near the latter place^ and on the left hand side of the road, are the shafts of lead mines now de- serted. Slate, slightly tinged with carbonat of copper, is to be seen amongst the rubbish : whence it is probable that copper ore was found along with the lead. At Breda-head is a copper mine, chiefly of the sulphuret of copper. The miners being engaged in the more profitable employment of the herring fishery, I was unable to pay li my intended visit; as the way down the cliflfto the entrance of the level is considered difficult and dangerous, and no one was willing to ac- company me. Between Castletown and St. John's, and within about two miles of the latter place, are the mines of Foxdale, now drowned. These mines were said to aftbrd a considerable quan- tity of fine lead glance ; and, according to re- port, would have yielded much profit to the Sketch of the Mineralogy. 13 proprietors, had they been well managed. At present they are deserted. A large water-wheel, and the disjointed iron pipes, once used to drain them, lie scattered around. The rubbish from the shafts consists almost wholly of fragments of slate, mixed with pieces of brown blende, a little lead glance, and some sparry iron ore. We find in the bottom of the valley, lead- ing from St. John's to Peel, many marine exu- viae. Tradition says, thai; the tide once flowed up this valley, nearly to the base of Mount Kreevey ; a circumstance which the appearance of the country and the shells found in the allu- vial soil, render highly probable ; and which is further strengthened by the discovery of three iron anchors, at a great distance from the pre- sent shore, embedded in the same alluvial re- pository with the shells. The shells are neither petrified nor incorporated with consolidated materials, but simply embedded in the clay and sand of the soil. Here also have been discovered horns of animals, apparently of the stag kind, the largest of which measure nine feet from tip to tip. A little nearer to Peel than St. John's, we meet with a loose sandy soil, resting on grey wacke- 1 4 Sketch of the Mineralogy, siate. It stretches northward to Kirk Michael^ forming a narrow slip of land, the higher parts being one hundred^ or one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, bounded on the left by the ocean, and on the right by land of somewhatgreater elevation, which consists chiefly of grey wacke-slate sometimes covered by a bed of common clay. The sand is bounded on the south east by grey wacke-slate strata, which form the boundary of Peel valley in that di- rection. Peel castle stands on this rock. I'he cliff at the northern part of Peel bay is a reddish brown sand-stone, much charged with clay and iron. It sometimes contains fragments of quartz^ and assumes the appearance of a breccia. The finest part is used for buildings and a quarry is worked at this place a little above high water mark. The softer parts of the coarsest sort, where washed by the waves^ have left several deep caverns and grotesque figures in the harder rock. The creeks along the shore exhibit the sand lying upon the slate in every variation of thickness: sometimes, for a short space, it disappears altogether. The jgand-stone, being found immediately over slate, is to be regarded as sand-stone of the oldest for- Sketch of the Mineralogy, 15 mafion, according to the Wernerian doctrine of the relative antiquity of strata. It corres- ponds exactly with Professor Jameson's des- cription of the common red sand-stone of the Isle of Arran resting upon mica-slate. At Kirk Michael the sandy soil expands over the whole northern part of the island in a line nearly west and east. Below this sand lies a bed of very pure common claj,. called marl by the inhabitants. It generally lies at the depth ,of one, two, or three feet, still deeper as the ground is higher, and is very advantageously employed to give consistence to the light sandy soil. It is not from its containing lime that its utility does or could arise. Lime or even shell sand would here be prejudicial. The stimulat- ing power of lime would exhaust such a soil as we now speak of. The chief desideratum is to ffive it sufficient consistence to retain moisture and to permit the plant to sustain its erect pos- ture by means of its roots. It requires to be renewed every eight or nine years; and the ground bears plentifully, provided there is a pro- per rotation of green crops, barley, and oats. There is however a real clay-marl found near Ramsey, which contains a considerable portion l6 Sketth of the Mineralogy. of lime, and effervesces with acids. It is dug up at the depth of about eighteen inches, mid- way between high and low water mark in Ram- sey bay. This also is in particular situations used with advantage as a manure. The sub- stratum of clay rests on grey wackd-slate, as ap-^ * pears at the cliffs where the rocks are visible. In many parts of this flat district peat is found in considerable quantities, usually from six to eight feet thick, and sometimes much more. It rests upon clay, frequently much mixed with sand. Trunks of the pine and of the oak are often observable. The former is accounted the most common, but I saw onlj the latter. It is black, very hard, quite free from decay, and is sometimes used by cabinet makers. The two sorts of tree are rarely or ne- ver found together; the trunks of oak lie in clusters: hence an opinion has been formed that the fir was indigenous to the country, and that the oak, the favourite of the Druids, was brought hither either by such of them' as were fortunate enough to escape the retaliating pu- nishment of the army of Suetonius, or by those who fled from Anglesey when that country was finally conquered by Agricola. To have le- Sketch of the Miner atogif. It Veiled these trees with the ground must have re* quired a considerable convulsion of nature ; and if they existed alive till the extermination of the Druids from Wales^ it seems probable that we should have some tradition of their de* struction. Near Ballaugh^, And half* a mile frdm Deem- ster Cullin's, upon an eminence/ are about ten masses of sienite, three or four feet every \vdiy, forming somewhat of a circle. At Ramsey the slate again coramenceSj and continues to form the coast and country back \ ward to the chain of mountains^ almost to Derby-haven. Halfway between Ramsey and Laxey is said to be found> in a very small vein, a loose friable earthy of a greyish-black colour, softish to the touch, and used by the inhabitants for the clean- ing of plate and other purposes. The specimen in my possession was procured from a Laxey miner, whose property it is by gift of the Duke of Athol. It does not effervesce, nor is it very soluble in mineral acids. It probably arises from a partial decomposition of slate, The neighbourhood of Laxey is chiefly in- teresting on account of its mines. These are C 18 Sketdh of the Mineralogy. situated on the banks of Laxey river, about one mile above that village. They are worked by two levels driven from the steep banks of the river. The upper level was begun about thirty years ago, but has not been regularly forked, and is partly filled up with water. It runs to the depth of about one hundred yards, following a vein nearly four feet wide, dipping to the east upwards of one foot in six. The vein Consists of quartz, common brown blende, lead glance or galena, and occasionally some copper-green or carbonat of copper. Of the metallic matters the blende is the most abundant, next the lead, and lastly the copper ore. The height of the excavation is from four to fifteen feet, according to the extent or goodness of the ore. Interspersed with the lead glance, a small quantity of phosphat and a very little carbonat of lead have been found, but not in such quan- tity as to affect the smelting of the more profi- table lead ore. For a considerable period the copper ore was disregarded, and thrown away among the rubbish. Some time ago the miners requested and obtained it of the proprietors. What they collected was sold at the rate of 23/. 14^. Qd, per ton, a price which shews that Sketch of the Miner dlogij, l9 it was not a very pure copper ore. The blende hercj as at other mines^ was till within these few jears thrown away, but is now sold at the rate of seven pounds per ton. This substance, till lately considered of no value^ is at present used to glaze the coarser kinds of earthenware. The lead glance of this mine is very rich in sil- ver, one ton of it affording, on assay, one hun- dred and eighty ounces of silver, or about -j-f^th part, according to the report of those employed in the works* This lead ore is therefore the great object of the miner's research. It is com mon foliated lead glance with a pretty fresh lead-grey colour and strong metallic lustre. It is said that the other lead ores of this island never yielded above, and rarely so much as, seven ounces per ton. Where the copper ore appears in the vein the lead is in small quantity, and even that quantity is poor, being what the miners call burnt. There is a little sulphuret of iron, in the form of a grey powder, found in this mine, which is separated from the other ores, as it would otherwise render them slaggy and impede their smelting The new level, which is now carried on, is situated about a quarter of a mile further down c 2 to Sketch of the Mineralogy. the river. It is twenty-eight yards below the level of the old excavation. One purpose of it is to drain the old level of its water. When I was tliere^ in the autumn of 1808, it extended about two hundred yards ; and three miners were at work upon it. The only metallic substances yet found are carbonat of copper and blende. Its produce hitherto has not been sufficient to pay the expense of working, but the copper ore improves as they proceed. The rock which the vein traverses is clay- slate, of a great degree of hardness, and some- what resembles whet-slate in its fracture, which approches to splintery in the small. It is blasted in the common way. From the fre- quent accidents that happen in the usual mode of blasting rocks, it would certainly be proper to try the more safe, simple, and expeditious method of covering the cartridge with sand, instead of hammering down fragments of stone to fill up the hole. This method was fully de- tailed in Nicholson's Journal, about three or four years ago. All mines belong by prerogative to the Lord- proprietor of the soil. They are let by him to Sketch of the Mineralogy, %\ one company of nine or ten persons, himself being one of these ; and he claims, as lessor, one eighth part of their gross produce. The inclination of the slate increases as we go from Laxey towards Douglas, and it contains more vejns of quartz. The general inclination of the strata near Laxey is about 45°, bwt at €lay-head it is from 70° to 75^ Some of the slate strata are* easily split into thin laminae, well adapted for the roofs of houses, while others, composed of thicker laminae, are well adapted for the walls. About Clay-head and at various other places the clay-slate is often so hard as to have given plentiful sparks of fire as I broke it with my fiteel hammer. Sometimes I fouhd it in detach- ed masses; sometimes, forming a bed several inches thick, inclosed on each side by the softer slate-rock, here and there firmly adher^ ing to it as a part of the same stone, but more often easily detached. It is not divisible into^ thin Jaminae. It occasionallv contains small cubic crystals of iron pyrites. As the quartz veins are less numerous, the slate is softer an4 more readily splits into thin laminse. It is usually hardest near the veins. The slate i^ot ^f Sketchof the Mineralogy. unfrequently breaks into rhomboidal fragments, the consequence of its having a double cleavage. These strata form cliffs along the shore fronj *one to two hundred and fifty feet perpendicular, till they are terminated by the sand of Douglas- bay, which, near Douglas, stretches one or two hundred yards up the country. The upper strata are friable from decomposition, and have externally a light iron-brown colour, but in* ternally are bluish-grey. A little to the northward of Douglas is a bed of clay which has lately been used to form bricks, but they are of a very bad quality. Perhaps the clay found in the northern part of the island would afford a much better kind of brick ; but the expense of coal is a great ob- jection ; and the abundance of stone, fit for building, renders this manufacture of less im- portance. The pier of Douglas harbour is built of yel- lowish sand-stone : this is not. a production of the island ; but was imported from the vicinity of Runcorn in Cheshire. Mona castle is built of a very fine, white, and hard sand-stone. This was brought from the Isle of Arran. Fro^) the fact§ above stated^ it appears that Sketch of the Mineralogy, ^3 the Isle of Man consists of primitive clay-slate and mica-slate, probably resting upon granite; of grey wacke-slate, and of lime-stone, which seems to belong to the rocks of transition, or those which, in the Wernerian geognosy, are supposed to hold an intermediate place between primitive and floetz rocks; of sand-stone of the earliest formation ; and of sand resting upon clay. u CHAPTER H. ^Jliiw words on Manks Zoology, X WISH it were in my power to give, in the flrst place, a complete view of the natural state of the island, and then proceed to the improve- ments made by map. On this plan, botany l^ndthe remaining branches of natural history would form one long chapter at the least. Va-^ yious talents and much time are requisite for the undertaking ; and in these, alas ! am I defi^ cient. I shall say a very fiBw words upon zoo^ Jogy, and then proceed to agriculture. The birds observable upon the coasts are {iarus Fuscus, white and grey, and L. Ridibun^ dus, gulls; Pelecanus Bassanus, jannet; P. Car^ bo, cormorant; P. Graculus, shag; Ardea Ma^ jor, heron ; Corvus Cornix, Royston crow. The birds of p?^ssage that spend the breeding season ppon the Calf are s^id to consist of ^ight species, among which are the Alca Arc^r tic^, puffin, and A. Torda, razor-bill. I was mX tber^ till September ; and the rocks had beea 3 On Manks Zoology, 95 iong deserted. The pufRu is extremely fat, and is reckoned by some a great delicacy. They build their nests in rabbit burrows^ and so abim* dant were they that five thousand young ones were annually taken without any apparent di* minution of the number. Some years ago a large Russian merchant vessel was wrecked upon the coast. The crew of sailors perished ; but many rats escaped to shore, and, taking posses* 3ion of the nearest burrows, almost exterminate ed the poor puffins. Not one was taken for many years afterwards. A few are now occa* sionally seen, and it is thought that their num- ber is increasing. Colonel Town ley says, that the sea^parrots which are found here, meaning, I suppose, the puffins, make excellent soup* What Chaloner said of the animals of this spot 1 will transcribe. " In the Calf of Man is a curious sort of sea-fowl called puffins, of a very unctuous constitution, which breed in the ay- ney-holes, (the conies leaving their burrows for that time, ) are never seen with their young, but either very early in the morning or late id the evening; nourishing, as is conceived, their young, with oil which, drawn from their own #- 2 /3, K«f , /U. Population of the Island. Si Inhabitants Parishes and Towns. in 1726 1757 1792 Kirk Michael 643 826 lOQS Ballaugh 806 773 1015 Jurby 483 467 ns Andreas 967 1067 1555 Bride 612 629 678 Lezayre.... 1309^ 1481 1721 Maughold 529 759^ Ramsey 460 882/ Lonan 547 869 1408 Oncan... 370 434 690 Braddon 780 1121 Douglas 810 18 Marown... 580 658 842 Santon 376 507 51« Malew 890 1466 2n 14/ '''' Castletown 7851 ..> 3333 Balasalla 360. :} 66^ 4 Arbory 661 785 1143 Kirk Christ Rushen . . 813 1007 1590 Patrick 745 954 2153 German 510 9251 X. , > 2505 Peel town 475 805 J 14511 19144 ^791S d2 Fopulation of the Island, ' At the present time the number of inhabitants is thought to be more than 30^000, a popula* tion nearly proportionate to that of England. This continual increase is probably owing to an improving state of agriculture, a greater division of property, and a more extended cul^ tivation of the potatoe* The following is a list of baptisms, marriages, and burials in 17^2, 1703, 17D4, 1795, and 1796. Baptisms. Marriages. Burials. 179^ 768 181 330 17 &3 mi 180 370 1794 732 195 562 1795 802 184 413 ' 1796 767 175 430 In Bradden parish the burials exceed the number of baptisms; but in every other parish fall far short of them. The most prominent feature of the statement is the great excess of births over the number of burials. This is ac- counted for, but not satisfactorily, by the an- nual emigrations of the poor, who for want of employment at home seek a maintenance abroad. ilven the baptisms are very low for maintaining Climate of jhe Island. 33 thirty thousand people^ and, without any emi- gration at all, would require a very long average of life. The climate of the Isle of Man is rather milder in winter than that of the neighbouring shores; frost and snow being of very short con- tinuance. The heat of summer, on the other hand, is not so great : the harvests are conse- quently late : the grain does not arrive at its full size ; and the straw for fodder is less valuable. Frosts seldom make their appearance before Christmas, and latterly have been so slight as little to impede vegetation. Gales of wind and falls of rain are frequent, and of long duration. In the spring of the year, they render the seed- ing difficult and less complete, and are very prejudicial to the tender shoots of corn. The land is chiefly divided into small farms, from one hundred and fifty to two- hundred acres each. A spirit of improvement is more general than it used to be ; and much common land has lately been inclosed. Taking the tithes in kind, a customary method, is a great impediment to agriculture, and much disliked. Were the tithe commuted for a settled D 34 Agriculture of the Island, sum of money, the good elFeets of such a prac- tice would soon be visible. Leases are limited by law to twenty-one years^, a great check to agricultural improvement. Till the year 1777, the law respecting them was much more prejudicial, the lease always expir- ing with the life of the lessor. A person who attempts the cultivation of a barren heath does not expect to receive any benefit from the pro- duce of the soil for the first eight or ten years. During this period at least, the profit arises from the better state of the soil, and the trees and hedges which may have been planted : and what tenant would be mad enough to commence the cultivation of land upon a twenty-one years' lease, knowing, as he must do, that the land- owner would enjoy all the profits. Hence it is that land is little improved, unless farmed by the owner ; and land-holders and farmers being such distinct classes of society, this rarely happens to be the case to any considerable degree. The laws respecting leases, in common with other arbi- trary laws, were made for the good of the governor, not for that of the subject : the for- mer apprehending that long leases would dimi- nish 01* do away sales ; and that the fines, due to Agriculture of the Island. Sd liim upon alienation, would be thereby evaded^ The usual time of entering upon a farm is the 1 2th of November, and the rent is commonly paid half yearly* The covenant of a lease generally binds the tenant to keep the buildings and fences in repair* It frequently obliges him to spend upon the farm, if not in the neighbourhood of a town, or near the sea, the whole produce of the hay, straw, and manure, and not to take from any part of the land more than three crops of grain in succession. Land in the vicinity of towns is chiefly in the possession of their inhabitants, who^ after re- serving what is necessary for the use of their families, send the remaining produce to market. From 2/. to 3/. per acre is sometimes given, but 30^. or 35*. is a more common price; and the lots are usually very small. Farms are some- times let for a guinea or even 25*. : those at a distance from 12*. to 20*.; uplands 5*. and up- wards; but rents everywhere are evidently rising. The measure of the English statute acre is universal. The common, or uncultivated land, is esti- mated at rather more than one-third of the d2 36 Agriculture of the Island, island. It includes the whole of the mountain chain, nearly to its base. Horses, cattle^ and sheep are turned to graze upon it. They have, each, a fore and hind-leg tied together with a straw-band, to prevent their straying far, and to increase the facility of catching them. An animal thus served is, in the appellation of the Manks, lanketted. The ever-green furze yields them the chief nourishment in winter. Sheep can eat only the young shoots, and keep the bushes so round and even, that they appear to have been under the hands of the pruner. That necessity is the mother of invention is a proverb, not applicable to mankind alone. Horses, be- ing accustomed to take in larger mouthfuls and longer branches than the sheep, cannot eat the furze in its natural* state, on account of the prickles. When confined to this iiind of food, they trample upon the branches, and paw them with their fore-feet, till the prickles become mashed together or rubbed off; and so com- pletely do they perform their work, that the food thus prepared might be squeezed by the bare hand with impunity. I am informed, that there^ is no other place, except Anglesea, in Build'mgs of the Island. 37 which they are driven to the exercise of a simi- lar sagacity. The inclosures are usually from four to ten acres^ with fences unaccountably crooked and irregular. The common fence is composed of sods of earth, reaching to the height of four or five feet. It requires frequent repairs. Gorze or furze is often planted on the top, making the fence more secure for the time; but in the course of three or four years, if not cut down, before the expiration of that period, completely de- stroying it. A wall of uncemented stones is another common fence, and more easily repaired. The quickset is little used, and is supposed not to flourish in a westerly aspect. The gate- posts, composed of stone and mortar, are re- markably and unnecessarily stupendous, being often square or rhomboidal figures of three feet each way. Only the gate itself is made of wood. Houses of the best sort, both in town and country, are built of hewn sone: those of an inferior kind, and even very good ones, of stone unhewn. Some of the latter kind, in Douglas, let as high as 40/. per annum. Sash lines and weights, even to sash windows^, are rarely to be < 4 38 Buildings of the Island. seen, the people still continuing the barbarous method of supporting the sash at one invariable height by an iron catch. The farm-houses and offices of this island are generally small, irregu- lar, and ill constructed. Some modern ones are upon a better plan ; and some few estates are well supplied with offices and barns. A com- mon custom, and one every way bad^ is to have the barn over the cow-house. Open stables are still too much in use. The farm-houses, and, indeed, most of the cottages are built of un- hewn stone ; the former with a mortar, the latter with a mud, cement : the former with a roof of slate, the latter with one of straw. The meaner cottages are constructed of sods of earth, and resemble those of North Wales, consisting usually of two rooms on the ground, sometimes with, sometimes without, a solitary window.^ The thatch is of straw, and is kept in its proper place by bands of the same material, twelve or eighteen inches apart, crossing each other at right angles, thereby dividing into squares the superficies of the roof. Each end of every band is fixed to a pin, stuck into the mud wall. The smoke of a peat-fire is intended to issue at a hole at one corner of the roof left for that pur- Roads of the Island. 39 pose ; but the greater part usually takes posses- sion of the room^ and emerges thence by the door-way. The walls of such a cottage are very durable ; but the thatch will not last longer than two years ; whereas an English thatch will last fourteen. The roads have been for a long time in an improving state. Forty years ago they were dangerous for horsemen in winter, and for car- riages even in summer. At present, though very good in summer, they are sometimes, in winter, impassable for many days together. There are only three chief, or carriage, roads ; from Douglas to Castletown : from Douglas to Peel: and from Castletown to Ramsay. The clay-slate with which they are made and repaired is soon ground into a sort of clay. About Balasalla and Castletown limestone is used, and makes an excellent road. By the statute of 1776, new high roads W£re ordered to be eight yards wide, to have ditches on each side, and to be well gravelled at top. The term gravel must be used in a very indefinite sense, since there is not any, nor, I believe, a piece of flint upon the island. The funds for making and repairing them will be noticed in the chapter on revenue. 40 Agriculture of the. Island. Light ploughs are generally preferred to others i and almost all are procured from England or Scotland. Those made by Mr. Small, of Ford, in Scotland, are held in most esteem. The horses being small and not strong, four are required to turn a furrow four inches deep. Some harrows are of a good construction; but many of them are too light, and consume in time more than they save in labour. The roller, varying in weight from five hundred to one thousand pounds, is often used after a sowing of grass seed : and, when followed by a brush harrow, is a valuable implement in spreading manure. Drilling and hoeing machines are not very common. The proper construction of wheel carriages seems little understood. Cart-wheels are invari- ably very narrow and generally small. In get- ting in a harvest, I observed many sledges to one cart ; frequently no part at all. Crops of small fields are often carried home upon men's should- lers; and this is the usual way of collecting a tithe. Dressing corn by fanners is the practice on most farms. A few but not many threshing machines are in use. Agriculture of the Islatid. . 41 For live stock farmers rely more upon iaipor- tation than their own rearing. The usual number of horses allowed for hus- bandry/ on the low land farms, is one team of two or three horses, from thirteen to fifteen hands high, to thirty acres of tillage. The upland farmers use double the number, but of a smaller size, and of the native breed, which appears similar to that of North Wales. Horned cattle are numerous ; but the old stock, for want of care, is nearly lost. They were short legged and thick bodied, and more profitable to fatten than reserve for milk. Twelve quarts of a rich quality w as the average return, producing nearly two quarts of cream, yielding sixteen ounces of butter. A few barrel-churns are used, but plunge- churns are the most common. Sheep are fed chiefly on the up-lands. The ancient stock is very small and hardy, much like the south-down of England, and endures the severest weather. When fat, their usual weight is from five to eight pounds per quarter. Their meat is excellent. This is still the breed upon the uplands and mountains ; but in the low lands a larger sort has been introduced. Two poutids and a half is the average weight of the fleeces of 4^ Agriculture of the Island. the small sheep, and six or seven pounds of the large ones. It is not of the finest or longest staple. The sheep are not washed previously to their being sheared. Besides the two sorts already mentioned, there is a peculiar breed called Laughton, having wool of a light brown or snufF colour. These are not accounted hardy, and are more difficult to fatten than the other sorts. The cloth made of their wool is much liked by the natives, and on this account only is the breed preserved. A writer of the sixteenth century says, '' the Manks sheep are exceeding huge, with tails of an almost incredible magni- tude : the hogs are monstrous. * Sheep, in this country, are subject to a peculiar and fatal dis- ease, called by the natives Ouzv, supposed to be owing to the eating of the hydrocotyle vulgaris, toarsh pennywort. Its leaf is said to corrode the liver ; and, on opening a sheep that has died of the disease, to be found attached thereto, trans- formed into an animal, having apparent life and * motion, but retaining its primitive vegetable shape. Dr. Withering attributes the rot in «hecp to a flat insect, the fasciola hepatica, fluke, * Hollinshed's Chronicles, Vol. I. p. 33. JlgrlcuUure of the Island. 43 ■which is found in wet situations^ adherin^^ to stones and plants, and likewise in the livery and biliary ducts of sheep affected with thw complaint. Almost every cottager keeps one or two pigs. They are reared on the offal of the houses, run about the lanes^, and are killed at the age of ten or twelve months. Potatoes and grains contri- bute to their maintenance in summer ; and pota- toes, either boiled or raw, with some little com, is the food used for fattening them. Their average weight is fifty pounds per quarter, and their price does not much exceed half that of beef or mutton.^ Poultry, though numerous, does not exceed that limited quantity which the farmer can keep with little expence. Geese and ducks are com- mon, but turkeys are not plentiful. The country is sufficiently populous for the extent of cultivated ground; but, the herring- fishery engaging the attention of so many men and small farmers during the summer or autumnal months, is agreat check to agriculture, andrenders labour scarce. Another bad effect of it is, that it teaches habits of so much irregularity and idleness, that the people employed in it never 44 Agriculture of the Island, become good labourers, and are, generally speak- ing, a very lazy and drunken class. The cus- tom is greatly felt by those who have much corn to reap or grass to cut : the getting in of the harvest is very tedious, for want of sufficient hands; and it is often much injured by the weather. I have known hay cut for many weeks before the farmer could get it carried, and some- times not stacked before the end of September^ The women, unaccustomed to the irregular lives ©f the men, partake not of their indolent dispo- sition. Four-fifths of the farming business fall to their share. They are reckoned very expert in reaping and in digging potatoes, and per- form not amiss many other parts of husbandry. A mower cuts in a day about three quarters of an acre of grass ; and five female reapers, with one to bind, cut an acre of corn. The practice is to cut the corn as close to the ground as pos- sible. Stocks of wheat consist of ten sheaves, and are never topped : stocks of barley have twelve sheaves, and are covered. The average produce of an acre is sixty sheaves ; but their number varies greatly. Mowing corn has been tried, by way of experiment, but is not much practised. Hours of work are from six to six. Agriculture of the Island, 45 in summer, allowing two hours for meals and a rest at noon; they are from eight to four, in winter^ allowing the same time for meals, but no rest at noon. The price of labour is continu- ally increasing. Men get, during the harvest,^ one shilling per day, and women, ten-pence, besides provisions : and the quantity of work effected is very inferior to that of the opposite shores. A ploughman expects from eight to ten guineas a-year, and a boy three. Some of the experienced Scotch labourers have been pro- cured at double wages, and found a great ac- quisition to the farmers. The labouring class of people live upon but- ter-milk, potatoes, barley-cakes, stir-about, and herrings. The barley-meal is kneaded with a very little water, and rolled to the thickness of one-sixth of an inch. It is then baked upon a plate of iron over a peat fire, and usually has a stronger flavour of smoke than of barley. Oat- meal is occasionally, but not very often, sub- stituted. Leavened bread is little known and little liked. Stir-about, well knawn in Ireland, is composed of oatmeal and water boiled : this is their common breakfast : herrings are a frequent part of their dinner, salted, not dried: and their 46 Agriculture of the Island, last meal is either stir-about, or potatoes and mitk. A labourer usually has a piece of potatoe ground^ and sometimes a cow. Much land has been improved by draining, and a good deal more requires it. The covered drains are usually two feet nine inches deep, nine inches wide at bottom, and two feet at top. They are filled up one- half with stones, and on ihem a layer, either of straw, or neatly pared lurf, to prevent the mould frpm getting in. On stiff clayey land they have been constructed, and found to answer, without stones, the drain being narrower, and the turf resting upon a ledge on each side. The ditches are, in general, too shallow, and not kept clean. A northern tract of two thousand acres, six miles long, has been converted from a marsh to arable and pasture land by a drain of ten feet wide and six deep. The soil is peat-moss and clay. When I saw it (in 1808) the drain was full to the brim,, with marshy land about it, and seemed to require clearing. There are several other open drains. For a manure farmers rely chiefly on farm- yard dung, and, if near the shore, on sea-weed. The latter is either used immediately for corn or potatoes, or forms a part of a valuable compost. Agriculture of the Island. 47 For barley it is particularly useful ; but is totally expended by a second crop. Plough oxen, steers, heifers, and dry cattle^ consume the oat and barley straw. The aged cattle are kept in houses: the young, in yards or the corners of dry pastures, with the liberty of ranging the fields in the day-time. Lime is an excellent and durable manure upon soils of clay or peat; but the expence of quarrying and of burning it pre- vents its being greatly used. The sweepings of the herring houses, were it not for their limited application, would be very profitable to the farmer. A soil of sand is highly improved by a layer of the clay found a few feet beneath the surface. From three to four hundred loads, of ten hundred weight each, are put upon every acre. After it is crumbled to pieces by the winter rains and frosts, the land is put in tillage. The northern flat is rendered by this treatment the most fertile of any in the island. Its chief produce is barley, a considerable portion of which is sent annually to Douglas. Arable land is laid out in ridges of various sizes : those of peas, wheat, or oats, from four to nine feet wide ; of barley, from twelve to twenty feet. High ridges are never used, the 48 Agriculture of the Island, depth of soil being seldom sufficient to admit them. A regular rotation of crops is little understood or practised. The one most approved is this : the first crop^ potatoes or turnips^ well manured; the second^ barley ; the third, clover; the fourth, oats ; sometimes, if good land, wheat ; the fifth, peas, or oats, if wheat has gone before, A poor soil, after having sustained two or three rotations, is often suffered to stock itself with natural grasses. This is the work of several jears. For a few years more it is surrendered to pasture, and then subjected to another rotation of crops. Heathy land, not being sandy, i§ improved mostly with thorough fallowing and liming, and, after a few crops, is sown with grass seeds : but, unless these soils have frequent dressings and tillage,^ they return to their origi-r nal state. Summer fallowing is little practised. The cultivation of v/heat is not general, chiefly on account of its being subject to the smut in this climate. The red sort of seed is the most common, and is usually sown immediately- after the potatoes are dug up, in November or December. The return is, usually, from twenty- four to thirty-six bushels per acre. It is always Agriculture of the Island, 4d sold by the actual weight of sixty-four pounds to the estimated bushel. Five thousand pounds' worth of flour is annually imported. About half the corn land is used in the cultivation of barley. Two sorts are sown^ the four-rowed, which is fit only for malt ; and the two-rowed, the meal of which is used for the unleavened bread. The four-rowed requires the earliest sowing, and is ripe a fortnight before the other sort. Seed time is from the middle of April to the middle of May. The usual allowance of seed per acre is from three and a half to four and a half bushels, and the average return, thirty-six. Nearly the other half of corn land is used in the cultivation of oats. Two sorts are sown, th» white and the Poland. The first, being hard^ and not very liable to shake, is generally preferred. Seed time is from the beginning of March to the middle of April. The allowance of seed is five or six bushels per acre, and the average return thirty. Beans are not much cultivated, owing to the lateness and wetness of the harvest. Grey and white peas are in common use, and are sown in the month of April. The allowance of seed is two and a half bushels per acre, and the return about twenty bushels. This is a crop E 50 Agriculture of the Island, which tends to meliorate the soil^ and render it more fit for corn. Little rye is cultivated, and the grain is not in demand. The inhabitants are very partial to potatoes. There are many sorts, and various modes of cultivation. The time of planting is from the end of March to the middle of May ; the sets, first planted, yielding the most mealy potatoes ; but those, last planted, the greatest crops. Eighteen or tvi^enty bushels are the common allowance of sets. Their return depends greatly upon the care taken in weeding and hoeing, and is generally from- one hundred and sixty to two hundred bushels. With extra- ordinary attention three hundred bushels have been obtained. The digging up is performed with a three-lined fork. A good labourer will raise eight heaped bushels in a day without the assistance of a picker. They are generally pre- served in large heaps, out of doors, defended from the frost by straw packed close round them, and beyond this, sods of turf, with the grass side outermost. Turnips appear to be well suited to the climate, and their use is becoming annually more general. The common winter seed is the sort sown. Crops of carrots and of turnip-rooted cabbage have been tried ; but from Agriculture of the Island. 61 want of management^ or some other cause, were not found profitable. Flax, in small quantities^ is very general, but not enough is grown for the manufactures of the island. One plot rarely exceeds one quarter or one half of an acre. It is always sown on land in good condition, often after potatoes, but never after corn. April is the time for sowing it, and the usual allowance of seed is eighteen gallons per acre. The weeds should be removed as they appear, till the land be completely covered. By the middle or end of July it is pulled, and laid in water for a week, by which time the pith is putrified, and is readily parted from the other substance. It is then spread on a pasture to dry, till it is founds upon examination, to be fit for scutching, or dressing at the mill. This is an operation which disjoins the fibres and separates them from the bark. The process of boiling the flax, as re- commended by the Bath Agricultural Society, has been tried here ; but the expence of it was found to exceed the value of the flax. The culture of flax, owing to the uncertainty of the weather, is a very- speculative branch of hus- bandry. Hemp is never sown, except in gar- dens, and not much there. Sown grasses are so e2 h^ Agriculture of the Island, essentially useful, that almost every farmer sows grass or clover with his spring crop. The red clover is very eligible, either to be eaten by cat- tle or cut for hay. The former practice is the most beneficial to the land ; and, if the clover be abundant, so will generally be the ensuing croT) of corn. Ray grass seed is commonly sown with the clover, but by this practice the land is impoverished. Ten pounds of red clover, and two bushels of grass seed per acre, are the usual allowance for a hay crop. White and red clover, and white hay seeds are thought to yield the best pasture. Markets for provisions are ordered to be held at each of the four towns ; but only at Douglas are they regular. Fairs for the sale of horses, cattle, and wearing apparel, the manufacture of the island, and for the hiring of servants, are numerous; and about six are very well attended. There is no market or fair for grain, and those likely to want any generally make a contract with the farmers as soon as the harvest is got in. Two modes of agricultural improvement have been long proposed. The first is the establish- ment of a Manks Agricultural Society ; now, in some degree, carried into effect by the extension of Agriculture of the Island. 53 the Cumberland society to this island, which will not^ I feai^ prove of much advantage to the inhabitants. The other is, a conversion of the tithe, now payable in kind, into an unalterabte sum of money, equal to its present value. To these two may be added a third, that of length- ening the term of leases. * * For the ground-work of this chapter I am indebted to Mr. Quayle's Agricultural Report. 54 CHAPTER IV. On the Manufactures of the Ida^id. AN so low a state^ till lately^ were manufactures 0nd mechanics^ that the inhabitants had not mills enough to grind their wheat, being in the practice of exporting it and importing flour. The firstj upon a large scale, was erected b3^ Major Taubnian ; and, from being in the vicinity of his seat, is called the Nunnery mill. Several others have been since built; but the chief busi- ness is supposed to be done here. How far the introduction of manufactories might be expedient and likely to answer the pur- pose of the manufacturer, would be an amusing and useful inquiry. Those established for arti- cles consumed by the natives only must, of course, be of small magnitude, and if there be not too many will necessarily succeed, provided no peculiar obstacles arise. Of this class are breweries, candle and soap manufactories, tan- yards, and some others, which the freedom from pxcise laws tends greatly to encourage. Malting Manufactures of the Island. 