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MDCCCLVIII.

V.OL. XV.

DOUGLAS, ISLE OP MAN:
PRINTED FOR THE MANX SOCIETY.
MDCCCLXVIII.

His Excellency the Lietttenant-Goveenor.
Ka-^rcsibrats.
The Hon. and Right Rev. Hokace, Lord Bishop of Sodor and Mau.
The Honourable Chaeles Hope.
James Gell, H.M.'s Attorney-General of the Isle of Man.
EiDGWAT Harbison, Water-Bailiff and Seneschal.
The Venerable Jos. C. Moobe, Archdeacon.
EicHABD Jebb, Vicar-General.
RlCHAED Quirk, H.M.'s Receiver-General.
John S. Goldie Taubman, Speaker of the House of Keys.
Ccrantil.
Alfred W. Adams, Advocate, Springfield.
William Callister, H.K., Thornhill, Ramsey.
T. C. Callow, Douglas.
G. W. DuMBELL, H.K., Belmont.
Wm. Parrant, Ballamoar, Jurby.
Ed. Cuephet Farrant, H.K., BallakiUinghan.
P. L. Gaeeett, Douglas.
William Gell, Douglas.
Eev. Wm. Gill, Vicar of Malew.
Samuel Haeeis, High Bailiff of Douglas.
Wm. Harrison, Eockmount.
John M. Jefpcott, H.K., and High BaUiff of Castletown.
Eev. Joshua Jones, D.C.L., Principal of King WiUiam's CoUege.
Eev. W. Kebmode, Incumbent of St. Paul's, Ramsey.
Wir.LiAM Kneale, Douglas.
D. D. Lewin, Douglas.
Egbert J. Moobe, H.K., and High BaUiff of Peel.
Wm. Fine Moore, H.K., Cronkbourne.
Lieut.-Colonel Eeadt.
T. E. Hetwood Thomson, M.D., Michael.
WnuBxxxn.
Paul Beidson, Douglas.
Poit. Sitcxzimm.
Paul Beidson, Douglas.
J. E. Olivee, M.D., Douglas.

N.B. — Members at a distance are (as heretofore) requested to acknow
ledge their Copies to the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. Paul
Bridson, 6, Woodbourne Square, to whom also their Subscriptions can be
remitted.

ANTIQUITATES lANM:

or, a

COLLECTION OF MEMOIRS

ANTIQUITIES OF THE ISLE OF MAN.

^hiizh for t^t Patt* ^otietg

EEV. J. G. (;?UMMINa M.A., F.G.S.,
INCUMBENT OF ST. JOHN'S, BETHNAL GREEN, LONDON; LATE WARDEN OF QUEEN's COLLEGE,
BIRMINGHAM ; TORMEBLY VICE-PHINOIPAL OF KING WILLIAM'S COLLBQE,
ISLE OF MAN.

LONDON :
PRINTED FOR THE MANX SOCIETY.
MDCCCLXVIIL

T. KICnAHBS, PBINTEB, 87, OEEAT QUEEN STREET, W.C.

PREFACE.

The Manx Society was established primarily for the
publication of old and scarce books, manuscripts, and
documents, pertaining to the history of the Isle of Man,
and its vokimes, previous to this, have strictly followed
otit that design. But at the meeting of the Cambrian
Archaeological Association at Douglas in the year 1865,
it was seen that the more ancient history of the island
would be greatly elucidated by the consideration of the
very many remarkable relics left behind them by its
former inhabitants, in buUdings, tumuli, kistvaens,
bauta stones, and runic monuments, both inscribed and
uninscribed. Hence the Council of the Manx Society
considered that it would much conduce to the interest
and usefulness of its publications if they included in
them the various Memoirs on the Antiquities of the
Isle which were read at that meeting, together with
others of a similar character. The very ready and
most generous consent of the Council of the Cambrian

IV PEEFACE.
Archaeological Association was therefore obtained for
the repubhcation qf the Memoirs on Manx Antiquities
which appeared in the Archceologia Cambrensis during
the years 1866-7, and the further most liberal use was
acquired of the plates of the engravings and the blocks
of the woodcuts illustrating the Memoirs in that
Journal. To the Cambrian Archaeological Association the Coun
cil of the Manx Society desire to- return their deepest
acknowledgments for their generosity. n
The present volume consists wholly of the Memoirs
read at the Douglas Meeting, with such emendations
and additions as the various authors of them have
thought desirable, amongst which may be mentioned
some new and interesting readings and interpretations
of the runic inscriptions by myself, and the fuller ac
count of the Ancient Churches of Man by Dr. Oliver.
Manx antiquities are by no means exhausted in these
Memoirs. The Runic Monuments, of which only a few
examples are given in this volume, open up a wide
field for investigation. Excavations have recently been
made, during the progress of the Ordnance Trigono
metrical Survey of the Isle of Man, in some of the
ancient Tumuli and amidst the Stone Circles, which
throw much light upon the ancient modes of sepulture
and the habits and character of the Aborigines of the
Island.

PEEFACE. V
The Coins and Seals also which have been preserved,
deserve a more carefid examination than has hitherto
been bestowed upon them.
Hence, a Second volume of the Antiquities of the
Island is under the consideration of the Council of the
Manx Society, and may probably be expected at an
early date.
It is hoped that the present volume, with its ample
and weU-executed illustrations, may be the means of
awakening a deeper interest in the Isle of Man, where
the relics of the past have been guarded with a more
religious veneration than has been accorded to them by
the people of the surrounding British Isles. The isola
tion of the country has no doubt in some degree con
tributed to this result ; but credit must also be given
to the deep religious feehng of Manxmen, not alto
gether unalloyed with superstition, which has led
them to abstain from the destruction of the monu
ments of the dead, and of the places where their fore
fathers worshipped. They reap their reward in the
materials which they have thus preserved to the Anti
quary for elucidating their earlier history.
The Editor desires to acknowledge the deep obhga
tion under which he hes to the Rev. E. L. Barnwell
and Dr. Oliver, for the assistance which they have
afforded him ui passing these sheets through the press.

VI PEEFACE.
The publication must, in reality, be considered as
under a joint editorship. One emendation in the
text of these papers it seems desirable to make. It
would perhaps have been better to have named, on
page 34, Maelmore as a "Royal personage" or "Princess",
than as a probable ' ' Queen of Man". J. G. Cumming.

St. John's Parsonage, Victoria ParJc Square, London, N.E.
June 1st, 1868.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

1. On the Omamentation of the Runic Monuments in the
Isle of Man . . Rev. J. Gr. Cumming, M.A., F.G.S. 1
2. On some more Recently Discovered Scandinavian Crosses
in the Isle of Man  Rev. J. G-. Cumming 13
3. The Runic Inscriptions of the Isle of Man.
Rev. J. G. Cumming 19
4. Rushen Abbey in the Isle of Man . Rev. J. Gr. Cumming 36
6. Robert the Brus before Rushen Castle. Rev. J. G. Cumming 5S
6. Ancient Churches of the Isle of Man prior to the Middle
Ages  J. R. Oliver, Esq., M.D. 60
7. Notes on the Stone Monuments in the Isle of Man.
Rev. E. L. Barnwell, M.A. 92
8. Church Furniture in Malew Church, Isle of Man.
Rev. E. L. Barnwell, M.A. 107
9. On Certain Bronze Implements, Isle of Man.
Rev. E. L. BarnweU, M.A. Ill
10. Circle on "The Mull", Isle of Man.
J. M. Jeffcott, Esq., H.K. 113
11. Mananan Mac Lir: His Mythic Connection with the Isle
of Man .... Richard R. Brash, Esq., M.R.I.A. 119

LIST OF PLATES.

Ornamentation of Manx Runic Crosses. Plates I and II . 8
Fragment of an Inscribed Cross in Braddan Churchyard . .12
Cross in Kirk Maughold Churchyard . . . . 14
Cross at Kirk Maughold, Isle of Man, formerly built into the
Western Gable of the Church  16
Cross in Kirk Maughold Churchyard, and Cross in a Treen
Chapel near Ballaglass, Kirk Maughold, Isle of Man . 18
Runic Inscriptions on Crosses in the Isle of Man . . 23

Vlll

CONTENTS.

Ruined Tower, Rushen Abbey, Isle of Man . . . .40
Crossag Bridge, near Rushen Abbey  42
Ballingan Treen Church and Enclosure, Kirk Marown . . 78
Manx Cabbal of the Fifth Century  80
The Keeill of the Sixth Century  82
Doorway, Ballaquinney Treen Church . . . . .84
Treen Church of the Eighth Century  86
St. Luke's Chapel, and Burial-ground of the Danish Kings,
Cronk-na-lrey-Lhaa ........ 90
Plan of Oatlands Circle, Isle of Man  96
Oatlands Circle, Isle of Man  96
Stone with Cup Markings, Oatlands Circle . . . .96
Stone Avenue, Poor Town, near Peel, Isle of Man . ¦ . .96
Circle on Mull HUl, Isle of Man  96
Kistvaen near St. John's, Tynwald Mount, Isle of Man . . 96
Beads, Rock Crystal and Ornaments found in a Kistvaen near
St. John's, Tynwald Mount, Isle of Man .... lot?
Paten, Kirk Malew, Isle of Man  106
Portion of Staff Covered with Brass, and Processional Lantern
Top, Malew Church  108
Chalice from the Parish of Jurby, Isle of Man . . .110

LIST OP WOODCUTS IN THE TEXT.
Chamfered Arch in Rushen Abbey .
Single- Light Window, Rushen Abbey
Stone Font, Keeill Pharic
Stone Font, St. Lingan's
Doorway, KeeiU St. Lingan
Interior Walling of Ballaquinney Treen Keeill
Rock at Ballamona ....
Plan of Circle on Mull Hill
Crucifix, Kirk Malew
Mould for Bronze Implements
Plan of Circle on the Mull

89
40 83
848586
95
101108
112
114

MANX ANTIQUITIES.