55 and brewing being uncontrolled^ ale and beer may be made for considerably less than half the price which they cost in England. These last mentioned trades^ centering in the same person, are^ probably^ the chief in the island : and, judging from the quality of the ale, and the number of people who daily get intoxicated with it, particularly in the fishing season, the business of -brewer must be extremely profitable. The fondness of the people to ale does not how- ever diminish their attachment to spirits. Town- ley imagines that nearly half the inhabitants die of the grog consumption, which complaint, he facetiously adds, is accounted very catching and infectious. Candles and soap are comparatively dear- The business of the tanner is chiefly con- fined to Manks skins and hides, and he does not make sufficient, or sufficiently good, leather for the supply of the natives. The article is reckr koned much inferior to that imported from England. These trades are considered profitable in pro- portion to their extent : but the question is mate- rially altered when we inquire into the expedi- ency of manufacturing goods for exportation, or of erecting manufactories which are not likely 56 Manufactures of the Island. to answer^ except upon a large scale. No pro^^ ducts of the island are in sufficient abundance to be manufactured for foreign use. Whatever ar- ticles are employed for this purpose must there- fore be first imported. The eligibility of esta- blishing manufactories is reckoned to arise from the number of small^ rapid rivulets^ and the consequent convenience of erecting mills : and I have not heard the most sanguine speak of the probable success of introducing any such as do not require mill-work. The cheapness of labour, the freedom from excise laws^ and;, in a great pleasure, from custom-house duties^ are not suf- ficient inducements: for labour is nearly as cheap in the north of England^ and quite as cheap in Ireland ; and manufactured articles, if admitted at all, would be charged with the cus- tomary duty at any port of the British domi- nions, greater indeed than the excise upon the manufacture in those countries. The discreti- onary power, claimed and used by the English Government, respecting all matters where reve- nue is directly or indirectly concerned, somewhat damps the ardour of the speculatist. Distilleries i^re absolutely prohibited, under the penalty of forfeiting for ever^ offence 200/, besides the Manufactures of the Island, 57 implements used in the process. Some years ago a Gotton-spinning manufactory was established at Balasalla by Messrs. De-la-primes. They in- tended not to weave the yarn^, but to send it to Lancashire. By these means most of the duty on cotton would have been evaded. I was in- formed that it was the opinion of an eminent counsellor, consulted upon the occasion, that the scheme might be carried into execution, cither in the Isle of Man or the Isle of Skye. How such an idea could be entertained I cannot conjecture, since an act of 5th Geo. III. ex- pressly prohibits the importation from Man into Britain of any foreign goods, hemp and flax excepted, whether in their raw state, or wholly or partly manufactured, either with or without any native materials. Previously to this period, ihe laws were still more severe.* The specula- tion was soon discovered to be vain, and the mill-work was afterwards used in the manufac- ture of twine for fishing-nets ; but owing to the circumstance of the fishermen usually, in their leisure time, making their nets from the raw material, the second project was no more suc- cessful than the first. Flax mills have been * See 15th Charles II. 58 Manufactures of the Island, lately introduced. The demand for linen goods, including sail-cloth, is greater than that for cotton, and the expense of the machinery much less. They are therefore more likely to answer here. Those belonging to Messrs. Moores, near Douglas, though, I believe, the newest, are reckoned the most considerable. The spinning is by machinery throughout, two hundred and forty spindles, performing the work of an equal number of people, being constantly at work, attended by only ten or a dozen children, and one overseer. The weav- ing is by hand. Here they make sheeting, towelling, sail-cloth, and sack-cloth. One woollen manufactory has been established within these few years; and the home consumption may reasonably be supposed sufficient to keep it at work. The proprietor uses chiefly the fleeces of the Manks sheep, and has, in some cases, adopted the system of barter, exchanging a certain quantity of cloth for a certain quantity of wool. Under existing circumstances I cannot think expedient the establishment of manufactories upon a large scale for the purpose of exporta- tion, England usually takes care to allow a Manujactures of ike Island, 59 drawback upon manufactured goods, subject, in their raw state, to heavy duties, in order to preserve her trade in foreign markets. I cannot therefore imagine, that the Isle of Man can vie with her in commerce. 60 CHAPTER V. On the Trade of the Island. V^OMMERCE, like the arts and sciences^ in- creases gradually from a small beginning, and most flourishes where least restrained by law. In this country it was subject to a most singular regulation, which prevailed to the middle or latter end of the seventeenth century. That my relation of the practice may not to any one appear chimerical, I shall merely transcribe the words of my authority. *^^ There are four mer- chants which are ever chosen by the country ; which choice is usually made at the Tynwald court, and sworn by the deemsters to deal truly, and most for the country's profit : these, for the present, are Mr. John Stanley and Mr. Philip Moor, for the south side; and Mr., Thomas Crelling and Mr. David Christian, for the north side. These, when any ship of salt, wines, pitch, iron, or other commodities good for the use of the country comes into the island, the Governor, having first consulted with the mer- 4 Trade of the Island, 61 chant-stranger about the rates and prices of the commodities^ he sends then for these four mer- chants of the country, to appear before him and the merchant-stranger, and drives a bargain, if he can, betwixi them : if he cannot agree with them, he commands the four merchants to spend another day with the merchant-stranger, to deal with him if they can. And whatsoever bargain is made by the said four merchants, the «ountrv is to stand to it, and take the commo- dities of the merchant-stranger, and pay for them according to the rates agreed upon : which most commonly is, that the country are to bring in their commodities of wool, hides, tallow, and such like; and for the same have their equal commodities of salt, wine, iron, pitch, &c. so brought in and compounded for as aforesaid. And if the commodities brought in by the coun- try will not extend to the value of the stranger's commodities, then the four merchants are to assess the rest of the commodities upon the coun- try, every one his equal proportion ; for which they are to pay ready money, as the four mer- chants had agreed for them. So by this meang the merchant-stranger is much encouraged to bring in necessary things for the island ; and the 62 Trade of the Island. people have, by the faithfulness of the four merchants, the full benefit of the commodity brought in ; which otherwise some private man of the country might and would have taken for his own profit : and this is an especial benefit for the enriching of the people, and for the general good*/* The present exports of this island are strong linens and sail-cloth, their annual value being from 5000/. to 10,000/. ; herrings, varying in quantity with the success of the fishery ; lead, or lead ore, fowls, butter, a few eggs, and some other trifling articles. The report of the commissioners, appointed by his majesty to inquire into the state . of Man, furnishes the following list of exports for the year 1790 : Tu Great Britain. 1743 bushels potatoes, 1313 crocks butter, 20 1 boxes and baskets of eggs, * See King's Description of ths Isle of Man, published with his Vale Royal, London, 1656, fol. p. 30. This short treatise is the work of James Chaloner, who, with Robert .Dynely and Joshua Witton, were appointed by Thomas • Lord Fairfax, Lord of Man, commissioners to inquire into the revenue, government, religion, and learning of this island. The dedication to his Lordship is dated Dec. 1, 1653. Trade of the Island, 63 7 barrels pork, l^ditto, beef, 195 cow and ox hides in hair, 57 dozen calf-skins^ 4 cwt. leather, 1400 cow and ox horns, 26 cwt. cow and ox hair, 4 cwt. honey, 1335 cwt. kelp, 2 cwt. wax, 17 cwt. wool and woollen yarn, 159 cwt. linen yarn, 69 tons lead ore, 258 dozen rabbit-skins. To Ireland, 103 doz. rabbit-skins, 11 cwt. feathers, 50 cwt. bacon, 2 tons cotton twist, 143 tons limestone, 282 tons marble and paving stones, 102 tons slate, 1807 reams coarse paper, 17 cwt. fern ashes, 1 cwt. hair powder. 64 Trade of the Island. 130 hanks candle wicks, 1 tombstone, 3 qurs. of cwt. dried beef. In the same year were exported to Great Britain, 1878 barrels white herrings, 2747 barrels red herrings : To other parts. 125 barrels white herrings, 6866 barrels red herrings. In ten years, beginning with 1781, and end- ing with 1790, the year first alluded to, were exported to Great Britain, 506,365 yards linen, 727 horses, 4019 black cattle, 238 sheep, 248 pigs, 1 mule, 4 goats: To Ireland. 1,564 yards linen, 113 horses, 4 black cattle, 12 mules. On the Trade of the Island, 65 The imports are manufactured goods of almost every description^, chiefly from Liverpool ; coal from Liverpool, and from the ports of- Cumbef- land ; wine from Oporto and Guernsey ; brandy and geneva from Guernsey; and rum from England : the balance of trade being greatly against the island. The deficiency may, perhaps, be made up by remittances to strangers, who, ia order to avoid the sight of a bailifl], or the* extra- vagance of English living, take up their tempo- rary or permanent abode in this country. Gold coin is not plentiful, and silver coin is very scarce. The copper coinage is peculiar to the island, fourteen Manks pence making one English shilling. Greeilock guinea notes are the chief substitute for gold. Mr. Scott, the col- lector of the customs, being a partner in the Greenock bank, has, in most of the notes, the initials of his name in water-mark, and givei them every currency in his power. The mer- chants and manufacturers are very desirous of preventing any inconvenience that might arise from the scarcity of silver, by issuing as many as they can of their one-shilling, half-a-crown, three-shilling, five-shilling, and seven-shilling tickets or cards. One of these is usually accom- F 66 On the Trade of the Island. panied with the motto, " pro bono publico ;^ and the form of the engagement generally runs thus : " I promise to pay the bearer on demand shillings, on his bringing the change of a one pound note." Tickets with only one signature are not much liked, since, in case of the death of the party, the executors are not obliged to pay his debts till the expiration of three years. Till the act of revestment in 1765, and the subsequent regulations, the chief business of the place was smuggling. The annual returns of this trade exceeded 350,000/. and by some were estimated so high as half a million, whil6 the value of seizures was not more than 10,000/. so that the profits to those engaged in it were probably enormous. The Duke of Athol, hav- ing a small duty upon imports, rather encou- iraged than set his face against it. The place formed completely the harbour and the store- house of smugglers, whence they shipped their goods, as occasion offered, to England, Ireland, or Scotland, to the great detriment of the British revenue. Many persons being by its failure thrown out of employment, emigrated to Ame- rica; some went to sea; some engaged them- selves ia the fisheries ; and others turned their On the Trade of the Island. «T attention to the cultivation of the ground. T© exchange an irregular and idle life for one of constant activity and industry is no easy achieve*- .nent : the waste lands and short crops evince how much remains to be done. The following is an extract from an account of the smuggling trade;, written about 1753: \ " The English government perhaps do not know to what a height it is come. The captaiil of a cruiser did venture to do his duty by fol- lowing a valuable Dutch dogger into port and seizing her. But the man found himself mis- taken. Acts of parliament and English com- missions could not protect him in that petty principality. Five of his men^ who had taken possession of the dogger, were thrown into a gaol, where they will probably lie till their death. The captain himself with two men and a boy narrowly escaped to Whitehaven. Quere, whe- ther the Officers of the Isle of Man are not guilty of an act of rebellion in seizing the king's boats and arms ? " The loss to the revenue, upon the most moderate calculation, is, at least, 200,000/. a year. *' In short, this island may be looked upon as f2 6B On the Trade of the Island. a fortress in the hands of our enemies : and the whole question is^ whether we ought to dis- possess them or not; a question that admits of no dispute/' * Since the year 176 5^ the contraband trade has been nearly annihilated. The little that is now done is supposed to be by means of coasting vessels, or of ships, which, on account of bad wind or weather, anchor for a short time in some of the harbours of the island. * Postlewaite's Commercial Dictionary, fol. vol. ii. 69 CHAPTER VI. Vn the Herring and the Herring Fishery. J. HE herring fishery, giving rise to the chief commerce of the Isle of Man, I shall a little enlarge upon, beginning with the natural his- tory of the fish, extracted from the approved works of Pennant, Shaw, Bloch, and occasi- onally BufFon, generally retaining the language of the two former naturalists, and translating from the French that of the two latter. The Clupea Harengus, common herring, is eminently important in a commercial view, and may justly be said to form one of the wonders of the northern world. It is principally distin- guished by the brilliant silvery colour of its body^ the advancement of the lower jaw beyond the upper, and by the number of rays in the anal fin, which, in by far the greater number of specimens, are found to amount to seventeen.* The back is of a dusky hue, or greenish cast ; and in the recent or living fish, the gill-covers * Mr. Pennant says, the usual number is fourteen. 70 The Herring and Herring Fishery. are marked by a reddish^ and sometimes by a violet-coloured spot: the eyes are large: the mouth is without visible teeth : the openings of the gill- covers are very large : the scales are ra- ther targe and easily deciduous : the lateral line is not very distinctly visible : the abdomen is pretty sharply carinated, and^ in some specimens, slightly serrated : the fins are rather small than large for the size of the fish, and the tail is strongly forked. The herring is observed to vary greatly in size, and there are probably some permanent varieties of this species, which yet want their exact description. The general size is perhaps from ten to twelve or thirteen inches. Important as this fish is to the inhabitants of modern Europe, it is doubted whether it was distinctly known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, at least we find no certain description in their writings, either of its form or uses. The herring fishery is, however, of considerable antiquity : the Dutch are said to have engaged m it so long ago as the year 1164, and were in possession of it for several centuries ; and Flan- ders bad the honour of discovering the method of preserving this fish by pickling it. One William Beukelen, of Biervlet^ near Sluys, is The Herring and Herring Fishery. 71 , said to have been the inventor of this useful ex- pedient ; and from him is probably derived the word pickle, which we have borrowed from the Dutch and Germans. Beukelen died in the year 1397. The emperor, Charles the Fifth, is said to have held his memory in such veneration for the service he had done mankind, as to have paid a solemn visit to his tomb, in honour of so dis- tinguished a citizen, and, sitting thereon, to have eaten a herring.* The Dutch are most ex- travagantly fond of this fish when pickled : tf premium was given to the first vessel that arrived in Holland, laden with this, their ambrosia. As much joy was observed among the inhabitants on its arrival^ as the Egyptians shew at the first overflowing of the Nile, f The great winter rendezvous of the herring is within the arctic circle: there they continuq many months, in order to recruit themselves after the fatigue of spawning ; the seas, withiQ that space, swarming with insect food in a far greater degree than in our warmer latitudes. They commence their voyage in the spring, * Shaw's Zoology, Vol. v. Ichtyologie par Bloch, Berlia, Vol. i. p. 150. t Pennant's British Zoology, 4 72 The Herring and Herring Fishery, and a few appear off the Shetland Isles in April and May. These are only fore-runners of the grand shoal which conies in June^ and their appearance is chiefly marked by the number of birds^ such as gannets and gulls^ which follow and prey upon them : but when the main body approaches, its breadth and depth is such as to alter the Yery appearance of the ocean. It is divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth ; and ^hey drive the water before them with a kind of rippling. Sometimes they sink for the space of ten or fifteen minutes ; then rise again to the sur- face, and, in bright weather, reflect a variety of splendid colours, like a field of the most preci- ous gems. The first obstruction that they meet with in their passage southward is the Shetland Isles, •which divide the shoal into two parts. One division directs its course to the eastern, the other to the western shores of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with their numbers, The one passes on towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart of herrings, proceeds through the British Channel, and afterwards nearly dis? appears. The other, after offering itself to the The Herring and Herring Fishery. 7B Hebrides^ where the great stationary fishery is, meets with a second interruption, and is a^in divided at the north of Ireland. The part which pursues the western course is soon lost in the immensity of the AJaatic ; but the otiier, which passes into ihe Irish sea, rejoices and feeds the inhabitants of the coasts that border it. These smaller divisions are often capricious in their movements, and do not shew an invari* able attachment to their haunts. * Such as escape the voracity of their enemies and the ravages of famine, are supposed to col- lect at the end of autumn in the northern sea, and, having left their spawn in a more genial climate, seek their former habitations under the ice. The reality of the emigration of the herring, so well detailed by Mr. Pennant, begins, at present, to be greatly called in question : and it is rather supposed that this fish, like the mackerel, is, ia reality, at no very great distance, during the^ winter months, from the shores which it most frequents at the commencement of the spawning season ; inhabiting in winter the deep recesses of * Pennant's British Zoology, \ Bloch, Vol. i. p. 151. 7'i The Her7^ing and Herring Fishery/. the ocean, or plunging itself beneath the soft mud at the bottom : but, at the vernal season it begins to quit the deeper parts, and approach the shallows, in order to deposit its spawn in proper situations ; and this is thought a sufficient explanation of the glittering myriads which, at particular seasons, illuminate the surface of the ocean for the length and breadth of several mile« at once. * The reasons given by Dr. Bloch, against a belief in their existence are chiefly these : It is impossible that they should traverse a space of so many thousands of miles in so short a time. According; to the observations of Gies- sler, the salmon, even in fresh water, swims only at the rate of one mile in twenty-four hours ; and when the sun shines, not more than half as fast, f The salmon-trout, (lavaret) when the wind is favorable, swims up the most rapid rivers at the rate of three miles in twenty- four hours; but up gentle streams, it makes in the same time only half the progress. J Herrings, having /• Shaw. t Giessler, p. 113. t Bloch, Vol. i. p. 133. The Herring and Herring Fishery. 75 salt-water constantly to struggle with^ would proceed at a much slower rate.* In one or other part of Europe herrings may, all the year, be found : on the coast of Swedish Pomerajnia from January to March : in the Baltic Sea, and many other places, from March to November ; about Gothland, and also on the coasts of France^ from October to December. The fishermen of Scarborough in England scarcely ever throw a net, in any season of the year, without finding a herring among their fish. If the herring, as some allege, fly southward to escape the eager jaws of the whale, why does it proceed so many hundred miles beyond the seas, which this, their enemy, inhabits ? And why, on the approach of winter, should it re- turn to the Arctic regions to encounter again an equal peril ? If want of provision obliges the herrings to send out colonies, why should this want occur periodically, and always at the same season ? On examining nature attentively all these . difficulties vanish. Herrings, like other fish, quit the deep waters, their usual abode, in order *Bloch, VaLi. p. 151. 76 The Herring and Herring Fishery. to deposit the spawn in places more secure ; and having so done, seek again their customary haunts. Instinct or inclination, not the fear of the whale, occasions their change of re- sidence. They begin to multiply their species before they have arrived at one quarter, or perhaps one-eighth part, of their full growth ; and spawn at various seasons of the year, according to their respective ages. It is possible, that the herring may spawn oftener than once a year ; but this circumstance is not ascertained.* The prolific quality of fish is truly astonish- ing. An experiment was made by a discerning naturalist to ascertain the extent of this quality in carp. He put into a pond of seven acres, ^ree from fish, three female and four male carp : he took care to supply the water with plenty of food: and these seven fish produced one hun- dred and ten thousand little carp. Polyandrism is very favourable to the popu- lation of fish ; and the number of males usually far exceeds that of females. The roe of a herring is double. That of a * Buffon. The Herding and Herring Fishery, 77 female of middling size weighs seven drachms, and is composed of white and very small eggs, varying in number from twenty thousand to seventy thousand. It is the general law of animal and vegetable life, that the power and the propensity to in- crease the species should far exceed the means of living. The offspring of a single pair of ani^ mals would in a short time, if not restrained bj adventitious circumstances, be sufficient to peo- ple the whole earth. Hence it is, that in the general economy of nature, a violent as well as a natural death must be included. The two means of regeneration and of destruc- tion preserve nature in a perpetual youth, and limit the number of her productions. Both are the effects of general causes : every individual who is born f^ls of himself at the end of a cer- tain period: should he die prematurely, it is because he was superabundant. How many flowers are gathered in the spring ! how many races extinct in the moment of their birth ! How many buds destroyed before they are developed ! 7S The Herring and He^^ring Fishery. One species preying upon another sets bounds to the number of most animals ; and want of food, to that of others. Were not herrings destroyed by men and by :fish, or by birds, they would soon cover the whole surface of the ocean. The violent death would be deferred, not prevented. They would perish by their numbers, by famine, and per- haps by contagion. With respect to other animals, the same consequences, in unequal spaces of time, would necessarily follow ; and that one should live upon another seems evidently the law of nature. •• The number of herrings taken annually by the Swedes alone were estimated at seven hun- dred and twenty millions, two thirds of which were used for producing oil. The Yarmouth fishery, in a good season, produces one hundred and forty millions. Herrings ate the prey of almost every sea fish, and of almost every sea bird. The gull and the gannet indicate to fishermen where to cast their nets. Wheii their flight is high, it is a mark that the fish is low in the water ; when low, that it is near the surface. In the heat of the day the herrings are invariably The Herring and Herring Fishery 79 partial to the deep waters, and are lost sight of bj the sea fowl.* The methods of catching the fish and of curing them' are diflferent in different countries. I shall confine my attention to the customs of the Isle of Man. Between f )ur and five hundred fishing boats, of usually about sixteen tons burden each, and not decked, compose the Manks fleet. The season commences in July, and ends with Sep- tember. In the evening, the vessels leave the harbours, and return with the fruits of the voyage on the ensuing morning. The prayer, or the affectation of it, on leaving the harbour fs fallen into disuse. Of many boats, which left Port Erin the evening I was there, and on one of which I was aboard going to the Calf, the practice was not observed by any. Another custom still prevails, that of not leaving shore on Saturday or Sunday evening. Many years or centuries ao-o, the history of which we know only by tradition; Saturday only was excepted, and the vessels used to leave the harbour, with the setting sun, on the following day. A tremendous gale, accompanied by thunder and * Bloch/ 80 The Herring and Herring Fisher if. lightning, the signal of divine vengeance, dis^ persed the vessels on a Sunday night. The greater part were buried in the weaves : the re- mainder took shelter in the recess of an impend- ing cliff, and before morning v^^ere crushed to pieces by its fall. The dread of a similar fate is sufficiently strong among the seamen to prevent a repetition of the practice. The nets are buoyed up by inflated bags of dogskin, and the fish are caught chiefly by the gills. To be able to bring to shore from ten to twenty thousand herrings is considered a good night's work for each boat. After a successful voyage, the fishermen get so intoxicated, that the ensuing night, however favourable, is usually lost. The produce is divided into three more shares than the n umber of fishermen. Every fisherman is entitled to one share : the owner of the boat to two shares, and the owner of the nets to one. ^Frequently the nets belong to some of the boatmen, and occasionally the boat. Two seamen and four countrymen are the num- ber usually employed. From two to three thousand of the latter annually quit their inland habitations for the sea-ports^ for the three or four summer or autumnal months. They leav^ The Herring and Herring Fishery, 8 i their wives to turn the soil, to reap, to thresh, and dig potatoes ; and having reserved a consi- derable number of herrings for the year's con- sumption, feast and get drunk with the produce of the remainder. Many of the Irish, when the butter does not appear in due time upon the churning of the cream, ascribe their ill success to the machina- tions of some evil-minded witch. The Manks fishermen, who unfortunately return with a boat unladen, ascribe their's^ to the same cause. ^ To dispel the charm, they set fire to a bundle of dry heath, or furze, in the middle of the boat. They light by the flames whisps of the same material, and apply them to every part of the interior of the vessel. By boys and girls the herrings are conveyed in baskets from the boats. The first operation is to make an opening with the knife, and clear away the intestine, if the fish be designed for a warm climate ; if not, it is frequently dispensed with. In this country they serve only to enrich the land, or feed the gulls ; but in Sweden they are boiled for oil. Those designed for red herrings are piled up with a layer of salt between each row, and thus G 82 The Herring and Herring Fishery. left for two or three days. They are then wash- ed, are hung by the mouth upon small rods, and placed in extensive houses built for the purpose ; sometimes so large as ninety feet by sixty, and from fifteen to thirty feet high. The lengtli is divided into several apartments, and here the rods are arranged in rows, almost close together from the roof of the house to within eight feet of the floor. Underneath are kindled many fires of dry wood and roots of trees, which, for three, four, or five weeks are kept constantly burning. When sufficiently dry and sufficiently smoked, they are, in great regularity, put up in barrels. For white herrings he process is much more expeditious, and is usually performed on board of vessels lying in the harbour. The fish are by the women rubbed well with salt, and left in heaps till the following morning. They are then in equal regularity packed in barrels, with a layer of salt between each row. Much of the excellence of a herring is thought to depend upon its being salted immediately after its being caught. The Dutch, and the Scotch imitating them, have adopted the practice of salting their fish on board the fishing vessels, and The Herring and Herring Fishery. 83 of throwing overboard, at sun-rise, all that are remaining fresh. The number of herrings annually cured in this country is subject to considerable variation. The average may, probably, be between eight and ten millions, being some years double this quantity, and some years only half. In the years 1787, 8, 9, and 90, twenty-nine millions were exported. The present price of fresh her- rings varies from 12^. Qd. to 20^. per maze of thirty score. On the I3th July 1667, they were so abundant as to be sold at Qd. per maze. Formerly praemia were given to the owners of the most successful boats ; and certain boun- ties upon all that were exported to foreign lands; but both are discontinued. The gobback, or dog-fish, preys upon her- rings, and is often taken with them, rendering great damage to the nets. It abounds in oil which may be profitably extracted. Of the voracious animal itself many of the lower orders of people are extremely fond, and account it a rich delicacy. g2 CHAPTER VII. The Arms of Man. Manks Fencibles, Religion, X HE old Arms of Man were a ship with the sails furled, and the motto, " Rex Manniae et Insularum." At the Scottish conquest they were changed to three legs, uniting at the upper part of the thigh, and clothed and spurred, with the motto, " Stabit quocunque jeceris/' They resemble the ancient arms of Sicily, except in the covering and spurs, of which those were destitute. In former times every man capable of bearing arms was liable to be summoned by the lord, and obliged to serve in his militia. At present, the military establishment of the island consists of a regiment of fencibles, the individuals of which are inlisted voluntarily. The duty of an officer, or a soldier, is not considered incompatible with trade. The service is easy; and vacancies are readily fJIed up by the bounty of three guineas to SL recruit. Iheir pay is the same as that of Englibh regiments. Religious Establishment of the Island, 85 Formidable as the island used to be in its offensive operations^ it does not now possess any naval establishment. A press-gang is usually stationed at Douglas to pick up seamen as they arrive. The religion of the island is the established one of Britain. All sects are tolerated; but no marriage is legal, unless the ceremony be per- formed according to the custom of the Protestant Church. The care of the church devolves upon the bishop, the arch deacon, the two vicars-general, and the episcopal registrar. The act of revestment reserves in the Athol family all its former ecclesiastical patronage. The bishop, having been nominated by the Duke of Athol, and received his Majesty's ap- probation, is consecrated by the Archbishop of York. He enjoys all the pre-eminences and spiritual rights of other bishops; but, his see not being a barony, has no vote in the British house of peers. He has however, I suppose by courtesy, a seat in the house above the bar. The arms of the bishopric are, on three ascents, the Virgin Mary, her arms extended between S6 Religious Establishment of the Island. two pillars ; on the dexter^ a church ; in base, the ancient arms of Man. The bishop's domain is between three and four hundred acres ; and the revenue of the see is supposed to be between twelve and fifteen hundred pounds a-year. The bishopric of Sodor was first instituted by Pope Gregory the Fourth in the ninth century *. It was erected in Sodor ; a little village in the isle of lona, or St. Columb's Isle, corruptly called Colmkill, a small island of the Hebrides, being only two miles long and one broad. Dr. Johnson says of it, ^' This island, which was once the metropolis of learning and piety, has now no school for education, nor temple for worship; out of three hundred inhabitants, only two that can speak English, and not one that can read or write.'' The title of Sodor the bishops of the western isles possessed solely, un- til the year 1098, when King Magnus, of Nor- way, conquering these islands, and the Isle of Man, united the two bishoprics of Sodor and Man ; which continued so united till the Eng- lish were possessed of the Isle of Man in 1333. Though, from this time, the Bishop of Man * Camden. Etymology of f he Name, 87 had no claim to the bishopric of Sodor, the title is continued to the present day. Beatson conjectures^ that the word Sodor is a corruption of that it is a place privileged by law from all debts not contracted here ; and from debts contracted here, if not with the inhabitants as far as respects the person and money of the debtor, but not his goods. The subject will be further noticed in the Second Book. The island is so much the resort of persons of this description, that a man, on his arrival, is, ipso facto, immediately suspected of coming hither to avoid his creditors. A poem by a Manksmaji has the two following couplets: " Let not the peaceful stranger hope to find An Eden here, and saints of human kind : No sooner is he landed on the quay, Than vigilant detraction grasps her prey,*' The second reason is, that a family may live^ * See the law relative to corbs* H &8 Attractions of the Island, especially in the country, and more particularly at the northern part, at a very small expense. 'To elucidate this subject it may be proper to mention a few examples of expenditure. At Douglas, where the price of articles, owing to the influx of strangers, has doubled within the last ten years, veal or mutton is sold at Qd. or 7^ per pound, beef at Qd., and pork, by the side, at 3^^ ; fresh butter from 9i/ to 1^.; eggs from M. to 8^, per dozen, being accounted dear when exceeding Qd.; and fowls from 1*. Qd. to 2^. per couple; port wine, very good, at 21*. per dozen; brandy at lis. Gd. per gallon; hollands at lis, 6d.; turn from 6s. to Ss. 6d.; tea from 4^. to 6*. per pound ; refined sugar from 9d. upwards, and salt at Ss, per cwt. In the northern part of the island, and about Ramsey, meat is generally from Id. to ^d. per pound lower ; eggs are frequently sold as low as four, and till within these few year* as six or eight for Id.; butter at Qd. per pound, which, on account of the little demand for it, is usually salted, put into earthenware pans called crocks, and, at convenient times, sent to Douglas. Eeing one day at Ramsey, a woman, with a couple of ducks, came to the inn where I was. She asked sixteen pence for them ; the Attractions of the Island, 69 landlady bid her eight pence> saying, that four |)ence a duck was theii" full value. Whethei? any bargain was made I did not hear. At Cas- tletown, the price of provisions is about mid- way between Douglas and Ramsey. Foreign goods in general are of course somewhat cheaper at Douglas than elsewhere. It is generally acknowledged that the price of house-rent, of land, and of provisions, has doubled within the last fourteen years. I was informed that> half a century ago, a gentleman might keep his carriage and live sumptuously for ^100 per annum. In the north of England and some parts of Ireland many provisions are cheaper than they are here; but for wines, spirits, salt> eggs, and some other arti<*l^s, Man has greatly the pre- ference. The chief advantage however^ and a very great one too, which this island possesses, is, that no tax-gatherers dun the ears of the in- habitant, that no commissioners can scrutinize his books, examine into the state of his income, and finally, and without appeal, levy a contri- bution according to their discretion and hi» good behaviour.* * The income tax is just in principle ; but cannot b« tW ^Attractions of the Island. To support life is a mere animal propensity. No cultivated mind, which has once tasted the pleasures of society, would willingly relinquish them for the conversation of the peasant and the farmer, however desirable in other respects the residence might be. Kence it happens that thinly inhabited islands slowly increase their po- pulation;, and that so many Europeans have- repented of their emigration to the interior set- tlements of America. Against a sojournment in the Isle of Man no such reasons any longer exist. If it cannot boast of the deep learning of many of its inhabitants, it justly may of the usually more desirable qualifications of sociabi- lity,, politeness, easy conversation, and general knowledge. The attractions of the island appear sufficient to occasion a continual influx of strangers. The worst characters will probably introduce the most wealth. Having no money which they can honestly call their own, they will be prodigal of that which they have iniquitously acquired.. fairly collected. It is the most arbitrary of all our taxes, ap- proaching, in this respect, the nature of a poll-tax, and con- sequently is the most disliked. Its produce is so great and the expenditure of England so great, that to abolish it now wsuld be impracticable^ A^radtions of the Island. 101 They will build and plant; andietid^avourto' in- troduce into' the prison sc^e cver^ ; ^^sciW^ luxury and comfort. On its berng the continual a'esort of strangers depends, and I think may eafely depend, the increasing iprosperity of this country. Having now finished the general account of the island, I beg the reader to accompany me from Douglas, on a tour to Balasalla, Castle- town/ the Calf of Man, Peel, Kirk Michael, Hamsey, and thence through Laxey to Douglas. 1 must, on setting out, request him not to expect too much. The country has many extensive and some romantic views to boast of, but is al- together without such gentlemen's seats as, in England, would claim the traveller's attention. There are few which deserve an higher epithet ihan that of pretty ; and the owner would be greatly surprized, if asked by the stranger to ^hew the interior of his mansion. Plantations and shrubberies are sometimes seen to flourish with great luxuriance: but no park-scenery is yet visible. The churches have not any pecu- liar characteristic. The altar and the saloon are little decorated by the artist's skill. 102 Attractions of the Island, The relics of SDtiquity are not numerous. They .r|irfe:€hfeily mouridii of earth and detached masses of the supposed temples or altars of the Druids, most of which would be passed almost unnoticed on Salisbury plain, or in many parts of North Wales; ^nd stones or crosses, with Runic cha«- racters on the edge, to be read from the bottom upwards, supposed to be erected by the Danes,, during; their residence in the Isle of Man, and ^fter their conversion to the Christian faith in the tenth or eleventh century. In the*Calf of Man have been found, buried, ancient brass daggers, and other weapons^ in a few instances partly of pu^-e gold. lOS CHAPTER IX. Douglas^ JJOUGLAS derives its name from the juncr- tion, a little above the town, of two rivers, the Duflf a?nd the Glass, the waters of which meet the sea at Douglas bay. Of the antiquity of the four towns I can say little : we have no historical account of flieir origin; and in the times, the transactions of which are recorded in tlie Chrcv nicle of Man, all appear to have existed, though flie first mentioned are those of Rushen and of Ramseyr Of their prosperity and magnitude we are nearly as ignorant, and can judge of these circumstances only by the general wealth and population of the country. Douglas contains upwards of ^se, some say, six thousand inha- bitants, and though nat the capital, is supposed to be nearly equal in size to Castletown, or Rushen, Peel, and Ramsey put together. Many of the houses are good, but none costly. The custom-house, lately the residence of the Duke, and now €f the collector, is the best building. 