ON THB ORNAMENTATION OF THB RUNIC
MONUMENTS IN THE ISLE OF MAN.
BY THE EBV. J. G. GUMMING, M.A., P.G.S.
The Northmen, during their occupation of the Isle of Man,
from A.D. 888 to a.d. 1270, a period of nearly four hundred
years, passed from a state of heathenism into .Christianity.
This change is marked by the character of the sepulchral
monuments which they have left behind them.
The barrows and bauta stones, and perhaps some of the
stone circles, indicate their earlier religious condition ; their
later is marked by the Runic Crosses, Peel Cathedral, Rushen
Abbey, the Nunnery of St. Bridget at Douglas, and the Friary
at Bechmaken in Arbory.
The Runic crosses are probably the earliest Christian re
mains of this people, and they are by far the most numerous,
not less than thirty-eigh.t having been discovered and described,
of which nineteen, if not more, have on them inscriptions in
Runic characters.
Prom tlie nature of the ornamentation upon those which
are inscribed with Runes, we are enabled to determine by com
parison that other crosses, not inscribed, are of the same age
with them. For though the peculiar ornamentation which has
received the name of knot-work is common to English, Irish,
and Scotch crosses, as well as to the Manx, there are certain
remarkable varieties of design and workmanship on the crosses
B

2 OENAMENTATION OP EUNIC MONUMENTS
of the Isle of Man, which readily distinguish them from all
others, and mark them as truly sui generis. The Manx crosses
have, as far as I know, no exact counterparts elsewliere.
This will readily be seen by any one who will take the
trouble to lay the plates of my Bimic and other Monumental
Remains of the Isle of Man alongside of the splendid Palceo-
graphia Sacra Pictoria of Mr. Westwood ; or the beautiful
work of the late Mr. Chalmers, The Sculptured Stones of Angus
and Fijfe; or the more extensive collection of Scottish Sculp
tured Stones, printed for the Spalding Club ; or Mr. Henry
O'Neills magnificent book on the Most Interesting of the Grosses
of Ireland ; or Mr. Graham's deeply interesting work, the
Antiquities of Iona.
Before directing attention to tlie peculiar ornamentation of
the Manx Crosses, it may be well to offer a few remarks upon
knot-work itself.
The term knot-work has been applied to a species o.f orna
ment of great beauty and variety which is met with in MSS.
and articles of vertu, and of monuments and architecture of
the Middle Ages.
The MS. of tbe Gospels (known by the name of St. Chad's
MS.) in the library of Lichfield -Cathedral, by some presumed
to be of the early part of the eighth century, bas various rich
illuminations in which this style of ornament prevails. The
Gospels of Mac Durnan, of Lindisfarne, of Mac Regol, and at
St. Gall, and the famous Book of KeUs, are all remarkable for
the intricacy and rich variety of this kind of work.
Good examples of this species of ornamentation are to be
met with in Norman architecture, as, amongst many others, in
Lichfield Cathedral; in the parish church of Tutbury; and in the
Church of St. Peter's, Northampton. But it is on monumental
crosses that patterns of this peculiar decoration seem most
largely to prevail.
Starting from the form of a simple cord or strap, tben of
two or more cords or straps intertwined, it has passed (as I

IN THB ISLE OP MAN. 3
conceive) into floriation, assuniing the forms of interlacing
boughs and foliage, and at all times has had a tendency to
izoomorphism, transforming itself into grotesque figures of in
tertwining monstrous animals, more especially of dogs, birds,
fishes, and serpents.
There is probably no species of decoration admitting of
greater variety than this, and hardly any which adapts itself
so readily to every sort of work in wood, stone, or metal, and
to the illumination of every kind of writing.
It will be seen that, in reference to this species of ornamen
tation, I am quite in favour of a theory of development ; and I
express my adoption of such a theory in order to free myself
from the suspicion of attempting to settle the dispute as to
whether Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Northmen, the Irish, or the
Scotch should lay claim to priority in the use of this sort of
decoration in works of art.
I hold that the artists of each of these nations may have
wrought quite independently of each other in this kind of work.
I have even seen examples of Chinese knot-work not greatly
differing from some in the Isle of Man. Starting from the
simplest form of a rope common to every people, they might
develope that form according to their characteristic national
tastes. So that even if it should be determined (which, I be
lieve, it cannot be) that any one race had adopted such orna
mentation at an earlier period than others, it by no means
necessarily follows that those who subsequently used it were
mere copyists of earlier works. I have sometimes been told
that the Manx crosses are but bad attempts at imitating Irish
or Scotch works of art. Now, whatever may be the antiquity
of the M88. in which the same species of ornament occurs as
that upon some of the Manx crosses, I am quite sure that it
has yet to be shewn that any of the crosses bearing such orna
ment either in Ireland or Scotland, are earlier than those in the
Isle of Man. We have also some varieties of ornamentation
on the Manx crosses (and .those of the laost beautiful design),

4 . OENAMENTATION OP EUNIC MONUMENTS
which have no counterpart on either the Irish or Scotch monu
mental remains. And it would be quite as easy to suppose
that the Irish and Scotch obtained their designs from the'
Manx artists as that the latter were but imitators of what they
had seen in Ireland or Scotland. I say nothing of the finish or
workmanship on the crosses of the respective countries, be
cause I beHeve that the material which was wrought upon had
much to do with the finish of the work. The clay schists of
the Isle of Man, almost the only material of which the Manx
crosses are made, are but ill adapted for carving, and do not
admit of a pohsh ; and, further, they very readily yield to the
action of the weather.
That we find these crosses, which are seven or eight hundred
years old, retaining as much of their original decoration as
they do, must be attributed to the circumstance that after an
exposure of from two to three hundred years, they were used
as material for the erection of ecclesiastical buildings, instances.
of whioh may be seen now in the Cathedral of Peel and in a
Treen Chapel in Jurby, the former building being of the date
of the thirteenth century. The majority of the Manx crosses
have been discovered within the last fifty years in pulhng
down the old churches in the north of the island and erecting
new ones. These crosses were figured and described by iny-
self in 1857 in my work on the Runic and other Monumental
Remains of the Isle of Man, and the references in this memoir
are to the figures in that work.
To come to the consideration of the knot-work on the Manx
crosses, I observe that a cord or rope suggests itself very
readily as an ornament to any maritime people, such as those
amongst whom knot-work prevailed. It may be allowed that a
plain strap would equally serve the same purpose ; and in flat
work, such as the illumination of MSS., we can readily con
ceive that such an element in ornamentation would suggest it
self. But in raised work, such as carvilig on stone, the more
substantial form of the rope would form the ground-work of
the decoration.

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 5
Such a simple ornament is found on the Manx crosses as a
border to the other devices carved upon the stone. I may in
stance the well-known so-called Dragon crosses in Braddan
churchyard, the Niel Lumgun cross at Kirk Michael, and the
fragment found at the old chapel in the Calf of Man. In the
last case the cord forms also a portion of the decoration.
Figures i and ii are reduced from rubbings of the Braddan
crosses. This straight cord would next become waved, and, by being
made to return upon itself, would form the fret which in various
forms occurs upon works of art of all ages. This decoration in
the forms so constantly used elsewhere, is not to be found on
the Manx crosses, though an approximation to a fret-like ap
pearance is produced on some of them by drawing the lines
which divide the strands of a simple cord, or of two cords
twisted together, somewhat thick. This character is seen in
figure II, which is copied from the Oter Dragon cross at Kirk
Braddan. The same form occurs also on the large Joalf cross
at Kirk Michael, on the top of the large cross at the gates of
the churchyard of Kirk Maughold, and on the cross taken from
the bell turret of Kirk Maughold, and described in the next
memoir. The mystic Tau pattern (see figure iv) so copiously used on
monuments, crosses, arcliitecture, and MSS. of all ages, was
very largely employed also by the Manx artists on the Runic
crosses. We find it on the Ufeig cross at Kirk Andreas, the
Thorlaf cross at BaUaugh, the cross in the Treen Chapel at
Jurby, on fragments in the churchyard wall at Kirk Michael,
and on a fragment in the garden of the vicarage at Jurby.
Again, the C pattern and a spiral appearance were produced
by a still further involution of the simple cord, as in figures v
and xxx, taken from the Niel Lumgun cross at Kirk Michael.
In MSS. this has been largely used,, as may be seen in Mr.
Westwood's paper on "Early British, Anglo-Saxon, and Irish
Ornamentation", in the fortieth part of the Archceological

6 OENAMENTATION OF EUNIC MONUMENTS
Journal, December 1853. It is also weU known in Greek
architecture. On the Manx Runic monuments it occurs m its
most elaborate forms, both as a border and as scroll-work m
connection with the limbs of animals. This is well seen on
the fragment of the Dog cross in the garden at Kirk Conchan,
on the large cross (uninscribed) at Kirk Maughold, on the
Oter Cross at Braddan, on the large Joalf cross at KJirk Michael,
on the Sandulf cross at Kirk Andreas, but more remarkably on
the Weasel cross in the churchyard of Kirk Conchan.
In this latter cross we have it both for a continuous border
ing, and for terminations to straight cords, and also as a
separation of the limbs of monstrous animals, in the form of
the letter S and in the Ga-rmnadion at the foot of the cross.
Figures v, xxn, xxiii, and xxx, are taken from this cross.
Allied to the T and C patterns was the Z pattem (figure iii),
of which we have one single instance in the Isle of Man. It
occurs on the large cross at Kirk Maughold church gates,
which has an aspect quite foreign to the works of the Scandi
navian artists in the island. Indeed, all the crosses found at
Kirk Maughold have somewhat of a foreign aspect ; they are
rather Scotch than Manx. Is this circumstance in any way
connected with the fact that the church and churchyard of
Kirk Maughold (covering three acres) were set apart in ancient
times as a Sanctuary ?
By causing the simple cord to assume a waved form and
then to return and wrap over itself, or by taking two cords
and causing them to involve each other at regular intervals,
we obtain the simplest form of the guilloche, figure vi, an in
terlacement well known and very largely used in architecture.
Examples of this occur on the Ufeig cross at Kirk Andreas,
the Thorlaf cross at Ballaugh, and on fragments at Kirk
Michael and Jurby.
It is in this guilloche that we have the real element of knot-
work, and the Manx artists having once got hold of this element,
wrought it out into a multitude of most elegant forms, many

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 7
of which I do not remember to have noticed elsewhere. Take,
for example, figures vii, vm, and ix, which are- evident de
velopments of the idea, and which are taken from the Mal-
brigd cross at Kirk Michael, the Thoriaf cross at Ballaugh, and
the fragment of Ro's cross in the garden of the vicarage,
Jurby. When once this interlacement or knot-work was effected
either by the overlap or splitting up of the strands of a simple
rope, it was easy by the multiplication of the cords or strands
to originate that endless variety of ornamentation which we
see in monuments and works of art of all countries, and most
elaborately brought out on the crosses in the Isle of Man.
As to the arrangement of the knot-work, I may here ob
serve that, generally speaking, on Irish monuments or on those
which are all presumed to have an Irish origin, the knot-work
runs in the form of panels.
On the other hand, in the Manx specimens of the oldest
type, the original idea of lengthened and continuous chain
work rather prevails. The nearest approach in the Manx
crosses to the Irish or Scottish panel work is to be found on
the Niel Lumgun cross at Kirk Michael, which, in other re
spects also differs from the ordinary Manx type ; for instance,
the runes are of a different form ; and, according to Professor
Miinch, of a later date; the dialect of the inscription is different,
and the names occurring in it (such as Niel and Dugald) have
rather a Celtic than Norse look. There is a tendency towards
this panel-work in the large uninscribed cross at Kirk Maug
hold church gate, which, as I have before observed, has also a
foreign aspect, and one side of the Oter cross at Braddan has
two panels containing interlacements. Another cross taken
from the bell-turret of Kirk Maughold twelve years ago, and
figured and described in the memoir subsequent to this, has
also such panel work.
Returning to the consideration of these interlacements or
knot-work, we find that th-e Manx artists made a very easy ad-

8 OENAMENTATION OP EUNIC MONUMENTS
dition to the ornamentation afforded by the simple guilloche
by increasing the number of cords.
A double guilloche was formed by the involution of four
cords, as in figure xi, copied from the Malew cross in the
Museum of King William's College, the same pattem being
found in the Sandulf cross at Andreas. And, in like manner,
by the involution of four cords, we obtain the beautiful figure-
of-8 design (see figure xn), which is seen on the fragment of
the cross at Kirk Conchan, which I have named the Dog cross,
and the rich ornamentation (see figure x) copied from Ro's
cross at the vicarage, Jurby.
A very remarkable development of the guilloche, which I
have hardly noticed elsewhere, occurs abundantly on crosses in
the Isle of Man, to which I would give the name of ri-ng-worh.
It consists in binding together by an intertwining ring the
overlaps of the cord or cords forming the guilloche, as in
figures IV and xv, the latter taken from the Ufeig cross at
Kirk Andreas.
It occurs on all those crosses the workmanship of which I
am inclined to attribute to Gaut Bjornson, whose name is given
as a cross maker in the inscription on that erected by Mal-
brigd the son of Athakan Smith, which stands at the church
yard gate' of Kirk Michael, as well as in that on the Ufeig cross.
The passage from" knot-work to ring-work seems in one in- ¦
stance on the Manx crosses to have been made by accident
rather than by design. I refer to the case of knot-work orna
mentation on the face of the tall uninscribed cross at the west
gate of Braddan churchyard, where, in order to complete the
figure in the comer at the top of the cross, the last overlap of
the cord forming the knot-work is bound together by a single
ring which fills up the vacancy which would otherwise occur,
and produces uniformity of appearance. This portion of orna
ment is given in figure xm.
The ring being thus once adopted, wide scope for ingenuity
was afforded in its arrangement, form, and decoration.

PlaU.I.

Pl^ltUlI

J,/6. £eJ&oc<x sc.

IN THE ISLE OP MAN.

Sometimes the rings were distant and small, as in the beau
tiful fragment of the cross on the churchyard wall at Kirk
Michael (figure xiv) . In other cases, the ring was large and
either square or lozenge-shaped, as in Joalf's cross at Kirk
Michael (figure xvi), where four cords are bound together by a
large square ring, and on the fragment of Svig's cross on the
churchyard wall of Kirk Michael, where four cords, partly
plain, partly pelleted, are bound together by a pelleted lozenge-
shaped ring (figure xvn) .
This ring-worh has assumed a variety of configurations, and
assists largely in the decoration of the Manx crosses. One of
the most beautiful is that given in figure xxv, taken from the
large uninscribed cross at Braddan, where it forms a circle or
glory surrounding a cruciform pattern of knot-work.
There is, however, one pattern of this ring- work which de
mands particular attention as a very distinguishing feature in
the ornamentation of the Manx crosses. It is the chain ring-
work displayed in figure xvm, which is so rare elsewhere, if it
occur at all, that we may safely claim it as of genuine Manx
origin. It certainly does not occur on Irish or Scotch crosses.
They have nothing in knot-work comparable to it.
I believe the author of it to have been Gaut Bjornson him
self. We have it on the Malbrigd cross at Kirk Michael, of
which he undoubtedly was the carver. It is on the Thorlaf
cross at Ballaugh, the Inosruir cross at St. John's, the Svig
cross at Kirk Michael, the inscribed fragment in the church
yard wall of Kirk Michael, the name on which cannot be de
termined, and on the Ufeig cross at Andreas which is certainly
the work of Gaut.
It is so extremely beautiful in its character that we cannot
feel at all surprised that it was, adopted and applied in a pecu
liar form upon that cross of Niel Lumgun at Kirk Michael,
which I have before pointed out as being of a later date and
more foreign aspect.
It is this singular ornament on that cross, together with the

10 OENAMENTATION OF EUNIC MONUMENTS
runes, which, to my mind, appropriates it to the Scandinavian
artists of the Isle of Man, notwithstanding its variation from
the general style of Manx crosses and the indications of a
Celtic connection. The designer of that cross may have seen
Scotch or Irish crosses, if they existed at that time, with knot-
work on them ; but he has indubitably put a Manx stamp
upon it. The ornament I Have alluded to on this cross is given
in figure xxvi.
There are several glories formed of knot-work on the Manx
crosses, as, for instance, those of figures xxv, xxvii, xxix, and
XXXI, but there are none producing so pleasing an effect as this.
I may here observe that the glory seems to have been con
sidered an almost necessary accompaniment to the cross in all
the Manx examples, the only exception appearing to be Eo's
cross at Jurby ; but even in this, the ring binding the knot-
work in the head compartment of the cross may be considered
as representing it. The tall cross, near a cow-shed, at the
cross-roads in Kirk Christ's, Rushen, is too imperfect to de
termine whether this ornament did or did not exist upon it.
I would here notice that the intersection of the strands in
the rope or of the two cords forming the guilloche, boUnd to
gether by a lozenge-shaped ring, suggested the notion also of
lozenge-shaped pellets upon the rope itself, ultimately assuming
the form even of rounded pellets, and giving rise also to the
idea of scale-covered fishes or animals of a lacertine character.
A cord so pelleted and intertwined with a simple unpelleted
one, gives a very fine effect, and indicates at the same time
more distinctly the existence of two cords in the same inter
lacement. This effect is seen more particularly in figure xvi
above, and it occurs again in a remarkable manner on the
fragment of the Oter cross at Braddan, on the fragment of
Ro's cross at the vicarage, Jurby, and on the fragment in the
vestry at Kirk Michael.
Now, if to a single row of pellets running down the centre
of the cord or strap others were subsequently added, and if to

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 11
one end of the cord or strap so pelleted a head were added
and the other end sharpened off into a tail, we should have at
once the serpent or scaly fish, the lizard or dragon, presenting
so remarkable an appearance on one or two of the Manx Runic
monuments. See figures xx and xxi, associated with figure
XXVIII. The Zoomorphic pattem being once established, the inter
twining of monstrous lengthened figures of dogs, birds, fishes,
and even men would readily follow. I do not say that such
must necessarily have been the course of development ; but I
think it not improbable, and certainly it seems worthy of some
consideration and more close investigation.
The common twisted rope easily becomes the snake of figure
XXVIII by the addition of the head and tail, and the pelleted
broad strap is easily changed into the lacertine form of figures
XX and xxi, but in figures xxn, xxiii, and xxiv, the limbs them
selves of the animal, and more especially the legs and the tail,
become the source of knot-work or scroll-ornament.
But the Manx artists were most unhappy in their carving of
men and animals. In many instances, such as figures xx, xxi,
XXII, XXIII, and xxiv, the evident intention was to produce a
monster ; but, making all allowance for the badness of the
material and the effect of weathering, it is too plain that the
attempt of the Manx artists to draw animals in their natural
form was a miserable failure. Though they were clever enough
to design and carve fcwof-work, their animals are little better
than what a child would draw on a slate. In this respect the
Manx cross makers came very far behind their fellow craftsmen
in Scotland and Ireland; but this deficiency is to my mind
an evidence of the greater antiquity of the Manx crosses. Al
most all the figures of men on Manx crosses are drawn nude,
the exceptions seeming to belong to a later date.
The great marvel to me in this knot-work ornamentation is
the wonderful accuracy with which the artists have managed
in all their figures to produce the regular overlap of the cords.

12 OENAMENTATION OP EUNIC MONUMENTS.
The alternate under and over seems to come without any mis-
take. However great the number of intertwining cords, and
whatever be the shape of the space which the ornament is
designed to fiU. I have traced over many hundred feet of such
knot-work in rubbings from the Manx crosses and have never
found a mistake.
It seems to me as if the artists Had made use of actual cords
or ropes in laying down their designs upon these crosses. Let
anyone take a vacant space, say a square, oblong, or circle, on
a sheet of paper, and endeavour to fiU it up with continuous
overlapping cords, and he will perceive the difficulty of work
ing without a design before His eyes.
It is not easy at once to produce such simple results as are
found in figures xix and xxix.
Even the various forms of the triquetra found upon the
Manx crosses indicate a considerable amount of ingenuity in
their fabrication and in the manner in which the knot is in
volved, more especially where it is doubled, tripled, or quad
rupled, as we see in figure xxix.
Figures xxxi and xxxn shew the manner in which the heads
of the crosses were fiUed up, and display much taste.
Certainly, after inspecting the designs on these Runic re
mains in the Isle of Man, we must give up the idea, if we have
ever entertained it, that the Northmen were altogether a bar
barous people, and incapable of any better feehngs than those
allied to war and the shedding of blood.

l.-FRAGMENT OF AN INSCRIBED RUNIC CROSS IN BEADDAN CHURCHYARD,
ISLE OF MAN.

Inscription

.—Thurketil raisti crus tjiano aft Ufaig sun Klinais.

13

II.

ON SOME MORE RECENTLY DISCOVERED SCANDI
NAVIAN CROSSES IN THE ISLE OF MAN.
BY THB EEV. J. G. CUMMING, M.A., F.G.S.
It was remarked in the previous essay on the " Ornamentation
of the Runic Monuments in the Isle of Man", that " the pre
servation of so many crosses in the Isle of Man, belonging to
the period in which the island was under the rule of the
Northmen, is chiefiy owing to the circumstance of their having
been subsequently built into the walls of the Parish churches.
Peel Cathedral, and Treen chapels". Many of these have been
brought to Hght in the restoration or rebuilding of Manx
churches in the present century.
Those discovered prior to 1857 were figured and described
in my Runic and other Monumental Remains of the Isle of Man,
published in that year. The present memoir is supplementary
to that work, and is an account of subsequent discoveries up
to the present date, and of crosses, the drawings of which
were exhibited at the Douglas Meeting of the Cambrian
Archseological Association in the year 1865.
I. Woodcut -number 1 is the figure of a Runic cross, with
inscription, carved on a slab of dark blue schist, three feet six
inches in length by one foot ten inches in width, which formed
a door-step in the church of Kirk Braddan. It is now placed
in the centre of the churchyard, on a mound, along with the
two so-called dragon crosses. It commemorates Ufeig Klinai-'
son, and was erected by Thorheiil, or at least by some person

14 ON SOME MOEB EECENTLY DISCOVEEED
whose name began with Thor, the terminal runes of the name
not being very distinct. In other respects the inscription is
very plain and is read Thurketil : Raisti : Crus : Thano : Aft :
Ufaig : Sun : KHnais ; and translated " THorketil erected this
cross to Ufeig KHnaison". From the general style of the
ornamentation I am disposed to think that this cross may be
the workmanship of Gaut Bjornson, who appears to have beeu
a noted cross-maker in the Isle of Man in the tenth century.
It exhibits, as a prominent feature in the ornamentation,
that beautiful development of knot-work which I have termed
"chain ring-worh" , not occurring, as far as I am aware, on any
but Manx crosses, but displayed on the Malbrigd cross at Kirk
Michael, which from the inscription we know to have been of
Gaut's manufacture. Like the crosses which we know to have
been Gaut's, it is also remarkable for the absence of the figures
of men and animals so rudely carved on many crosses in the
Isle of Man. On the other hand, the inscription might lead us
to a different conclusion ; for it is placed at one side of the
face of the cross, and not running up the edge, as in the two
crosses which bear Gaut's name. Yet it may be noted that in
the Malbrigd cross at Kirk Michael, which was carved by
Gaut, the latter part of the inscription, for want of more room
on the edge, is carried into the face of the upper portion of the
cross. Also in the Thorlaf cross at Ballaugh, which is not im
probably of Gaiit's workmanship, we have the inscription on
one side of the face.
In some alterations and repairs which were made within the
last twelve years in the old parish church of Kirk Maughold,
the very singular crosses numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5, together
with fragments of others, were discovered in the west gable,
and as lintels in the chancel.
II. THe cross, of which the opposite sides are given in cuts
2 and 3, is a small one taken from the bell-turret of Kirk
Maughold Church, to which attention was directed at the visit
of the Cambrian Archaeological Association in August 1865.