104: Douglas. The streets are very irregular, and in some places extremely narrow. I had the curiosity to mea- sure the chief street opposite the projecting corner of a house, and found that it did not ex- ceed seven feet, its average width being twenty or thirty, but without a pathway. The shape of the town is a triangle, the longest sides ex- tending from the bridge at the upper part of the harbour, in a north-easterly direction towards the coast ; and the shortest from the bridge to the pier. On the opposite side of the harbour is a red-herring house, and a row of modern houses of very good appearance. At the com- mencement of the pier are a court of justice and temporary prison, the latter being only used for securing prisoners till their removal to Castle^ town. Very near it, to the eastward, is an an^ cient txiwer, used for a similar purpose till this was built, a wretched dungeon, and now in ruins. The walls are completely naked, and do not form a pleasing object. The pier, constructed under the direction of Mr. Stewart, architect, and finished nearly ten years ago, is the chief beauty and great attraction of Douglas. Its length is five hundred and twenty feet; its breadth fort^, and it is well paved with flag^. Douglas. 105 «tones. At the distance of four hundred and fifty feetj it suddenly expands fifty feet to the right. This broad part is raised three or four feet above the other^ and terminates in a semi- circle. In the middle of the area is a handsome and very usefid light-house. The whole of the building cost the English government upwards of 22,000/. The pier is the promenade of the town, and in fine weather crowded with genteel icompany. Immediately to the left is seen a range of hills, and beyond these the mountains of Penypont and Snawfel. Turning towards the east, we see the cliff of Clayhead, with a spacious intervening bay ; and, to the right of it, a long extent of the coast of Cumberland^ crowned with distant mountains, delightful ob- jects to the eye. Still turning towards the right, nothing but the ocean is visible, till we discern, through a clear horizon, the high lands of Wales. The view is now obstructed by Douglas head. From the pier, directly across the har- bour, is an elegant castellated mansion, till within these few years the residence of Mr. Whaley, usually called Buck Whaley. Its vicinity to the sea diminishes the verdure, and prevents the growth of trees about the grounds. 106 Douglas. The bay is nearly two miles across; it has good anchoring, > excepting on the northern side, ^ind is sheltered from all winds but the east. Both points of the bay are rocky and dangerous ; and in the middle lies a large bed of rocks, just covered at high water. The harbour is accounted the best dry one in the Irish Channel, and admits vessels of consi- derable burden to come at high water close to the quay, the depth at spring tides being from fifteen to twenty feet. Northward of the town are extensive sands much frequented by company in carriages, on horse-back, and on foot. The water of the bay is so calm and transparent, that a person, stand- ing on the pier, may often, even at high water, -distinctly see the bottom. In the most stormy weather the breakers rarely exceed the height of fifteen inches. These circumstances render the bathing particularly safe and delightful to jthe ladies : but only one machine is yet provided for the use of the company. The market-place is small and destitute of shops and shambles. It is usually well supplied hy the neighbouring farms ; but, on a rainy day, it is sometimes impossible to purchase either a Douglas. 107 pound of butter, a shilling's-worth of eggs, or a kishon of potatoes; and, unless these are by chance to be sold in the town, the inhabitants are obliged to wait for them till the expiration of another week. Almost every article of necessity or conveni- ence may be purchased at one or other of the shops. There is only one person here, or, I believe, in any p^rt of the country, who sells books, and he is by trade a bookbinder ; and only two who sell stationary. I tried in vain to buy a sheet of blotting paper. Wines and spirits are retailed by grocers, bakers, and linen- drapers. Of inns in this town, the largest, and, I be- lieve, the best, was the Globe, now divided into two. There are also the Duke's Arms, the Liverpool Hotel, the Liverpool Coffee-house, and one without a sign, kept by Clague, the oldest of all, situated between the market-place and the post-office. There are several boardings houses, one of the best of which is kept by Mrs. Pratt, of Muckle's-gate. There is no want of public houses ; their usual sign in the towns is, '' Ale sold hero ;" and in country places an empty barrel by the door. JtOS Douglas. Some years ago a theatre was built;, aud plaj5 were acted at Douglas ; but even for a few weeks the proprietor did not meet with sufficient €n couragement, and they, are consequently discon- tinued. An assembly every three or four weeks is the only public amusement of the inhabitants. They are fond of visiting^ and of cards^, and, ill- jiatured people say, of scandal. A public circulating library and reading room Jhave been lately established, and are a great ac- quisition to the town. They have commenced on a moderate scale, and contain, at present, a verj small, but well chosen collection of books. The number of proprietors, all of one class, does not exceed ninety. The funds are divided into guinea transferrable shares, every share-holder paying one guinea a year fjr contingent expenses and the improvement of the library. On the arrival of every packet, the room is crowded with subscribers, flocking thither to read the English news. On other occasions it is little frequented, and the conversation is always more political than literary. To particularize any might appear invidious to others ; but every one will be pleased with the urbanity of manner and Douglas. 109 general knowledge of the present High Bailiff, » native of the island. All letters for the Isle of Man are brought from Whitehaven to Douglas by a packet^, which ought to leave that port every Monday night ; but which^ owing to bad weather and the diffi- culty of getting out of harboiuaL is sometimes in the winter season for two or three weeks de- layed. It remains three days at Douglas^ and then returns. It contains good accommodations for passengers ; but not superior to those of the Duke and of the Duchess of Athol trading to Liverpool; and perhaps not equals in this re- spect, to the Chesterfield packet which sails weekly from Liverpool with passengers only. The passage from Whitehaven is nine shillings^ and from Liverpool half-a-guinea. The letters are sorted from the post-office ; and those for CastJe-town, Peel, and Ramsey are forwarded in the order of their names. The letter-carrier stops one day at Ramsey, and then returns by the same route with the letters for England. Every body expecting letters applies for them at the post-office ; and such as are not immediately sent for are stuck up in the window, ready to be no Doughs. taken down and delivered to any one who claim* them, and will pay the postage. ' There are in the town tvYO billiard tables fof the amusement of gentlemen. Ely Shaw is, in the same house, a billiard-table keeper, a wool- len draper, a publican, and he keeps a post- chaise for the use of travellers^ with a steady and civil driver. One side of the market-place is formed by a chapel, dedicated to St. Matthew, which claims no particular notice. To the west of the town, on rising ground, is St. George's chapel, for the building of which a subscription was made, and the funds were lodged in the hands of Bishop Mason. He died insolvent not long afterwards, part of the money subscribed being thereby lo6t> and some of the artificers remaining to this day unpaid. This is, I think, the largest place of worship upon the island : the inside is neat ; and the voices of the congregation are regulated by an organ. The pews are let by auction to the highest bidder for the term of seven years. On a recent occasion the high sum of 7/. per annum was given for the best pews. The Dissenters exercise their devotion at a Methodist meeting- house and a Scotch kirk. Jbouglas. Ill ' Nearly a mile and a half on the Peel road, in a very pleasant valley and surrounded by trees, is Kirk Braddon, the parish church of Douglas. Of the names of places, Chaloner's etymologies, for want of better, I shall generally follow. Braddon is supposed to be a corruption of the Manks word bradan, signifying salmon; this fish during the season being formerly very plen- tiful in Douglas bay ; and the name of the parish, commonly called Kirk, and of the parish church being always the same. The building does not appear ancient, nor has it any thing remarkable about it, except a large church-yard literally crammed with graves. These^ for the most part, have either a blank stone at the head, or one on which are engraved the initials or name of the deceased. They are little orna- mented with productions of the Tragic Muse. At the upper part of the church-yard is a lofty and plain monument of Arran sand stone, erected to the memory of the late Lord Henry Murray^ brother to the Duke of Athol. On the edge of a stone, forming a stile, is a Runic inscription, thus read and translated by Mr. Beauford : '' Durlifr nsaci risti crus dono Aftfiac sunsin frudur sun safrsag,*' lis Douglas, " For Admiral Durlif this cross was erected by the son of his brother (the son of) Safrsag/' About half a mile north of Douglas is Mona castle^ a modern building of the present Duke, intended for his future residence. This is a stately edifice^ and has none to vie with it upon the island. In the front is a noble ball-roonv equal in height to two stories of the other parts of the mansion. It is at present bare of trees; and how far the young plantations are likely to flourish seems very doubtful. His former place of abode was in the midst of some territory, which he kept in his own hands, called Port-e- ghee, one mile from Douglas, on the right-hand side of the Peel road, valley land, and appa- rently well cultivated. The building is now occupied by the tenaht, and has the appearance of a good farm-house. Hence he removed to the custom-house, a house which he had pur- chased, soon after the sale of the island, for 300/, but which is now occupied by Mr. Scott, who transacts the duties of public accountant, and of his private agent. A few hundred yards westward, by the river, is the Nunnery, the seat of Major Taubman, taking its name from the late contiguous ruin of DouglaSi 11^ a nunnery, founded, in the beginning of the sixth century, by St. Bridget, who received the veil of virginity from St. Maughold, the fourth bishop of the isle. Such is the Manks' account. Tradition commands not implicit faith; The Irish, who claim St. Bridget as their tutelar saint, give the following history of her life : She was born in the year 453, and at the age of fourteen years received the veil from the hands of St. Patrick. In 484 she founded the nunnery of Kildare : about the same time a monastery was founded under the same roof; and this illustrious and immaculate lady presided both over the nuns and the monks till the time of het death in the year 523, The prioress of Douglas nunnery was anciently a baroness of the isle i held courts in her own name ; and possessed temporal authority equal to a baron. Here the trees grow with great luxuriance, particularly at the back part, where there is a very pretty bank of wood with the river at the bottom. The garden walls are well covered, and the hot- houses well stocked. Here may be found every comfort and luxury of life ; and here> had I the choice of the seats of the island^ would I take up my abode* I 114 Douglas. Douglas is pretty well supplied with white fish throughout the year ; with a little sal man, and of course with herrings during the summer months. A good deal of trade is carried on in the building of fishing-boats^ both for home and foreign use^ the workmen having acquired the character of being singularly skilful. The springs in the town not being good^ water is brought from a declivity behind it, in large casks, re- sembling those used for a similar purpose in England, and sold at one halfpenny per pail. A weekly newspaper is^ printed and published by Mr. Jefferson* The circulation of it is con- siderable ; and it is to be regretted that he does not amuse his readers, by a recital, as they oc- cur, of the more interesting cases of Manks^ law. The chief part of the military are stationed at Douglas ; and, by their drums and fifes, render some annoyance to the inhabitants. The band, which is good, makes however some amends. On a Sunday it plays through the town, and sometimes it enlivens the assembl}^ I was struck with the sang-froid with which a market woman would, if her stocking was down,, pull up her petticoats and refix it with a garter Douglas. lis in its proper situation : but, in many towns of Ireland, the practice is still more prevalent. It is in all cases confined to the sober and matron- like class, and never followed by the younger damsels. The more we see of the world the less subject are we to surprize. Had I previously, as I have since, spent an autumnal month at Liverpool^ these trivial things would hardly have been noticed. It is the custom of the Lancashire people to give themselves, once a year, a tho- rough washing. In order to effect thiSi purpose^ the inhabitants of the interior of the country, especially about Bolton^ club together and con- tribute a weekly sum to pay the expense of an excursion to Liverpool in the course of the autumn. The scene commences a little below the Old Church, and continues till impeded by the bathing houses, a distance of two hundred yards. Within this short space I have seen^ when high-water has happened in the morning, as many as two hundred people, including men, women, boys, and girls, in the water or on the beach. The men are naked, except occasionally one or two still clad in inexpressibles. Some of the women wear bathing dresses ; others, their 116 Douglas. sliifts : some do no more than pall up their clothes; others retain nothing bat their flannel petticoats. The girls of eight, ten, or twelve years old appear as nature made them. Though the sexes generally undress in detached parties upon the beach, they mix together in the water. In shallow places I have seen gir}s dancing, and in deeper water pursuing, and pursued by, the boys. To say that delicacy is determined altogether by custom might perhaps appear an unfounded and barbarous assertion : but where none i*^ imagined little can exist. Persons engaged in this practice of annual ablution do not appear to consider it indelicate. Below the fort a simi- lar scene is presented ; and a little further on are about thirty large bathing machines, used promiscuously By ladies and gentlemen. The bather is usually desirous of getting as many as he can into one vehicle. A lady, with whom 1 ^m acquainted; went with a companion early one morning to bathe. A country-woman and her husband were about to follow them into the carriage. The woman apologized for intro- ducing^ her husband, by expressing the fear shg had to go into the water alone. I need hardly add, that they were obliged to seek another con- Douglas, 117 "veyance. The gentry of Liverpool resort chiefly to the corporation baths^ but usually bathe in the river to which ;a flight an4 JfG From Douglas h Casttctowft, Lis two vicars general ^20 each^ a most arbi- trary act ; and, on their refusing to pay tbesef fines, committed them all, June 29, 1722, to Castle Rushen. Great disturbances ensued; but the people were restrained from offering violence to the governor by the bishop's exhortations from the castle walls. He told them he should "ap- peal unto CgBsar." After a confinement of nine weeks he was released on petitioning the King in council. The proceedings of the governor were reversed, as being illegal ; and could the bishop have been persuaded to bring an action against him, it was supposed that the damages would have been extremely heavy. The free-school of this town is formed of an old chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, and conse- crated A. D. 1250. The institution was esta- blished by Dr. Barrow about the year 1670^ for the purpose of supplying the church with mi- nisters. The funds are lodged in eight trustees^ and arose primarily from some tithes which were purchased of the Lord-proprietor with a sum of money, riysed for that purpose by voluntary subscription. They have been since increased by a few don-ations and legacies. Four students are educated free of expense; and from the From Douglas to Castletown. 1^7 time of tlieir leaving school to their promotion they are allowed the annuity of, I believe, ^25, The professor must be Master of Arts of one of the British universities, and is allowed the sa- lary of sixty pounds. The castle, called Castle Rushen, is worthy ef inspection, and the stranger will find easy admission to the interior apartments. It was considered the chief fortress of the is- land, and is now the only prison. Accord- ing to the Manks' tradition, it was built about the year 960, by Guttred, grandson to a King of Denmark, and the second of a succession of twelve kings by them called Onys. This building which is remarkably solid is said by Chaloner,^Sacheverell, and other writers, to be reckoned a striking resemblance of the cas- tle of Elsineur in Denmark. As this fortress has suffered several sieges, the repairs of the da- mages sustained must somewhat have altered it» inferior parts. ' The Manksmen, according to Waldron, had a strange tradition concerning this, castle, which,^ as it may probably amuse the reader, is here trans- cribed in his own words : *' Just at the entrance of the c^ptle is a great 128 Prom Douglas to Castletown. stone chair for the governor, and two lesser for the deemsters. Here they try all causes except ecclesiastical, which are entirely under the deci- sion of the bishop. When you have passed this little court, you enter a long winding passage "between two walls, not much unlike what is described of Rosamond's labyrinth at Wood- stock. In case of attack, ten thousand men in attempting to enter might be destroyed by a very few. The extremity of it brings you into a room where the Keys sit. They are twenty four in number: tbey call them the parliament; but in my opinion they more resemble our juries in England, because the object of their meeting is to adjust differences among the common people, and they are locked in till they have given their verdict. They may be said indeed to be su- preme judges,, because from them there is no appeal but to the lord himself. " A little further is an apartment which has never been opened within the memory of man. The persons belonging to the castle are very cautious in giving ypu any reason for it; but the natives, who are excessively superstitiousy assign this, that there is something of enchant- ment in it. ^They tell you that the castle was from Douglas to Castletown, 159 at first inhabited by fairies, and afterwards by giants> who continued in the possession of it till the days of Merlin, who, by the force of magic, dislodged the greatest part of them, and bound the rest in spells, indissoluble to the end of the world. In proof of this they tell you a Tery odd stery : They say there are a great many fine apartments under ground, exceeding in mag- nificence any of the upper rooms ; several mert of more than ordinary courage have, in former times> ventured down to explore the secrets of this subterranean dwelling place, but none of them ever returned to give an account of what they saw; it was therefore judged expedient that all the passages to it should be continually shut, that no more might suffer by their temerity. But about some fifty or fifty-five years sin€e> a person who had an uncommon boldness and resolution, never left soliciting permission of those who had power to grant it, to visit those dark abodes ; in fine, he obtained his request, went down, and returned by the help of a clue of packthread which he took with him, which no man before himself had ever done, and brought this amazing discovery : ^'That af\er having pas- sed through a great number of vaults^ he came K 130 From Douglas to Castletown, into along narrow place; which the farther he penetrated, he perceived that he went more and more on a descent: till having travelled, as near as he could guess, for the space of a mile, he be- gan to see a little gleam of light, which, though it seemed to come from a vast distance, was the most delightful object he ever beheld. Having at length arrived at the end of that lane of dark- ness, he perceived a very large and magnificent house, illuminated with many candles, whence proceeded the light just now mentioned. Hav- ing, before he began the expedition, well forti- fied himself with brandy, he had courage enough to knock at the door, which a servant, at the third knock, having opened, asked him what he wanted } I would go as far as I can, replied our adventurer : be so kind therefore as to direct me how to accomplish my design, for I see no pas- sage but that dark cavern through which I came. The servant told him he must go through that house ; and accordingly led him though a long entry, and out at a back door. He then walked a considerable way, and beheld another house more magnificent than the first; and, all the windows being open, discovered innumerable lamps burning in every room. Here also he Ft'om Douglas to Castktoxm. 13 1 designed to knock, but had the curiosity to step upon a little bank which commanded a low par- lour ; and^ looking in, he beheld a vast table in the middle of the room> and on it extended at full length a man, or rather monster, at least fourteen feet long, and ten or twelve round the body. This prodigious fabrick lay as if sleep- ing with his head upon a book, with a sword by him, answerable to the hand which, it is sup- posed, made use of it. This sight was more terrifying to our traveller than all the dark and dreary mansions he had passed through in his arrival to it. He resolved therefore not to at- tempt entrance into a place, inhabited by per- sons of that unequal stature, and made the best of his way back to the other house^, where the same servant re-conducted and informed him, that if he had knocked at the second door^ he would have seea company enough, but could never have returned. On which he desired iQ know what place it was, and by whom possessed; but the other replied that these things were not to be revealed. He then took his leave, and by the same dark passage got into the vaults, and soon afterwards once more ascended to the ligKt of the sun." 132 From Douglas to Castletown^ Having thus far embarked in the fabulous history of this castle, I shall add another story of the same sort by the same author, who ap - pears by his narration to have given credit to it. '* A mighty bustle they also make of an ap- parition M^hich, they say, haunts Castle Rushen in the form of a woman, who was some years ago executed for the murder of her child. I have heard not only the debtors, but the soldiers of the garrison, affirm that they have seen it at various times ; but what I took most notice of was the report of a gentleman, of whose good understanding as well as veracity I have a very high opinion. He told me, that happening to be abroad late one night, and caught in an ex- cessive storm of wind and rain, he saw a woman stand before the castle-gate ; and as the place afforded not the smallest shelter, the circum- stance surprized him, and he wondered that any one, particularly a female, should not rather run to some little porch or shed, of which there are several in Castletown, than chuse to stand still, exposed and alone to such a dreadful tem- pest. His curiosity exciting him to draw near- er that he might discover who it was that seemed From Douglas to Castletown. 133 so little to regard the fury of the elements, he perceived she retreated on his approach, and at last, he thought, went into the castle though the gates were shut. This obliging him to think that he had seen a spirit, sent him home very much terrified : but the next ^ay relating his adventure to some peaple who lived in the castle, and describing, as near as he could, the garb and stature of the apparition, they told him it was that of the woman above-mentioned, vjho had frequently been observed by the soldiers oo guard to pass in and out of the gates, as well as j., to walk through the rooms, though there were no visible means to enter. Though so familiar to the eye, no person has yet had the courage to speak to it ; and as thifey say that a spirit has no power to reveal its mind, unless conjured to jdo so in a proper manner, the re;json of its being permitted to waader is unknown." The castle is built close to the river, the rocky bed of which is nearly dry at low water. Its figure is irregular, and noteasily conceived from liny verbal description. A sort of stone glacis «uns round it, said to have been built by Cardinal Wolsey. Within the walls are the Lieutenant- jgovernor's house, barracks with rooms for the 134 Fmn Douglas to Castletown, officers, and three rooms for debtors who are separated into three classes, according to the appearance of their gentility, and who, when I was there in 1808, amounted in number to thirteen. For their use are also four forlorn detached houses of one room each, built upon the walls, which may be inhabited only by special leave of the Governor. There is one court of justice used for the various occasions of the ad- ministration of the law ; but by the Keys only ^hen sitting in their judicial capacity : in their private (l^bates they occupy a room of their own, without the castle. The prison room for criminals is damp, dark, and wretched. Under it is a dungeon for such prisoners as were outi? rageous, and who, for want of any steps, were let down by ropes or descended by a ladder, No light is admitted, except what makes its way through the chinks of its trap-door or covering. The two criminals who were last here, and having been found guilty of murder, were led out to be executed^ were confined in a small yoom, pot quite so dark and miserable as thq prison which had formerly been used. The stone work of the keep, built of hard limestone, similar t9 that found in this neighbourhood;, is entire as From Doucrlas to Castletown. 135 'i:> are many of the wal/5. In the roof is some very large timber^ said to have been brought from the Isle of Anglesea. The interior of the castle is without floorings and in a very ruinous condi- tion. It was formerly the mansion of the king or lord of the island; and as the stranger rambles about the ruins^, he has pointed out to him the kitchen, known by its fire-place, the banquet- ting-hall, and various other apartments. He may plainly see where floors have been, by tim- bers projecting from the walls. The stairs being of stone and not much used are still in a state of some preservation. In this castle were deposited the archives of the island. James the Seventh, Earl of Perby, was beheaded for his attachment to hLs royaj master, and his countess, ha,ving been taken pri- soner by the republican army, was here confined. On her release she carried with her these archives, and what afterwards became of them is not known. To inquire into the motiyes of her conduct at this remote period is vain : we can only regret the loss of much authentic document. The statute-book of Man is preserved in Castle B'Ushen. From the top of the tower is a view of the J3(J From Douglas to Castletown, surrounding country, interspersed with gentle* mens' seats and villages; of Castletown and Pool-Vash bays, with rocks here and there pro« jecting through the water ; of the rocks of the Chickens, and also of the Eye or Borough, having a considerable aperture at the lower part, plainly discernible from the spot by its trans^ mission of light. At the distance of two or three hundred yards ig the gallows. It has not been used since the year 1745. A mile and a half off, across the sands and the isthmus which joins the peninsula of Lang^ liess to the land is Derby haven, formerly called Jlannesway or Rainsway, having on its southern termination St, Michaers Island, joined to the main land by a wall, twelve feet thick, and ?ibout one hundred yards long, and at low water by the sandy beach. It contains a round tower, the outer wall of which is still entire. On a square stone, over the entrance, are the ducal coronet and the figures 16 ) . The third figure appears to have been 6 • but as Chaloner, who wrote in 1653, informs us, that the Mate Earl of Derby' buiit a fort here, we must give it the interpretation of or 3. The fourth figure is gblittrated. In the area ^re four iron cannons 3 From Douglas to Casletcnvn. 137 without carriages^ one about eleven i&ei long, the others eight. The to^er may be about eighteen feet high, and as many yards in dia^ meter : its walls are eight feet thick. Not far off are a few ruinous walls of a church, apparently not very old, but supposed by some to be the cathedral in which the bishops were formerly consecrated or enthroned. If such was ever its use, it must have been before the building of St, Germain's in Peel Isle in 1245, The authority of Camden does not, in this instance, seem sufficient to confirm the suppo- sition : his relation of the circumstance is very far from clear: and I cannot learn, that this small territory was ever called Sodor or Sodor- ensis. He says, '' By Castletown, in the Isle of Man, there is a little island, wherein Pope Gregory the Fourth instituted a see, the bishop whereof was named Sodorensis, and had, in times past, jurisdiction over all the western islands; but exerciseth it now only upon that island. * Near the eastern wall is a solitary tombstone erected to the memory of a mariner who died in 1782. * Gibson's Camden's Britannia. 138 From Douglas to Castletown. In a retired spot near the Peel road is Kirk Malew. Upon the tombstones are several at- tempts at poetry, but none worthy of insertion. It is remarkable, that the parish of Malew, which includes the metropolis, and the largest Tillage, should afford no parsonage-house for its minister. J39 CHAPTER XI. FroTTk Cast let Oivn to the Calf of Man and to Peel PoRT-LE-MARY is a mile and a half from Castletown ; -.and Port-Erin two miles further, along a circuitous road. Of these small villages the last mentioned is the most considerable, on account of its good harbour and the herring fishery. Between them, on the right-hand side pf the road, are the '' Giant's Quoiting Stones/* two pieces of unhewn claj-slate standing oa end, about ten feet high, between four and five feet wide, and nearly two feet thick. Half a piile further is Fairy-hill, a large mound, said Jjy some to be erected and inhabited by fairies ; by others, to be a barrow, raised by the Danes in commemoration of Ivar, who was killed on this spot, fighting in single combat with Re- ginald. While waiting at Port-Erin for the departure of a herring-boat, which was to convey me to the Calf; a fisherman introduced himself by I 140 From Castletown to the warning me to take care of the fairies which I should meet with there^ telling me that he had chaxms against their power. Another fisher- man who that morning had very civilly walked near' two miles out of his way to shew me a road, pretended to laugh at his companion's tales; but, upon being questioned seriously upon the subject, he confessed his firm belief in the existence of these aerial beings. He said that his father once met with a flock of them, and he was not a man to tell a lie. They were invisible, but caoided like geese close to him, when there were no geese within si^ht. Port Erin is the usual place for hiring boats for the Calf of Man. A small sailing vessel, or one manned with four rowers is most convenient, and, if the sea is calm, safe enough : if not, I re- commend the traveller to stay on shore. The tide runs strong, and there are many rocks about this little island. The distance is three miles, and the demand for the boat is from seven shillings to half a guinea, according to the number of com- pany, and the length of the intended visit. lo the narrow channel which parts the island from the main land, are several little rocks, and one large one called Kitterland Isle, with herbage Calf of Man and to Peel. 1 4 1 and sheep upon it in summer. The cliffs of Spanish-head, though not very high, are bold, with the sea dashing against them. When the tide is not too low the landing i» easy, 'and is usually effected in a small creek on the northern side. On the shore I met Mr. Gourlay, the farmer and tenant of the island^ who received me very civilly, but was fearful that the accommodation which he could afford me for the night would not be very great, as the house in which he then resided was not yet finished. He and his wife had just been fishing, and, in the course of two hours, had caught one hundred fish, killack and coal-fish, the former weighing, upon an average, one pound each; and the latter, four ounces. The bait which they use is composed of the ends, one inch and a half long, of two or three white feathers from the wing of a goose or gull. These being placed in one direction are tied to a hook. While fishing, Mr. Gourlay is constantly rowed about, and the bait is taken at the surface of the water, often as quickly as he can throw in his line. His rod is rather long, but not very pliable. The bait he calls a fly^ but believes the Ii2 From Castlefoxvn to tlw fish take it for the under part of a small Berring. The circumference of the island, on the ac-^ eessible parts> is computed to be five miles, and the included area, six hundred acres. It is the property of the Duke of Athol; is tithe free; and one tenant rents the whole upon lease. The house in which he lives will be very commodi- ous when finished. His late dwelling, a few hundred yards ofF^ is now occupied by a labourer. These are the only inhabitants. In this island are two fields of oats, one in Yery good condition, one field of grass^ and ^ plot of potatoes. The remainder of the land consists of sheep walks, some very fijie, and of heath. Thrift grows plentifully about the rocks, and frequently usurps the place of the grass. Except in the farmer's garden there is not a tree or shrub three feet high upon the island ; even here not more than four exceeding six feet, and these few not ten. I observed, in the course of my walk, eight or ten head of cattle, as many horses, and a few score of sheep. Rabbits every where abound, and are the farmer's chief source of profit. He takes about Calf of Man and to Peel 143 two thpusand annually, between the months of October and April. The common toothed rat- trap, placed close to the boroughs, and catching them by the legs, is the most successful. Of this sort not less than one hundred are nightly set. He makes use also of a net with large meshes, two hundred yards or more in length, which, in the night time, he cautiously places in a perpen- dicular direction, supported by poles, and having three or four feet trailing upon the ground, be- tween the boroughs and the place of pasture. Men are then sent round to frighten the rabbits. They immediately flee towards their homes, not seeing the net run against it, and are irrecover- ably entangled by their legs. It is essential to the success of this stratagem, that the wind should not blow from the men who place the net towards the rabbits. In the spring of the year this place is a great resort for sea-fowl, who come hither to lay their eggs and rear their young. They do not confine themselves to the inaccessible parts ; and so numerous are they, that my conductor assured me that, in the course of an hour, he had been able to collect three hundred eggs. Woodcocks are the only usual game. The farmer once 144 Frofyi Castletown to tftt brought over a few hares, male and female, btlt having turned them loose never saw^ one of them again. This island is said to have been the retreat of two hermits; one of whom in the reign of Elizabeth murdered a beautiful woman in a sudden fit of jealousy^ and spent the remainder of his life in solitude, penance, and the severest mortifications ; the other, Thomas Bushell, in the reign of James, made it his abode for only a few years. A supposed letter of his, still ex- tant, is to this effect : " The embrions of my mines * proving abor- tive by the fall and death of Lord Chancellor Bacon, were the motives which persuaded my pensive retirement to a three years solitude in the desolate isle, called the Calf of Man, where, in obedience to my dead Lord's philosophical advice, I resolved to make a perfect experiment upon myself, for the obtaining of a long and healthy life, most necessary for such a jepentance as my former debauchedness required, by a parsi- monious diet of herbs, oil, mustard, and honey, with water sufficient, most like to that of our loDg* ived fathers before the flood, as was conceived * The writer was a mineralogical projector. Calf of Man and to PeeL M5 by that Lord ; which I most strictly observed^ as if obliged by a religious vow, till Divine Pro- vidence called me to a more active fife/* What is called Biisheirs House, now ruinous^ consists only of one narrow entrance^ and an adjoining room, probably a bed-chamber, with a recess about three feet wide and six deep, wherein it is supposed his bed was placed. This build- ing is situated upon the highest >ground in the island, and within a few yards of a rugge^ cliff nearly perpendicular. The two rocks of the Stack are of a triangu- lar shape, of the computed height of one hun- dred feet, and base of sixty feet. They are ten or fifteen y-ards from the bottom of the cliff, with deep water intervening. Off the south-east shore is the Eye or Borough, a large mass of rock, half as high again as the Stack, with steep rugged sides, accessible only at one part, and there with difficulty, and the only place where rabbits are not visible. On the top is a place called Busheirs Grave ; but thought by some to have been intended for a hiding place. It is an excavation of the rock, in the form of a cr»ss, each of the two longitudinal cavities being about six feet long, three wide, and two deep. Ira- L 146 From Castletown to the mediately at the edge of the cavities is a wall of / stone and mortar, two feet high, except at the southern, western, and eastern ends, which ■were left open perhaps for ingress, egress^ ob- servation, and the admission of light. The whole is covered with slate and mortar. Salt water is often to be found at the bottom, the consequence of the sea's breaking over the roclc in stormy weather ; and of the stone being too solid to admit its passage. The borough is joined to the Calf at low water; but at high water there are forty feet of intermediate sea. The day which I spent on this retired* but hospitable island, was the harvest-home, the meller of the Manks, a time of jubilee. The labourers had plenty of ale, and the master dealt out his e^Pcellent rum with a cautious, not sparing hand. Though of ten or twelve people all were merry, none was absolutely intoxicated. A dance in the barn concluded the festivity of the day : and Mr. Gourlay conducted me to the opposite shore in his own boat. Very near Port-Erin is Kirk Christ Rushen^ so called, according to Chaloner, from being built on the side of a '' rushy bog." Of the church I know nothing worthy of remark. On Calf of Man and to Peel, 1 47 a sun-dial, by the steps at the eastern entrance of the church-jardj is this motto : " Horula dum quota sit ** Quaeritur hora fugit." Proceeding towards Balasalla, we enter the parish of Arbory, and immediately perceive the church on our left. The name is said by Chaloner to be derived from the liuihbet of trees, " arbour-like/* which formerly surrounded the church-yard. None of them remain. Here is a vertical monument of Poolvash limestone, a frequent material for this purpose, thus com- memorating Mr. Stevenson : Coat of Arms, This monument was erected by Mrs. Alice Stevenson to the memory of her son. Here lie the remains of Richard Ambrose Stevenson, Esq. who departed this life, February 9.7, 17 7§, aged 30 years. ** Adieu blest shade ; oh ! cease to mourn j Nor strive to wake the silent urn. Rather each care, each thought employ To meet thee in the realms of joy.'* Surrounding iron rails keep the people at a respectable distance. 