SCANDINAVIAN CEOSSES IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 15
It contains an intricate development of knot-work on both
faces, and that knot-work is contained in panels more after the
Irish and Scotch method than is usual in the Manx crosses.
An ornamental display of beautiful chain ring-work is seen on the
fust of the face represented in cut 2 ; whilst on the surface of
the glory about the head of the cross, on the face represented
in cut 3, we Have a species of fret similar to that on the Oter
cross at Kirk Braddan (the work of Thorburn), on the large
Joalf cross at Kirk Michael, probably also his work, and at
the left hand corner of the top of the large cross at the en
trance to Kirk Maughold churchyard. All these appearances
lead me to the presumption that this cross may be of eleventh
century date, and somewhat earlier than those numbered 4, 5,
6, in the accompanying cuts. Length, one foot nine inches ;
breadth, nine inches. There are traces of an inscription on
the edge.
It may be remarked that as yet no inscribed cross, besides
the last, has been found in Kirk Maughold parish, and that
with the exception of the cross (cuts 2 and 3) which has just
been considered, all yet found in that parish differ much from
the generality of crosses found elsewhere in the Isle of Man.
The Kirk Maughold crosses, as I have before pointed out, ap
proach more than any others to the Scotch type.
It was observed in the previous essay on the " Ornamentation
of the Runic Monuments in the Isle of Man", that the church
and churchyard of Kirk Maughold, covering three acres, were
set apart in ancient times as a Sanctuary.
It is also well known, from Manx history, that there were
two Scottish invasions of the Isle of Man under Somerled or
Shomhairle Mac Gilbert, Thane of Argyle at the middle of the
twelfth century. In the first of these a naval fight occurred in
Ramsey Bay on the eve of the Epiphany 1156, with doubtful
success, but which led to a compromise between Somerled and
Godred Olaveson, king of Man and the Isles. In the second,
.Somerled, with a fleet of fifty-three ships, oame to the Isle of

1 6 ON SOME MORE EECENTLY DISCOVEEED
Man in 1158, defeated Godred, and forced him to flee to the
court of Norway to crave assistance. On this second approacli
of Somerled, the people in the northern part of the Isle of Man
conveyed their money and valuables to the Sanctuary of Kirk
Maughold, and thither also drove their cattle. According to
the Chronicon Mannice, Gil Colum, one of the leaders of the
Scotch, planned a nocturnal attack upon this Sanctuary, but .
was intercepted by a vision of St. Maughold Himself, the patron
saint of the church, who appeared in Gil Colum's tent, and
smote him thrice on the heart with His pastoral staff, so that
He expired in great misery and torture.
It is not impossible to connect these crosses with that period,
in our endeavour to account for their foreign and Scottish
aspect. III. The cross number 4 is a much worn and partly defaced
slab of whinstone, in length four feet six inches, and breadth
twenty-two inches. Though Scottish in appearance, the rude
manner of treatment of the figures is thoroughly Manx. It is
not always easy to determine for what the figures on the Manx
crosses were intended. There is, indeed, no mistaking the
boar at the sinister side of the base of the fust, as we face it;
but we can but conjecture that the figure at the dexter side is
intended for a sheep. We have next, above these, on either
side, a horse with his rider ; one of the horsemen being decked
with a helmet or cap, the other bareheaded, as is almost always
the case with the human figure on the Manx monuments. The
two figures above them, but separated from them on either
side by an ornament of knot-work, are undoubtedly monks
with their cowls, and seated in antique chairs. We may well
compare them with the similar figures on the upper part of the
cross atDunfaldy in Scotland, as given in the Sculptured Stones
of Scotland, printed for the Spalding Club.
Though the circle or glory about the head of the cross is
ornamented with knot-work, it is difficult to make out whether
such was the case with the cross itself, though this appears not

5r J-S-O '==J»i--'~'--t^^.\si««,««f^ Vv-^'^-i'

.~jb

CROSS AT KlKK MAUGHOLD, ISLE OF MAN, FOEMEKLY BUILT INTO THE
WESTEEN GABLE OF THE CHUECH.

SCANDINAVIAN CEOSSES IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 17
improbable. A good cast might determine this. The cross is
the most prominent part of the slab, and is much roughened
by weathering; but it is not easy to decide whether the rough
ness upon it is due to the weathering alone, or whether it is
the remains of some knot-work originally carved thereon, and
the outline of which has disappeared. It is, therefore, in the
cut left blank.
IV. The appearance of the cross, or rather carved slab, num
ber 5 (in length five feet, and one foot one inch in greatest
breadth), is indeed most singular. It is more than usually
difficult to determine the objects engraved on it. Probably
the figure at the base is meant for a horse, whilst the singular
figure in the centre, with large eyes and long tapering ears,
most corresponds in form with a hare ; though, as compared
with the horse beneath, it is manifestly excessive in size. Yet
we may well take into consideration that the human figure
above is also too large, as compared with the horse; indeed,
it is generally manifest that the Manx artists in their carvings
had more regard to the space to be filled up than to the relative
magnitude of the objects which they intended to represent.
This animal appears to be caught upon the Head by a lasso,
or some such instrument, as it is in the act of issuing from a
hole in a rock after the manner of the mountain Hares in the
Isle of Man.
As to the man represented at the Head of the slab, we can
only make out that He appears to be bearing a shield in his
left hand rather than upon the left ar-m, and that his right
hand grasps something which we may conjecture to be a sword.
The shield has upon it a reversed figure of Z, which is the
Manx later Runic symbol for " S", and may be put as the ini
tial letter of the word " skiollar", a shield. If it be simply an
ornament it may be compared with the ornamentation on the
upper part of one of the edges of the large cross at the en
trance to Kirk Maughold churchyard ; this large cross bearing
on the face of it also two naked human figures.

18 SCANDINAVIAN CROSSES IN THE ISLE OP MAN.
V. The sixth woodcut represents a cross which is to be seen
in a Treen chapel in Kirk Maughold parish, not far from
Ballaglass Waterfall. In length it is five feet, in width
eighteen inches. I exhibited a rubbing from it at the Douglas
Meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association; and
during the excursion of the Society to the north of the Isle of
Man, Mr. Blight made the accompanying admirable sketch of
it. THe nude Human figure on the lower portion, or fust
of the cross, allies it with the Kirk Maughold and Scottish
types ; whilst the knot-work in the head of the cross differs
considerably in arrangement from that on any other of the
Manx crosses, the work being of a more open character, and
presenting an absence of continuity in the knot-work. The
nearest approach to it is the Niel Lumgun cross at Kirk
Michael, which I have pointed out as of a more foreign charac
ter and later date than the generality of the inscribed crosses.
The human figure on this cross is not unlike that at the upper
part of the eastern edge of the Joalf cross at Kirk Michael,
though the latter bears a shield. The long pointed beard as
similates it -with the figures on the remarkable slab found in
the old chapel of the Calf of Man, and . now in possession of
the Clerk of the Rolls at Castletown. It appears to be truly
Scandinavian, and of the twelfth century.
As this present memoir was called forth by the visit of the
Cambrian Archeeological Association to the Isle of Man, it is
an evidence of the value of the Society's labours in directing
the attention of local antiquaries to the deeper study of the
antiquarian remains in the places which are from time to time
visited.

IN KlKK MAUGHOLD CHUKCHTAED,
ISLE OE MAN.

IN P. TEEEN CHAl'EL NEAR BALLAGLASS,
KilLK MAUGHOLD, ISLE OF MAN.

19

III.

THE RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS OF THB
ISLE OF MAN.
BY THE REV. J. G. GUMMING, M.A., P.G.S.
NowHBEE in SO small a space are there so many monumental
inscriptions in Runic characters and in the Norse language as
in the Isle of Man.
Within an area of not more than twenty miles in length by
twelve in width, no less than eighteen of such inscriptions
Have been discovered, and it is probable that there are many
more undiscovered, and i;here have certainly been many des
troyed or lost.
If the Norse language were not at one time prevalent in the
island, it must at any rate have been well understood, so as to
be used in monumental inscriptions in preference to the Celtic
or the Latin.
The marvel now seems to be that, excepting the names of
places, we meet with so few, if any, traces of the Norse lan
guage in the modern Manx. In the English language we know
there are several traces of the ancient Danish occupation of our
country, though the Northmen were not in power in England
for anything like the time during which they ruled in the Isle
of Man. The Celtic is not cognate to the Norse, whereas the
Anglo-Saxon is. Hence the Norse soon died out in the Isle of
Man on the expulsion of the Northmen, not being readily
moulded into Manx ; just as the Manx itself is now dying out
before the English. c 2

20 THE RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS
Having been engaged for some time in decypHering the in
scriptions on the Manx Runic monuments, not always an easy
task, through the wear and tear of time, and in many cases
their fragmentary condition, I venture to offer for consideration
the readings and interpretations which I have concluded to be
the most probable, subject of course to such corrections as a
still closer examination and more accurate judgment may deter
mine to be necessary.
I may say that I think the most secure method of coming at
the readings is that which I have myself in most cases adopted,
viz., by making plaster of Paris casts of these inscriptions and
then taking rubbings on the raised edges of the moulds, for the
inscriptions are all incised. The rubbings thus made upon the
moulds come out clearer than tho.se made on the original stones.
The material of the casts also being white, and the objects
readily turned about so as to catch the light, the shadows thus
originated will sometimes enable us to decypher the inscrip
tions with greater ease than we can upon the dark clay schist
of which the inscribed crosses are made, and which are mostly
fixed in one position.
After much consideration, I have not seen reason to alter in
any very material degree the readings I obtained ten years
ago, and gave in my Runio and other Monumental Remains of
the Isle of Man, published in 1857, but the interpretations are
here amended. The emendations which I am now enabled to
give upon my previous interpretations are due for the most
part to the valued suggestions of Ralph Carr, Esq., S.A.S.C.,
of Hedgeley, near Alnwick, than whom no one has shown him
self more skilled in the interpretation of Scandinavian and
Anglo-Saxon inscriptions, and to whom I would express the
highest obligations. Since I resided on the island other moiiii-
ments Have been discovered, two of them, at least, inscribed
with runes ; and happily these are very nearly perfect inscrip
tions, and may be read with slight hesitation, even on the
photographs of the crosses. I refer to the two placed in the

OP THB ISLE OP MAN.

centre of Braddan churchyard, near the well-known so-called
Dragon cross, within the last twelve years.
One thing which greatly facilitates the reading ofthe inscrip
tions is their general uniformity of expression, the words "raisti
crus thana" ferected this cross) or "raist runer" (carved tloe
runes) being of constant occurrence. The difficulty is rather
in the names where some of the letters are imperfect or very
faintly traced.
Many of the Runic letters consist of one straight vertical
stroke, the alteration in the power of them depending on the
arrangement of one or two lines meeting them slantwise on
either side. Unfortunately the nature of the stone (clay schist),
of which all the incised Manx crosses are made, is such that,
on weathering, lines or cracks are apt to present themselves
crossing the vertical lines of the runes, and creating the ap
pearance of incisions where none at first were made.
THe similarity also of the runes for R and U, when badly
formed, not unfrequently presents a difficulty in the read
ing, more especially if the rune has undergone a slight deface
ment. We have also to make allowance both for imperfect spelling
and varieties of dialect in the inscriptions. Thus the common
word "thana" {this) is written thana, thano, thona, thono, thanu,
thna, thenr, and thensi, the variety in some cases, no doubt,
ciused by inflection. The word "aftir [to) is written also aiftir,
aft, af, eft, and eftir. Again, the word "raisti" [erected), not
to be confounded with " raist" fcarued), is written also risti,
and raiti.
Gaut himself, who seems to Have been a noted cross manu
facturer in the Isle of Man, on two of the crosses bearing hi,s
name, writes thana and thano, giirthi and girthi.
There is one thing which is particularly worth noticing in
these inscriptions, and that is the entire absence of any request
for a prayer on behalf of the departed. On the Irish crosses
we constantly meet with the request " Or do," and on the

22 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
Anglo-Saxon we find the words " Gibiddad dher saule," pray
for the soul, or "Gicegeed heosum sawlum," pray for their soids;
but we have nothing of the kind on the Manx crosses. Perhaps
we may, from this circumstance, infer the original character
of the Manx crosses, and that the Northmen in the Isles did
not owe their Christianity to the same source as the Irish and
Anglo-Saxons. Further, the absence of any such request on
the Manx crosses makes considerably against those who wonld
Have us believe that the Manx cross makers were mere copyists
from Irish models, and supports the views, which I have else
where expressed, as to the ornamentation of the Manx monu
ments, viz., that it is completely sui generis, and not borrowed
from another people.
To proceed with the inscriptions, as given in the plate : —
I. On a vory beautiful cross, which stands on the south side
of the churchyard gate of Kirk Michael, we have the following
inscription (see plate fig. i) . mail : beigdi : sune : athakans ;
SMITH : EAiSTi : CEUS : THANO : PUE : salu : siNi : sin : beukuin :
gaut : GiETHi : thano : augala : i maun. This inscription is in
cised, as all the inscriptions are on the Manx monuments. The
portion running upwards from the base and ending with the
word "Gaut" is carved along the ed^eof the stone on the right
hand as you look at the principal face ; then, on the front of
the cross, on the same side above the glory, occur the words
" Girthi thano auk " ; then, above the glory, on the opposite
side of the same face, we read the remaining words, ala : I Maun.
There can Hardly be a mistake about the runes, as they were
deeply carved, and remain very distinct, but, owing to an
apparent violation of the laws of Norse grammar, the inter
pretation of the inscription is not so certain.
The learned Scandinavian interpreters. Professors Miinch
and Worsaae, Have translated it thus : —
" Malbrigd, son of Athakan (the) Smith, erected this cross
for his Soul. . . . Gaut made this and all in Man."
The words " Sin brukuin " are left untranslated.

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OP THE ISLE OF MAN. 23

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I ventured to give in my Bunia and other Monumental Ri
mains of the Isle of Man the translation thus : — " Malbrigd,
the son of Athakan the Smith, erected this cross for his soul,
(but) His kinsman Gaut made it and all in Man."
Mr. Carr objects very strongly and properly to Smith and
Gaut being considered as in any other case than the accusa
tive. The norninatives would be Smithr and Gautr, and the
genitive of Smithr would be Smithar.
My own impression is that these Norse stone cutters might
make mistakes in grammar as well as in spelling, which we
know they have done, as above stated. In doing this they
seem sometimes to have been guided by the space they Had at
command on the stone, and it Has occurred to me that the false
grammar in the above inscription may be due to a like cause.
Perhaps on account of want of space at the end of the incision,
the two words, " I Maun" were written as one without any
stop between them, whilst at the beginning of it, where the
space had not been calculated, the name Mailbrigdiis divided
by a stop into the words, as Mail : Brigdi.
But Mr. Carr's reasonings on the score of grammar are so
just and forcible, that I must give them in full. He says — "We
must ever remember that unless we can make out the exact
grammatical construction of an old Norse or of an Anglo-
Saxon inscription, we must leave it in obscurity. The cases of
the nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, and the tenses and per
sons of the verbs, are the only means we Have of convincing
ourselves and others that we are right; the old Norse is nearly
as rich as the Latin in its cases, and whioh are most wonder
fully observed. Writers could no more confound or omit them
than a Frenchman could use the wrong genders of a noun
or the wrong tense of a verb in .speaking. The right ones
corae to him with his mother's milk, and He cannot mistake
them. Hence the accuracy of Icelandic or old Norse inscrip
tions, and of Saxon ones, and of old Roman ones in Latin, as
to cases, genders, tenses, etc. And these very things are the

24 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
proofs to us that we are reading aright. THe moment we find
wrong grammar we are at sea, and merely guessing, however
plausible the same may seem to us. And grammar makes all
compromise impossible, unless where both readings happen to
be equally grammatical, and you choose the most likely all
things considered. Thus, I Have no quarrel with Smith, if we
can make grammar of it; but it must stand for Smithar or
nothing, if from the noun supposed."
Mr. Carr hence, in the first place, suggested that the word
smith might be written for smeiti or smeit, since " ei" in runes
is often written simple "i". Now, the word smeite means con
tusion or figuratively contrition, aud .in the dative or ablative
it would be Smbit, signifying in a contusion or perhaps in con
trition, and the inscription might then be translated — " Mael-
brigd, son of Athakan, in hurt (or contrition) raised this
cross for His soul. His betrothed caused Gaut to chisel it in
Man." Mr. Carr has secondly suggested that, instead of regarding
" Smith" as part of the personal pronoun Smithr, a workman,
we may take it directly as the feminine noun " Smidh", a fabric
or work of art, and in the accusative case, thus making the
whole inscription grammatical.
Again, as gaut mus-t be in the accusative, we must have a
verb to govern it, and this we Have in the word giethi, which
follows it, and signifies to cause or maJce to do a thing, as well
as to fashion, form, or make. It is in fact often used like our
English word make, as an auxiliary verb. Mr. Carr further ob
serves that, as there is no stop between the words auk and
ALA, but only a break caused by the transfer of the inscription
to the other side of the stone, it may well be read as one word
AUGALA, and as au and o nearly sound the same, the word may
be for OGALA, " to chisel with a mallet."
With respect to the word beukuin, it may well be rendered
hride or hcfruthcd. Hence the whole inscription would stand
thus : —

OP THE ISLE OP MAN. 25
• MAIL-BEIGDI, SUNE ATHAKANS, SMIDH EAISTI CRUS THANO PUE
SALU SINI :
SIN BEUKUIN GAUT GIETHI THANO AUGALA I MAUN.
And may be translated thus : —
" Mailbrigd, son of Athakan, as a work of art, erected this
cross for his soul. His betrothed (or bride) made (or caused)
Gaut to chisel it in Man."
The expression raised this cross may merely mean made -pro
vision for it, whilst the direction of the work during his de
chne from wounds or sickness was undertaken by his Manx
bride, the natural executrix, and the expression in Man would
imply that the inscription might afterwards be read by new
comers from Norway or Denmark, who might otherwise think
the stone had been cut elsewhere, Mailbrigd himself having
been not improbably a new comer.
Mailbrigd (the servant of Bridget) is evidently of Celtic ori
gin, and a name not unfrequent in the annals of these coun
tries. One of the churches in the Isle of Man is dedicated in
honour of St. Bridget, as well as the nunnery near Douglas.
My own idea still is that the ae in smithae Has been dropped
on account of the next word eaisti beginning -with e, and the
two words smithaeeaisti read together would not sound very
different from smitheaisti. Hence I shall prefer retaining
smith as an appellative, considering it as in the genitive in
apposition with the name athakans, and give, as the result
the following translation : — " Malbrigd, the son of Athakan,
the smith, raised (or caused to be raised) this cross for his
soul. His betrothed caused Gaut to chisel it in Man."
In any case, the great advantage of reading augala to chisel
with a mullet, instead of auk ala and all, will be apparent.
First it gets rid of the false grammar of regarding the word
GAUT as a nominative, and then sets aside the presumption that
Gaut was the earliest cross maker, and the only one in Man of
his day. This suggestion is entirely due to Mr. Carr.
It is well to note that the name of the Isle of Man on this

26 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
cross is spelt maun, showing that it was anciently pronounced
broad, and thus bringing it into closer connection with the
name Mona, the Roman appellation of the island.
II. I will take next the inscription on a very much worn and
defaced cross, which stands on a green near the churchyard
gate of Kirk Andreas, and which also is the work of Gaut.
The first and last portions of the inscription are too much
injured to be read with any certainty, but we may make out
distinctly. CEUS : THANA : AP : UPAIG : PAUTHUE : SIN : IN : GAUTE : GIETHI I
SUNE : BiAENAE. (See fig. Il) . The word before " Crus" was
almost certainly Raisti, but the name 'has disappeared. The
translation would be
" (NN erected) this cross to Ufeig, his father, but Gaut
Bjornson made it."
After " Sunr Bjarnar" (Bjornson, the son of the bear) occur
some runes which look like Guh Cult.
Mr. Carr has pointed out that "kobbi" signifies a seal or sea-
calf, and that "culi" may stand for "queli", i.e., MUer. Hence if
the reading be " cub culi," seal killer, it may be an agnomen
of Gaut, indicating that he had previously been in his youth a
noted seed hunter, though after his residence in Man becoming
a stone cutter.
I take next the inscriptions on three crosses, all of which I
believe to Have been the work of one and the same artist,
Thorburn, a name still permanent in the Isle of Man.
My reasons for coming to the conclusion that they are all the
work of this artist are that on all three of them occurs the
same remarkable lacertine ornament, and on all are the words
risti for raisti, aft for aftir, and thono for thana.
III. The first of the three is that on the fragment of the Oter
cross in the midst of Kirk Braddan churchyard. It reads (see
fig. in) — UTE : EISTI : CEUS : THONO : APT : PEOKA : PATHUE : SIN :
IN : THUEBIAUEN : SUNE.
" Oter (ov Otter) erected this cross to his Father Frogat, but
Thorbjorn (or Thorburn) son of (NN made it)."