148 From Castktoxmi to the Westward of the churGh is the little village of Colby. Continuing our journey, the next object of attention is South Barrule. The direct way to it from Castletown or Peel is along the mountain road between the towns, and the ascent may be made on horse-back or on foot. The view from its summit is nearly equal to that from Snawfel. Of Ireland, may be discerned the Arklow moun- tains, the high point of land on this side the bay of Carlingford, and the hills behind Strang- ford; of Wales, the towering Snowdon, Great Orm's Head, and other mountains : of England, part of the coast of Cumberland : and of Scot- land, all the high land between Dumfries and Port Patrick. Of nearer scenery is the Calf, the mountains to the north-east obscuring part of the English coast, and a concentrated view of the chief part of the Isle of Man. On the side of the road, opposite this moun- tain, are the abandoned lead mines of Foxdale. Further, on the left, is a mountain torrent tumbling down a rock of the height of about forty feet, nearly perpendicular, and of twenty or thirty oblique. A few ash trees, chiefly at the bottom, improve the scenery. Calf of Man and to Peel. 149 Having crossed a bridge we take the first cross road on our left^ leaving St. John's and the Tynwald mount for a future visit. At the end of three miles and a half vre arrive at - Kirk Patrick, erected in the year 1710. This build- ing, vrith many others^ is owing to the religious zeal and exertions of Bishop Wilson. Besides a hundred pounds towards bettering the endow- ment, he gave a pulpit, reading-desk, clerk's seat, communion-table, carpet and rails. Not far off is the valley of Clanmy, now- called Glenmay. This is the prettiest &pot upon the island, and a most delightful one. It is, as its name imports, a glen, with deep, rocky, woody banks ; in some places nearly perpendi- cular, terminated by a rivulet murmuring over the rocks, and, in one place, forming a cascade. The scenery here is highly romantic. The ground is well covered with the chesnut, the hazel, and the ash, apparently all planted. The northern baiUi is a perpendicular rock, of the height of sixty feet, here and there making its appearance through a covering of luxuriant ivy : at the top and bottom the holly flourishes. The southern bank, though not perpendicular, is very steep and well wooded. The valley winds 150 From Castletown to Peel. considerably, and bv excluding foreign objects renders the scenery more romantic. The spec- tator descends by a circuitous path. Toward^ the seg. the glen continues pretty, but the wood of the southern side soon disappears. The botr torn was too rugged, and the sides were too steep to permit my intended ramble through it. Being obliged to leave it, I walked on the top of the bank, and when, on the first opportunity, I again descended, foundits beauty much diminish- ed. Above the fall is a inill, and above this, where the vale opens, are a few cottages, pret- tily situated, with trees about them. 151 CHAPTER XII. Fi^om Peel to Kirk Michael, Jl EEL is ten or twelve miles distant from Doug- las. This town is chiefly remarkable for the ruins of its castle and cathedral. It is supposed to contain twelve hundred people. Since the loss of the smuggling trade it has been a place of little commerce. Provisions are cheap, and fish plentiful. The church in the town is de- dicated to St. Peter. Peel castle stands on a small rockj island, about a hundred yards west of the town ; being separated from it by a channel, scarcely a foot deep at low water. The island is sometimes called Holme Peel. It is joined to the main land, southward of Peel river, by a strong stone wall, shelving to the top, built many years ago to secure the harbour. The entrance to this island is on the eastern side. There was formerly a flight of stone steps to the water's edge ; but these are too nearly demolished to be of any use to the traveller, who is now obliged to clamber 152 From Peel to Kirk Michael. over the rocks. Turning to the left^ he ascends several steps to the gateway in the side of a square tower of the castle^ through which he enters. Immediately to the right is a vaulted guard-room. The walls are flanked with towers, and enclose an irregular polygon whose area contains about two acres. The average thickness of them does not exceed three or four feet. They are built of clay-slate little hewn, and are coigned and faced in many parts with red sand-stone. The time of their erection is unknown. Here are the ruins of two churches ; one dedicated to St. Patrick, supposed to be of great antiquity ; the other to St. Germain, being the cathedral of the island, and built about the year 1245. The whole area is full of ruins of various buildings, walls, and dwelling houses. About the middle of it is a square pyramidal mound of earth, ter- minating obtusely. Each of its sides faces one of the cardinal points of the compass, and measures about seventeen yards. It is surround- ed by a ditch, five feet and a half broad. Time and weather have rounded off its angles. It is supposed to have been an eminence whence an lefficer might harangue his troops, or the burial i From Peel to Kirk Michael 153 place of some great personage; and the na- tives imagine that much treasure lies hidden under it. Before the British government purchased the royalty of the island, this fortress was garrisoned by troops kept in pay by the Lord of Man. At the time of the sale, were removed from the re- mains of the armoury many matchlock mus- kets and other ancient arms. St. Germain's is described by Waldron as being richly ornamented, and abounding in monumen- tal inscriptions. At present, however, there is not in it a single piece of carved stone, and scarcely a vestige of any ancient funeral memo- randum. The whole building is extremely rui- nous, and has not for many years been used for any other purpose than a burying- place. Its dimensions are seventy six feet by twenty. Be- neath the eastern part of it is the ecclesiastical prison, or dungeon, for those persons who were so miserable as to incur the spiritual censure. The descent is by eighteen steps of about ten inches each, a good deal broken, winding through a dark passage. The dimensions of the vault are thirty four feet by sixteen. The bottom is ^f eaf th ; and at one corner are the remains of I 154 Fj^om Peel to Kirk Michael. a well;, uncovered, which must have added greatly to the dampness of the place. The only light or air is admitted through a small hole in the wall. St. Patrick's church stands a little to the west- ward of St. Germain's; all the buildings here being of the same material. Its windows have been circular. Nothing but the walls remain. Waldron mentions subterranean cells under the churches, respecting which I could not obtain any information from an old woman, my guide, except the report that there were such. He de- scribes them thus : '' Some of them have nothing in them to sit or lie down upon ; others, a small piece of brick-work; some of them are lower and more dark than others, but all of them, in jx\y opinion, dreadful enough for any crime hu- manity can be guilty of; though it is supposed they were built with different degrees of horror, that the punishments might be proportionate to the faults of the wretched prisoners. They have not been made use of since the times of po- pery." , The castle is said to be haunted by several apparitions, among which is that of Eleanor, wife to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, uncle From Peel to Kirk Michael. 155 ic^ Henry the Sixth. She was confined and died here, and her ghost has ever since been nightly heard to ascend a stone staircase, leading to a little house upon the wall. Waldron tells the following curious story of an apparition in the shape of a dog. "^'They say that an apparition, called in their language the mailthe doog, in the shape of a large black spa- niel, with curled shaggy hair, was used to haunt Peel Castle ; and has been frequently seen in every room^ but particularly in the guard cham- ber, where, as soon as the candles were lighted, it came and lay down before the fire, in presence of all the soldiers, who at length, by being so much accustomed to the %\^Ai of it, lost great part of the terror they were seized with at its first appearance. They still however retained a certain awe, believing it to be an evil spirit whicli' waited to do them hurt ; and for that reason forbore sweating and all profane dis- course while in its company. But though the j endured the shock of such a guest when al- together, none cared to be left alone with it. It being the custom therefore for one of the sol- diers to lock the gates of the castle at a certain hour and carry the keys to the Captain, to whose 4 155 From Peel to Kirk Michael. apartment the way led through a churchy they agreed among themselves that whoever was to succeed, the ensuing night, his fellow on this errand, should accompany him that went first, and by this means no man would be exposed singly to the danger ; for the malithe doog was always seen to come out from that passage at the close of day, and return to it as soon as the morning dawned, which made them look upon ihis place as its peculiar residence. *^'^One night a fellow being drunk, and, by the strength of his liquor, rendered more daring than ordinary, laughed at the simplicity of his companions ; and, though it was not his turn to go with the keys, would needs take that office to testify his courage. All the soldiers endea- voured to dissuade him; but the more the^ said the more resolute he seemed, and swore that he desired nothing more than that the malithe doog would follow him as it had done the others; for he would try whether it was dog or devil. After having talked in a very reprobate manner for some time, he snatched up the keys and went out of the guard-room. In some time after his departure a noise was heard ; but nobody had the boldness to see what occasioned it, till, the ad- From Peel to Kirk Michael 15t venturer returning", they demanded the know* ledge of him ; but, loud and noisy as he had been at leaving them, he was now become sober and silent enough ; for he was never heard to speak more : and though all the time he lived, which was three days, he was entreated by all who camfi near him either to speak, or, if he could not do that, to make some signs by which they might understand what had happened to him^ yet no- thing intelligible could be got from him, only that by the distortion of his limbs and features, it might be guessed that he died in agonies, greater than is common in a natural death. The malithe doog was however never seen afterwards, nor would any one attempt to go through that passage; for which reason it was closed up and another way made. This accident I heard at- tested by several, but especially by an old soldier who assured me that he had seen the maiithe doog oftener than he had hairs on his head." Walter Scott alludes to this tale in the fol- lowing lines of his Lay of the Last Minstrel : ** But none of all the astonish'd train Were so dismay'd as Doloraine : ISS Prom Peel to Kirk MichaeL His blood did freeze^ his brain did burti, 'Twas fear'd his mind would ne'er return ; For he was speechless, ghastly, wan, Like him of whom the story ran^ That spoke the spectre-hound in Man." Peel castle is overlooked bv a contiguous hiU^ tailed Horse-hill, rising almost immediately from the base of the rock. Were the Walls thick, it could never have sustained a lang siege with the enemy in possession of this commanding eminence.'* From the ruins of the cathedral was stolen^ many years ago, a brass plate which had been placed over the tombstone of Bishop Samuel Ruttcr, with the following epitaph, supposed io have been written by himself : ** In hac domo, quam a vermiculis Mutuo accepi confratribus meis ; Sub spe resurrect ion is ad vitam, Jaeeo Samuel pciniissionc divina Episcopus hujus insulce : siste, lector, Vide ac ride palatium Episcopi. Ob.-30mo die mensis Maii, 1663." * Having now finished the account of Castle Rushen, Rushen Abbey, and Peel Castle, I here acknowledge my obli- gations to Mr. Grose IVom whose accurate descriptions I have little deviated, unless obliged so to do by the devastations of time. For several parish memorandiims I am indebted to Mr. Feltham. Trom Peel to Kirk Michael. 159 In the town of Peel is an excellent but very small inn, kept by Mr. Long from Cum- berland. The Peel river accompanies, on the right hand side, the road to St. John's. About two miles from Peel, on the further side of the river is ^n uncultivated hill ; still haunted by the spirit of a murdered witch. She does not appear to mortal eyes, but every night joins her lamen- tations to the howling of the wind. The truth of Mank*3 stories depends upon the faithfulness of tradition. The island was much celebrated for its fairies and its witches. The poet Collins calls it the Elfin land ; and Dr. Langhorne says it is the only place in the world where one should have the least chance of meeting with a fairy. The women were so much given to witch- craft that they would often sell wind to the ma- riners, inclosed in knots of thread. If only a little was wanted a few were to be undone, if much, many.* I may remark, what I dare say has been re- marked before, that a wonder often gains credit in proportion to the lapse of years. Even the * Hollinshed's Chronicles. 150 From Peel to Kirk Michael. cotemporaries whom history or poetry record to have believed in or actually witnessed miracles were sometimes seized with an incomprehensible indifference or coldness, and attached little im- portance to their author. Gibbon says that, considering the number of miracles wrought in favour of iEneas, he sometimes doubts whether that celebrated hero should rather have been call- ed impious than pious. A portion of the same spirit which formerly induced nations to kill their prophets was perhaps exerted in the pu- nishment of witches. Wherein this witch offended the people I could not learn. She shared the fate of Regulus^ was put into a barrel with spikes inserted round the interior, and thus by the weight of herself and the apparatus rolled from the top of the hill to the bottom. The Manksman who related the story to me appeared to credit it himself Three miles from Peel is the Tinwald Mount, of singular appearance and unknown antiquity. Its name is usually derived from the word tin or ting, signifying in the Danish language an assembly of the people, or court of justice ; and waldy a field or place, or possibly fenced. A modern author derives it from the British words Trom "Peel to Kirk Michael.. 161 t^ngRndval, signifying '^'^ the juridical hill." The way up the mount is by a flight of steps of turf on the eastern side. The diameter of the sum- mit does not exceed seven feet. Round this^ and three feet below it, is an annular plot about four feet wide ; and below this, another six feet wide; and below this another still wider. The cir- cumference of the outer circle is nearly eighty yards ; all the angles are rounded^ and almost the whole surface is of turf. The mount is kept clear of weeds^ and is pervaded by an air of neatness. At a little distance is St. John's chapel, re- built about twelve years since^ destitute of pews, and used, I believe, only on the day of the pro- mulgation of the laws. The old chapel was for many years in so ruinous a condition that it served no other purpose than a sheltering place for the neighbouring sheep, driven from the open plains by storms or noon day heats. Whe- ther the annual prayers were, during this period, dispensed with or read elsewhere, I omitted to inquire. Grose's view of the Tinwald is very correct. The church has been rebuilt as it was before, ex- cept that a turret and a bell have been added. M 162 From Peel to Kirk Michael Not any stone by way of fence or gate post is now visible. Leaving on our right the Douglas road, we enter a solitary dell, two miles long. The sides are lofty, steep, rocky, and barren. From ten to twenty yards below the carriage way is a shal- low river, murmuring over the pebbles ; and the noise is occasionally increased by the tribu- tary waters of a mountain torrent. In this glen is one cottage with a little garden ; and nature has produced one tree, a stunted o^k. The first village that we come to is the plea- santly situated one of Kirk Michael, in a parish of its own name ; and almost contiguous to it upon the shore is the village of Glenwillian. The church, dedicated to the Arch-angel, is within an hundred yards of the inn. Opposite the entrance of the church yard stands upright, forming the center of a horse-block, a piece of clay-slate, seven ^eei high, eighteen inches wide, and between four and five inches thick. On the side furthest from the church is engraved a cross, its length being nearly equal to that of the stone. On each side of it are various devices of horses and riders, and of stags being seized by d(^. The other side, more defaced, is From Peel to Kirk Michael. 163 somewhat different, but partakes oi the same character. On the upper part of one edg^ of the stone, and on the right hand, is the figure of a warrior with his spear and shield, and be- tween his legs a cross. On the same edge are Runic characters. To shew the reader how little certain knowledge he can obtain on such subjects, I shall insert the translation of them by two antiquarians : '' Watter, son of Thurulf, a knight right valiant. Lord of Frithu, the Father, Jesus i Christ." John Prestwich, Bart. '^ For the sins of Ivalsir, the son of Dural, this cross was erected by his mother Aftride." Mr. Beauford. On the edge of a stone in the church-yard is a Runic inscription, thus read and explained by Mr. Beauford: " Uleifan funtree Gudean nom illean Reinti crund : son sfstr mel muru funtree niis tolirluf cetlan cone, in e." *' We hope to live through the holy name of God ; and by means of the mysterious tree oo n2 J64 ' From Peel to Kirk Michael, which his Son suffered an evil death our sorrows shall be washed away." Colonel Townley says in his journal that he found on the outside of this-church-yard a ve- nerable stone, displaying in the rude chissel- work the figure of some mighty Danish chief in complete steel : that he '' rescued the w^ar- rior from his ignominious concealment, took him into his carriage, and conveyed him to morjB respectable quarters." Near the eastern end of the church is the tomb-stone of Bishop Wilson, with this in- scription : " Sleeping in Jesus, Here lieth the body of Thomas Wilson, D. D. Lord Bishop of this Isle ; Who died March 7th, 1755, aged 93, And in the 58th year of his consecration." In the lower part of the stone his son. Dr. Wilson, informs the reader that he is restrained by the express commands of his father from men- tioning his character or bestowing praise, and therefore adds no more than one expressive line : '' Let this Island speak the rest." I« this parish is the pile of stones called Cairn From Peel to Kirk Michael 165 Viael, probably raised in commemoration of some ancient chief. A mile from Kirk Michael is the Bishop's palace, a modern building without state. His Lordship's domain contains between three and four hundred acres. The grounds are well wooded, and, besides a sea view, command the luxuriant land of the northern district. One of the barrows in this neighbourhood Chaloner caused to be opened, and found in it fourteen rotten urns or earthen pots, placed with their mouths downwards. One of them, neater than the rest, was imbedded in fine white sand, but contained nothing more than a few brittle bones having apparently passed the fire : no ashes were discernible. 166 CHAPTER XIII. From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, Laxey, Douglas: thence to Kirk Maroxvn. X WO miles to the north-east of Kirk Michael is the village of Ballaugh^ and full a mile fur- ther its parish church, one of the three rectories. The name in Manks signifies mire town, and was, according to Chaloner, given to this vil- lage or church, from its bein^ situated in a place that was formerly a bog. Ballaugh is about as populous as Balasalla. It has manufactories for coarse hats, and appears in a flourishing condition. At a newly esta- blished public-house, I found tolerable accom- modation for the night. It is without sign or any notice of what may be found within, except *' Ropes sold here," written in large characters. The innkeepers' charges are generally quite as high as might be expected from the price of provisions : but here the bill for a supper of cold mutton, a pint of ale, a glass of brandy and water, bed, and breakfast, amounted to no more than one shilling and sixpence. From Kirk Michael to Raynsey, 8$c, 167 The vane upon the top of Ballaugh church has the date of 1717 : the building itself is rather older. A good deal of bog land and some rabbit war- rens are in this parish. Two miles further and nearly half a mile from the point of land^ which bears its name, is Kirk Jurly. Few monumental inscriptions of this island are in any other language than Latin or English. In this church-yard is the following epitaph : " Exu. dom. Gul. Tear Ludimagist. de Peel. Sepul. Jul. 5, 1756, an. ast. 74. Epit. loco Gul. Tear, author, scripto. Mors heu! poena quidem tamen est certissima vitae, Janua felicls denique laeta piis. Me licet hie retinent pro tempore vincula mortis, Spes tamen in Christo non moritura manet. In Christi meritis patrisque dementis amore Est humilis mea spes, hac moriorque fide. Tu Deus ipse meum cor scis secretaque cordis, Obscuri cui non abdita quaque patent. Hie nihil optari dignum est, heu ! omnia vana ; Ergo beata veni, vanaque vita vale.*' The church-yard is on high ground and affords a good view of England^ Scotland, and Ireland. It includes a barrow, devoted once more to its former use. This parish contains several other I 168 From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, barrows^ and much bog-land intersected by the Curragh drain. A cross road leads to Kirk Bride, situated five miles from Ramsey, and rather more than two from the point of Ayre. The church is dedi- cated to St. Bridget : it is the second rectory we Jiave come to, but has no parsonage-house. In the church-yard are some Runic characters upon a stone cross, thus translated by Mr. Beauford : '^ The son of Ulf, of the Swedes, erected this cross to the warrior Afterarin, the son of Cunnu/* ' At the point the land lies very low ; and the shallowness of the water for a long way out at sea has been the cause of many a shipwreck. Kirk Andreas lies between Bride and Ram- sey. It is a rectory and archdeaconry. The old church, the oldest parish church upon the island, being in a very ruinous condition, was pulled down about eight years ago ; and the present building erected on its site. Near a seat called Balahurry is an old encamp- tn^nt, formed, as Colonel Townley conjectures, in the civil wars by the troops of Oliver Crom- well. It is reckoned the most complete of any of that aera, and to be in a well chosen situa- Laxty, Douglas, and Kirk Maroxvn. 169 tion. It is surrounded by a wide fosse, and has a bastion at each of the four corners. The in- ternal square is sufficiently sunk to secure the troops from the enemy's fire. There is no breach in the works. The churches of Ballaugh, Jurly, and An- dreaSj being situated on elevated ground, are all of them discernible from the high road be- tween Bishop's-court and Ramsey. The inter- mediate land being flat is marshy in winter time. On our approach to Ramsey we cross the Selly river by a stone bridge of three arches, one hundred and eighty feet long, including the abutments, and twelve feet wide. Ramsey is a straggling town, about as large as Peel. It acquires some importance from being the seat of the administration of justice for the northern district. A new court of law was built here six or eight years ago, but is not kept in good repair. It abounds with broken panes of glass, stopped up with pieces of old tea-chests. The bay is spacious, and secure from any wind not blowing directly on shore. The harbour is bad and much choked up by sand. A pier runs 170 From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, a few hundred feet out to sea, and is terminated by a light-house. Several cannons lie scattered about ; but here, as in other places, they are, for the most part, without carriages, and in their present state altogether unfit for use. Near the town is a protestant chapel, built upon the foundation of an old Romish one. There is only one inn here. It is kept by a Mr. Smith, a very civil man, who is usually drunk every day, and in this state utters loudly, with little intermission, the most horrible oaths. The evening on which I was there, his wife found great difficulty to ^ei him to bed ; and, in order to gain her end, promised to bring him another glass of brandy when he should be fairly in. Whether she cajoled him or not I cannot tell ; but after he was in his room I heard him rave desperately, and talk of murdering every body in the house. I ought to add, that he is not, in his mad fits, considered dangerous, being charged with powder, but not shot. Even the report of a gun is unpleasant to weak nerves. Two miles from Ramsey on the Kirk Michael road is Kirk Christ Lezayre, a church on a de- clivity, with trees about it ; a rural spot. Cha- Laxey, Douglas, ami Kirk Miiroxm. 171 loner can find no better derivation of its name^ than its situation in a sharp air, the word in Manks having this signification. On a stone in the church-yard is this parodj of two lines of Virgil : ** Quam venlente die, quam discedente requiro, Et meam moriens reminiscer uxorem/' In an old register of this parish is the follow- ing curious memorandum without date. *' One Robert Cottier's wife was delivered of a child, which was baptized upon the Monday ; and she came to be churched upon the Wed- nesday next after : and after returning home she fell in labour, and was delivered of another child, and came to be churched upon the Satur- day next after, in the same week : churched twice in the same week. This I testify to be truth. Edi^ Crow, Minister.'* I find by Chaloner that, in the year 1633, there was an Edmond Crow, minister of this parish. Not far from the church the remains of a copse of hazel trees are still visible. Several gen- tlemen's seats with trees about them are in the 172 From Kirk, Michael to Ramsey, Deighbourhood : the vegetation is luxuriant : many apple orchards skirt the road: and the stone or mud fences frequently give way to the more useful and ornamental quickset. Lezayre parish being very extensive, is embraced by Michael^ Ballaugh, Jurly, Andreas, Bride, Maughold, Lonan, Oncan, and Braddon. In going from Ramsey to Maughold w^e leave North Barrule on the right. By the road-side "near Port-le-voillen is a stone of considerable antiquity, with five raised balls upon it, and other devices, being about six feet long and three wide. Maughold head is an abrupt promontory terminated by a bold cliff. Underneath some rooss-covered rocks was a spring called St. Maughold's Well^ much resorted to for the sup- posed medicinal virtues of its waters ; and for the fecundity which they imparted to women, when sitting in the saint's chair to drink them. The name of this village is derived from one of the early bishops of the island. The church, in dimension seventy- two feet by seventeen, extravagant proportions even for Man, stands in the center of five acres of grass, interspersed with grave-stones. The Manks Laxey, Douglas, and Kirk Mar oxen, 173 church-yards have not the neatness of those of Wales ; and the mournful jew is rarely, if ever, to he seen. Near the entrance to this is a pillar of unhewn clay-slate, about seven feet high, the center of a horse-block. Three of its sides re- present our Saviour in three states — of birth, passion, and crucifixion. The fourth side is simply ornamented with a sprig of oak. That it refers, as Robertson conjectures, to St Mau^ hold and St. Bridget is highly improbable. Nearly two miles on this side of Laxey is a turning towards Snawfel. The prospect from its summit combines the advantages of the tw» Barrules ; and from its central situation includes a larger portion of Manks territory. The situa^ tion x)f it is said indeed to be the center of the British dominions, whence all of them may be plainly discerned. Laxey is a place of little trade, being com^* posed of not more than thirty cottages. It has only one shop, apparently very ill supplied, and two public houses. For butcher's meat and many other articles of convenience the inhabit- ants send weekly to Douglas. The herring .fishery of this place is not very considerable; and the present scarcity of salmon is attributed 5 174 From Kirk Michael to R'amse^i to the water from the copper-mines. The rivet's banks are high and steep ; and in some places well planted with trees. A little way up the Yallej is a flax -spinning mill upon a construc- tion similar to that of Messrs. Moores near Douglas. The water is kept up by an embank* ment of stone^ over which salmon^ in the spawn- ing season, were often seen to leap. Trout abound in Laxey river. Milbourn, who keeps a public-house near the bridge^ a miner, a fish- erman, and a very civil man, will readily inform the stranger where are the best spots for angling, furnish him with flies of his own making ; and, I dare say, if asked, partake his sport. Laxey bridge is very narrow, and apparently ancient. Lonan, the parish church, is a mile from the village. Its name is a corruption of Lomanus, the saint to whom it is dedicated, a son of Tigris, sister to St. Patrick, and the first bishop of Trim in Ireland. In the year 1786, two hundred and thirty- seven pieces of silver were found in this parish by a person digging; and several others had been previously discovered. Nearly two miles on the Douglas side of Laxey near the road, are about twelve stones Laxey, Douglas, and Kirk 3farown. 175 placed in a torm somewhat oval. Just beyond the oval, and at one end of it, facing N. N. E. are two stones six feet high, one of which is cloven from top to bottom : the other stones are from two to three feet high. The mount on which they all stand is thre^ or four feet high. The center of the mount has an excavation, seven feet long, three feet wide for about one-third of the length, and tw o feet for the remainder. The stones are of hard clay-slate. The landlady's daughter at Laxey gave me the following tradi- tionary story of them : The proprietor of the land on which they rest being desirous of re- moving them, took some labourers to effect his purpose; Being arrived at the stones, and look- ing back, he saw his house on fire, and conse- quently returned in haste. Having arrived at home he found his house as it should be, but saw the stones on fire. The man was too wise to disregard so clear an omen ; and the stones have ever since remained undisturbed. The natives do not seem to form even a conjecture of their original use, nor ever to have heard of such beings as Druids. Oncan is k village rather more than two miles from Douglas. The church is dedicated to If 6 From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, Onca^ the mother of St. Patrick. In the church- yard are usually buried the deceased aliens of Douglas. From the high ground of this parish and from Clay head, are fine views of the sea, usually enlivened by coal brigs trading between Cumberland and Dublin, and of smaller vessels sailing in or out of Douglas harbour. From Oncan to Douglas is a pleasant walk over the sands. We approach them h^ a moun- tain cascade, which some years ago turned the wheel of a corn mill, now burned down; and further on, pass another somewhat similar, both being destitute of trees or bushes. Being returned from the promised excursion^ I have now^ only to conduct the reader through the inland parish of Marown, intersected by the road from Douglas to St. John's. The church is situated oh its southern side, five miles from Doufflas and six from Peel. The road is very pleasant, and one part of it is over a rising ground, called Lhiaght y Kinny, the Grave of Kinny, who is said to have attempted, for a trifling wager, to run stark naked, on a very- snowy winter's day, from Douglas to Bishop's- court and back, and who, on returning, fell down dead on this spot. From Kirk Michael to Ramsey, S^c, 177 Two lines of an epitaph are, " No debts, no laws obliged him to fly From the dear land of his nativity." The subject of the poetry was an Irishman. Nearly opposite the turning io Kirk Marown are the walls of Old Kirk, formerly called St. Trinion's, said to have been erected in conse- quence of a vow made by a ship-wrecked person. The present ruinous state of the building is ascribed to the malice of some unlucky demons who, for want of better employment, amused themselves with throwing off the roof. A great quantity of Adiantum, maiden-hair, grows about the walls. N BOOK II. ON THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE ISLE OF MAN, CHAPTER I. On the Constitution, X HE nature of the constitution of a country is known by the powers and acknowledged rights of the people. If these have no share, by re- presentation or otherwise, in any legislative or juridical concerns, the constitution is despotic, whether there is one or more governors, or whe- ther the country itself is under the subjection of a foreign power. As the people acquire a voice in making or executing a law, the constitution becomes mixed ; and when they have obtained an exclusive voice, it is democratical. I pass over aristocracies, polygarchies, oligarchies, and hierarchies, whether Druidical, Christian, or of any other religious sect, because they may be, and often are, as arbitrary as an absolute monarchy. N 2 180 On the Constitution. Before I speak of the present constitution of the Isle of Man, I will acquaint the reader with whatever I have been able to discover, respect- ing the rights which the inhabitants havp ac- quired or lost/ during the lapse of ages. Tradition traces this island to the government of the Druids, bloody tyrants,* who endeavoured to conceal their despotism, as has been too often the practice in modern days, under the mask of religion. Whether this nation was then dcr pendent on any other we are not informed. When Druidism was overthrown, and wh^n the people were first subdued by a tribe of nor- thern barbarians, we can only coniecture. Nei- ther Caesar, Ptolemy, nor Pliny pver visited this place ; they do not appear ever to have seen a native or inhabitant; what they relate of it is founded upon hear-say ; and we can learn little more from them, except that it existed in their tin:*:^. It is generally admitted, but without much foundation, that the wonder-working St. Pa- trick, the tutelary saint of Scotland and of Ire- land, cpnverted this island to Christianity about « . — Excisique luci," saevis superstitionibus sacri : narq qruore captivo adolere aras, et hominum fibris consulerc deos, fa^ habebant. Tacitus, Ann. lib. 14-, c. 30. On the Constitution, 181 the tniddle of the fourth century. It is not to be supposed that the opinions of a whole nation, particularly on a subject to which people, if not bigotted, are usually zealously attached, religion, should be suddenly changed. The tradition is therefore worthy of credit that the Druids retained much of their pojver for a con- siderable time afterwards, and were obliged to yi^ld^ jj; onjy gradually to the new race of bishops^^ . in the tenth century it was taken by Orry, a Danish prince; and till this reign it does not appear that the people had the least share in thei government. He conquered also the Orcades and Hebrides, and gave directions that the in- habitants of Man should choose, sixteen repre- sentatives, and the out-isles eight, to assist him in the government. This was an act of policy in Orry, and obtained the object of his wish, a reign undisturbed by domestic commotion^ These representatives were called Taxiaxes, sig- nifying pledges or hostages ; but, for \ I shall at present confine myself to the consequences^ and speak hereafter of the sale, and the additional compensation to the present Duke of AthoL The Manks legislature seem to have imagined, tliat^ with the royalties of the Lord> were sold all the rights and privileges possessed by them* selves ; and that these last were retained merely by the courtesy of the King of England. The first act of Tinwald, after the sale, was passed in 1776. It recites the title of the act of revest- ment: and we learn by the preamble that his Majesty had been most graciously pleased to grant his royal leave and permission to the cus- tomary legislature of the island, (himself being now the Lord) to enact what laws might be found necessary to the interior good government and police of the isle. On the Constitution* 203 Since the sale, the legislature of England has assumed the entire power of enacting laws re- specting the customs or port-dues of the island, and also of regulating or prohibiting any manu- factures which might be liable to aflfect the reve- nue : in the internal economy and laws it hag not interfered. I do not mean to insinuate that the English legislature has acted improperly in such assumption. Public good is superior to individual justice ; and if the public good re- quired the acquisition of such power, it was the duty of the government to obtain it^ either by consent or assumption. Plutarch carries this principle so far as to term the rape of the Sabines^ since it was undertaken for the public good, a glorious exploit. When property is obtained by violence, an equivalent should be returned to the proprietor, as is done in the making of high-roads or canals, a practice which very much lessens the individual injustice ; but the rights and customs of a people are inalien- able by the governors, consequently, no com- pensation could be made. To have given to their representatives seats in the British parlia- ment^ would have been a measure of apparent compensation. The original Manks govern- 204 On the Constitution, meht would then, of course, have been annihi- lated, instead of altered ; and the people would have been much more discontented. The King could purchase only what the Lord possessed : but the Lord had no power, and he afterwards admitted it, to levy or increase a sin- gle tax upon the people : consequently the in- terference of the English government relative to revenue matters was nearly as great a stretch of power after the sale, as it would have been be- fore it. The chief civil officers are, the Governor and Lieutenant-governor, one of them being chan- cellor, ex officio: the two Deemsters or judges, one for the southern, the other for the northern divi- sion of the island, being necessarily natives: the Water-bailiff, the High-bailiffs, one in each of the four towns, being also natives; the Coro- ners, or sheriffs, one for each of the six shead- ings : the Lockmen, or bailiffs. Coroners* officers; and the Constables. The two first officers have been already spoken of: the second, being judges and justices of the peace, will be mentioned with the county which they preside in : as will the wat^-bailifF also. On the Constitution. 205 The Coroner is the chief keeper of the peac#^ and is authorised and obbged to arrest any one who breaks it. He is also to take car^ that the Governor's arrests be put into execution. He has the impanelling of all juries, the care of executing the sentences of the courts of law ; and some other civil duties to perform : but he does not in any instance act as judge. The bailiffs are his officers ; and the constables are peace officers.* * * This and the succeeding Chapters of tf^e Second Part are chiefly founded upon " The Statute Laws of the Isle of Man," a literal copy, with a very few exceptions, of the original Statute book, published at Douglas in 1797, now scarce ; and upon information which I derived from Captain Quilliam of His Majesty's Navy, and Mr. Cosnahan, Mei»- b^rs of the House of Keys. 206 CHAPTER II. Oji the Revenue. /\S the purpose of a government is, or ought to be, to maintain order in society, to protect the inhabitants from domestic disturbance, or the invasion of a foreign foe; so ought the people to cantribute, according to their means, to the support of such a government. The revenue of a country is public property, und should be devoted exclusively to purposes of public benefit. The laws of society, being founded upon ge- neral utility, have little to do with those of na^ ture; and justice enters little into war, The modern laws of civilized nations are so much ameliorated, that the inhabitants of a conquered country retain their private property, Formerly their land and themselves were both seized by the invaders. We find Godred Crovan taking posses- sion of the lands of Man and granting them to his soldiers on certain conditions. From this pe** ^iod^ perhaps before^ the possessors of the soil On the Remnue, SOT ^ere the Lord's tenants, paying him a rental; and are frequently so termed in the statutes. The rental had for so long a time remained unaltered that people thought^ while they continued to pay them, that they had a right to the soil ; and one of the lords, endeavouring in the seventeenth century to eject some of them, caused discon* tents which terminated in an act of settlement or compact between the Lord and his people in the year 1703, wherein the tenures are, on cer- tain fines or rentals, confirmed to the possessors. Thus, though the seizing of lands by the con- queror was no better than a robbery, yti have Jong usage, and especially the above-mentioned agreement, secured to the Lord-proprietor, ani his heirs, for ever, the right of a certain revenue, i^roounting to fourteen hundred pounds, Manks currency, for his and their individual use. All money, either for public services not spe- cified, or for the benefit of the Lord, his mane* rial rights, a few fees, fines, and prerogatives excepted, arose from a duty on imports and ex-i pjorts, the most just of taxes, whenever the pub- lic good requires them, and less felt by the peo- ple than any other, By whose authority it was levied we ganaot tell, most probably by that of 20S On the Revenue, the lord alone. The statute wherein it is first mentioned is dated 1577, and though it does not appear that the Deemsters and Keys were con- sulted upon the occasion, yet the note at the end would imply that they were, did we not learn by a subsequent act of 1736, that they \ were not consulted on a similar occasion in 1692. j ,1 suppose this order or first book of rates to be rather intended to ascertain or settle what were I doubtful than to enact new ones. To shew the reader the duties of those days, when money was a scarce commodity, the record is here an- I nexed. '*The rates of the Customs at every port i within the Isle of Man, allowed and confirmed by the Right Honourable Henry, Earl of Derby, i Lord of the said Isle. Given the 28th of June, I Anno Dommi 1577. "Xlie merchant stranger shall pay for every pound in silver he shall take forth of the Isle 24- Ale, the barrel ,. 