OP THB ISLE OP MAN. 27
The name of Thorburn's father and the word girthi " made
it" are broken off, but no doubt these were the words originaUy
there. There was an Oter (Otter or Octar) appointed Viceroy of
Man by Magnus Barbeen in 1098, and this date agrees with
the period (the tenth and eleventh centuries) assigned to the
majority of the Manx crosses by Professors Miinch and Wor
saae. Gaut was probably the maker of most of the earlier
crosses in the tenth century, and Thorburn, whose crosses are
more elaborately finished and dialect somewhat different, may
have been an artist of the latter part of the eleventh or the
beginning of the twelfth century.
IV. Alongside of the Oter cross is another of like design but
more perfect, viz., the Thorlaf (or Dragon) cross, the inscrip
tion on which is very perfect and legible. It runs thus (see
fig. iv)  THUELABE : NEAKI : EISTI : CEUS : THONO : APT : PEAK :
SUN : SIN : BEUTHUE : SUN : BABES.
"Thorlaf Neake erected this cross to Feake His son. Brother's
son of Jaf."
V. The third of Thorburn's crosses is the magnificent Joalf
cross at the churchyard gate of Kirk Michael, the inscription
on which is very plain, and reads (see fig. v) — jualpe : sune :
THUEULPS : bins : EAUTHA : EISTI : CEUS : THONO : apt : PEITHU :
MUTHUE : SINA :
" Joalf the son of Thorjolf the Red erected this cross to His
Mother Frida."
VI. Having taken nowthe inscriptions on five ofthe crosses,
of which we believe the makers to Have been Gaut and Thor
burn, we will take an inscription which contains also the name
of the maker of the cross, but no other name.
It is on a fragment of the lower portion of a cross which
stands in a corner on the south side of the church of St. John
the Baptist near the Tynwald-hiU. THe inscription is very.
much worn and defective both at the beginning and end (see
fig. vi). The four first rones arc tolerably plain, but the next

28 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
four are very imperfect, and the great similarity of the runes
for R and U, as I Have before observed, throws some doubt
over the reading. Mr. Kneale Has proposed Ino : Sunr, "Ino's
son." This will require us to read the fourth rune, as two dots
or a cross for the separation of the word instead of S, but a very
close and repeated inspection of casts leads me stiU to read the
fourth rune as 8, and then after the 8 there are certainly more
runes than JJNB. That the last rune is R, I have Httle doubt,
aud that the letter after 8 may be Z7is not improbable, bnt
there are still two letters remaining, of which the first may be
R or U, and the other I, E, A, B, 0, or N. The inscription
will then read inosruie : eaist : eunae : these : aftie ; i. e.,
" Inosruir carved these runes to (NN)."
VII. We have still another Manx cross-maker's name, but
upon a work of which he has no need to be proud, for it is a
mere slab of clay schist, with a very rude figure of a cross and
glory upon it, and the runes are scrawled over it, up, down, and
crosswise on both sides of the slab with little apparent con
nection between them.
On one face of the slab at the top and running upwards we
have the word "Cru," part of the word crus, cross. Under-
ueath it, running downwards, isuceist, Jesus Christ, placed
where tho body of our Lord would be on the cross, and near the
bottom, running slantwise, thueith, Thurith, then, on the
edge at the bottom, eaist x eunbe, carved the runes.
On the other face of the slab we have a number of words
placed up and down (^ovtTTpocfiTjSov) , the connection of which it
is difficult to make out. On the right hand side of the face, as
we look at it, running downwards and very faintly traced, are
simply the runes am x i, the fragments of two words; run
ning upwards there aro ugigat (or agegat) x asuie x athi-
GEiT, on the opposite edge, running upwards, we read sune X
eaisti X APTiR X sun X SIN A (see fig. vn), and then running
downwards the word muekiblu.
The letters are all badly formed and much worn, being on

OP the isle op MAN. 29
the face of the stone, which was exposed and knocked about for
some time on a piece of rock-work in a garden at Kirk Con
chan. The strokes in the runes, which should be vertical,
slope considerably, and the side strokes are often too much
prolonged. Hence we can readily read the word "Ugigat" as
" Agegat," which, as Mr. Carr has well remarked, will enable
us to give some meaning to this otherwise obscure inscription.
For " Agegat " may be an abbreviated form of " Agegnat,"
which means over against, then "Asuir" may be for " Osuir,"
onr. The grammar requires that we should read " Aftir Sun
Sin, not " Sina," and this we may properly do, for the " a " is
in fact separated from the " Sin " by a line forming a portion
of .the rude figure ofa cross scratched on the face ofthe stone,
and this line may be considered as equivalent to the usual mark
separating words. We can then further regard this " a " as a
preposition governing the word " Murkiblu," though it is on
the other side of the slab, and "Murkiblu" may be read as
"Murkibla," signifying mirk-blue or dark-blue, i.e., mourning.
Further, we may observe that a portion of the slab (doubt
less containing some words before " Agegat ") is broken off.
Hence the inscription may be put together thus : — ¦
" . . . AM X I . . . AGEGAT X ASUIR X ATHIGRIT X . . . SUNE
X EAISTI X APTlE X SUN X SIN X A X MURKIBLA, and WO Cail
then translate it.
" . . . . am I . . . . (lies buried) over against our Athigrit,
(NN's) son erected (this) to his son, in mouming."
The inscription, though imperfect, is thus rendered intel
ligible, and is one full of affection and sad remembrance.
VIII. I am not aware of the names of any other makers occur
ring on the Manx crosses, but probably there was the name of
one upon the cross, a fragment of which is in the garden of the
vicarage at Jurby. I am not without Hope that the remainder
of the cross may still be discovered. The portion of the in
scription remaining (written ^ovaTpo^-qhov) reads thus (see
fig. viii).

30 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
" . . . EU : SUN : IN : ONON : RAITI : APT : PAITHUE : BEU.
"... Ro's Son, but Onon erected it to his Father's Brother."
Ru may be merely the termination of a name or the name
itself. In either case it seems to be connected with the maker
of the cross, whoever he may Have been. " Sun" must be in
the accusative case. The "Raiti" seems misspelt for "raisti,"
raised ; if we could read it " raist," carved, then we should
Have Onon as another cross maker. The "Bru" is either part
of the word Bruthur, or of the name of the father of Onon. ,
I will pass more rapidly over the remaining inscriptions,
which, with one exception, are ofa less interesting character.
IX. On the cross which I have called the Sandulf cross in
Andreas churchyard is the following inscription (see fig. ix).
SAND : ULP : EINS : SUAETI : EAISTI : CEUS : THONA : APTIE : AEIN :
BIAUEK : KUINO : SING.
" Sandulf the Swarthy erected this cross to his wife Arin-
bjorg." THe most remarkable part of this inscription is the division
of the names Sandulf and Arinbjorg each into two words, just
as Mail Brigdi is separated in inscription i. On the cross is
the figure of a female, perhaps Arinbjorg, on* horseback.
X. On a very beautiful and almost perfect cross which stands
in the churchyard of the old parish church of Ballaugh, is the
following inscription, which runs up one side of the face of the
fust of the cross, and into the cavity between the arms (see
fig. x).
THOELAIBE : THOEIULB : SUNE : EAISTI : CES : THONA : AIPTIE : ULB ;
SUN : SIN.
" Thorlaf, the son of Thorjolf, erected this cross to Olave
his son."
In order apparently to save space, the carver has omitted
the rune for U in Crus, crowded the runes Ulb (Olave) and put
Sun Sin in the head of the cross. And yet he writes Aiftir
for Aftir.
XI. On a cross which had formed the doorstep of Braddan

OP THE ISLE OP MAN. 81
church, but which is now placed in the midst of the church
yard, we Have the following very nearly perfect inscription
(see fig. xi) : —
THURKETIL : EAISTI : CEUS : THANO : AFT ; UPAIG : SUN : KLINAIS.
" THorketil erected this cross to Ufeig Klinaison."
There is some doubt about the first name, though the first
syUable seems very like Thur, and the next five upright marks
appear to me to stand best as the runes for ketil. Mr. Kneale
has remarked on the number of Norse names beginning with
Thor, as Thorbjorn, Thorfinnr, THorketil, Thorstein, Thorvaldr,
to which we may add from the above inscriptions Thorlaibr and
Thoriulb. To my eye the runes in this inscription altogether
look most like Thurketil, and I adopt this name. The termi
nation keti,l is very frequent in Norse, and Has been corrupted
in EngHsh into kettle. Thus there are in a parish in Suffolk
with which I am acquainted the names Tirltettle (THorketil),
Ashkettle (Osketil), and Rinkettle (Runketil). The two first
Norse names occur on Manx crosses, and in the same Suffolk
parish there is also the Norse name Feake, the Peak of the
Braddan cross.
XII. On the fragment of a cross originally at Kirk Michael,
but now in the Museum at Distington, we have the singular
inscription (see fig. xn)
EE : OSKETIL : VILDI : I : DEIKU : AITH : SOAEA : SIIN.
The Scandina-vian savans read this askitil : vilti : i : triqu :
AITHSOARA : siiN, translating it — ¦
" Whom Askitil deceived in security, contrary to his pledge
of peace."
A close examination of the cast of this stone enabled me to
detect an ee at the beginning, and the stop between " Aith"
and " Soara," which I pointed .out to Mr. Carr, and the result
of the amended reading has led to some valuable hints as to
the translation, and given a totally different character to the
inscription. I would first observe^ as I Have done in the table pf Alpha-

32 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
bets appended to my Runic and other Monumental Remains,
that the Manx alphabet contains no rune for h. The first word,
therefore, in this inscription " Er" is put for " Her," here.
Next, the third word, " vildi," is derived from " vila," to
be-wail, and is not to be read for " viUdi," from " villa"," to
beguile, deceive or seduce.
The fifth word must be read " driku", drink, and " i driku"
will mean in a drinking, i. e., in a funereal feast, which we
know was always accompanied with ale drinking amongst the
Norse and Saxons.
The next word, " Aith," is most probably a female proper
name. Then "Soara" is an old form of spelling for "Svara," a
rnotker-in-laiv, the Latin socrus.
Siin is another method of representing the long sound of the
I in SIN.
Putting all these readings together we get the inscription as,
EE : OSKETIL : VILDI : I : DRIKU : AITH : SOARA : SIIN.
" Hei'e Osketel bewailed in a drinking feast Aitha his
mother-in-law." xm. We have at Kirk Michael fragments of three crosses
bearing inscriptions (see figures xm, xiv, and xv).
The first is in the vestry of Kirk Michael Church, geims :
INS : SAURTi. " Grims the Black."
XIV. The next, which is in the churchyard wall, is SVIG:
EISTI : CEUS : THNA : EPT : EUMUN. " Svig erected this cross to
Romon." The Svig is not very plain. On another fragment of the
same cross we have simply the letters nt.
XV. The third inscription also on the churchyard wall is
CEUS : THNA : APTIE. " This cross to ."
XVI. In the walls of the nave of Peel Cathedral is built the
fragment of a cross bearing this inscription (see fig. xvi)-^
... us : THENSI : EFTIE : ASEITHI : KUNU : SINA : DUTUE : UT . . .
EAIST.

OP THE ISLE OP MAN. 33
FiUing up the inscription as far as we can, it may be translated
" (AB erected) this cross to his wife Asrith, the daughter of
Oter; (CD) carved (the runes)."
The first three runes in Dutur are imperfect, and the word
may be Mutur, " Mother."
The name Oter has before been noticed on the Braddan
cross. If the stone were extracted from the wall of the
Cathedral we might perhaps be able to form a conjecture from
the style of ornamentation as to whether the two Oters were
the same person.
XVII. The word Kunu for Kuinu " Wife'^, seems to point to
a later dialect, which we have in the next inscription which is
on that cross on the churchyard wall of Kirk Michael, which
has been before noticed as having a more foreign aspect than
the other Manx crosses, and the runes upon which are spoken
of by Professor Miinch as being of a later date, diSering from
the older Manx runes in the letters A, D, N, and S.
NIAL : LUMGUN : EAISTI: CEUS : THANA : EPTIE : MAL : MUEU : PUSTEA:
SINA : DOTIE : DUPGALS : KONA : OS : ATHISI : ATI.
In my Runic and other Monumental Re-mains, etc., I trans
lated Kona " Keen," following Professor Miinch, though
differing from him in the reading and translation in other
respects. I have more lately been informed by my friend
David Forbes, Esq., F.R.S., a Manxman and brother to the
late much lamented Professor Bd. Forbes, that in the wild
and more primitive interior of Norway the word Kona is still
used for Wife, to which the Kunu of the previously named in
scription approximates. Further than this, Kona is not the geni
tive, as it ought to be if rendered JTeem, and agreeing •wi'iih.Bufgals.
It is also questionable if such a word as " os" occurs in the
accusative for -whom; but, remembering that the Manx had no
rune for h, it may weU be put for " Hos," i. e., " huoes," in the
genitive signifying of -whom or -whose.
The translation of the inscription will then be —
"Niel Lumgun erected this cross to Maelmore, His foster
D

34 THE EUNIC INSCEIPTIONS
child, the daughter of Dugald, whose wife (widow) Athisi he
possessed." This makes very plain sense. Niel Lumgun married Athisi,
the widow of Dugald; hence Maelmore, the daughter of
Dugald by Athisi, would become the step-daughter or foster-
child of Lumgun. Mr. Carr, objecting to Athisi as a proper
name of a woman, conceives that it may be put for the word
ATViSTi, whioh is dative and ablative, from ATVIST, " existence"
or "being", and would render the latter part of the inscription
"whose wife (or widow) in lifetime he had".
In an extract, apparently from the Niala Saga, contained in
the Antiquitates Scandicce, we learn that in the year 996 the
Nialsons Grim and Helgi, together with one Kari, slew in Man
Dungal, son of the King of Man, and that in 1014 one Gunnr
Lambasonr was slain by Kari in Rossey. The Niel Lumgun
of the above inscription looks so like Gunnr Lambasonr that we
might possibly connect him or his kin with it. The inscription
joins a Niel Lumgun with a Dugald, and Kari slew both a
Dugald and a Gunnr Lambasonr. If this Dugald were the son
of the King of Man in 996, he was son of Godred III and brother
of Reginald II, of the line of Orry. But all the names are so
common in Manx history of that date that it is quite unsafe to
connect these monuments with any particular persons. There
was a Helgi, King of Man in 894; and according to the
Egilla Saga one Nial or Neil was king in 914, and we have
before (inscription xm) met with the name Grim, but we have
no right to connect the Grim of that inscription -with the Grim
the son of Nial and brother of Helgi of the Niala Saga.
In connection with the supposition that the Dugald of our
inscription might be the son of Goddred III and an elder
brother of Reginald II, it may be well to note that, as before
observed, the Manx having no rune for h, the ATI of the inscrip
tion may be put for hati, signifying "called" or "named", and
the KONA may be translated in the higher sense of " Queen".
Hence kona os athisi ati might even be rendered " Queen by

OP THE ISLE OP MAN. 35
US in lifetime called". We can well imagine Maelmore, the
granddaughter of Godred III, to be called "Queen" on the
death of her father Dugald. Perhaps she died soon after her
father. Her step-father, Niel Lumgun, who erected the cross,
would certainly be the enemy of Kari who slew Dugald, and
so afterwards engaging with him in Ross, was Himself kflled
by the hand of the slayer of his step-daughter's own father.
This cross may therefore have been erected to a Queen of Man,
whose name was Maelmore.
XVIII. The only remaining Manx Runic inscription, as far as
at present known, is that which is given in Camden's Britannia,
Gibson's edition, p. 1458, and which is from a stone said to
have been built into the wall of the old church of Kirk
Michael. It is in the same later Manx Runes as the last
noticed inscription. Casts of it are in the possession of Sir
Henry Dryden, Bart., of Canons Ashby, and in the Museum
of the Archseological Institute, which were taken by Mr.
BaUey. The stone cannot now be found. THe inscription,
which runs thus, is imperfect : —
STEA : BS : LAIPA : FUSTEA : GUTHAN : THAN : SON : ILAN. (See fig.
XVIII.) The "Stra" must be part of "Fostra," and in the accusative
case. The "Guthan" wiU be the same as "Godhan" or "Good-
Han," good, whilst the "Han" may be put for "lUan," ill or evil.
Mr. Carr thinks that the ES leipa may be read as a com
pound word ISLEIPA, the accusative of isleipi, ice-giant; and
that the word Eft may Have come before the first Fostra ; and
that " A," towards, is understood before Than. He proposes,
therefore, to read the inscription (eft : fo) : stea : isleifa :
POSTEA : GUDHAN : (a) : THAN : SON : ILAN, and translate it —
" To foster father Isleif, the good foster father, towards an
evil son."
I can conjecture no better rendering for this obscure and
fragmentary inscription.
d2

36

IV.

RUSHEN ABBEY IN THE ISLE OF MAN.
BY THE EBV. J. G. CUMMING, M.A., P.G.S.
The ruins of Rushen Abbey, or of the Abbey of St. Mary of
Russin, are situated on the western bank of the Silverburn,
close by the village of BallasaUa, in the parish of Malew, and
Sheading of Rushen, two miles north of Castletown, Isle of
Man. This abbey was an offshoot of the Abbey of St. Mary of
Furness, which received a grant of lands in the Isle of Man
from Olave Godredson, King of Man and the Isles, in or about
the year 1134. The original charter of Olave, granting these
lands to Furness Abbey, does not appear, but reference is
made to it in another charter of the same king, and of that
same year (1134), which is preserved amongst the Chartce
Miscellanece in the office of the Duchy of Lg,ncaster (vol. i, fol.
30 ; see also vol. vii, Manx Society, p. 1), granting for ever to
the Abbey of St. Mary of Furness the election of the Bishop
of Sodor and Man. These grants were subsequently confirmed
by Godred and Reginald, Kings of Man in 1154 and 1188, and
by a bull of Eugenius III to Furness Abbey in 1162, and
further by bulls of Urban III in 1186, and Celestine III in 1194.
It is also stated in the Chronicon Mannice et Insularuvi (writ
ten by the monks of Rushen Abbey), under date 1134, that
" Olavus Rex dedit Yvoni Abbati de Furness, partem terre
sue in Mannia ad abbatiam constituendam in loco qui vocatur
Russin". It appears. However, from the chartulary of Furness,

EUSHEN ABBEY IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 37
that this grant of lands had in the first instance been offered
to the Abbey of Rievalle or Rivaulx, — " Certa terra in Mannia
data fuit Abbatie de Rievalle ad construendam Abbatiam de
Russin, postea tamen data fuit Abbatie Furnesie ad constru
endam eam de ordine Cisterciensi ubi modo scituata est et sic
non de Rievalle sed de Furnesio exi-rit."
In the aforesaid bull of Eugenius III mention is also made
of a monastery of St. Leoc in the Isle of Man, — " In Mannia
ex dono nobilis viri Olavi, Regis Insularum, terras de Carnec-
let usque ad Monasteriam Sancti Leoc cum appendiciis suis";
from which we must conclude either that the Abbey of Rushen
was originally known by the name of St. Leoc, or that another
monastery Had previously existed in the Isle of Man, which
became absorbed in that of St. Mary of Rushen. Some coun
tenance is given to this latter supposition by the statement of
Saoheverell in his Short Survey of the Isle of Man (p. 34, vol. i,
Manx Society), that " one Mac Marus, a person of great
prudence, moderation, and justice, in the year 1098 laid the
first foundation of the Abbey of Rushen in the town of Balla-
salley"; and He goes on further to say (p. 36) that " Olave,
the third son of Goddard Crovan, anno 1134, gave the Abbey
of Rushen, some years before begun by Mac Marus, to Evan
(Ivo), Abbot of Furness, which was to serve as a nursery to
the church." Unfortunately, SachevereU has not referred us
to his authorities in support of this statement.
It appears. However, not improbable that some religious
house had existed on the site afterwards occupied by Rushen
Abbey, and at a date prior to 1134, from the circumstance
that in the Chronicon Mannioi, though mention is made of the
grant of lands in 1134, no notice occurs of the erection of build
ings until 1192, when the monks transferred themselves to
Douglas for four years, during which they were engaged in
enlarging their accommodation at Rushen. The church of the
fraternity was not completed and consecrated untfl 1257, in
the episcopate of Richard Bishop of the Sudereys, in the fifth

38 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
year ofthe reign of Magnus Olaveson, when Simon was abbot.
(See Chronicon Mannice, anno 1257.) We Have, however, the
records of interments, within the Abbey, of several iUustrious
persons prior to this last date, who were chiefly connected with
the royal family in Man. Thus Reginald, Bishop of Sodor and
Man, nephew to Olave Kleining, King of Man, was buried
here in 1225; so were King Olave Godredson (Olave the Black)
in 1237, and his son Reginald in 1248; also the Norwegian,
Jarl Gospatrick, in 1240. After this, the last Norwegian King
of Man, Magnus, was interred in the abbey in 1265.
It is not improbable that Olave Kleining Himself was trans
ferred Hither after his barbarous murder by his nephew, Regi
nald Haroldson, at Ramsey in 1154, as there is no account
given in the Chronicon Mannice of his interment elsewhere, and
the monks of that religious foundation would doubtless feel
anxious to have within the precincts of their House the body of
their chief patron.
The so-called "abbot stone" of Eushen is evidently the
coffin-lid of some military person, and of the fourteenth cen
tury, as will be seen on referring to the representation of it
given in my Runic and other Monumental Remains of the Isle
of Man, plate xm, fig. 43. Its original site is not known, as
it has been shifted from time to time in the garden where it
now lies buried. It was, however, dug up for the inspection
of the members of the Cambrian Archasological Association on
the occasion of their visit in the year 1865. One would have
thought it more desirable to place it in the vaulted passage,
shortly to be mentioned, where it would be protected from the
rain; and might, if necessary, be also secured from mischievous
persons by an iron railing.
The present remains of the Abbey are in such a state that,
without an extensive exploration of foundation waUs, any satis
factory assignment of its various portions seems hopeless.
The establishment must, however, have been very extensive.
There are undoubted evidences of its having been fortified.

THE ISLE OP MAN.

39

Chaloner's drawing, made about two centuries ago, is so rude
and imperfect that little more is to be leamt from it of the
original arrangements, than from an inspection of the existing
ruins. There were, according to the drawing, five towers, all
of them pierced with square-headed openings, built of rude
masonry, and exhibiting no decided architectural details. Of

these five, three alone now remain, which have been partially
converted into appendages to two modern dweUing-houses.
The only decided architectural detail is the plain chamfered
arch given in the cut, existing in one of the towers which

40 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
formed a part of the church. . Making allowance for the nature
of the building materials found on the island, and the little
progress which architecture could have made in such a remote
and inaccessible spot, it may be assigned, in spite of its older
appearance, to the period when the monks restored or rebuilt
the church, namely the middle of the thirteenth century.
A small, single light, of more doubtful date, is also here
given. It exists in the exterior face of the wall above.
At a spot which we might conclude to be the western end
of the Abbey Church, we have a remarkable portion of a
vaulted passage. It may have been simplj the substructure
of some part of the domestic buildings, though there are ap
pearances about it leading to a suspicion that it may, in some
way, have been connected with the crypt. On one of the key

stones of the arch there are traces of a socket, from which
might Have been suspended the iron hook of a corpse-Hght ;
and it is, moreover, certain that the remains of bodies have
been found in the same spot. Here also is said to have been
the entrance to a subterranean passage leading to Rushen
Castie. To make such a passage must have caused no Httle
trouble to the excavators in those days, as they would have
had to tunnel through two miles of hard mountain Umestone.
There are, however, few abbeys or casties without a simflar
legend, and of the same amount of credibiUty.
A large, well-proportioned hall remains neariy intact, save a
part of one of the sides, which Has been rebuilt. At first sight
it might be taken as the refectory, but was more probably in
tended for the use of the lay brethren or strangers.