1^ Ash timber, the 100 6 Ahim the 100 2 Anchorage, a ship, bark or prickard, with a cock-boat 8 without a cock-boat i Barley, the bowle, in the bulk of the stranger 1 In cask the barley 2 Barley in bulk, the bowle of the IsU ♦ ^ On the Revenue* 206 Barley in cask, the barrel 1 Bread, the batch 2 Bisket, the 100 1 Beefe, the carkasse 2 Beefe, quick 12 Boards, sawn, or cloven, the 100. 6l Butter, the barrel 1 Beere, the barrel , 2 Brass, the lOOlbs.. .*. 8 Woollen cloth, broad, the 100 2 broad, the dozen 2 narrow, the 100 8 narrow, the dozen d 0| Fourty slatts raw cloth 0' 41- Coals, the boate, 1 barrel, or 4^ Irish linen cloath, the 100 6 Pulldary, the bolt 6 Vitteras, the bolt 3 Calfe-skins, the 100 12 the dozen 0|- Cheese, the weight (256lbs) 6 Caddowes 2 Dapous, the dozen 6 Windfish, the dozen , 6 Dryfish, the dozen 6 Fish,theton 12 Eeles cane, the 100 8 Fish, the barrel 2 Ffledges. li Fflocks, the stone 1 ^ Flax, the bale •. I Sheep and calves tlie 100 12 the dozen 1^ Lambs and kidds, the 100. 6 210 On the Revenue. Lambs and kidds, the dozen » 1» Feathers, a stone , 2 Goates, quick, the dozen 4b Goate fells, the 100 6 the dozen 0^ Geese, the dozen 8 Ox-hydes eight to the dicker ; eow-hydes 10 to the dicker Hydes, the dicker 3 Haberdine, the 100 6 Herrings, the ton 12 Horses, one 6 Herrings, the maze , 1 Hops, the 100 6 Honey, the firkin 1^ Henns, the dozen _, 2 Iron, the ton 12 the 100 0| Kidds, the dozen 44^ Kidd fells, the 100 6 the dozen 1 Lambs, quick, the dozen 4 Lamb-skins, the 100 ' 6 the dozen. ...,...•. 1 Lyme, the boat, a barrel or ; ♦ 1^ Mather, the 100 5 Maulte, the bowle > .^. 1 Mantles, one 2 Ruggs, the 100 2 Nails, the 1000 3 the last ...2 S Oak timber, or spars, the hundred, 3^. or 6 Oares, the hundred, 3fl?. or 6 dates, the bowle 1 Pitch, the hundred ^. . . . U On the Revenue, 211 Pitch, the foot pack '. T. 7. . 6 . . . ,, the horse pack , * * . . , , 12 Planks for ships, the 100, 3c?. or 12 Plow balmes, the 100, 3fl?. or • 8 Pewter, the 100 8 Pullen, the dozen , , . . 2 Rossin, the hundred If Hair ropes, the dozen » . , 1^ Ropes, British, the 100 6 Rugg frized, the dozen , , . 1^ Raisen, the ffrail or head S Hye, the bowle 1 Sheep, the dozen 4« Swine, the dozen 4} Salt, the tonn - 12 Ships with salt, British or Portugal, inward, shall pay a quarter tonn before the mast, and another above the mast, if it be twenty tonns, or els the half Shoes, the dozen 3 Shafts square, the 100, 3c?. or 6 Salmon, the butt, 6 , the barrel • 3 the firkin 1* Soap, the hundred 4^ Sheep skins the dozen , Of^, Sack, the butt 6 A small boat or pickard, laden with white grey Eng- lish salt, shall pay a ffinlet before the mast, and ano- ther after Tallow, the weight (256 lb.) Trayne, the tunn 16 Tarr, the hundred 1^ Tallow, the hundred 6 Tanned leather, the dicker, in the country 6 ..,,,. and the stranger man ....,,,,,,,,,,,,..,, 10 P 2 212 On the Revenue, Wyne, the tunn 12 A shipp with wynes, that is, twenty tunns or more, shall pay the price wines, viz. half a tunn before the mast, and half a tunn above the mast ; and for every other of the rest 12d. the tunn, as is above said : and if the shipp have ten tunns, then to pay half a tunn to price wynes, and not under. Wool, the stone 2 Wadde, the ballet 8 the hundred 6 Wheate, the bowle 1 Woolen cards, the dozen S The entering of every boat, bark, or pickard 1 The anchorage in dry harbours, or within the heads, having a cock boat .' 8 — without a cock boat 4 Oares of every boate, after the rate of pajring for a hundred S Shafts, spars, plow-beames, oak-timber, and all other kinds of timber, the 100, 3d. or 8 Whether the custom-house revenue yielded, at that time, any surplus to the Lord, after pay- ment of the puhlic expenses, of the island may, with some persons, appear a doubtful matter. I suspect that it did ; since all the civil officers were entitled to certain fees from the inhabitants^ as a compensation for the trouble given to them : and I do not find that any but the Deemsters had a salary from the Lord. This was a discretionary one of 71. lOs. to each, afterwards increased to 13/. 6s. Sd. and again reduced in 1636 to the On the Revenue: 2ia original siim. The Lord himself had various perquisites; and among them a fee for every action at common law. I am further confirmed in my opinion by not finding in the estimate of the revenue of the island, made out for the Lords of the Treasury by Duke John and the late Duchess-dowager, any deductions for the support of the established government. The duties were increased in the year 1692 ; but the book of rates does not appear among the statutes, although referred to by an act of 1736, wherein most of the old duties were confirmed with several additions ; and prizage of wine commuted for the payment of ten shillings per tun. * In the time of the last Earl of Derby, Lord of Man, the customs were estimated at 2,500/. per annum, and were farmed by him to an English merchant. The public expenditure of the same aera was 700/. per annum, f In the course of the last century, the smug- gling irade had so much increased, that the Duke of Athol, the Lord, obtained for his pri- * Prizage of wine was abolished in England in the reign of Edward I. f Encyclopaedia Britannica. @14 On the Revenue, vate use the annual surplus of nearly six thou*, jsand pounds, British. An abstract of the clear revenue, derived from the island by the Lord, for the ten years, be^. ginning with 1754 and ending with 1763, drawn up previously to the sale, states the average annual amount to be 7293/. Os. 6d. arising as follows : Income for the 10 Years. % 4 Land revenue ..,,.,. 13,981 Clear revenue of the customs 64,2 17 Clear revenue for herring? . . 1,258 Felons' goods, waifs, strays, forfeitures,wrecks, fines,perr quisites, &c 1,042 3 Clear revenue of the impro- priated tithes 2,305 Clear revenue of the abbey temporalities 1,217 10 Income of land in the hands ofthe Lord of Man ..,.., 3,063 19 1 5| 8 10 n H Si 85,085 6 6i 72,930 5 6 Average Income per Anu. 1,598 2 5 6,421 14 0^ 125 16 11 104 4 4 230 10 0^ 121 15 106 7 11 8,508 10 8 7,293 The revenues given up to England for the sum of seventy thousand pounds British, were only those of the second and third heads, amountr ^ ing to 5,612/. 3^. S^, British, per annum. Public services specified, and for which interr nal taxeS;, continiiai or occasional, ^re levied^, On the Revenue. 21 J are of four sorts : the building or repairing of churches; the building of bridges ; the making and keeping in order of high-roads; and the maintenance of the clergy. No church can be erected at the public ex* pense without an especial act of Tinwald. It is customary for such act to specify in what manner the necessary money is to be raised : and each parish is obliged to bear its own burden. The repairing of a church is a less important mattet, and its necessity or expediency is deter- mined by a majority of the parishioners them- selves, convened by the church-warden for that purpose. The money, requisite for d^raying the expenses, is levied upon the inhabitants in proportion to their rentals. The building of a bridge requires a previous act of Tinwald. The expense incurred is usually defrayed by an annual poll-tax of one penny upon all the inhabitants, continued till a sufficient sum is received. Part of the revenue thus raised was once intended and used for the purpose of rebuilding St. John's chapel. ThiB high-road fund, a roost essential one> arises from a tax upon every retailer of ale or spirits ; a tax upon lands and hoiKes ; a tax upon 216 On the Revenues dogs ; and some few and very trifling fines^ not worth mentioning here, but which will be par- ticularized when I speak of crimes and their punishments. Retailers of ale and spirits used to pay to this fiindj the annual sum of 9^. 9^. besides lid. to the Governor's clerk, 7 such as church-mortuaries of eight shillings from any deceadent, leaving twenty shillings or upwards, in personal effects. The clerk and the church-warden^ as well as the minister, deserve a remuneration for their trouble. The former had four pence a year for every plough, and one penny from every person who did not keep a plough, but kept smoak, and also a trifling mortuary. These sums are BOW raised, and have some others added to them. The latter officer is elected for only one year, and is not, I believe, entitled to any other compensation than the service in their turn of his fellow parishioners. The coroner was entitled io four-pence a year for every quarter-land, and to one penny for every mill, intack, or cottage. Most of the civil officers have some fee from the person employing them. Every quarter-land used to contribute, annu- ally, two shillings, and every intack sixpence to the Lord, in place of carriage-services for build- ing or repairing forts and houses, an old feudal custom. For the last forty years they have been 3 On the Rev€fiu€. 223 falling gradually into disuse : the people refused payment^ and they are not now demanded. The Lord's prerogatives of mines, wrecks, trea- sure-trove, and some other things, should scarcely be considered as a revenue, derived from the public, and consequently are not mentioned here. The other public services are the civil and military establishments of the country, and the making and repairing of harbours, paid for, since the revesting-act, by the British government, who, on the other hand, have the receipt of the custom-house revenue. The act, which passed immediately after the revestment was relative only to trade, and to the prevention of any future smuggling. The old duties were continued till two years afterwards, when they were all repealed, and the following new ones levied : Quantity, not to exceed British spirits rpit 1 1 Oper gal. 50,000 gal. pr. ann Rum* W t= ., a e 1 6 30,000 Bohea tea fl|J 1 Oper lb. 20,000 lbs. - Green tea < llil^l .1 6 5,000 CofFee impo U ai sual land the 9 5,000 Tobacco \^''h~- 02 120,000 Coals U^sh Sperchald. * It must be understood that, although brandy is mentioned amoag the articles to be imported at Douglas, the importation of all spirits, ejxcept British spirits and lum, is prohibited.. On the Revenut, I I'' 5 per cent, ad valorem. 2^4 Hemp Iron Deal boards Timber French wine ^ 4 per ton. Any other wine 2 ditto. Foreign corn having been first im-^ ported into England, and there > 10 per cent, ad valor ein. had a bounty allowed i Any goods, wares, or merchandize, J not specified in this act, imported> 2i per cent, ad valorem^ from Great Britain or Ireland, j Flax Flax seed Yarn <=•=,■ ^ r. < >.^ V Duty free. Ashes ' " ^ •' Fish and flesh Corn I 1 Linen cloth of British or Irish fabrick Hemp Hemp seed Horses and cattle Utensils & implements for agriculture Bricks and tiles Trees, sea-shells, lime Soap makers' waste Packthread and cordage 1 2 . ■2 .5 Salt Boards Timber i Hoops illlJ Colonial goods, entitled to a bounty on \ importation into England English or Colonial iron in rods or bars \. Duty frecrf I 1 o e I Duty free, buf I subject to be en- ' tered at the Cus- l> tom-bou The allowance of British spirits being more than the demand was reduced from 50^000 to 40,000 gallons; and the allowance of rum in- creased from 30,000 to 40,000 gallons, 30,000 to be imported from England, and 10^000 from Scotland. The importation of wine, in any vessel of less than seventy tuns burden was prohibited. No goods, fresh fish excepted, were allowed to be exported from the Isle of Man without a warrant from the custom-house. In a subsequent year, the quantity of refined sugar to be annually imported was limited to 400 cwt. fully refined. 10 cwt. bastard lumps. The whole quantity to be shipped at Liver- pool, and landed at Douglas ; and no part of it to be, on any account, re-exported. ♦ All tea not green. Q2 228> On the Re'oenue. In 1798 the irapof ; ation of British spirits was prohibited ; but instead of them were allowed, 10,000 gallons brandy, subject to a duty of S*. per gallon. 10,000 ditto geneva 2>s. ditto. to be shipped from England to Douglas only, in casks containing not less than one hundred gallons. The annual allowance of tobacco having been reduced from 120,000 lbs. to 40,000 lbs. was in- creased to GOjOOOlbs. All wine was subjected to an additional duty of 8/. per tun, making, with the former duties, 16/. per tun, for French wine, and 12/. for other wine : and was to be landed at Douglas only, in packages containing not less than one hogshead; the annual allowance being seventy tuns. ' Hops entitled, on exportation from England^ to . a drawback of the whole duty, were made subject to thedTTty of 1-^^/. per lb. Since this period little, if any, variation iu the duties has been made. All goods of limited quantity must be imported under licence. The collector is obliged to give one month's notice of the expiration of licences, and take in, for the space of fourteen days, all petitions for new ones. If such of the petitioners as are inhabi- On the Revenue. ^9 tants require goods equal to the quantity limited, they have the preference over foreigners: if they require a greater quantity, the ' licences ar« granted in rateable proportions. The petitions for imports from England are transmitted to the commissioners at London ; and those for Scot- land to the commissioners for Edinburgh; and the quarterly accounts of all such importations are transmitted in the same manner. The coun^ terfeiting of a licence subjects the offender to a fine of 500/. and the taking of a fee for one subjects the collector or other officer to a fine of 50/. On the licences being granted, the parties are obliged to give bond to import the goods therein mentioned, the penalty not exceeding twice the amount of the duties upon such ^oods. If the quantities, limited by any act of parlia- ment, be found insufficient for the consumption of the natives, the lords of the treasury may in- xrease the allowance, giving orders to the com- missioners accordingly.* From the sale of the island to the rear 1792^ the expenditure of the island was equal to or greater than the revenue, * 4.1 Geo, III. c. 54. 930 On the iVtvenue, In or about the year 1792, his Majesty ap- pointed fi\e commissioners io inquire into the state of the Isle of Man. These were, John Spranger, Esq. —^ Grant, Esq. attorney and M. P, •^— — Osgoode, Esq. attorney ; Roe, Esq. commissioner of the customs at London ; and ■ ■ ^ ■■ ' ' Reid, Esq. commissioner of the customs at Edinburgh, who, on arriving in the island, were joined by a committee of the Keys. Their report, printed at a future period for the use of both houses of parliament, throws considerable light upon the subject. It gives the following statement of the amount of custom^dues for the year 1790 : Collected at Douglas port £. 2793 10|- Derby Haven 104 9 5| Peel 3119 2^ Ramsey 86 19 4^ — •>— i— ■ 3016 8 11 This account does not include harbour dues, amounting to about 300/. per annum, and the herring custom, about 100/. per annum, appro- priated to the repairs of the harbours ; nor does it include the rent of the salmon fisheries, 22/. per annum, nor the revenue of the post-office, amounting to the nett sum of between 200/. and 300/. The expenditure of the same year, exclu- sive of the harbours, was 3272/. 2^. 2d* On the Revenue. 231 The commissioners pointed out many defects in the system of collecting, and thought a radical change absolutely necessary. The Duke of Athol asserted in the allegations^ submitted to the House of Commons in the year 1790, that, for the 70,000/. received, he had given up an income of 8000/. per annum.* The statement just given is sufficient to shew that it was derived almost, if not quite, exclusively from a trifling duty on the smuggling trade. All other branches of trade were, at this time, greatly increased ; the duties were heavier ; and still the custom-house revenue was exceeded by the expenditure. A duty equal to only 2^ or 3 per cent, cd valorem, upon the imports, would be sufficient to raise the alleged sum. From better management and higher duties, the revenue was so greatly increased that, accord- ins: to Mr. Pitt's statement in the House of Commons in 1805, it amounted to the gross sum of 12,000/. per annum, upon the average of the last few years ; and according to Sir W. Bur- roughs to 16,000/. for the year 1804. At this * This sum must include, not only what he received, byj also what he judged himself to be defrauded of. 239 On the Revenue. time a ^further compensation of one-fourtli of the gross revenues of the island was made to the Duke of Athol and his heirs for ever. This subject will be fully spoken of at the end of the present Book, 233 ^ : 1* CHAPTER III. On the Rig?its and Liberty/ of the Person, JL HE Isle of Man is rendered extremely "in- teresting by being a little dependency on Great Britain, retaining its own laws and customs; the more so, now England, Scotland, and Ire- land are blended into one government ; still pre- serving its freedom from all internal taxation, while the surrourlding nations are almost over- whelmed. Lord Chief-justice Coke observes, that, although this island is no parcel of the realm of England, yet it is part of the domi- nions of the King, and therefore allegiance is re- served in public oaths ; and that its laws are such as are scarce to be found anywhere else: ' ^^ The isle is divided into two districts, eacli having a Deemster or chief-justice ; into six sheadings or counties, with their respective coroners or sheriffs ; and into seventeen parishes. The subjects under consideration I shall en- deavour to arrange as succinctly as possible in 234 On the Rights and the following order; the rights and liberty of the person ; property in general ; private wrongs^ and their redress; public wrongs, and their punishment. The Isle of Man cannot boast of any Magna Charta, any Bill of Rights, any Habeas-Corpus act, or any written promise of the sovereign re- lative to the liberty of the subject. The infringement of liberty gives rise to laws respecting it. When the government of a coun- try continues long, with little variation, and is not intolerably bad, the people are usually con^ tent. The arbitrary acts of J^hn and his prede- cessors, and the people's wish for their old Saxon government, gave rise to the rebellion of the Barons, the English Magna Charta. We hear of few vexatious arrests made by the Manks government, and of these few is that of Bishop Wilson. The Lord's officer might im- prison any one for a debt due to the Lord ; but the causes sufficient for arresting a person were not defined in any act previously to the year 173<5, when the Governor or any of the officers was prohibited from arresting a man, except for flagrant breaches of the peace, opeu riots or 1 Liberty of the Person, 2S5 disturbances^ or other notorious misdemeanors, unless evidence on oath was given, relating the complaint or a sufficient cause of suspicion. It is amusing and instructive to observe the arbitrary and most tyrannical laws made against the lower orders of the people, and to mark their consequences. All persons, having no regular occupation, or not being; in a farm, were liable to be taken for servants, and have only such wages as the law allowed. A ploughman was entitled to ISs. 4td. a year, besides meat and drink ; a driver to 10^. and a horseman to 8^. : a mason, carpenter, or shipwright, to ^d. a day, and other workmen in proportion. Em- ployers giving more were liable to forfeit to the Lord a sum equal to the whole wages.* The Lord and his officers had the first choice of ser- vants, and might, at the beginning of a half year, even take them away from any of the in- habitants, except the twenty- four Keys. Children not brought up, or put apprentice, to any trade, were liable to be ordered into ser- vice, unless the parent was old or decrepid, and required assistance. In this case, one child might be kept at home, but the parents were * Statute, 1609. 236 On the Rights and obliged to ^ise public notice of their intention, in order that no " deemster, moare, coroner, or farmer might expect such choice child, and be disappointed."* In 1691, the laws were rendered still more severe, and servants refusing to work on the legal terms were to be imprisoned till they con- sented. In order to encourage foreign artificers, the laws were made relative to Manks work-peo- ple only. The children of the poorer class being thus, by various unjust laws, reduced to a situation much worse than that of their neighbours, were induced by their own choice, and that of their parents, to leave the island : and so frequent was their emigration, that the legislature judged it necessary to interfere once more respecting them. Thus, does it often happen, that one unjust proceeding necessarily brings on another. We learn, by the act of Tinwald, that all the industrious people and the good servants had gone abroad for the sake of higher wages, and that none were left but the drunken, the idle, and the dissolute, who were rather a clog upon the community than any advantage to it, '' By * Statute, 1662. { Liberty of the Person, . 237 the practice of such emigration was expected inevitably to ensue the utter decay, not only of husbandry and tillage, but also of all kind of trade, being thus drained of its useful strength and substance/'* It was therefore enacted, that all natives, who had ever done any work for money, clothes, food, or other consideration, should not be permitted to leave the island till they had attained the age of twenty-five years ; and had either been seven years in service, or had served an apprenticeship of five years ; the Governor, nevertheless, being authorized to grant his licence or pass to any one, on a special cause, by him deemed sufficient. This was the last of the vain attempts of Government to overturn the natural course of things ; for the purpose of the next act upon the subject, passed in the year 1777, was to re- peal all former laws respecting servants and their wages, at length found worse than useless, and at that time nearly obsolete. The same act sets aside several old laws and feudal customs. A house-servant is supposed to be hired fat half a year, when no special agreement is made between the employer and the employed. The \ * Statute, 1691. 238 07i the Rights and contract is mutual ; either party may be punished for breaking it ; the master by the payment of damages, the servant by imprisonment. Between an apprentice and his master the contract is also mutual. The laws were nearly silent respecting mar- riages till ihe year 1757. Persons of any age might intermarry, without either licence or the publication of banns. Even the prohibited de- gree of affinity was never settled by an act of Tinwald ; and to the present time no other legal disabilities exist. The marriage ceremony is according to the Protestant church, and several of the regulations observed in England were, at this time, adopted here. No person can be married till he has received the sacrament, ex- cept by special leave of the ordinary ; * nor any one, except a widow or widower, under twenty- one years of age, without the consent of the father or guardian, or in default of these, of the mother, except by the publication of banns for three successive Sundays, which, if not ob- jected to, implies their consent. If the father is dead, and the minor is unable to procure the consent of his guardian ot mother to the pro* ^ Statute, 1703". Liberty of the Person. 239 posed marriage, he may petition the Governor for leave : and if the Governor deems the ob- jection of the guardian or mother insufficient, he may grant leave accordingly. Aliens may not marry till they have resided three months on the island. When banns have not been published, a licence from the Bishop or his deputy is always necessary : the solemnization must be by a mi- nister ; and at the parish church of one of the parties, unless the Bishop grant a special licence, under his own hand and seal, to marry else- where. The cost of a licence is a British crown; of a special licence forty shillings. These sums being moderate, banns are not very frequent. A residence of three days renders the party a parishioner. On the subject of divorces w^e find nothing in the statutes. Man and wife, baron and Jeme, are not so completely united into one person by the Manks, as by the English law. All property, except landed estates of inheritance, they possess in common, with this difference, that the husband may bequeath his share of the property to whom he will ; the wife, if she makes a will ai ^Si, ^40 On the Rights and may leave the property only to her children by the present husband. If she has none,, she can^ not make a will. On the death of the husband, the widow enters upon her share of the property: on the death of the wife, not having made a will, the husband enters upon the whole. Pre- viously to 1777/ the testament of the wife was not restricted to her husband and children ; but she might leave her moiety of property to whom- ever she pleased, which practice, as the act asserts, frequently occasioned the utter ruin of the widower. A difference formerly prevailed between the southern and northern districts, re- specting the wife's or widow's right ; but it does not exist at present. In cases of treason or felony, only the criminal's share becomes for- feited. A father is obliged to maintain his children till they attain the age of fourteen years. At this period terminates alMegal obligation between them. A child at this age may demand anj legacy and depart ; but, if he is entitled to any inheritance from the mother, and, nevertheless, remains at home, the father is entitled to the interest or use of the money as a compensation for his maintenance. Children^ entering upon Liberty of the Person; Hi their prdperty, of whatever sort it is^ arci not permitted to dispose of any part of it till they are twenty-one years old, except in cases of ab- solute necessity^, approved of by the Governor. A child is not considered to be disinherited, un- less the legacy of sixpence be left to him.* I have been speaking of legitimate children only : others cannot inherit ; but the inter- marriage of the father and mother, within three years of the birth of a natural child> will render that child Icigitimatc. A father may appoint a guardian. If he ne- glects to do so, and leaves a widow and onei child, the father's kindred have the custody of the child till it is fourteen years old. If there are two children left, th6 mother takes care of the eldest, and may, by will, appoint a guar^ dian i the second child is to be taken care of as an only one wotild be. A guardian must not> except in cases of extremity, let the lands of a minor for a longer terra than his minority.f There are no bodies corporate in the Isle 6t Man, except those which are necessarily so id virtue of the office, and are sole corporation*: * Statute-book, Arinoi 1525, 1577, 1704t« t Statute-book, Anno 15864 R 242 Rights and Liberty of the Person. as, the bishops, parsons, vicars, churchwarden^, and some others. They are rendered so by holding, in perpetuity, a trust inseparable from the office. Very few diflfefences between natives and aliens exist. One we mentioned in the last chapter ; the others will be spoken of as occa- sion offers. Formerly there was a great preju^ dice against the Scotch, and all of that nation were obliged to leave the island, by the first vessel that sailed, on tlie forfeiture of goods and liberty. A foreigner might not, without special leave, proceed further into the country than the nearest parish church. u$ CHAPTER IV. On Property. Property seems to be divided naturall/ into things real or landed estates^, and things per- sonal, or whatever does not come within the first division. All the lands of Man belonged formerly to the Lord. Even so lately as the sixteenth century no person could sell, or in any manner alienate his land, by whatever title acquired, without a licence, either from the Lord, or from three of his principal Officers. The occupiers of the soil were termed the Lord's tenants, and all were subject to the payment of it fine or rental. James, Earl of Derby, endeavoured> in the year 1643, to make all the tenures leasehold, either for three lives, or twenty-one years ; and ap- pointed four commissioners to compound with the holders, and mote agreements, in the best man- ner they could. His conduct gave rise to a warm contest between the sovereign and the land- holders, which terminated in 1703, the former B 2 244; On Property* agreeing far himself and successors to give up all title to the land, so long as the latter paid hin» the fines and rentals, agreed between them indi- vidually and the Earl's commissioners, in and after the year 1643. The Lord's dues were thu» made incontrovertibly fixed, however much the land might at any future time be improved, and the value of it increased. The term of a lease must not exceed twenty-one years ; and a mort* gage, if not redeemed within five years, renders the parties liable to the fine of alienation. In 1777 an act was passed, confirming this act of settlement, the preamble of which breathed an air of greater freedom than had till then pre- vailed. Estates became, on the death of the owner, the property of the eldest son ; or, if there was no son, of the eldest daughter : and herein did the law of Man differ from that of other feudal na- tions. The courage of the female inhabitants^ to whom a signal Victory was once attributed^ was perhaps the foundation of this custom, ex- tant at the present time for estates remaining entailed, and for those of persons dying intestate. Estates of inheritance might be sold by special leave of three of the hotd'& principal officers. On Property, 245 ^«cli as were «old once were afterwards considered resaleable on the payment of a fine ; and thus was the number of entailed estates constantly di- minishing. In this manner began and continued the system of purchase^ and consequently of de- vise. What a man could alienage in his life time, he could devise at his death. If he died intestate, the purchased lands which he possessed descended as estates of inheritance, but the heir was obliged to pay the value of the lands to the executors of the deceased, to be divided as a personal estate. But at present no distinction is made between estates of inheritance and of pijrchase, except so far as concerns the wife's or widow's right ; the whole, with this exception, falling, without any compensation to be made in return, to the heir at law. The isle was divided into six hundred portions, called quarterlands ; but according to Feltham the present number is seven hundred an4 fifty- jiine ; all other estates appear to be allotments lOut of, or encroachments upon, these. In the possession of land, no distinction is made between natives and aliens. A title to land may be acquired by the sen-^ teace of a court of law, or by occupajicy, as 546 Oil Property, ^tW as by descent, devise, or purchase. The first, being founded upon some pre-existing right, I shall pass over, and speak only of oc- cupancy. If a person had unmolested possession of land for ten years, after the true proprietor had a title to it, and who was not of the age of twenty-one years, non compos mentisy imprisoned, or beyond seas, it became the absolute property of the occupier : but, if such incapacities existed in the proprietor, he maintained his title for five years after they were removed. The first period has been since extended from ten to twenty-one years, and the last reduced from five to two. Every landholder has a right, by prescription, or immemorial custom, of feeding his sheep or cattle upon the commons, their number being in proportion to the quantity of land which he holds. Every inhabitant possesses the same right of quarrying stone for his own use ; and also, on the annual payment of one halfpenny to the Lord, a sum not now demanded, ol^ digging peat upon the mountains.* ^ Statute-book^ Apno 1583, 16S7, 1643, 16^5, iqt7, 1662, 1703. On Property. 247 In cases of treason or felony^ estates, real as well as personal, are forfeited to the Lord.* A title to things personal may be acquired by prerogative^ by forfeiture, by descent, by devise, by purchase, by action at law, by occupancy, by marriage, by custom, by gift, by exchange, by distreint for rent, or by execution, subsequent to the judgment of a court. A few of these heads require some explanation. All wrecks not claimed within a year and a day, and all mines, are the Lord's, by his prero- gative. Forfeitures of felons' goods were made to the Lord, except goats to the Queen, and cer- tain perquisites or fees to the Coroner and Deem- ster, never to the Bishop, or other Barons, even when they held their own courts. f The right of treasure-trove has been transferred from the Lord- Proprietor to the King of England, but no case relative to felons' goods has occurred since the re vestment. Appeal bonds, hereafter to be men- tioned, are payable to the King, as are all legal fines. Game belonged to the Lord by his prero- gative. The killing of a hawk, heron, hart, or * Statute-book, 1665. f Statute-book, Anno 1577 ; " The old customary Laws of the Isle of Man put in writing." «4S On Property^ hini without his licence, subjects the party to a penalty of 3/. ; one half to the Lord, and one half to the informer : the shooting of a pigeon, partridge, or grouse, to 9^ penalty of \l. Thus a pigeon is accounted game ; but a hare is not so. A licence for a year ipay generally be obtained by application to the proper officer, and the pay- ment of the fee of half-a-c|rown. The former penalties were 71. to the Lord for every animaL accounted game, that was killed ; for every tame deer, killed or taken, 10/. besides a discretionary imprisonment ; for every hawk or heron, 3/. ; and for their eggs, 3/. each. The game laws are now nearly obsolete. A widow becomes entitled, on the death of her husband, to half the real and personal estate, en- tails e:^cepted, possessed by theip, whether he has made ^ will or not.* If he dies intestate, the children, or their representatives, inherit the other half in equal portions ; and if there are no (children, or their representatives, the next of kindred^ in equal degree, representatives among (collaterals, after brothers and sisters. If there is fio widow, children being excluded, the whole is f Statute-l?ook^ J777. On Propertiff 249 divided as the half would otherwise lie. A will should be proved within three months of 4hc death of the party ; and the legacies are to be paid, or the estate divided, within fourteen days of the probation of the will, or the granting of lettiers of administration, For some cause, ap- parently Vjgry adverse to the public good, the executors are not obUged, by law, to pay the debts of the deceased, before the expiration of tliree years from the time of his death. All civil actions, except on accounts current, must be brought within three years of the cause of afetion, unless the Plaintiflf is a minor, non compos mentis, beyond seas, or has any other le- gal imperfection. In these cases it must be brought within three years of the removal of the imper- fection. Thus a title by occupancy ;s sometime3 obtained.* If a tenant quits the farm on the May half year day he is entitled to the standing crops. Marriage is a sort of partnership, and does not afford an exclusive title to estates, either real or personal. Right by custom is now nearly obsolete, ex- l^ept that pf some clerical fees, Certain articles f Anno 1738, 3 t50 On Property. were formerly heir-looms ; but in the year 1747, it was enacted that a man's firelock should be the only one 50 taken. The goods which are taken in distress or exe- cution^ must remain one month as a pawn, re- deemable by the tenant or defendant, on pay- Hient of the rent, or of money recovered in an Action at law. If not redeemed, they are to be sold hy public auction. Should goods be frau- dulently removed, the landlord may, within a fortnight of his rent's becoming due, seize them wherever thev are to be found ; and no sale, assignment, or other agreement, can set aside the landlord's ju«t claim, in the first instance, to one year's rent. Whatever relates to a distress, or execution, is the business of the Coroner ; and ke is entitled to one shilling in the pound for his trouble, chargeable on the tenant or defendant. If the sentence of a court of law is not in due time attended to, or an appeal made, execution against the defendant's goods is graijted as a matter of course. S51 CHAPTER V. On private Wi^ongs, and their Redress, X HE distinction between private and public wrongs is thus defined by Blackstone: private wrongs, or civil injuries are an infringement or privation of the civil rights which belong to in- dividuals, considered merely as individuals: public wrongs are a breach and violation of the public rights or duties due to the whole com-, munity in its social, aggregate capacity. The difference between them, though founded, per- haps, upon the law of nature, is generally the consequence of positive law. Wrongs, the re- dress of which is intended as a compensation to the individual injured, I term, private : and those for which the criminal is more severely punished, chiefly as an example to others, and with little or no benefit to the injured man, I term, public. Any person cutting his neighbour's grass or corn, breaking fences, or putting cattle into his fields at night for pasture, might formerly be fined an(} punished at the discretion of the 252 Private Wrongs, and their Redress, Governor or Deemster. The party aggrieved might also recover damages at the court of com- mon law; and the evidence taken before the Governojf or Deemster was to be sufficient for the jury. But this method was abolished in 1665 : a comprint of trespass is to be made to the Coroner or other proper officer, who must, without delay, nominate, charge, and swear four honest neighbours, to view the trespass and ^ estimate the damage. Upon their verdict being given, which is to be four times the actual da^* mage, the defendant is to pay the amount to the plaintiff. If he refuses payment, the Deemster, on applicMion made to him, will immediately issue an order to the Coroner, to take q sufficient quantity of his goods in execution. The trespass jury is, properly speaking, com^- posed of four arbitrators, who, if they cannot agree, sometimes choose a fifth person, or um- pire, and herein they differ from other Manks juries, who are obliged to give an unanimous verdict Dogs worrying sheep or Iambs, the fact being proved before the Deemster, are to be hanged ; and the owner is to pay certain damages to the injured party. X Private Tf^rongs, and their Redress. 253 If the boundary or fence between two estates be in a ruinous or insufficient condition, both parties must contribute equally to its repair. If either refuse, the Deemster, on application made to him, will appoint a jury of four judicious men of the sheading to examine the boundary, and to report an estimate of the expense of such repair as would keep the fence in a proper state for the term of ten years. The moiety of such estimate having been awarded by the Deemster against the defendant, the plaintiff is obliged, with all convenient speed, to erect a stone wall, at least two feet four inches broad at the founda- tion, sixteen inches broad at top, and five feet high, covered with copeing or projecting stones. Persons, having been found guilty of slander in the temporal or spiritual courts, are subject also to actions for damages at the court of com- mon law. * Nuisances, encroachments, filth, or rubbish, in any town, are to be removed by the offender, by order of its respective High-bailiff. If the party neglects to do so, he is to be fined ten shillings for every offence ; and if the High-bailiff neg- lects to present him before the Governor or * Statute-book^ 1736. 254 Private TfrdngSy and their Redress ^ Deemster, himself may be presented by any one, and be fined in the same sum, one half to the informer; the other halfj in this case, and the whole penalty in the former case, being ap- propriated to the improvement of the market- place.* Pigs going at large in the streets sub- ject the owner to a penalty of an English shilling each. A woman, convicted of adultery in the eccle- siastial court, loses her wife's or widow *s rights and is entitled to only such alimony or property^ as the court thinks proper to allow. Neither of the parties is liable to any other punishment^ ex- cept church censures. A person may recover damages for false im- prisonment, vexatious or frivolous arrests. The action was formerly brought in the court of chancery : the amount of damages was referred to a jury ; but the Chancellor might mitigate it if he thought it extravagant. An act of 1777 takes the matter out of the Chancellor's jurisdic- tion, and directs such suits to be brought before the court of common law, and finally determined by a jury. Damages for vexatious or frivolous arrests, made by the authority of the Water*- * Statutes, 1776 and 1777. Private JVrongs, and their Redress. 235 Bailiff, usually, but improperly, called detention for a tide's water, are recoverable in the Court of Admiralty. I proceed now to mention the courts of law for the redress of civil injuries. The courts of the High-bailiff, of the Deems4er, and of the Governor, are somewhat similar to the only me- thod of trial known to the civil law. Here the Judge is left to form the sentence in his own breast, upon the credit of the witnesses examined. In other courts the causes are determined by a jury. Trial by jury was common at a very early period, among all the northern nations ; so much so, that there are scarcely any records extant on the constitution of those countries that do not mention this tribunal. It was ever justly es- teemed a privilege, or rather law, of the most beneficial nature;* A High-bailiff resides at each of the four towns, and holds his court there once in every week. In the island are seventeen parishes, of which, Lonan, Oncan, Br addon, and Marown, are under the jurisdiction of the Bailiff of Doug- las : Malew, Santon, Arbory, and Rusheo, of the Bailiff of Castletown : Patrick, German, Michael, * Blackstone, i5G Private tVrongs, and their Redress, ftnd Ballaugh, of the Bailiff of Peel ; and Jurby, Andreas, Bride, Lezaire, and Maughold, of the Bailiff of Ramsey. This court was instituted so lately as thej^ear 1777. * The High-bailiff is the only judge who take* cognizance of complaints and debts under the value of forty shillings. He usually determines them at the first hearing, in the presence of the , parties, who ar« summoned by his warrant. An appeal or traverse from his decision may, within seven days, be made to the Deemster, the appel- lant entering into a bond of three pounds, pay- able to the King, to prosecute the appeal with effect within one month. All appeal bonds, from whatever court, have the same penalty an* nexed. If the Deemster confirms the former decision, the appellant is obliged to pay the costs of the application, and also the value of the bond, unless mitigated by the court, as it sometimes is, even to ten or five shillings. There are two Deemsters in the island, one of whom is judge, or chief justice of the southern division, and usually holds his court at Castle- town ; the other, of the northern division, and usually holds his court at Ramsey. They are not obliged, by law, to sit in these places; but Private JVrojigSj and their Redress. ^57 each may hold his court wherever he may deem most convenient, w^ithin his own district. Ac- cording to Chaloner, he might decide a cause, even walking or riding upon the highway, pro- vided the parties were in his presence. On en- tering upon thcvfunctions of his office he takes the following oath : '' By this book, and by the holy contents thereof^ and by the wonderful works that God hath miraculously wrought in heaven above^ and in the earth beneath, in six days and seven nights, I, A. B. do swear that I will, without respect of favour or friendship, love or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice, execute the laws of this isle justly, be- twixt our Sovereign Lord, the King, and his subjects within this isle, and betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the herring's back bone doth lie in the midst of the fish." The sum- mons of appearance to any party concerned was formerly, and even till the. year 1763, nothing more than his name or its initial, marked by the Deemster upon a piece of blue stone or slate. This, with two-pence, was given to the sumner, whose duty it was to shew it ta the party, to tell him who was the plaintiff, and lei him know the S 258 Piivate Wroyigs, and their Redress, requisite time of appearance. It is now ia writing upon paper, and costs sixpence. The Deemster has an extensive jurisdiction, being competent to decide all causes exceeding the value of forty shillings, not being actions where damages are to be assessed, or such as come properly before the Chancellor ; all such as respect defamation, slander, or simple breach of peace ; and all appeals from the judgment of the High-bailifF. The cause is usually deter- mined at the first hearing ; and au appeal from his decision may be made to the Court of Com- mon Law or of Chancery, as the caserqay require ; the action having originated here or in the High-bailiff'S Court making no difference in this •respect. Decorum between the parties is not always so much adhered to as it ought to be. They and their witnesses are examined upon oath by the Deemster, as he may want information on the subject ; and I have heard each give the lye to his antagonist without any ceremony, proceed to pretty high words, and sometimes, as if in de- fiance, make griipaccs. The business of Attorney and of Counsellor are here vested in the same Private JVrongs, and their Redress, 259 * iperson, and he is not always perfectly free from a spirit of this description. The trial is in the Manks or English language, and sometimes a mixture of both. The costs of the action include a very trifling allowance for the travelling expenses of the party and his witnesses.* A Court of Common Law is held at Castletown and at Ramsey four times in the year, the term commencing one week later at the latter than at the former place. The Coroner opens the court w^ith this pro- clamation : '^ I do fence this court that no man- ner of person do quarrel or brawl, nor molest the audience, and that they do answer when * " Witnesses shall have charges allowed them, save in th^ Lord's causes, in manner following : a gentleman or gentle- woman, who shall be charged as a witness before any court, magistrate, or minister of justice, shall, upon his or her ap- pearance, be allowed sixpence for every parish through which he or she shall be obliged to travel, so that the same do not exceed two shillings and sixpence in the whole. Evei^ tradesman or tradeswoman shall be allowed, for loss of time, eightpence, besides twopence for every parish he or she shall be obliged to go through, so that the whole does not exceed one shilling and sixpence. A labouring man shall be allowed fourpence for loss of time, and a penny for each parish : a labouring woman shall be allowed twopence for each parish,'* Statute-book, 1753. s 2 S60 Private Wrongs y and their Redress. they are called, by licence of the King and this court. I draw witness to the whole audience that the court is fenced." The Governor may preside by the Deemster. The business of this court consists chiefly in trying ci\il actions, where damages are to be ?iwarded, and in hearing appeals from the deci^ sion of the Deemster. Every defendant is to be summoned three days, at least, before the court day, and have delivered to him the particulars of the cause, and the account against him : but if he is off the island, the summons must be given to the tenant in possession. The compliance of the plaintiff with this practice is to be verified by the oath of two witnesses. The defendant, if upon the island, must enter his appearance and proceed to bis defence, so that the cause may be tried at the second term : if absent from the island, at the fourth term. The court may, in special cases, appoint the trial of a cause be- tween the terms, and has the power of granting a longer time than usual either to the plaintiff qr defendant. If the plaintiff, after the answering of the de- fendant, fails to prosecute his action, he is cast in his own plea, and obliged to pay the usual Private IFrotigSi and their Redress, 26 i fine, with costs of suit; unless sickness or other lawful cause has retarded the proceedings ; in which case the court grants further time, or, if already cast, a recommencement of the action at the next term, but at no time afterwards. The causes are determined by a jury, the mode of impannelling which is this: The court, at least six days before its sitting, issues orders to the several Coroners to summon two or more good and lawful men out of each parish, giving them at least three days notice of their requisite attendance. At the sitting of the court, each Coroner makes a return, in writing, of the names of the persons summoned, with their ad- dition and place of abode, which are copied by an officer of the court, on distinct pieces of paper, of equal sizes, and by him given pub- licly to the presiding Judge or Magistrate, who causes them, in his presence, to be rolled up and . put into a box. When any cause is called upon to be tried, some indifferent person, in open court, draws out six of the papers ; and if any person whose name is drawn should not appear, or should be challenged by a party, and disap- proved by the court, a further number is drawn 262 Pr'wate JVrongs, and their Kedress. to complete the jury* The six persons drawn^ approved of^ and sworn^ have their names writ- ten upon a pannel, and are kept apart in a box during the trial. If a cause is brought on be* fore the preceding one is determined, the first jury withdraw to an inner room^ and the second is impannelled from the remaining names. If dthcr party desire to have a special jury, a special jury is to be returned, impannelled, and sworn, in such fair^ open, and impartial manner as the court may direct. No jury, nor any mem- ber of it, is at liberty to depart till their verdict be delivered, in writing, into court* If any person summoned on a jury, or any witness duly summoned, do not attend, and the trial be on that account postponed, he become* liable to all the costs of the action. From the decision of this court, an appeal, to be prosecuted within six months, may in all cases be made to the House of Keys.* In the Court of Admiralty, causes are deter* mined by a jury of six, usually merchants. Thi« court is mentioned only once in the Statute-book, and tliere it is directed, that all actions for da- ♦ Statute-book, 1747. Private JVrongs, and their Redress, 26 S m^ges, respecting false arrests made by tbe Watex-bailifTs autbority, shall be determined by an AdmiValty jury.* Disputes relating to the rights of the crown, the imposing of fines, and the determining of the rights of tithes^ are cognizable in the Court of Exchequer. It is held the day after every Chaa- €ery Court, or immediately after it on the sams day. The Court of Chancery is one of law and of equity. It takes cognizance of frauds respecting titles to estates real, when bond to prove their existence has been given, but not otherwise ; of disputes concerning mortgages; of actions personal, where accounts are unliquidated ; of the estates of persons insolvent or absconded, and disputes respecting them ; of all civil causes of arrest, except at the suit of the crown ; and of extravagant costs, awarded by inferior courts. There is not any well defined line between those causes which ought to be brought before the Deemster, and those which ought to be brought before the Governor. The court is held at Cas* tletown on the first Thursday in every month. Statute-book, 1793. 264 Primte Wrongs, and their Redress. harvest time excepted : but should the day be distant, and either party request an earlier hear- ing, it is usual for the Governor to appoint a special court-day* The first step in chancery proceedings is to write a petition to the Governor, desiring him to s«mmon the defendant to answer the com- plaint. The plaintiff, by himself or counsel, opens the cause, and proves it by witnesses, which the defendant may cross-examine. Then the defendant makes out his case by witnesses, again examined by the plaintiff. The evidence of the parties themselves is not admitted. It is not usual, in any of the courts, except in spe- cial cases, to make, at the time, any minutes of the evidence, though the action and determi- nation are recorded. The defendant having made his appearance by himself or attorney, the Chancellor may, at his pleasure, either decide the cause at once, or postpone it to a futgre sit- ting : But, if the defendant disobey the sum- mons, the decree cannot be made till the fourth court. The Governor is authorised to make, from time to time, whatever rules and orders he Private Wrongs, and their Redress.. 265 may think proper^, in his own practice and proceedings. From his decision, or from that of the House of Keys, an appeal may be made to the King of England in council, in any cause not lower in value than five pounds ; and his decision is absolutely final. > No action of arrest can be granted against a landed man, or native of the isle, to imprison or hold him to bail, to appear at any court, on account of a civil action, unless he has obtained the Governor's pass, or there is some just cause to believe that he designs to go off the island;* debts due, or supposed to be due, to the crown^ being exceptions to this rule, f Any person prosecuted for a foreign debt, by an action 6f arrest, can be held to bail, oiily for his personal appearance, and for the forth-coming of what o-oods he has upon the island ; his clothes and money continuing his own. Hence it is, that strangers who, from misfortune or fraudulent design, have left their creditors, and brought with them the remainder of their property, find * Statute-book, 1736. f Act of Parliament 5 Geo. III. cap. S9; Act of Timvald, 1777 ; and Act of Parliament 50 Geo. III. cap. 42. ^66 Private Wrongs, and their Redress, a safe asylum here. This place, indeed, is more privileged than maj be, at first, imagined : for, not only i^ the money of the idle class secure, but also the property of the industrious, pro- vided they take the precaution of carrying on business, in the name of some other person, their friend, who, whether in partnership or not, must nominally be possessed of all the eifects, except the money. Persons of this de- scription also buying houses or land usually make the purchase in the name of a relative or friend, and thereby possess the property without molestation. The debtor may be informed that a bankruptcy at home will annihilate all such speculations. A creditor, or his agent, in order to procure an arrest, must produce his speciality, if he hag any; if not, he must make an affidavit before the clerk of the rolls, or other person duly au- thorised, wherein is to be specified the amount of the debt, and in what manner it was con* traded. If a debtor is about to leave the island without settling an account, the water-bailiff may, upon affidavit of the creditor, grant hie authority to take him into custody, to detain him for the space of twenty*four hours, but not Private fVrongs, and their Redress, 267 longer; this time bein^ amply sufficient for procuring a regular arrest. The Ecclesiastical Court takes cognizance of adultery, fornication, swearing, and cursing, probates of wills, granting letters of admini- stration and tuition, of children's goods, sub- tracting of tithes, defamations, drunkenness : and no appeal can, in these cases, be made from its decision. The causes, when important, are determined by juries impannelled by the Vicars- general. The Arch-deacon has alternate juris- diction with the Bishop in inferior causes ; and holds his court in person, or by his official, as the Bishop does by the Vicars^generaL The ancient manner of proving* a debt due from the deceased was this : The creditor took a witness with him to the church-yard, and, upon the grave of the deceased, swore to the debt This practice was abolished in 1G09, and the matter referred to the spiritual-court, if within a twelvemonth and a day of the probate ; if beyond this period, the temporal court* The ecclesiastical judges possessed great power over the person of the subject, till the year 1737, at which time it was much diminished. They could no longer imprison, except for a short 268 Private JVrongSj and their Redress , time, in certain cases; and the fines and impri- sonments for contempt of court were no longer discretionary. Townlej mentions a curious presentment de- livered in at the Bishop's Court, held at Kirk- Christ Lezayre, during his residence at Douglas : '' The devil take Billy Wattleworth for having such bad ale/' The offence being proved, the offender was subjected to a fine. The language of the ecclesiastical decrees is a most curious jumble of Latin and English, of which the following are instances : "K. Marown church, Nov. 1, 1789, John Bridson, curate. Presentments. The Curate and wardens present Margaret Clark, alias Fayle, for fornication; (a child born at K. Patrick, 24th October.) This woman has de- posed, on the Holy Evangelists, that William Kelly, of the said parish, is the father of the said * child ; which he acknowledged before me, Evan Christian. The said Mary Clark is therefore censured 7 dies in carcere; and to enter into bonds of 31. in usum Domini Regis ; to undergo penance 3 dies, plena ecclesia, in penitential habit, and not iterum fornicari ; and the said William Kelly for being an adulturer, is cen- Private Wrongs, and their Redress. 269 ^ured 14 dies, in carcere, and to enter into bonds of 10/. i?i usum Domini Regis ; to undergo penance 7 dies in diversis ecclesiis, et non iterum mcechari. Evan Christian^ Vicar-general. Item. The wardens present William Kelly, for not living with his own wife, and for living with the above named Margaret Clark, alias Fajle. The said William Kelly and Margaret Clark are hereby ordered to be committed alter- nately to prison ; there to remain until they en- ter into bonds of 10/. iji usum Domini Regis, not to cohabit or associate together in future, except at church and market ; and before releasement to pay all fees. '' The wardens present Christian Guliam for fornication , a child born : common fame. This woman having alledged that she has a husband, who is father to the said child, her censure is suspended. " John Moore, " Ev. Christian. ^' Examined by J. Cullen, Epis. Regr. " To the Sumner to execute." Townley, who copied^ and from whose jour- nal I copy these presentments, offers a query to the reader : whether it is not dangerous^ in this 270 Private JVrcngSy and their Redress. island, for a man to go to bed with his own wife, without leave jfirst obtained from the spi- ritual court, '^ *' St. Anne's presentments, 8th Nov. 1789, Charles Cubbin, vicar. The church-wardens pre- sent Thomas Harman for swearing by his con- icience, and making use of the word ' devil' in his common talk. They present Thomas Caine for not attending divine service on the Sabbath- day, and for cursing Elizabeth Callister in these words, ' plague on thee.* They also present Elizabeth Callister for cursing Thomas Caine in the same words that he cursed her, ^ plague on thee." '' We fine Thomas Harman, Thomas Caine, and Elizabeth Callister 2^. i^d. each, for non- appearance and contempt of court, and they are to be .admonished by the pastor for the said ofTences. ^' John Moors, " Evan Cjiristian. ^' Examined by J. Crellin, Epis. Regr. *' To the Vicar of St. Anne's, these to publish plena Ecclesia.** The courts, now enumerated, were not for. merly courts of record. The laws were locked ^ * Private IFrcngSj and their Redress. 271 up in the breasts of the Governor and Deemsters^ conveyed by oral tradition from one generation to another, and known to the people only by* ^ the sentence which they decreed. This practice was followed by the more eligible plan of keep- ing precedents as guides to future determinations. Even then, they were kept by three locks, their respective keys in the possession of the three chief officers of state, from the scrutinizing eye of the vulgar; nor were they, till the fifteenth century, generally known to the body of the people. No person can act as an attorney, or plead . in any other than his own cause, till he has re- ceived a licence from the Governor, and has publicly taken the government oaths, and also the one following : " I, A. B. do swear, that I will truly and honestly demean myself in the practice and knowledge of an attorney, to the best of my ability." It is not usual for the Go- vernor to grant his licence to any but a native, nor even to him till he has served an apprentice- ship of five years to the clerk of the rolls. I cannot, in any manner, give the reader a better idea of the expense of litigation, thaii by furnishing a few examples of the fees allowed by he courts of law in taxing costs. 272 Private, Wrongs, and their Redress, Fourteen pence is the cost of a summons io the Court of Chancery; sixpence to the Deem- ster's court ; and three«pence is the value of a grant of execution. The entering of an action, or of an appeal, to be determined in chancery, costs sixpence for one side of half a sheet of paper, and one halfpenny for every twenty-four words afterwards : the copy of a decree, the same. For the probate of a will one shilling and two-pence is charged: for a grant of admini- stration three shillings' and four-pence. An attorney charges 2^. \\d, for a retainer; 3^. 4(/; for receiving instructions ; 2ts. 6d, per sheet for a bill in chancery, written, the last sheet ex- cepted, on all sides ; for filing, and receiving a copy of it, 1^. 9d.; for drawing a petition, 9s, lid, per sheet; for a motion in court, 25. lid.; for drafting an answer for the defendant, 2s. lid. ; for preparing and producing a brief, 3s. ^d. per sheet ; for arguing a caase, or attending to ex- amine evidence before the Chancellor, bs. lOd. ; before the Deemster, 2s. lid. ; for attending any court upon business, 12*. Sd, per day, besides professional fees; for travelling expences. Is. 2d, per mile. «73 I : : CHAPTER VI. On Public WrongSj aad their Punishment. 1 HAVE already observed that capital crimes are very rare in Man. The laws respecting- them are consequently few and short. No distinc- tion is made in any of the statutes between prin- cipal and accessory, except in this one instance : that the husband;, if he concealed his wife's felony, was equally implicated in the guilt. Of all offences, treason, in its original sense, seems the most injurious to a community. I speak of rebellion, or of any act which may tend to plunge a nation into the horrors of a civil war. Among the laws reduced to writing in 1422, treason is thus defined: rising upon the Lord or his Lieutenant ; or striking in his pre- sence any of his waged men, or servants : rob- bing him in any court, after fence made : mur- muring and rising at a Tinwald Court: constrain- ing him to hold a Tinwald Court : relieving or concealing a rebel, knowing him to be one. In 1646 another crime was ranked under this deoo- T 274 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. mination — counterfeiting any current coin of the island, or bringing in, designedly, any false money, and making payment with it. Thus treason was extended to a copper coinage ; and not confined, as in England, to that of gold and silver. The offence was unknown till the year in which the act passed. Though the Lord had the prerogative of coining, the money was not considered current till it was declared to be so_ by an act of Tinwald. When five hundred pounds worth of copper pence and halfpence were introduced in 1733, the former coinage of 1710 was declared to be no longer a legal pay- ment. Such conduct, however proper they, to whom it was explained, might deem it, was likely to occasion unpleasant rumours, if not murmurs ; and I have been told that its intrinsic was little more than half its nominal value. By the next copper coinage of 1757, the currency of the preceding one was not affected. In order to detect false coin, every holder of copper money was ordered^ under the penalty of twenty shillings, to bring to the Governor on a certain day each year, all that he had in his possession, to be examined ; a practice very inefficacious. No offender can be convicted of any capital V Public Wrongs, and their Punishment, 275 crime except by a jury, at the Court of General- goal delivery : but formerly, as we learn by the laws written in 14^i2, he might be condemned, without any trial, for an attack upon the Lord or his Lieutenant. At that period it was the custom, in England, tohangrebel-leaders without any form of trial. The punishment of a traitor is, to be drawn with wild horses and hanged ; to have his head cut off and stuck upon the Tower of Castle Rushen ; and to have the body quartered, one quarter to be exposed at each of the four chief towns. His goods become forfeited to the Lord. *^ That which toucheth treason'* is thus de- fined : striking any one within a court, and within twenty-four paces of the Lord or his Lieutenant ; the punishment for which offence is the forfeiture of life and goods : if beyond this distance, or in the presence of the Lord or his Lieutenant out of court, the offender is punishable at the Lord's pleasure ; and is also liable to have damages awarded against him ia a Court of Law, as a satisfaction for the assault. The law respecting seditious speeches or writings is of so late a date as 1796. Any per- son, maliciously doing any act, or circulating any written or printed paper or pamphlet, t2 /^ 276 Public fFrongSj and their Puynshment, tending to bring into contempt his Majesty'* person or government, is subject, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds British, and to imprisonment not exceeding the term of sii months. He may^ in the first in- stance^ be arrested by warrant from the Deem- ster, complaint by affidavit having been made to him. Against the compounding of felony, a great breach of public justice, there M^as no law till the year 1736. The punishment of it is, simply, a fine to the Lord, at the discretion of the Court, not exceeding six pounds thirteen shillings and four-pence. An escape, or an attempt to escape from prison does not subject the party himself to any legal punishment, nor was there till 1736 any law in force to punish such as assisted him. Assisting a criminal io escape from prison sub- jects the offender to a penalty of twenty pounds : assisting a debtor to escape from prison, or from the island, without a pass, to a penalty of three pounds and the payment of all his debts. Should his effects be insufficient for the purpose, his goods are \o be seized and sold ; he is to be imprisoned for three months^ and publicly v^p- Public IVrongs, and their Punishment, 277 ped at the four towns. Any one conveying another off the island, without a pass, is liable to the payment of his debts, and a fine of ten pounds to the Lord. A pass or licence to leave the island is thus ordered : '' Insula Mona. Permit the bearer hereof, Mr. A. B. to pass for upon his lawful occasion, without let, stop, or hindrance, he behaving himself as behoves all liege people, and departing this isle within one month from the date hereof. Given at Castle Rushen this day of (Signed.) Lieut. Governor." An Officer in each of the four towns has blank passes, ready signed, which he immedi-* ately fills up, and delivers, on the payment of nine-pence, unless a debt be sworn against the party in order to detain him. Persons suspected of perjury were to be tried at the spiritual court, I am induced to believe that fine and imprisonment, with chur.ch censures, were the only punishment, and not the pillory an4 loss of ears, as is generally imagined. Here, 98 in many other places, I cannot but regret that Mr. Stowell, a Manks Solicitor, who pub- lished the Manks laws, in alphabetical ordef> 278 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. should have left every thing in the obscurity he found it;, and perjury thus : " Whoever is sworn^, *nd their oaths prove false, shall make satisfac- tion by our law, and to the church for perjury." The w^ords in the Statute-book are, '* Whoever is sworn, and their oaths prove false, shall make satisfaction by our law, and reserve them to the church for perjury ;" by which may perhaps be understood, that the person injured by the false oath is to have redress in the Temporal Court ; but the punishment^ as for a public oifence, is to be by the Spiritual Court. A juryman taking a fee, is made, ipso facto, guilty of perjury ; being treated with liquor, he is to be fined six shillings and eightpence, and discharged. A council- ttiaHj before he takes his seat, is sworn not to divulge the secrets of the council : should he be convicted of so doing, he is subject to dismissal, ind a penalty of three pounds. The old laws, relative to trade, were sufficient to exclude any prosperity that might otherwise arise from commerce. No article might be imported by any individual ; nor might any commodity be exported without the consent of the Lieutenant Governor and Council. The punishment for infriiiging upon these rules was Public WrongSj and their Punishment. 279 a discretionary fine and imprisonment^ besides forfeiture of the goods.* Trade of all sorts is open to aliens as well as natives : but formerly a five years' appren- ticeship was necessary. Fresh herrings might not be exported till their price was below 1*. ^d, per hundred; and this law was not repealed till 1796. i A flight of gulls usually hover about a herring shoalj and serve as a guide to the fishermen. For this reason, the shooting of one during the fishing season subjects the offender to a penalty of three pounds. The practice of tarring nets, being thought prejudicial^ was prohibited in 1796. The of- fender is to be fined ten pounds, one half to be given to the informer, the other added to the high-rK)ad fund : the action is to be brought in the Court of Admiralty. The use of all nets, which the master of any boat could prove to » * " Item, when any person maketh suit to carry or trans- port any stuff or merchandize out of the isle ^ into any foreign parts, that the captain shall consult with the rest of the Council, what wares may be best spared by the inhabitants ; and, with the consent of the Council, to give licence accords ingly.'* Statute-book 1561, See also 1422. $80 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. have been tarred previously to the passing of this act was, nevertheless, very properly per- mitted. The herring fishermen from various parts of the island having petitioned for some general regulations respecting the casting of nets, it was enacted, in the year 1794, that they should in future be shot from the starboard side of the boat. Offenders are to be fined in a sum not exceeding five pounds, and are to enter into a !(urety of fifty pounds for their future good behaviour. In 1711, a severe law passed against the smuggling trade with England, the Legislature expecting that " in consideration thereof, and the poverty of the island, the English Govern* ment would grant some encouragement to their trade, agriculture, and manufactories/' The act was passed, in compliance with a request of the Commissioners of her Majesty's customs : but the British Parliament, not paying any at- tention to a petition of the inhabitants of Man for a free trade with Britain, it was repealed two years afterwards, the Manks government ap- prehending that " by a continuance thereof would soon ensue the misery and decay of this Public TVrongSy and their Punishment. 281 land, and the inhabitants thereof, under which 4hey could no longer support themselves." The act was therefore suspended till their petition should be granted ; and^ consequently, has not been since in force. In 1726, the exportation of salt to Great Britain was prohibited, under, I know not why, the penalty of thirty pounds ibr every offence. I have already said that trade is. now carried on under the regulations of the JSritish Legislature, and have nothing to add upon the subject. One thing I may repeat, that distilleries are forbidden, under the penalty of two hundred pounds for every offence, and of all the implements used in the process. The first limitation of interest was made in 1649, when 10 per cent per annum was the greatest rate allowed. A contract for a higher rate was only so far invalid as respected the excess. But, fifty years afterwards, at which time interest was reduced to 6 per cent, any contract for a higher sum was not only declared to be usurious and utterly void, but subjected the lender to a forfeiture of treble the amount to the Lord of the Isle ; and thus stands the law at present. Under the head of cheating, I have only one 282 Public Wrongs, and their Puniskment. offence to mention, that of selling goods by fraudulent weight or measure. The offender is to be fined 10^. for the first offence ; 20^. for the second ; SL for the third ; and 51. for every sub- sequent one ; or suffer one month's imprison- ment. The High-bailiff is required to examine the weights used within his district four times in the year. The parties do not undergo any form of trial : but an execution is levied by the Governor, on a proper representation of the case being made, in writing, by the High-bailiff to the regulator of weights and measures, at Castletown. The fines are to be divided in certain portions among the Officers, required to carry the act into execution.* To forestall, is to buy provisions coming to market, either by land or water ; or to make such agreement as to prevent their coming* To regrate, is to buy corn in one fair or market, and to re-sell it either in the same fair or market^ or within four miles of it. To ingross is to buy, not being at market, corn, reaped or standing, or any other victuals not having life, for the purpose of re-selling them within the island. The punidiment for any of these offences is the * Statute-book, 1777. ' Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. 283 forfeiture of the goods, or their value, to thjB Lord.* Against monopoly no provision appears* ever to have been made. Against public health there is only one legal offence, that of selling unwholesome meat. On being exposed for sale it is to be seized by the proper officer, and either distributed among the poor or burned. The number of alehouses being very great, and supposed to be injurious to the community, wasj 1734, limited to' two hundred ; but soon afterwards increased to three hundred, its pre- sent number. A person marrying a couple in any manner contrary to law, if a native, is to be transported for fourteen years to some of his Majesty's plantations in America ; if an alien, is to be put into the pillory for an hour, have his ears cut off, be imprisoned, fined in a sum not exceeding fifty pounds, and banished. Prosecutions for the offence, the offender continuing in the island, must be commenced within three years. This act, passed in 1757, is the first that inflicts the punishment of transportation. Making a false * Statute-book, 1637. 284 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. entry, or altering an entry in the parish register with evil intent, is a crime punishable by death. For bigamy or polygamy there was not in England, until the reign of James the First, any other punishment than ecclesiastical censure, and this is still the case in Man. The second marriage is null, and the children consequently illegitimate. The punishment for witchcraft was burning to death, as in England, but not by any statute law. I do not know whether it was ever inflicted.* I come now to speak of those offences, which in a more peculiar way affect or injure indi- viduals. For suicide the only punishment is the for- feiture of property. Of the various species of homicide, none short of murder is rendered criminal. The punish- ment for this offence is capital, death and the forfeiture of property. For a rape, the punishment is capital, unless the woman be unmarried. In this case she has • Chaloner, page 20. Public TVrongs, arid their Punishment 2S5 h^r choice, either to hang^, behead, or marrj the offender.* No instance of a conviction is upon record, and only one traditionary. After the rope was fastened round the neck of the criminal, the injured woman repented of her deterniina- tion, desired he might be released, and offered him a ring, the symbol of the third condi- tion. He accepted the gift with thanks ; but told her that, having been already condemned to one punishment, he thought that sufficient, and would keep the ring for another occasion. The unnatural crime, which is made capital by statute of l(iG5 is only that between man and beast, not that between man and man. Assault, or battery, and provocation, or pro- voking language, likely to occasion battery, are determinable, without a jury, by the Governor or Deemster. f The punishment for the first offence is two shillings ; for the second, thirteen shillings and fourpence, to the Lord, besides imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. This law seems to be made in the spirit of the old proverb, that ''' prevention is better than cure." For the first offence damages may also be recovered by the injured party. ♦ Statute-book, 1577. f K>id. 1736, 286 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment. Not only is burglary felonious, but also enter- ing a house without a door, if there be but two sticks across the doorway, or a bundle of gorse reared up there.'* It is remarkable that neither this crime nor that of murder is mentioned in the Statute-book, although one part of it was intended to include the whole common or cus- tomary law of Man. Theft is divided into great and small ; that which is equal to, or exceeds the value of six- pence halfpenny, and that which is under six- pence halfpenny. The first includes necessarily theft of sheep, lamb, goat, kid, swine, or honey taken from bee-hives : the crime -is capital. f * Chaloner, page 20 and 21. \ Formerly, the punishment of theft was, in certain cases, more lenient. " If the thief be the Lord's born man, or els hath made faith and fealty, and put him in grace, if he be indicted, and no mainour in his hand, or the verdict be given, he ought, by the law of Man, to have his life ; but he must forfeit his goods. And then he shall have his choice of three things : first, he shall choose whether he will rest in prison a year and a day, with sustenance of the prison, viz. he shall have bread, one part raeale, and another part chaft'e of the same meale, and the third part ashes, and he to drink of the water next to the prison doore : the second is to fore- sweare the King and all his land : or els, for the third, to pay the King three pounds." Statute-book, 1422. Public WrongSj a7id their Punhhment. 287 The second offence, called petty larceny, subjects the offender to corporal punishment and im- prisonment at the discretion of the court. Forgery was not punishable in England, till the reign of Elizabeth, except at common law. The crime was in no case capital. Commerce and paper credit so much increase the tempta- tion and the opportunity, that a multitude of other statutes have since this period been found neces- sary, and there is now scarcely an instance whereia fraudulent forgery is not felonious. The Manks laws are still silent upon the subject. Only one, and that a modern instance, has occurred, i have remarked the abundance of card tickets, payable on demand, and equally current with the silver coin. Several forged ones, for live shillings each, were issued in the name of a gentleman resident at Peel, accustomed to have his notes in circulation. The criminal was de- tected, and confessed the fraud. It could not be considered in any other light than that of a civil debt. The matter was in some way com- pounded, and the prisoner set at liberty. When a summons to appear at court was nothing else than a piece of marked stone, we may easily suppose that an error or a perversioa 288 Public Wro7?gs, and their Punishment. of its use might frequently happen. To coun- terfeit or make false use of the Governor's token subjected the offender to a fine of twenty shil- lings ; of the Deenjster's token, to a fine often shillings, besides imprisonment, in either case, during the Governor's pleasure.* We have seen that two punishments may, in some instances, be inflicted for the same offence : nor is there any thing unjust in the practice, when a public and a private wrong are blended* A statute of Henry the Eighth directs that, in cases of mayhem, treble damages shall be awarded, as a compensation for the civil injury, to be recovered by action of trespass ; and that the offender shall also be crinriinally prosecuted for a fine to the King. Any one healing a clerk in orders, is, even now, in England, subject to three kinds of prosecutions, which may be pur- sued at the same time ; an indictment for breach of the peace, by assault and battery ; a civil action for damages ; and a suit in the Ecclesias- tical Court. All felonies, and most crimes, must be deter- mined at the Court of General Goal Delivery. * Statute-book, 1651. Public Wrongs, dnd their Punishment. 289 before any person can be tried> he must be indicted: I will therefore speak of the indict- ment first. When a person is apprehended On suspicion of felony, the Coroner, in whose sheading it has been committed, is obliged, ex officio, to take the offender, into custody, and, by warrant of th« Deemster, summon a jury of six good and law- ful men out of the sheading, together with all such persons as he thinks may be able to give anjr testimony in the matter, to appear before the Deemster. If the crime be committed in one sheading, and the supposed criminal live in another, the jury must consist of three men of each sheading.* They are, under the direction of the Deemster, to make inquiry, and take evidence, in writing, respecting the offence com- plained of. Upon proof, confession, strong presumption, or suspicion, supported by pre* vailing circumstances, the jury indict the offender. The Deemster is required to receive their verdict; to transmit it, with the depositions that have been taken, to the Rolls Office ; and to release, admit to bail, or imprison such person, so ac- quitted or indicted, as the nature of the case may require. * Chaloner, page 2(X u 296 Public Wrongs, and their Punishment, This mode of indictment does not extend to petty larceny. In the latter case, the method of proceeding is somewhat different ; the suspected party being examined upon oath, and if un- able to clear himself, immediately found guilty ; li practice, that, in every moral and religious point of view, cannot be too much condemned. If the jury convict the offender of petty larceny, the cause goes not before another jury, as in case of felony, but is by this verdict finally decided. When any one has been indicted for felony and committed to prison, there must be sum- moned, at least three days before the sitting of the court, a jury, consisting of twelve good and lawful men, to try the delinquent : and it is usual for the same jury to try all the cases that occur at one time. The court is held at Castletown, as occasion may require, by order of the Governor, himself and the two Deemsters presiding therein. One credible witness proving the felony, and ' supported by probable circumstances, though it was not formerly, is now held sufficient to con- vict the prisoner. In case of doubt arising to the jury, respecting Uny evidences or circumstances before them, they Public Wrongs, and their Punishment, 291f may ask the opinion of the Deemsters, but must finally decide according to their own. A custom, observed by the Saxons before the Conquest, prevails here : the Bishop or his deputy sits in the court till the verdict is determined; the Deemster asking the jury, instead of '' guilty or not guilty," " Vod fir-charree soie/' '^ May the man of the chancel continue to sit?" Women, convicted of any capital crime, were formerly put into a sack and drowned :* but, in either sex, the punishment now is to be hanged* Besides the courts of law is the Great Inquest, « jury or juries of very ancient date, abolished in 1777, but re-established in 1793. It consists of six juries, one for each sheading, of twelve men each ; the two parishes of the Garflf sheading heading six men each ; every other parish, four. They are named by the Coroner, and continue in office for one year. They are obliged, by their oaths, to present in the proper courts all known offenders, public or private, whether of the Lord'i officers, tenants, or other inhabitants. The act^ which re-establishes the Great Inquest, appoint! some regulations for their proceedings, and take* ♦ Chaloner, p. 20 and 21, US 392 Public fVrongs, and their Punishment away whatever power they formerly possessed^ or had assumed, respecting ' the trying or deter- mining the right or title of boundaries not ad- joining the commons, or wastes, and of ways, waters, water-courses, and boundaries between party and party ; and directs that all trials re- specting the boundaries of wastes or commons, should be before a Deemster, and that the evi- dence should be taken down in writing.' An ap- peal from the decision of the Great Inquest may be made to the House of Keysv The courts were not formerly courts of record. The laws were locked up in the breasts of the Governor and Deemsters, conveyed by oral tra- dition from one generation to another, and known to the people only by the sentence which they decreed. This practice was followed by the more eligible plan of keeping precedents, as guides for future determinations. Even then, they were kept by three locks, their respective keys in the possession of the three chief officers of gtate> from the scrutinizing eye of the vulgar; nor were they> till the fifteenth century, gene- rally known to the body of the people. The inhabitants appear content with their laws} and the decisions of the Governor and Public Wrongs, nnd their Punishment, 293 Deemsters are considered extremely equitable. Strangers, indeed, imagine that in trials between themselves and the natives, the latter sometimes have the preference. Of their laws and con- stitution they talk little: there are no parties among ihe generality of the people; aijid dif- ferences of opinion respect English, and not Manks politics. In the House of Key«, haw- .ever, dissensions sometimes arise. Their debates and decisions are not always so favourable as the ether branches of the legislature might wish; and they possess a large majority of what is termed the Manks party, or those more inclined io the preservation or enlargement of the rights and liberties of the people than to the encroach- cnents of any part of the government. Major Taubman takes the lead of this party ; and holds the office of Speaker of the House. S94 CHAPTER VII. On the Privileges enjoyed by Debtors, /V FEW anecdotes arising out of the real, or supposed privileges of the island, will form the subject of the present chapter. Although persons having debts abroad or ac- tions determined against them are privileged, ex- cepting so far as respects their moveable property, yet no asylum is here afforded for any one guilty of criminal conduct. About sixty years since, a lady of the name of Hingstone was imprisoned in this island for a debt of her husband's, the particulars of which transaction I am unable to give the reader. It gave rise to a pamphlet, published in 1751, en- titled '' Liberty Invaded,"" and to another by J. Baldwin, Esq. entitled '' British Liberty in Chains, and England's Ruin on the Anvil in the Isle of Man, now commonly called. Little France, addressed to all Free Britons, zealous for the glory of their King, the Liberties of the People, and Privileges enjoyed by Debtors, 295 Safety of the Realm, especially to the laudable Association of Antigallicans/' 1755:, 8yo. A considerable time ago, a man of the name of Wood escaped from Dublin goal and found his way to this island. He was either traced, or dis- covered by advertisement; and a correspondence respecting him ensued, between the Governor of Man and the Secretary of State for Ireland. The nature of his crime I have been unable to leara^ but am informed that it was not felonious. He was finally escorted back to Dublin. Scotch bankrupts refusing to surrender theoi- selves, have sometimes been apprehended on this island and sent back to Scotland, even at a time when such conduct was not in that country felony. A few years ago a stock broker of the name of Daniels, nephew to Mr. Goldsmid, arrived here from London with about eleven thousand pounds in his pocket. He had been employed by a per- son to sell out stock to the amount of sixteen or eighteen thousand pounds, and received the money of the purchaser. He gave his employer, as is usual, a draft upon bis banker for the amouiat ; but not thinking proper to pay in any of the sum received, and not having^ suflicient effects 290 Pmileges enjoyed by JDebtors. there, the draft was returned for non-payment and the drawer was not to be found. It appears evident from the transaction that his design was fraudulent; but not more so than that of any person purchasing goods, re-selling them, and making oflf with the money ; which latter prac- tice is deemed in law, unless the articles be t)ought under false pretences, to be a private and not a public wrong. There is no law to prevent a man's drawing upon his banker for a greater sum than the effects in his hands. The vendor, in accepting the draft instead of cash, took it wpon the reputed credit and integrity of Daniels: and although many persons considered the trans- action as a fraud which the law could reach, yet the greater number of those, well informed on {subjects of this nature, did not imagine it to be so. Of the former opinion was the Chief M^^istrate of the city of London, who, on complaint being piade to him, gave immediate directions to have the offender advertised in all the papers, w ith a reward for his apprehension. These advertise- inents very accurately described his person ; and the High Bailiff of Douglas was the first who perceived a resemblance between their descrip* tJQp and a gentleman who had lately taken lodg-. | Privileges enjoyed by Debtors, 297 ings in that town. He communicated his sus* picions to otherg, and an examination was deter- mined upon. The account which he gave of liimself was so contradictory as nearly to deter* miae their opinion ; and, instead pf conveying him to the Castle, the more lenient measure wa* adopted, of placing sentipels at the door of his apartments till the Governor's pleasure could be known. He afterwards confessed to Lieu- tenant Governor Shaw and the High Bailiff, that their suspicions were well founded. The Council was convened upon the occasion, and it was de- termined to deliver him into the custody of two Bow-street Officers, who had come in pursuit of him. It was thought expedient to gain Daniels' consent to his return. This and the money in his possession were obtained by the Officers, on giving their promise that no criminal prosecu- tion should be carried on against him. On his £irrival in London, a process of this nature was, nevertheless, immediately commenced, and he ^as finally acquitted by the jury. This transaction gave rise to a long paper war, carried on by the High Bailiff and a resi- dent of Douglas, supposed to be Sir John Ma- cartoey, through the medium of the Manks ^- t9S Privileges evjoyed hy Debtors, Weekly Journal;, respecting the legality of the arrest. It was affirmed by the former to be legal on account of the criminality of the party ; and of precedence in similar, or less fraudulent cases. The latter urged, with some plausibility, that it was at least a question which admitted of doubt ; that it had been the immemorial custom in all doubtful cases, to summon the Keys and take their opinion upon the subject ; and that the de- livery of Daniels, without previously so doing, was an illegal act. '^ Soon after the agitation of this question, the High Bailiff published in the Manks paper, a resolution which he intended to move in the House of Keys, himself being a member of that body, that all privileges enjoyed by foreigners should be annulled, and that the island should be no longer an asylum for the unfortunate, or the fraudulent. His former opponent was again roused to action. He asserted, that much of the prosperity of the country arose from its being the residence of strangers (himself being one), and that without them it would be a miserable place. The framer of the bill replied, that it v>^ould be more creditable to the island to be without such strangers as he alluded iQ, The Privileges enjoyed by Debtors. 299 controversy died away, either without any bill of the kind being submitted to the consideration of the legislature, or oi its being quietly ne- gatived. Since the affair of Daniels an attempt was made to apprehend and take away a gentleman now resident at Douglas, for having sent a chal- lenge to a nobleman in Ireland, both at that time residing there, and having been consequently iiv- dieted by the Grand Jury for his breach of the peace. A correspondence again took place be- tween the Governor and the Secretary. The former finally declined to issue any order for his apprehension, probably not thinking it a matter of sufficient criminalit}, and knowing that the object of the indictment was merely to procure bis return to Ireland, where he might have been arrested for a debt to the very large amount of ^0,000/. due to his Lordship, for damages re- covered in an action against the defendant for criminal conversation with his lady. For the debt, indeed, he was here arrested according to the Manks law ; and for a short time confined in the castle of the metropolis, the plaintiff being apprehensive that he would otherwise make his escape from the island, while the more important 3 300 Privileges enjoyed by Debtors. case was pending. On its being decided he waai immediately released, his opponent well under- standing, that, although he was a man of pro- perty, he took care to have none liable to seizure. His credit here stands very high, and I heard the Chief Deemster say in open court, that he should consider his security for the payment of a debt equal to a bank note.* It seems now sufficiently determined by pre- cedents, that except in merely civil cases, no per- sons are here privileged from the common course of law, unless the Governor refuse, as he did in the one last mentioned, to sanction such proceeding. In case of notorious criminality he would never do so. When a debtor whom the law cannot reach has taken refuge upon the island, it has not uiv- frcquently been the custom (to the shame of the islauid be it spoken ) for a creditor to hire five or six ruffians to carry him away by force. They seize him in an unguarded moment, take him off his legs, hurry him into a boat, and thence put him on board a vessel lying ready to receive him. The Manks Government has not inter- * For these anecdotes I am indebted to Mr. Cosnahan, High BailiiF of Douglas. Pmileges e^ijoyed by Debtors, 501 fered or made any inquiry into such infamous transactions. Could any villains^ be found suf- ficiently hardy to attempt the seizure of the last mentioned gentleman, their courage need not, probably could not, be put to any further trial. It is said, I know not with what truth, that a re- ward of five thousand pounds has been offered to any one who will deliver him into custody, in Ireland. It is a remarkable fact, that all who have been thus carried away were Scotch drovers, persons employed to buy and sell cattle, who by fraudu- lent means had obtained large sums of money, and who had brought in their pockets several thousand pounds. An instance of the kind happened at Douglas during my residence in that town. A drover of reputed honesty had obtained money to a con- siderable amount from various persons,^ under the pretence of making for them advantageous pur- chases of cattle. Having amassed as much as possible, he immediately proceeded to White- haven, intending to spend in the Isle of Man, the supposed place of security, his ill-gotten wealth. The wind was boisterous and adverse : no vessel woiJild put to sea. He had no authority, like 302 Pmilcges enjoyed by Debtors, (5a?sar, to tell the captain that he would carry a drover and his fortune : but I saw the master of an open coal boat^ to whom he in vain offered one hundred pounds to perform the voyage. This man said he believed he should have struck the bargain^ had not his vessel been then aground. Disappointed and fearful of delay, he proceeded to Liverpool, and was obliged to remain two or three days in that town, awaiting the departure of a vessel for the desired port. In the mean time the creditors heard of hii decampment, and judging it probable that be had fled to the privileged island, determined if possible, to use force against fraud. One to whom he owed 1,200/. embarked without delay, and arrived at Douglas before his debtor. He was permitted by law to imprison any debtor till he could find bail for his personal appearance, and the delivering up of his effects upon the island, or till the action, never long postponed, could be heard ; and still expecting the arrival of the drover, he procured a warrant to arrest him. He hired a vessel and half a dozen sturdy fellows, and examined each ship as it arrived. At length came the packet from Liverpool, and the rascal on landing was conveyed to prison. Privileges enjoyed by Debtors. 303 He little dreaded his adversary's power, and hired a post-chaise to carry him the next morning to Castletown. A person who has power to confine another, has power also to release him. In the dusk of the evening he set his men upon the watch, and dismissed the action. The prison is close to the sea : the gate was thrown open, and out walked the drover, exulting in the confirma- tion of his liberty, and the success of his plans. Scarcely had the door shut after him, when he was seized by the men in waiting, hurried to a boat, and thence put on board a vessel. The ship soon weighed anchor ; but to what port he was carried, or what afterwards became of him- I could never learn. S04 CHAPTER VIII, The Sale df the Island, J.N order to prevent the smuggling trade of the Isle of Man, which, in the beginning of the last century, began to prognosticate great evil to England, and perhaps for other reasons^ it was the wish of the British government that the sovereignty of the island should be re-vested in the King. An act consequently passed the le- gislature in 1726, authorising the Earl of Derby to sell his royalty and revenue. Although many proposals were made to him, and his successor, they always made delays, un- willing to complete the sale ; and the object of government remained incomplete till John Duke of Athol and his Duchess succeeded to the roy- alty. In the first and last year of their reign, and in the fifth of that of his present Majesty, A. D. 1765, the sovereignty was re- vested in the King of England. The people w ere at first much alarmed at the consequent change of affairs, but experience has since taught the industrious part The Sale of the Island, 306 of them to consider it a great advantage to the country ; the Dnke however was ever afterward*' much disliked on this account. A song, of which the following is a verse, was composed on the occasion, and is well re- membered to this day : " For the babes unborn will rue the day, . That the Isle of Man was sold away ; For there's ne'er an old wife that loves a dram. But what will lament for the Isle of Man." The sovereign formerly bore the title of King, and his consort is styled Queen in some of the statutes. This title was, about three centuries ago, abandoned by Thomas, Earl of Derby ; and Lord of Man assumed in its room. The reason which he gave for so doing was, that he thought it an empty title, since the country could no longer maintain itself independent of other na- tions; and that he deemed it more honourable to be a great Lord than a petty King. The preamble of the Act of re- vestment recites the grant of Henry IV. and the confirmation of it by Act of Parliament of 7th James L regulating the entail of the island, and the suc- cession to it. It mentions the death of Charles, Earl of Derby, in 1735 ; and that the property X 306 The Sale of the Island. was consequently vested in James, Duke of Athol, ; as heir general to James, Earl of Derby, who was beheaded in 1651; that James, Duke of Athol, conveyed it to trustees in a deed of feoff- ment executed on the 6th of April, 1756, to make an absolute sale of it after his death, with the consent of the then Lord-proprietor his heir; the money arising therefrom to be laid out in the purchase of lands in Scotland, to be entailed in the strictest manner according to the law of that kingdom on the heirs male of his body, with re- • mainders, designed to prefer the line of the Mur- rays to the line of heirs from the seventh Earl of Derby, with an ultimate remainder, not to the heir general of James, seventh Earl of Derby, but to Duke James's heirs and assigns. It says, that James, Duke of Athol, died in 1764, and that his only child, Charlotte Murray, and her husband, then Duke of Athol, became entitled to the Isle of Man according to their estates and interests under the prescribed entails.* The treaty specifies that the Duke and Duchess shall receive 70,0001. to be laid out in estates of Scotland to be entailed for ever on their heirs * See Statutes at large, VoL X. The Sale of the Island. 307 in purchase of their royalty^ the revenues aris- ing, or to be raised from the custom-duties and some other perquisites ; themselves retaining the manerial rights, with many other advan- tages and emoluments. This sum was conse- quently paid into the Bank of England in the names of the Duke and Duchess of Athol, Sir Charles Frederick, and Edmond Hoskins, to be by them appropriated to the purpose above spe- cified. Respecting the perquisites and emolu- ments, some misunderstanding had arisen ; the English government having claimed more than the Duke by this treaty intended to give up ; and the Duke and Duchess had the further grant of an annuity of 2,0001. upon their lives.* In the year 1781, the present Duke, son to the vender of his royalty, presented a petition to parliament, which stated, among other complaints, that many parts of the Act of the fifth year of George the Third required explanation and amendment, and that proper remedies or powers were omitted to be given by the said Act to the Duke and Duchess of Athol, their heirs or as^ signs, seneschals or stewards, and moors and * The date of this grant I know not, being unable to find toy account of it in the statutes. 308 The Sale of the Island. bailiffs, for the obtaining of the' several rights and interests, or for the exercise or enjoyment of such as were intended to be reserved : and therefore prajed that leave might be given to bring in a bill to explain and amend the said Act, made in the fifth year of the reign of his present Majesty, and to enable the said Duke and his heirs to obtain, exercise, and enjoy, cer- tain powers and remedies.* He alleged, that the revenues arising to his family were not fairly collected prior to the re- Testment, many frauds being then practised ; and consequently that the annual revenue to which the purchase money was proportioned was much too small, the frauds having been since prevent- ed by the regulations of the English govern- ment : that his father had the power of increas- ing the duties with the consent of the council and the Keys, and that such consent, to any rea- sonable degree, would not have been withheld ; that some rights, not intended to be vested in the crown, had been so vested, such as herring- custom, salmon-fisheries, and treasure-trove. A petition, being a memorial of John Cas- ♦ Vide Journal of the Houst of Commons, Vol. 38. The Sale of the Island, 309 niahan, of the House of Keys, and agent for that body, Was laid before parliament against the passing of the bill. It stated that the pro- posed bill contained many provisions against the present constitution, and injurious to the inha* bitants of the island. Counsel having been heard on both sides, the bill, somewhat amended, passed the House, under the following title: "An Act to explain and amend an act of the fifth year of the reign of his present Majesty :, intituled, " An Act, &c" — ; and to ascertain and establish the jurisdiction of the manerial courts of the most noble John Duke of Athol, in the said island; and to enable the said Duke and his heirs to exercise and enjoy certain rights, powers, and remedies, therein con- tained." Counsel was again heard in the House of Lords, The Lord Chancellor was against the bill. He said that what the public purchased of the late Duke of Athol seemed to him of very little importance, no more, in his apprehension, than certain rights and privileges, incident to the proprietor for the time being, as first magistrate and Lord of the soil ; and which his Majesty's ^feryaulU in the year 1765, very wisely deemed 310 The Sale of the Island. to be improper to be longer vested in the hands of a subject, who exercised those rights inde- pendent of, and uncontrolled by, the British parliament. There were many instances to prove that the Lord of Man and the inhabi- tants were amenable and controllable by the British legislature. One instance only he should mention. In the reign of Henry the Eighth an act of parliament passed for abolishing all mo- nasteries and abbies, and vesting the lands which belonged to them in the crown. In this bill were included those of Man ; and the Earl of Derby, so far from exclaiming against the usurpation, or complaining of the injustice or oppression of such a stretch of foreign power, actually be- came a lessee for them under the king. Much had been said about manerial rights, whereas they appeared to have no real foundation what- ever ; these rights which had been thus claimed, having at different times, and upon various oc- casions, been granted to the Lords of Manors, and of course divested out of the Lord-para- mount. The Duke of Athol wished to have every pa- ragraph examined by their Lordships with the minutest ^.ttention, being persuaded that the The Sale of the Island. 311 more pains there were taken to develops the real purport and objects of the bill, the more supporters it would have.* The bill was finally lost in this House. In the year 1790 the Duke again petitioned parliament; and General Murray moved for leave to bring in a bill for appointing commis- sioners to inquire into the extent and value of certain rights, revenues, and possessions in the Isle of Man. Mr. Dundas supported the bill. Sir Joseph Mawbey spoke against it. Mr. Rose said, that the bargain of 1765 had been made in a hurry, that it was an unfair one, and required re-consideration. The House of Keys petitioned that the bill might not pass into a law, and were heard by Counsel against it. On the second reading it was opposed by Mr, Law, who denied any precipitancy in the bar- gain, the English government having had the purchase in contemplation ever since the reign of George the First. He considered 70,000/. and * Vide Parliamentary Register. Debrett. Vol.iv. 350, 351 r 312 The Sale of the Island. an annuity of 2^000/. on the lives of the Duke and Duchess an ample compensation. Mr. Curwensaid^ that in 1787 the Duke pro- mised the House of Keys that he would never iur troduce any bill respecting the island into par- liament without giving them sufficient previous notice, and that of the present bill he had not given them the least. He could prove from au- thentic documents that the allegations of th^ noble Duke were utterly unfounded. If any greater compensation ought to be granted, the Duchess Dowager was entitled to receive it. She bad been silent upon the subject, and he believed content. He had every reason for sup- posing that the late Duke was perfectly satisfied with the bargain he bad made. What had been already granted, he maintained to be a most ample consideration. If the rights of the Duke had been invaded, he should resort for redress to the laws of the island, and not to the House of Commons. General Murray defended the noble Duke from breach of promise, and said that the present could- not be called a bill immediately afiecting the inhabitants of the Isle of Man. The Sale of the Island. 31S Sir Jame^ Johnston spoke in favour of the Duke's claims^ but added, that whoever ^'^ injured the inhabitants of the Isle of Man ought to be plunged in hell." Mr. Fox said there was a variety of allegations that the Duke's family had been injured, but.no proof whatever. Mr. Pitt on the other hand replied, that the committee appointed to inquire into the allega- tions had thought that there was proof sufficient. Sir John Miller wished the House joy of what they were going to do. Henceforth they would have business enough upon their hands in remu- nerating every contractor who had made a bad bargain. Mr. Henniker maintained that the late Duke held only a life interest in the island, and had no right to sell. The order of the day fbr the commitment of the bill being read, Mr. Chancellor Pitt rising, observed, that notwithstanding his full conviction pf the propriety and even necessity of proceed- ing with such a measure, yet, after the unfavour- able impression which had gained ground upon the subject^ he should think it in no degree pru- 314 The Sale of the Island, dent to attempt to push the bill further at pre- sent, and should therefore move that the bill be committed for that day three months.* The bill was consequently lost. In the year 1805 another petition was pre- sented by the Duke to parliament, which, like the former was referred to a committee. On its being moved that Colonel Stanley do bring up the report of the committee, Mr. Curwen rose, not to oppose the bringing of it up, but to entreat sufficient time for a full investigation of the subject. The noble Duke had preferred a claim in the present petition, on which till now he had been silent, asserting that by the grant of James I. his ancestor had been invested with absolute royal authority. A member said, that in the administration of Lord Sidmouth a negative had been put upon the claims of the Duke of Athol, and why should that be reversed ? Mr. Pitt stated that the evidence on which the committee proceeded, was drawn from the able and elaborate report of the commissioners, ap- pointed by his Majesty in 1792 to make inquiry into the present state of the Isle of Man. * Vide Parliamentary Register. Debrett^ Vol. xxvii. page 307, 315, 883, and 561. The Sale of the Island. 315 On the reading of the report, Mr. Curwen observed that the late Duke of Athol, on selling the island, bad no right to sell the revenues. They belonged to the people, and were inalienable, and therefore he could not in justice claim any compensation, on the ground that the revenues had increased. The late Duke had, in fact, nothing to sell but his estate on the island, accompanied by a barren sceptre. Sir W. Burroughs endeavoured to prove by the authority of Lord Coke, that the Lord of the island was formerly an independent monarch, and that the House of Keys was not a legisla- ture, but only a judicial body.* The customs' revenue since 1798 had increased from ^6,000. to ^16,000. a year. Mr. Bond opposed the bill on the principles laid down by Coke and Blackstone, that the au- thority of parliament was paramount, and that it had an unquestionable right to legislate for the Isle of Man. There were no facts to shew that the Duke of Athol was independent of this controul. The memorial stated that the revenues * Previously to the year 1430, the Lord of Man had cer- tainly exercised very arbitrary power, but at that aera the constitution of the government was rendered much less mo- narchical. 316 272^ Sale of the Island. of 1802 were greater than those of 1765. Thi» circumstance had nothing at all to do with the present business. ;,:^ i Lord Glenbervie maintained that the opinion of Lord Coke was unfounded. Lord Temple thought it his duty to resist a transaction which had the appearance of a job. Mr. Pitt supported the petition on the just^ ness of the claims. Mr. Sheridan supported the bill in opposition to most of his friends. Division : for receiving the report 114 against ditto 48 ' majority QQ On the taking of the report into consideration, Mr. Rose observed that the late Duke had been frightened into the bargain^ that Lord Mansfield had told him that if he did not accept what was offered he would lose all.* Parliament * In order to give to the reader as comprehensive a view of the subject as possible, I here subjoin an extract of the Act of 5 George III. which refers to a letter, addressed to the Lords of the Treasury, written in the names of the Duke and the Duchess of Athol, and dated Feb. 27, 1765, "They did declare that they were ready, if it should be deem- ed necessary for the public service, to part with all their rights held under the several grants of the Isle of Man; but The Sale of the Island. 317 had certainly no right to legislate for the island. Lord Coke had never asserted that parliament had a right to legislate for the island, but only apprehended that the reservation of their landed revenue, to- gether with the patronage of the bishoprick, and other ec- clesiastical benefices of the island, could not interfere with the interest of the • public ; and notwithstanding the difficulty of proposing a proper compensation (which might expose them to the imputation of making an unreasonable demand on the one hand, and of not doing sufficient justice to their family on the other), yet as the circumstances of the case had made it necessary, they did therefore hope that neither his Majesty, nor the parliament, would think the clear sum of 70,000Z. too great a price to be paid them in full compen- sation for the absolute surrender of the liJe, Castle, and Peel of Man, and all rights, jurisdictions, and interests, in and over the said island, and all its dependencies, holden under the several grants thereof, or any other title whatsoever, re- serving only their landed property, and all their rights in and over the soil as Lord of the Manor, with all courts-baron, rents, services, and other incidents to such courts belonging, their wastes, commons, and other lands, inland waters, fishe- ries, and mills, and all mines, minerals, and quarries, accord- ing to their present rights therein, felons' goods, deodands, waifs, estrays, and wrecks at sea, together with the patro- nage of the bishoprick, and of the other ecclesiasticat bene- fices of the island to which they were entitled." Vide Sta- tutes at large, 4to Vol. x. It appears to me, for reasons given in a former part of this work, that the revenues of the late Duke, with the excep- tion of manerial rights, and possibly of 1,000/. or at most of 2,00Q/. besides, arose from the smuggling trade. Postleth- wayte says, that " the revenues of the iMe of Athol arise for the most part from small duties, and customs paid upon 4 318 The Sale of the Island, that some special provisions might extend to it.f There was now a surplus revenue from the island, and from this the compensation was proposed to be paid. Sir William Young said that the ancestor of the Duke of Athol (the last Earl of Derby) had farmed the revenue of the island to a merchant at Liverpool for 1,000/. a year, and the Duke had no right to claim additional compensation in goods entered, and afterwards smuggled upon the coasts of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland." See his Commer- cial Dictionary, Article, Man. On the 17th January, 1765, a bill was ordered to be brought into parliament " to prevent the mischiefs arising to the revenue and commerce of Great Britain and Ireland, from the illicit and clandestine trade to and from the Isle of Man.'* The Duke and Duchess petitioned against the pass- ing of this bill ; and expressed a fear that their ancient pri- vileges, and their revenues, were about to be wrested from them. While it was pending, their treaty with the treasury was concluded. Tliey saw that the English government were taking every means In their power to check this illicit traffic, and justly dreaded a loss of the greater part of their revenue. Vide Journals of the Commons, Vol. 30, p. 30 and 139. ♦ " The Isle of Man is not governed by our laws, neither doth any act of parliament extend to it, unless it be parti- cularly named therein, and then an act of parliament is bind- ing there." Vide Blackstone, Vol. I. p. 106, who gives Coke as his authority, 4 Inst. 281'. j The Sale of the Island. S 1 9 consequence of the increase of that revenue under the fostering care of the British Legisla- ture, and from the influence of the British laws. The nett revenue of the island had been reckoned at much too high a sum : for the bounty on herrings amounted to 4,000/. a year, and this should be first deducted.* Mr. Windham wished to record his senti- ments upon the subject. The whole transac- tion appeared to him what is vulgarly called a job. There was no compulsion upon the Duke of Athol to assent to the terms he agreed to in 1765. It was said that if the Duke had not agreed to the terms proposed he would have lost all. He might have lost the greater part of his revenue ; but he would have retained his es- tate, his regalities, his honours ; and these alone • This Statement appears very erroneous, and drawn from I know not what document. Herrings were entitled to a bounty, according to circumstances, of 1*., Is. 9d.f or 2s, Sdl per barrel. The commissioners appointed in 1792, report the bounty for the years 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, to be S906/. 18*. 2>d, making an average of 976/. 14*. Id, per annum. The herring trade since that time is allowed rather to have fallen off than increased. The same report states the expences of the island, including bounties, for the year 1790 to be 3272/. 2*. 2d. 320 The Sale of the Island, he conceived to be saleable articles. The reve- nue of a people is public property. Mr. Shei^idan suspected that from the manner in which his honourable friends opposed this claim^ i\\^j had not given themselves the trouble of reading it. He thought the Duke an injured man. In a letter of the late Duke to Lord Mansfield^ requesting his advice, he sent a de- tailed estimate of the losses at 620,000/.* Mr Wilberforce ridiculed the estimate of 620,000/. ar.d said it would seem as if his Grace had considered the sovereignty of the Isle of Man as something nearly equivalent to the crown of Poland. " The crown of Poland, venal twice an age. To just a million stints the raodest guage." The house divided : for the Duke's petition,. 95 against it, 38 majority 57 On the further consideration of the report Mr. Pitt moved that one fourth of the gross revenues of the Isle of Man be allowed to the Duke and his heirs for ever, which being estimated at * It would be amusing to learn how much of this sum was put down to the account of honours. The Sate of the Island $2r IS^OOO/. would jield an income of about 3,000/. J)er annum. Mr. Creevej complained of a great deal of canvassing by the friends of the petitioner. Mr. Sheridan, kindling at the expression^ said, that if there had been canvassing on the side of the petitioner, there had been much niore shameful canvassing on the opposite side. He had been canvassed by both parties^ but in a very different manner. The justice of the cause had made him espouse it. He had not the least pat* tiality for the noble Duke, , After some opposition this motion passed. Ayes 79 Noes 26 Majority 53 On the second reading of i\\e bill were, Ayes 50 Noes 12 Majority 38 Sir William Young previously moved aq. amendment, that the Duke, instead of receiving one fourth of the revenvies of Man, should r?^ Y ^^Z The Sale of the Island, ccivc annually, out of the consolidated fund, di sum equal to one fourth, which was agreed to.* On the 2d July the bill was read a third time and passed, Mr. Curwen having, in every stage,^ exerted all his strength agaiafst it. Ayes 42 Noes 1^ Majority 30 in the House of Lords it again met wilh op>^ position. Lord Ellenborough expressed his surprise at the appeal of the Duke, and his absolute disap- probation of the parliamentary proceedings. A moment before he is called upon to consent to that stage of the bill, in which it is his duty to oppose the principle, if he thinks it wrong, a> huge folio volume is put into his hands/f* so reek- ing from the press, that it is with danger to his health that he can hold it to read it through^ The bill contained, and was founded on proposi- tions untrue in fact and in law. The very first Was, that the former right of the Duke of Athol in the Isle of Man was a sovereignty. It was a * The state of the case is in no way altered by this amead- ment. + The report of the coraraissigners. the Sale of the Islands i^A iordfihip, a dominion ; but no kwyet> no historiart^ had ever named it a sovereignty. The pf ivilege* and the rights of the Duke in the Isle of Man were held by pettjr gerjeantrj. Yet the bill three times repeats the fake assertion : " Like a tall btillf* — ^-^* He would not finish the sentence in its ovftt wof ds ; but every man igaw the epithet that Woukl apply to the conduct oi the bill. It was falsely asserted either that the noble Duke's ancestor was compelled to alienate his rights in the Isl* of Man, or that lie did not receive full compen« sation. Lord Harrowby supported the bill. The Marquis of Buckingham repelled the ati tacks made against Mr. Grenville, Chancellor ifl 1765. He denied any precipitancy in the meftJ sure, the treaty having been two years in hand previously to its conclusion. Lord Sidmouth opposed the bill at gre£t length. During his administration of 1802 the Duke presented a memorial to his Majestyj which was referred io the privy council. After eon-* stilting the law-officers of the crown^ they came td the unanimous resolution that there was no . * The remainder of' the line is " rears its heact and lyes,*^ 534 The Sale of the Island. ground for conceiving the former compensation inadequate* Soon after the change of adminis- tration a similar petition was referred to the privy council, and they came to a resolution ex- actly the reverse of the former. ' soitf t Lord Mulgrave replied, that the first set of lawyers, to whom the claims had been submitted, had said only that they saw no reason to think that the compensation had been inadequate ; but that the second set had positively given their opinion that it was inadequate. He much la- mented that such rude and boisterous language had been used by a noble Lord early in the debate. ' Lord Ellenborough asserted that his language >vas neither rude nor boisterous^ but only such as the subject required. The Lord Chancellor could find nothing in the evidence to show that the compensation granted in 1765 was inadequate in 1805. Lord Hawkesbury said that he came to the consideration of the claim with an unbiassed and impartial mind, and, from the evidence before the House, was firmly of opinion that the bar- gain had been forced upon the Duke and Duchess of Athol, and that the compensation, had not been adequate. The Sale of the Islmd. S25 On the question being put on the second read- ing of the bill, there apppeared — Contents 35 Non-contents 11 Majority 24 On the third reading of the bill, Contents 24 Non-contents 5 Majority 19 The bill soon afterwards received his Majesty's assent. tidi 5irfi BOOK ni. IHB HISTORr 6T THE ISL« OF MAS. CHAPTER 1. Froin 'the earliest tradition to the reign of GodredCrovoM. XT sometimes happens that, whiie the more in- teresting records of independent and powerful nations are destroyed by the conquests of foreigners or by internal contentions, the history ;3of smaller and less important states remain unin- jured, and give us earlier views into human life and manners. The historians, however, of these «arly periods seldom afford much information beyond the name of the sovereign, and the event of a battle, wit^ sometimes an ac^unt of the promulgation of a code of laws, or the establish- ment of 9* monastery : and it is only by careful SsS The History of the island, comparison of notices accidentally inserted^ that %ye gain any information on the subjects which^ to a modern reader, are the most interesting. The early history of Man rests only On trar dition; and that tradition is neither full, nor always consistent. According to Ninnius, this island was held by Biule, a Scot, in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius : according to Sacheve- Xel, towards the end of the fourth century. At the beginning of the fifth, tradition assigns it to Mananan Mac Leir, a magician, who kept it en^ veloped in perpetual mists till St. Patrick broke the charm ; and, having persuaded or compelled Mac Lier to relinquish the possession, made German us bishop and rulepof the island. He, by hi§ Avisdom, conduct, and virtuous example, completely established the christian religion ^mong the people. .^.;0|^ the death of Gerraanus, St. Patrick sent 9Ver two other bishops, to govern the country ; ^ler "vvhpm St. Maughold was elected by the unanimous consent of the Manks nation. This §^int. l^ad been a captain of robbers in Ireland, and, arriving, during the administration of the two preceding bishops, in a little leathern boat, J}i3 han^s manacled and bolts on his feet, pre- To the Reign of Goclred Ct^ovan. 329 tended that he had thus exposed himself as a penance for the crimes of his past life; and made use of the reputation for sanctity^ thus ob- lainedj to obtain the government of the island. After this, the administration of affairs continued in the hands of the bishops till the coming of a king, called Orrj : but whence and at what time he came, and under what circumstances he ob- tained the government, are events unknown. About the year 580, Brennus, nephew to Aydun, king of Scotland, got possession of the crown. All we are told of him is that, fourteen years afterwards, he led an army to the assistance of his uncle, and obtained a victory at the ex- pense of his life. On the death of Brennus the island appears to have been annexed to Scotland, and the three sons of Eugenius, the son of Aydun, Ferguard, Fiacre, and Donald were sent hither to be edu- cated under Conan, bishop of the isle. Accord- ing to the Manks tradition they did great credit to their preceptor, for, though Ferguard was murdered in a conspirac}, soon after his acces- sion to the throne of Scotland, yet the second. Fiacre, refused the crown, and became an eminent saint ; and the thirds Donald^ governed with so ^30 The ITistmy of the Island, much prudence and justice as showed him to be ;greater than a saint. About 614 this island is related io have been conquered bj Edwin, king of Northumberland : but, how lon^ he possessed it is uncertain : a blank occurs, even in tradition, till the tenth cen- tury, when a second Orry, son of a king of Denmark and Norway, having conquered the Orcades and Hebrides, fixed the seat of his govern- fisent in the Isle of Man, where he reigned long *nd prosperously * and became the father of a rac€ of kings, from him called Orries. This second Orry throws a doubt on the exist- ence of a former kin^ of that name, whose inser- tion may be esteemed the work of some zealous Manksman, anxious to carry back, as far as pos- sible, the antiquities of his country. To Guttred, the son of Orry, is ascribed the building of Castle Rushen, A.D. 960, in which fie lies obscurely buried. He \& said to have Jaboured greatly to advance the civilization of his people. Reginald, the third of the family, was «lain by two brothers of his army, whose sister he had seduced. From the history of Okve, the next king, it To the Reign ofGodred Cro'cayi. 331 appears that, since its conquest by Orry, the island had remained tributary to the crown of Norway: for this Prince, having assumed the crown without the King of Norway's consent, was civily invited to that country ; but, on land- ing, was seized and executed. Olain, his brother, is said to have seized on this and some other islands, by which expression we ?Hre perhaps to understand, that he did not wait ^r the consent of Norway, but maintained him- self as an independent prince. After a pros- perous reign of twenty-three years, he died of a flux in Ireland. Allen succeeded, a cruel, libidinous man, who was poisoned by his governor. He left the crowa to his son Fingal, who was succeeded by his son Goddard, princes of whom no character and no history are given. According to the Manks tradition, twelve kings reigned successively of the race of Orry, The preceding list contains only eight ; and it is remarkable that the most celebrated sovereign of the family should not have a certain place. We learn from Sacheverel that Macon lived Jibout the middle t)f the tenth century, a date "jivhich \yo»ld place h}m either imnaediately before SS2 The History of the Island, ex immediately after Guttred^ if there was room for him there. He is said to have lost his crown for refusing to do homage to Edgar, King of England ; but he was afterwards restored, and made admiral of that prodigious fleet of four thousand eight hundred sail,* with which, twic« a year, he sailed round the British islands, to clear the sea from rovers, especially the Danes and Normans, who, at that time, sadly infested the coasts of Europe. How long this great man reigned is uncertain, and likewise, who succeeded him, though his name was probably Syrach, who held the king- dom about the beginning of the eleventh cen- tury, and was succeeded by his son Goddard, a man of no faith, no honour, treacherous, incon- stant, timorous, and unjust, who in the latter part of his reign hospitably received and enter- tained Godred Crovan, the future conqueror of Man. The establishment of this Prince is related in the Manks Chronicle, the first authentic history of Man. What precedes seems neither very * Matthew of Westminster. Hoveden says 3600 sail ; Brompton 4000. Hume considers these accounts as perfectly incredible. To the Reign ofGodred Croxian. 33^ Consistent in itself^ nor to rest on any substantial authority, nor are the dates easily reconciled with each other. The first of the Orrys appears to have conquered the island for the crown of Nor- way ; and Olain seems to have enfranchised it from that dependence. Guttred was Sovereign in 960 : Macon, hy the correspondence of Eng- lish history, in 974, the year in which King Edgar is said to have been rowed by eight kings on the Dee. Olain reigned twenty-three years : he therefore must have followed Macon, But, it seems very improbable that Macon, who did homage for his crown to England, and had the command of its prodigious fleet, should have acknowledged any dependence on Norway. In this dilemma, perhaps the best way is to follow the opinion of Sacheverel, and, passing the eight first Sovereigns of the history as the invention of the Manks, consider Macon as the first and in- deed the only Sovereign of Man of whom we have any authentic account previously to the establishment of the Normans under Godred Crovan. 334 CHAPTER II. From the Conquest of Godred Cro'can to the 7^evestment of the Island in the C?'ozvn of England, in 1765.* 1066]— While Wniiam of Normandy was making* preparations for the invasion of England, he prevailed upon Harold's offended brother Tosti, in concert with Halfagar, King of Norway, to assist him in the enterprize by a descent upon the county of Northumberland^ Their combined fleets, consisting of three hun- dred and sixty sail, entered the Humber; and their troops were disembarked with little moles- * This chapter, to the Scottiah conquest, is written on the authority of the Chronicon Manise, a work composed by the Monks of Rushen Abbey, and published by Camden in his Britannia. The style of the Latin is that usually termed monkish and very bad pf the sort. Prepositions are used lor adverbs ; '* et nunquam ultra deversus est ad eos." It it a con- siderable time since I saw it in the original, and then read very iattlc of it. Being unable to meet with it in my present place of residence, I have made use of Cough's Camden> to which likewise I am indebted for most of the latter {)art of tliis chapter. llistoyy of the Islaiid, S5^ tation. Under the King of Norway commanded Godred Crovan, son of Harold, King of Iceland. The invading army was engaged at Standford by Harold, King of England^ on the 25th of September 1066: it was defeated with great slaughter, the two generals were slain, and God- red made his escape to the Isle of Man. What time he remained here is uncertain, probably just long enough to observe that the kingdom was in a weak state^ or its King un* popular; and to determine to seat himself upon the throne. He returned in the following year with a nu-^ merous and hostile armj^ and found Fingal, the? late King Syrach*s son, iti possession of the kingdom. In his first battle with the' inhabitants he wa^ defeated, and obliged to seek ifefuge in his ships ; and, in the second, was equally unsuccessful. For the third attack he recruited and enlarged his army : he cast anchor in Ramsey Bay ; land- ed his troops by night ; and laid an ambuscade of three hundred men in a wood, on the hollow brow of the hill of Scacafel. Early on the ensuing morning Godred was attacked with great impetuosity by the inhabitants. Th^ action was S36 Historic qf the Island, bloodj, and neither party gave way till the thre0 hundred men, rushing from their ambush, put the islanders to flight, and decided the fortune of the d^y. The river Selby being impassable by the influx of the tide, the fugives were unable to escape^ and with lamentable cries besought the conqueror to spare their lives. Moved with compassion at the calamitous condition of the people, Godred recalled his pursuing army, and the next day gave his followers their choice, either to divide the lands among them, or to plunder the island and depart. Soldier-like, they gave the prefer- ence to the latter proposition : but Godred with a few of his retainers, having determined to settle in the country, made choice of that portion lying southward of the mountain ridge, and granted the remainder to the natives, on the express con- dition that they should consider themselves as tenants, and him as the lord of the soil. Hence the whole island became the property of the King : till the fifteenth or sixteenth century was acknowledged so to be : and, though from the year 1703 he ceased to claim any title to the land itself, his rentals were then confirmed and continue to the present day. At this period Ireland was divided into petty to its Revestment in 1765. S37 principalities; and nothing can more strongly shew the weakness of such a government than the awe in which its inhabitants stood of the little Isle of Man. Dublin, the capital, was reduced by Godred ; and a great part of the province of Leinster submitted to his arms. His navy was so powerful that he was able to oblige the Scots to keep theirs within narrow bounds ; and, to borrow from the Rushen Monks what I suppose is a metaphorical expression, they durst not, when building a ship or boat, drive more than three nails into it. After a reign of sixteen years this valiant man died in Ila, one of his western islands, leaving three sons, Lagman, Harold, and Olave. The eldest, Lagman, seized upon the govern-^ ment, and reigned seven years. His brother Harold was long in rebellion against him ; but, being at last taken prisoner, had his eyes put out and was otherwise mutilated. Lagman after- wards repented of his unbrotherly conduct to- wards Harold; was overwhelmed vt^ith sorrow and despondency ; renounced his kingdom ; and, as an expiation of his guilt, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he died. 1089.]— Olave being still a minor, the chief Z 338 History of the Island, inhabitants of Man dispatched ambassadors to Murecaid O'Brien, King of Ireland; requesting hira to send some diligent man of royal extrac- tion to rule over them during his minority. O'Brien, granting their request, sent Donald, the son of Tade, enjoining him to govern the king- dom with clemency and justice. But, as soon as he was seated on the throne, he began to act the part . of a tyrant, and behaved with so much cruelty and outrage that the inhabitants, unable to endure his oppression, conspired, rose up in arms, and obliged him to fly back to Ireland, whence he never attempted to return. 1097.] — In the year 1097 the King of Norway endeavoured to seize the sovereignty of the Isle of Man and of the Hebrides, and sent Ingemund to take possession of them. He landed in Lewis^ and commanded all the chiefs of the islands to elect him king. In the mean time he and his attendants rioted in plunder, feasting, and all forts of debauchery, ravishiijig women and virgins. The inhabitants, being enraged against him, besieged his house in the night time, set it on fire, .and thus destroyed in the flames or by the sword himself and his retinue. 1098."] — Macmarus was the next king; of Man: to its Re'oestment in 1765. 33^ but who he was, and what title he had to the crown, history does not inform us. His election to the dignity occasioned civil broils between the southern and northern districts of the island. The inhabitants of the former were headed by the king whom they had elected ; those of the latter, the original natives, by Earl Outher, The armies met, and a battle was fought in the parish of St. Patrick. According to the Manks tradition the northern men had nearly won the victory, when the women of the south side came with so much resolution to the assistance of theic husbands Hhat they restored the battle; and, as a reward for their bravery, enjoyed one half of their husbands* estate during their widowhood, wh^e their northern countrywomen had only one third.* The Chronicon Mannice, however^ the founda- tion of this chapter, ascribes the victory to the inhabitants of the northern district. Both the generals were slain. At this time Magnus, grandson to Harold Halfagar, was King of Norway. Having, con- trary to the injunctions of his clergy, caused the tomb of St. Olave, King and Martyr, to be opened, in order to know whether the body * SachevereL z 2 340 History of the Island, remained incorrupt ; and having with his awn hands and ejes ascertained that it did so, he was seized with great fear, and hastily departed. In the ensuing night the offended saint appeared before the affrighted King, and thus addressed him : '' Take th j choice of these two commands : lose thy kingdom and thy life within thirty days ; or quit this realm for ever." Early in the morn- ing the King convened his nobles and the elders of his people ; told them what a vision he had seen; and asked their advice respecting his future conduct.. They recommended him to leave the kingdom with all possible dispatch : and pursuant to this determination he equipped a fleet of one hundred and sixty vessels, and left Norway for a foreign realm. The Orcades were the first islands that felt and yielded to his power ; and the Hebrides quickly followed their example. Hence he sailed to the Isle of Man, and landed in the isle or parish of St. Patrick, the very day after the battle between the northern and southern inhabitants; and proceeded to view the field of action which was still strewed with the bodies of the slain. The Manks, weakened by internal dissensions, submitted to him without a contest. Being pleased with the island, he determined to toitsRevestment inl765. 341 settle in it^ and erected several forts for its de- fence. The men of Gallowaj were so much overawed by the terror of his name, that at his command they cut down timber, and brought it in their own vessels to the coasts of Man. Finding every thing peaceable in his own kingdom, he invaded Anglesey, defeated an army, commanded by the Earls of Chester and of Shrewsbury, and received the submission of the people. Having accepted many presents from the northern counties of Wales, he returned to Man. Such were his lofty behaviour and his power that he sent his shoes to Murecard O'Brien, com- manding him to carry them on his shoulders through the middle of his house, on Christmas- day, in the presence of his messengers, in order to signify his subjection to King Magni|s. The Irish, as might have been expected, received this command with the greatest indignation : but their King, conscious of the weakness of his nation, replied, that he would not only carry, but even eat the shoes, rather than King Magnus should destroy one province of Ireland. So he complied with the order, treated the messengers with great respect, and sent them back with presents for their master. 54? History of the Island, Magnus, on their return, questioned theni re- specting Ireland, and heard so much of its situa- tion, of the beauty of the country, the fertility pf th« soil, and the salubrity of the air, that he turned his thoughts wholly to the conquest of that kingdom. He gave orders for the prepara- tion of a large fleet, and in the mean time sailed >vith sixteen vessels to take a. view of the country. Having incautiously left the ships, his party was surrounded by the offended Irish, and himself with nearly all his followers were slain. His reign over Man and the islands lasted six years. Perhaps England was' never more formidable to the states of Europe, than was the Isle of Man to its neighbouring and comparatively great kingdoms in the reigns of Godred Crovan, and of Magnus. During the usurpation of the King of Norway, Olave, the son of Godred, resided in England in the court of Henry the First. On the death of their King they sent a deputation to piave to offer him the crown. [1102.] He ascended the throne to the great satisfaction of the people : he made treaties with all the Kings of Ireland and of Scotland ; and enjoyed in profound peace a reign of forty years. 1142.] — In the year 1142^, hesenthis son God ^ to its Revesfment in 1765. 343 red to Norway, io do homage for the crown of Man. During his absence the three sons of Harold^ Olave's brother, who had been educated at Dublin, came to Man with many followers, particularly such as had been banished from the island, and demanded one half of Olave^s king- dom. The King, willing to pacify them, pro- mised io consult his council on the subject. The place of meeting was near Ramsey Haven. The King with his retinjie sat in due order on one side, while his nephews with their followers placed themselves on the other. Reginald, one of the nephews^ being addressed by the King, approached his seat and appeared to be going to salute him, but, suddenly lifting up his shining battle axe, cut oft* his head at one blow. Olave left one legitimate son, Godred, by his wife Africa, daughter of Fergus of Galloway. By his concubines he had Reginald, Lagman, and Harold, besides many daughters, one of whom, married to Somerled, Prince or Duke of Argyle, afterwards occasioned the ruin of the kingdom of the Isles. The people yielded without resistance to the wicked, but successful conspirators : and the three brothers divided among themselves tha lands of Man, 344 History of the Island, In the same year they collected a fleets intend'- ing to make a conquest of the country of Gallo- way ; but the natives, on their landing, fell upon the troops with violence, defeated them with great slaughter, and obliged the remnant of the army to return to Man. 1 143,] — Just at this time Godred, Olave's son, returned from Norway and the usurpers subr mitted to his authority without hazarding a battle. One of them, in ajl probability the im- mediate murderer of his father, he put to death, and punished the other two with the loss of theif' eyes. In the third year of his reign he was created, at the request of its inhabitants. King of Dublin, "Murecard O'Brien, having made war against him, sent to Dublin an army of three thousand horse, which was routed by the Dublinians with Godred at their head. The King, on his return to Man after this en-r gagement, began to act in a despotic manner, depriving some of his nobles of their property, One of them, Thorfin, the son of Oter, mightier than the rest, went over to Sumerled in Scotland, arid having reduced to his subjection many of the islands, proclaimed his son Dugball their Ring. Godred, hearing of these things, fitted to its Revestme^t in 1765. 345 out a considerable navy, and sailed against gumerled who was advancing with eighty sail of ships. [1156.] — The fleets met on the night preceding the feast of Epiphany^ and fought a dreadful and indecisive battle. On the foK lowing morning, the commanders made a treaty, agreeing to divide between them the kingdom of the isles. [1158.] — The peace was of short duration; for^ two years afterwards, Sumerled sailed to the Isle of Man with fifty-three ships ; defeated Godred who fled to Norway for assist- ance ; and laid waste the country. 1164.] — It appears that Somerled reigned over Man six years, at the expiration of which period^ having collected a large fleets he invaded Scot- land, intending to conquer the whole of that kingdom. His troops were landed at Renfrew ; were vanquished in the first engagement; and himself and his son were slain in the field of battle. In the same year Reginald, natural son of Olave, having raised a party in his favour, fought, and defeated by treachery, an army of the people of Man. Four days after the commencement of his yeign, Godred arrived from Norway with a great 346 History of the Island j army ; attacked and took prisoner Reginald^ put out his eves, and treated hiiri with other marks of severity. / 1176.]— In the year 1176 we first hear of the Pope's influence in Man. He sent over from Ireland his legate Vivian, who obliged Godred to be re- married, according to the form of the Romish church, to his wife Phingola, grand- daughter to Murecard O'Brien, her son Olave being at that time three years old. 1 187-3 — Godred died in the month of Novem- ber of the year 1187, leaving one legitimate child, Olave, ien years old, whom he had made his heir, and two natural sons, Reginald and Yvar. In the summer of the following year^. his body w'as conveyed for interment to the Isle of lona. On account of Olave's youth, the inhabitants of the Isle of Man sent to the Isles (or Hebrides) for Reginald, and made him their King. 1192.] — In the year 1 192 a battle was fought in the Isles between Reginald and Engus, one of the so!3s of Somerled, in which the latter gained the victory. 1203.] — John Curcy had conquered the pro- vince of UlsteJ, and niarried Africa, Reginald'^ to its Revestment in 1765. 347 sister. In 1203 Hugh Lacy attacked Ulster with a large army^ made John Curcy prisoner, and conquered the whole province. John, being afterwards set at liberty, besought and obtained the assistance of Reginald in regaining his land. They sailed to Strangford bay with one hundred ships, and laid siege to Rath castle ; but being in their first engagement obliged to retreat to their ships, never attempted to return. 1210.] — John of England sent to the Isle of Man an Earl, named Fulco, Reginald being as psual absent in the Isles, who, having laid waste the country and plundered the people, returned. When Olave came to man's estate, his brother Reginald gave to him the Isle of Lewis, one of |he largest of the Hebrides, but mountainous and |)arren, with few people, and these gaining their livelihood by hunting and fishing. Olave took possession qf the island, and for some time lived there in a mean condition : but being unable to maintain his array, he went boldly to Reginald and thus addressed him : [1217.] — ''My Brother and my Sovereign ! you well know that the kingdom which you possess was mine by right of inheritance ; but since. God hath made you its King, I will not ^nvy either your good fortune G 848 History of the Island, or your crown. I only beg of you so much land in these isles as may maintain me honourably ; for upon Lewis I cannot live.'* Reginald, in reply, told his brother that he would take the opinion of his council upon the request. The day following when Olave, by the King's order, came into his presence, he was apprehended and carried to William, King of Scotland, to be im- prisoned in that kingdom. There he was con- fined for nearly seven years, at the end of which time William died, having directed that on his death all prisoners should be enlarged. Olave, being thus at liberty, went to Man, and left that island on a pilgrimage. On his return, Regi- nald gave him Lewis again, and made him marry Lavon, a sister of his own wife. Very shortly afterwards the bishop of the Isles called a synod and divorced Olave from Lavon, because she was a cousin-german of his former wife. Olave then married Christina, daughter of the Earl of Ross; which conduct so much offended Regi- nald's wife, that she sent a message, in her hus- band's name, to her son Godred, who resided in the Isle of Sky, commanding him to kill Olave. While Godred was contriving to execute this order, Olave being informed of Godred 's design. to its Re'cestment in 1765. 349 escaped in a little boat to his new father-in-law, leaving his enemy to lay waste the island. At this time Pol, a powerful man in Sky, and dis- affected towards Godred, came over to the Earl of Ross, and lived with Olave at his house. They entered into a league, and learning by their spies that Godred lay in lona in a very careless and defenceless state, they collected their friends and sailed with five ships to that island^ where they landed early in the morning. God- red was in great consternation when he saw him- self surrounded by armed men ; but made a reso- lute though unsuccessful resistance. Being taken prisoner he had his eyes put out and was castrat- ed by the order of Pol. [1223] — Olave having received hostages from the nobles of the Isles, set sail for Man, and arrived at Derby-haven. Reginald, deeming it imprudent to risk a battle, agreed to grant to Olave one half of the Isles. The next year, Reginald in conjunction with Allan, Lord of Galloway, a powerful Scot, sailed to the Isles, intending to dispossess their new Sovereign : but the army, consisting chiefly of Manksmen, and having a partiality for Olave, refused to fight against him, and obliged their commander to return home. 350 History of the Island, / Reginald, who did homage to the King of England, obtained from the inhabitants of Man one hundred marks to pay the expense of a journey to his court. It was soon discovered that the proposed journey was nothing but a pre- text; for Reginald proceeded immediately to Allan's court, and during his stay in Galloway married his daughter. The Manks, indignant at these proceedings, sent for Olave, and made him King. [1226.]— Thus Reginald lost his crowH after a reign of thirty-eight years. 1228.] — In the second year after his accession, Olave, with all the nobility, and many of the inhabitants of Man, sailed over to the Isles. Reginald, in order to bring religion to his aid, had made a surrender of his lost kingdom to the see of Rome ; a copy of which act is still extant. He prevailed upon Allan, and Thomas, Earl of Athol, to seize with him the opportunity of Olave's absence to make a descent upon the Isle of Man. They wasted all the southern part of it, spoiled the churches, and put to death so many of the inhabitants that the whole country was a scene of desolation. Having thus gratified their revenge, the invaders returned to Galloway, leaving bailiiffs to collect tribute from the people: ft) its Revesime7it in 1765. 351 but King Olave, coming upon these men unex- pectedly, put them to flight and recovered his kingdom* In the ensuing winter Reginald came to the Isle of Man in the dead of the night, and burned all the ships in Peel-harbour. Thence be pro- ceeded to Derby-haven where he remained forty days, soliciting peace of his brother, and endea- vouring to gain the affections of the inhabitants. So far he obtained his purpose that the southern men swore to assist him with their lives in reco- vering half of the kingdom. The northern men adhered to Olave; and on the 14th February, 1228, the two brothers came to an engagement, near the Tinwald hill, which terminated in the victory of Olave, and the death of Reginald. Reginald appears to have been a man of am- bition and of abilities, but destitute of virtue, treacherous, unjust, and cruel ; always ready to gain an end by any means. During the latter part of his reign the inhabitants lived in that miserable and unsettled state necessarily attend- ant upon a dread of their own tyrant, and con- stant apprehension of a foreign foe. 1230.] — Olave went to Norway to do homage to Haco for his crown^ and on his return, was S52 History of the Inland, \ accompanied by that king, Godred Don, the son of Reginald, and many Norwegians. Haco, in attacking a castle in the Isle of Bute, was killed by a stone, and buried in lona. Olave and Godred Don divided the Isles between them ; the former retaining posssession of Man : but the latter being slain soon afterwards in Lewis, Olave became sole king. 1234.] — Henry the Third of England granted to him a certain annuity in silver coin and wine for defending the sea coast.* After the enjoyment of a peaceful reign he died in St. Patrick's Isle, and was buried in Rushen Abbey. 1237.] — Harold, at fourteen years of age, suc- ceeded to his father's crown. In the first year of his reign he went to the Isles, making Loglen, his kinsman. Governor of Man : but in the spring following returned. 1238."]— Having refused to appear at the court of the king of Norway, the Isle of Man was * « No. 3. Anno 19 H. 5. 1234. Pro Olavo, rege Man^ nise, de custodia costerarum maris, ac ejus foedo. Notatu dignissimae. 5. 1." Minutes of Council. See Bree's Cursory Sketch of the Reign of Edward the Third, taken wholly from ancient manuscripts in the British Museum and elsewhere, 1791, vol. 1. p. 379. to the Invesimeht of the Island in 1765. 353 invaded by a Norwegian arniy, under Gospatricfc and Gillchrist who converted the tributes of the country to the service of their own king. [1239.]— Harold being induced to submit^ sailed over to the king of Norway, did him his accus- tomed homage, and was confirmed in the pos- session of all the islands which his predecessors had enjoyed. 1342.3-^On his return honi6, he made peace' with the kings of England and of Scotland^ j^l247.3-^He paid a visit to the former, was knighted by him, and received many tokens of his favour: Soon afterwards the king of Norway offered him his daughter in marriage, and Harold sailed accordingly to that kingdom. The newly mar- ried couple enjoyed for a very short time their expected happiness; for, during their voyage home\^ard a Sudden storm unfortunately arose : the ship on which they were aboard was wrecked; and the whole crew perished. 1249;]-^Harold's brother Reginald was the tiext king of Man : but a few days after his ac- cession to the throne, he was slain by Yvar, i^. knight, in a meadow in the southern district. It is said;, (but not in the Chronicon Manniae) g A 554 From the Conquest of Godtxd Crovan, that the king and Yvar were enamoured of the same damsel ; that the lady returned the afFeetions of Yvar ; but that Reginald carried her away by force. Hence Reginald paid for his injustice with his bloody and the two lovers made their escape to Ireland. Harold, the son of Godred Don, now assumed the title of king, and banished many of the chief inhabitants: [1250] — ^but, having received and obeyed an order to go to Norway, he was im- prisoned by the king of that nation for his usur^ patio n of the government. 1252.] — Magnus, the son of Olave was the next king of Man and the Isles, under the sanc- tion of the Norwegian monarch. [1256.] — On a visit to the English court he was knighted by the king. [1265.] — He died at Rushen castle in 1265, and was there buried. 1266.] — Magnus, king of Norway, finding^ himself unable to retain the sovereignty of the western isles, agreed to surrender them to Alex- ander the third, king of Scotland, on receiving from him four thousand marks of silver imme^ diately, and one hundred marks a year in future. Not long afterwards Alexander reduced the Isle of Man, and made this treaty with Regulus, totfie Inmstment of the Islandin 1765. S5^ d, man whom he had appointed king over it ; that Alexander should defend the country from all foreign enemies, and that Regulus should fur- nish Scotland, when required, with ten ships. 1304.] — John Waldebeof, a great-grandson of king Reginald, thinking himself entitled to the Isle of Man, preferred his claim before Edward the First of England, as lord-paramount over the king of Scotland. But he received no other answer than that he might prosecute his claim before the justices of the king's bench, and have justice done him. What Waldebeof could not effect by right, William de Montacute, another descendant of Reginald, accomplished by arms. With a body of English troops, hastily collected, he drove all the Scots out of the island : but having con- tracted a considerable debt for this war, and being unable to discharge it, he mortgaged the island and its revenues for seven years to Anthony Bee, bishop of Durham and patriarch of Jeru- salem, to whom the king afterwards gave it for life. 1307.] — King Edward the Second bestowed this island upon Piers Gaveston, when he created him Earl of Cornv^^all : and, on his death, upon SS6 From the Conquest of Godred Crovan, Henry Beaumont, '^ with all the demesnes and royal j urisdiction." The Scots, under Robert Bruce, afterwards re- covered it, and retained it in their possession till the year 1340, when William de Montacute, the younger, earl of Salisbury, under the sanction of Edward the Third wrested it from that nation, and according to Walshinghara, sold it to Wil- liam Scroop. This nobleman being executed for high treason, and his estates being confiscated, the Isle of Man reverted to the crown of Eng- land, and was granted by Henry the Fourth t^ Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, on con- dition that he and his posterity, at the corona- tion of the kings of England, should bear the sword, worn by that monarch on his return from France in 1399. 1403.] — Henry Percy was attainted four years afterwards, and though subsequently restored in blood, and to his estates in England, the Isle of Man was permanently forfeited, and given, with the patronage of the Bishopric and all other ec- clesiastical benefices, to William Stanley and his heirs, afterwards earl of Derby, to be held by liege homage, and the service of rendering to the English monarchs two falcons on their co- . TO nation, 1 to the Investment of the Island in 1765. 357 If at this time the dependence of the Manks nation was confirmed^ the inhabitants became more seeiire in their possessions and less appre- hensive of contending factions at home, or ene- mies abroad. The royalties and revenues of Man descended regularly, and without molestation, from ancestor to heir till the time of William, the sixth earl of Derby, against whose title some objections were started and legally removed. To put the matter beyond all doubt, William obtained from James I. a new grant of the Isle of Man which was con« firmed by act of parliament. This island was one of the last places which yielded to the authority of Cromwell. General Ireton proposed to James, earl of Derby, on the part of the parliament, the repossession of hig estates in England provided he would surrender the Isle of Man: but this proposal the earl treated with the greatest indignation, and de- clared his determination to hang any future mes- senger from that quarter, The earl, being taken prisoner in England, was executed at Bolton, October 15, 1651, and the defence of the Isle of Man was undertaken by his lady. The countess possessed enthusiasm equal to her husband's, and .358 From the Conquest of Godred Cromn, determined to defend Castle Rushen, to which she had retired, to the last extremity : but Chris- tian, in whom she confided, and who had the command of the Manks forces, deeming her$ a hopeless cause, capitulated to Colonels Birch and Duckenfield, who with ten armed vessels, had invaded the island. The Isle of Man was granted by the parliament to lord Fairfax ; but on the accession of Charles the Second was re- stored to the earl of Derby, son of him who had been beheaded. Christian was found guilty of treason, and executed in Man. In this family it continued till 1735, at which, time James, earl of Derby, died without issue, and the inheritance devolved upon James, second duke of Athol, who was descended from Ladj^ Amelia Sophia, the youngest daughter of the seventh earl of Derby. John, the last of this family who enjoyed the royalties of Man, inherited by descent the duke- dom of Athol ; and obtained by his marriage with the daughter of the late duke the kingdon^ of Man. This duke and his duchess, as we have already seen, sold to the king of Eng^land, in 1765, th«j regalities and revenues of Man, GENERAL INDEX. Abbey Bridge, 123. Accessary, 2T3. .Act of Settlement, 195, 207. Adultery, 254, 267. Agriculture, 33. Alca, 24. Alehouses, 216, 283. Alexander, 183,354, Aliens, 242,265. Alimony, 254. Allen, 331. Alluvial soil, 13; Andreas Kirk, 168. Antiquity, Relics of, 102. Apparitions, Monster^, and Hobgob* lins, 128, 154. Appeals, 194, 256, 262, 265. Apprentices, 238. Arbory Kirk, 147. Ardea, 24. Arras of Man, 84, Arrests, 192,234. ' frivolous or vexatious, 2i54J Assault, 285. Assembly Douglas, 108. Athol Bridge, 10. Athol, Duke of, 191, 198, 358^. I petitions of and further com- pensation to, 307. At orney, 258, 271. Attractions of the Island, 97. B Bailiffs, 204. Balassalla, 10, 120, Ballaugh, 17, l6# Banns, 238. Baptisms, 32. Barley, 49. Narrows, 165. Bathing, 106, 115. Battery, 285. Beans, 49. Beggars, 93. Bigamy, 284. Billiard tables, 1 10. Binle, 328. Bishopri<;k, 85. Bishop's Court, 165. Bianketsaii articl(i of dresa, 96, Blende. IS. Boardinoj-houses at DftuglaS, IDf. Boundaries, 253. Borough, rock of the, 12, 145. •BVaddan Kirk, 111. Bl-eccia, 10. Breda Head, 12. Br^nnus, 329. Bncks, 22. Bride Kirk, 168. Bridges, buildiag of, Zl$, Birglary, 286. Burials, 32, 88: Bilshell, iiouse aad grave of^ 149. 360 I>^DEX. c Cairn Vlael, 164. Calf of Man, U, 141. Capital crimes, 273. Carbonat of lead, IS. . of copper, 20. Carts, 40. Casting of nets, 280. Castletown River, 10. Castle Rushen, 127. Castletown, 1^3. Cathedral, 151. Ceremobies of the |^romu)gation of the laws, 198. Chancery, «ourt of, 263, Character of the inhabitaits, 90, Charity schools, 93 fcheating, 281. Child, 240, ———when of age, 240, Chronicon Maunioe, 334. Churches, erection and repairing of, ■ 215. Churchwarden, 222. Circulating library, publjc, 108. Civil officers, 204. Clay, 4, 8, 9, 16, 22. slate, 4,5, 6, 7^9, 10, 1 1, 20, 21 . Clergy, 219, 222. berk, 222. " (Climate, 33. Clover, 52. Clupea harengus, 69, fcoinage, gold, silver^ (:opper, and paper, 65, 274. Commissioners appointed ^y his Ma- ' jesty in 1792, 230, Common land, 35^ L- law, 259.' Compounding of felony, 27 S. fojiaD^329. ConstabI«6, 204. Constitution of the Isle of Man, 17Q^ Copper ore, 12, 18. Coroner, 205, 222. Corvus, 24. Costs of law. Cottages, 38. Council of man, 192. Counsellor, 258. Courts of law, 255. Criminals and debtors, anecdotes of 294. Crops, rotation of, 48. I Cursing, 267. Custom, title by, 249. Customs, 208,223. Custom-house, 103. Cutting grass or corn, 251, Damages, 260. Daniels, his escape to the Isle o| Man, and return to London, 295. Debts, 256, 2615. Debtors, 134, 265. privileges of, 26-7, anecdotes of, 294. Deemster, 184, 233, 256. his oath, 257, Defamation, 267. Derby-haven, IC6, Descent, title by, 244, 248, Distilleries, 56. Distress, title by, 250, Districts, 233. Division of land, 33^ Dogs, 252. tax on, 217. Donald Tade, 339. Douglas, 7, 103. i bay, lOOj INDEX. 361 pou^las pier, 22^ 104. prains, 46. press, 93. prilling, 40. Drover, anecdote respecting one> 301. Druids, 180, Druidical stones, 120, 174. prunkennpss, 267. £ EcclcBiastical court, 267. ■' prison, 153. Edwin, King of Northumberland, ' 330. Encampment near Balahurry, 1 68. ^nglisb acts of parliament extended to the Isle of Man, 201. Fpitaphs, 120, H7, 15«, 163, 164, 167, 171, 177. Escape from prison, 276. from the island, 277. Etymology of Man, 1. Exchequer, court of, 263. Execution, 250, Exports, 62. Extent of the Isle of Man, I. Fairies, 129, 139t. Fairy-hill, 139. Fairs, 52. False imprisonment, 254» Fanners, 40. Farms, 33. Farm-houses, 38, Father, 240. felony, 289. fences. 37, 213. Fences, breaking of, 251. Fingal,335. Flax, 51. Food of the common people, 45. Forestalling, 282. Forfeiture, title by, S47. Forgery, 287. Fornication, 267. Foxdale, 12, 148. Free school at Castletown, 196. Furze, 36. Galena, 18. Gallows, 136. Game, 26, 247. laws, 247. . Gate-posts, 37. General-gaol delivery, court of, ?75, 288. Germanus, 328. Giants quoiting stones, 139. Glenmay, 149. Gobbock or dog-fish, 83. Goddard, 331. Godred, 344, 346. Crovan, 335. Governor of Man, 190. Gourlay, Mr. J4L Granite, 7. Grass, 44, 48. Great inquest, 291. Guardian and ward, 241. Guttred, 330. a Harbours, lo^I^iog an4 rtpaiiisg o^ «23» 36^ INDEX. Ilarcs, 26. Harold, 352. Harrows, 40, Heath, 28, Heir, 244. Heir-loom, 250. Hemp, 51, 57. Herring, 69. Fishery, 79. Hi^h Bailiff, 255. High-road fund, 215. History of the Isle of Man, 327. Hoeing, 40, Homicide, 284. 3Iorn, Lient. Governor, 124-. Horns of animals, 13. Horsehill, 168 Houses, 37. tax on, for high road fund, 21-6. Husband, 239, 273. Imports, 61. Inclosures, 37. Incroachments, 253. Informers, 254, 279, Inheritance, 244. Insemund, 276. Inns, 107, 124, 159, 166, 17^ Inquest great, 291. Insanity, 91, Interest, rate of, 281. Iron stone, 10. Jurby Kirk, 167. Juries^ 252, 261, 275. Keyr, 182, 185, 187, 194. Xing of England, 190. 2 King of England, in council, 265. Kitterland Isle, 140. Kreevy Monnf, 6. I-ahour, io-^ Lagman, 337. Land, 243. ^-tax on, for high-road fiindr 216. Langness, 9. Language, 94. Larus, 24. Laws of the Isle of Man, 179. Laughton sheep, 42. Laxey, 17, 173. Lead-glance, 19. Leases, 34. Legacies, 249. Lezayre, Kirk-Christ, 170. '' Lhiaghty Kinny, 176. Liberty of the person, 233. Licenses for marriage, cammon an<| special, 239. Lieutenant-governor, I9g, Lime-tstoae, 4, 8, 23. Livestock, 41. Liverpool packet ^nd trading ves- sels, 109. pLonan Kirk, 174. M IMacmarns, 338. [Macon, 331. fVIagnus, 339, 354. alew Kirk, 138. jNIananan Mac Leir, 328, Manerial rights, 207. INDEX, 363 Manufactures^ 54. Manures, 46. Marble, 9. Markets, 52. Marl, 15,47. MarowD Kirk, ITfi. Marriages, 32, 238, 249, 283. Maughold, 172. Maiithe doog, 155. Meryk, his letter to Camden, 94. Metallic repositories, 5. Mica-slate, 5, 7, 23. Michael Kirk, 14, 15, 162. Military, 84, 114. Mineralogy, 4. Mines, 12, 17, 20. Mona-castle, 22, 112. Montacute, 355, 356. Mountains, 3. Mulen de Cunie, 120. Murder, 284. N J li.