*• '•'V c

V/

./?¦*'

"¦i-ai./u//}r-

RUINED TOWEKj RUSHEN ABBEY, ISLE OF MAN.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 41
There is also remaining one well-proportioned tower, of
somewhat moderate dimensions, engaged in the curtain waU
which once surrounded the monastery. On each of two of its
sides, commanding the curtain, has been an opening which
projected on rude but bold corbeling. (See the cut.) Whether
these openings were simply windows, or intended for defence
of the curtain, or even used as latrince (although the situation
would in that case be singular), is a matter of doubt.
As already stated, it is by no means easy to form any
opinion as to the date of these remains of the Abbey, from the
absence of all safe indications, the rudeness of the material,
and the scarcity of contemporaneous structures in the island.
The tower at Bishop's Court, although somewhat different in
proportions, is probably of the same date. Rushen Castle it
self, notwithstanding the antiquity popularly assigned to it, is
probably not older thau the thirteenth, and more Hkely, is of
the fourteenth, century, although its original form of a plain,
square keep, before the additions to its four faces, points to
the period of Newcastle and Rochester Castles. THe discre
pancy may be, perhaps, explained by the circumstances of its
builders being Scandinavian. It has, at least, been said to
bear a striking resemblance to the Castle of Elsinore.
With regard to the other ecclesiastical buildings which may
have to be compared with Rushen Abbey, we may note that,
whilst no portion of the Cathedral at Peel appears to be earlier
than the thirteenth century, the tower and nave belong to the
fourteenth. The only remaining portions of the Friary of
Bechmaken, in Kirk Arbory (or Kirk Cairbre), founded by the
Grey Friars in 1373, are evidently of fifteenth century work.
On the whole, it may be suggested that the remains at
Rushen Abbey, or at least the greater part of them, belong to
the thirteenth century. We may assign, perhaps, some small
portion to the fourteenth. A few tiles have been found which
are nearer the fifteenth than the fourteenth.
As to the original extent of the buildings, although not as to

42 RUSHEN ABBEY IN
their age, some information may be obtained from the account
of the lead, timber, slate, etc., of the Abbey sold at its dissolu
tion, and which are given in RoUs 32, 34, 36, 37 Henry VIH,
formerly at Carlton Ride, and now doubtlessly in the Record
Office. In one of the Rolls is given an interesting account of the
silver plate sold to the Earl of Derby for the sum of £38 : 8 : 8;.
amongst which occur the foUowing items, viz., " four chahces,
one crouche {i.e., the abbot's pastoral staff), one censer, one
cross, two little Headless crosses, one ship {navicula), one
Hand and one byshope's head (probably reliquaries), four
cruets, eleven spoons, with two standing cups, two pocula
(called ale-pottes) with covers, one flat pece, one salt, two
masers (wooden drinking cups silver mounted), and one pix of
silver." A computus of the demesnes property of the Abbey, occurs
in a Roll, 1540-41, a transcript of which is in the possession of
Mark Quayle, Esq., the present Clerk of the Rolls in the Isle
of Man, and which I had printed in extenso in my Story- of
Rushen Castle and Rushen Abbey. It is given below."
If, however, so httle can be ascertained of the age and extent
of Rushen Abbey, the same, fortunately, cannot be said of the
little adjoining bridge caUed the " Crossag," buflt, no doubt,
by the improving Cistercian monks. From its retire.d situation,
fortunately, it Has been spared improvements, or any serious
alterations ; so that we have here an example of a thirteenth
century bridge nearly in the same state as it was left by the
builders. On account of its picturesque position at the foot
of the miU-dam, which may have been raised by the Cistercians
themselves, it is well worth the notice, not merely of the anti
quarian, but also of the ordinary tourist. Its breadth in the
centre does not exceed three feet three inches in the clear,—
a space evidently pointing to times when ordinary carts were
not in use.
One of the arches on the opposite side to that given in the

THE ISLE OP MAN. 43
accompanying accurate illustration by Mr. Blight, has been
subsequently repaired and a plain semicircular arch substituted
for the pointed one (see plate) .
At one end (the westem) of the bridge wiU be seen a small
subsidiary arch somewhat of the Caernarvon type, but an ori
ginal portion of the structure. From its smallness, as well as
from the material at hand, such an arrangement is so natural
that it may be assigned to any time, and may weU give the
idea of the more regular Caernarvon (or, as it is sometimes
called, the square-headed trefoil), which subsequently was in
many cases adopted, for its appearance as well as for its con
venient form. We Have several doorways of this type in the
Castle of Rushen.

The following is the computus above referred. The original
is not at present to be found. Rolls of a similar nature are
preserved amongst the Ministers' Accounts, with the Aug
mentation Office Documents, in the Record Office : viz., a
Computus from April 15th to Michaelmas, 32 Henry VIll ;
Michaelmas, 33 Henry VIII, to the same feast 34 Henry VIII ;
the Hke accounts, 36 to 37 Henry VIII, and 37 to 38 Henry
VIII ; and a series of Rolls, five in number, from the acces
sion of Edward VI to the sixth year of his reign. The original
Roll, of which the portion relating to Rushen Abbey is sub
joined, may Have been lost at the fire at the Houses of Parlia
ment, the records of the Augmentation Office having been at
that period kept at Westminster. A portion of the Roll, as to
the Demesne Lands, Has been printed in Caley's edition of
Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. v, p, 256.
Russhing nuper Monasterium)
infra Insulam de Man. J
Computus Roberti Calcott deputati prenobilis Comitis Der-
bie, occupatoris terrarum et possessionum ibidem, a festo

44 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
Sancti MichaeHs ArchangeH, anno regni Henrici, Dei gratia
AngHe, Francie, et Hibernie Regis, fidei Defensoris, ac in
terris supremi capitis AngHcane et Hibernice Ecclesie, xxxiij'^",*
usque idem festum anno regni Regis predicti xxxiij, scihcet
per unum annum integrum. [1540-41.]
Arreragia nulla. Quia primus Computus dicti Computatoris.
Summa nulla.
FiEMA Terrarum Dominicalium. Sed respondet de xj. 1. xvj. s.
X. d. de firma scitus nuper monasterii cum edificiis, graun-
giis, stabulis, ortis, pomeriis, infra precinctum dicti nuper
monasterii existentibus, videlicet, pro firma scitus dicte nuper
domus cum edificiis, graungiis, stabulis, ortis, pomeriis, eidem
pertinentibus, continentis per estimationem j. acr. dim. iiij. s.
et uno clause terree arrabilis vocato the Kreketts, ac uno clause
vocato Bole Makketts continentibus per estimationem xl. acr.
XX. s. cum uno clause vocato Garland Hill continente per esti
mationem xxiv. acr. xij. s. ac uno clause vocato Wynowehill
continente per estimationem xviij. acr. ix. s. cum uno clauso
vocato Bouleton continente xxiv. acr. pasture arrabilis xij. s.
uno clauso vocato Grete Close jacente subtus Kirkmalewe ac ij.
parvis clausuris jacentibus juxta aquam in orientali parte
earumdem, continentibus per estimationem Ix. acr. pasture
xxx. s. cum uno clauso vocato Dalerache continente per esti
mationem xxxiv. acr. pasture xij. s. uno clauso vocato Grete
Barley fielde continente per estimationem xxx. acr. pasture xv. s.
cum uno clauso vocato Depefold continente per estimationem acr.
pasture iij. s. uno clauso vocato Littill Barlefold continente per
estimationem iv. acr. ao uno clauso vocato the Cot continente
per estimationem xvj. acr. x. s. uno clause vocato the Brome
continente per estimationem x. acr. v. s. uno clauso vocato
ReynehuUett continente per estimationem viij. acr. iv. s. uno
clauso vocato the Nuttfolds, et uno clauso vocato Cotters
grounde cum campo jacente sub le Broome ac the lawe Gayre
* Sic in the transcript, probably for 32nd Henry VIII.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 45
SkynnershiU diviso in iij. clausis, continentibus per estima
tionem XV. acr. vii. s. vi. d. cum uno clauso vocato Stockfeld
continente per estimationem xxiv. acr. pasture arr' xij. s. uno
clauso vocato the Horse Close continente per estimationem xv.
acr. vij. s. vj. d. uno clauso vocato White Fold cum una parcella
vocata Symondes Grounde, cum una parcella vocata Corens
Grounde, cum una alia parcella de le Horse Close, continenti
bus per estimationem vij. acr. terre arrabilis et pasture iij. s. vj. d.
ac uno clauso vocato Grete Belownde cum una parcella prati
eidem pertinente continentibus in toto xxvj. acr. xiij. s. et uno
clauso vocato Whynny Close cum una parva clausura continen
tibus in toto X. acr. v. s. ac uno clauso de Corse Meadowe
vocato Denysc Close continente per estimationem vj. acr. iij. s.
cum uno clauso vocato Littill Belownde continente per esti
mationem XX. acr. terr. x. s. et uno clauso vocato the Lond
Folds ajacente Skiprig, cum uno clauso vocato Calf Close, ac
cum uno alio clauso vocato Guley Felde, ac uno parcella prati
adjacentis, continentibus in toto xvj. acr. viij. s. ao cum uno
clauso vocato Skiprig continente per estimationem xx. acr.
pasture arr' x. s. ij. clausis de Corse Medowe called the Grete
Medowe continentibus per estimationem xx. acr. xx. s. et cum
uno parvo clauso jacente juxta le White Stone continente per
estimationem ij. acr. terr. xvj. d. In toto ut supra.
Summa. xj. £. xvj. s. x. d.
Parochia de Kirkmalewe infra Sheddinge de'
Russhinge. — Tenentes ad voluntateyn.
Et de xxviij.' £. xiiij. s. vij. d. de Redditibus et Pirmis
Tenencium ad voluntatem Domini Regis ibidem, solvendis
qualibet septimana, quantum capi potest, per coUectorem voca
tum Le More, ad hujusmodi recipienda assignatum, juxta anti-
quam consuetudinem Insule predicte ; ita quod coUecta perso-
luta foret inter festa Sancti Michaelis ArchangeH.* Videlicet,
* This obscure passage may be explained by the corresponding statement
in another EoU, as follows : — " De firmis tenencium ad voluntatem Domini

46 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
de WiUelmo Quayle pro uno tenemento cum pertinentfls per
tempus Computi vj. s. Johanne Brideson pro uno tenemento
ibidem per idem tempus, vj. s. Nicholao McQuayU pro tene
mento XV. s. Marke McStoyU pro tenemento iiij. s. De re
licta Gilberti Symyn pro tenemento ix. s. Johanne Kayecowe
pro tenemento vj. s. Johanne Andrewe pro tenemento xij. d.
Gilberto Kewyne pro tenemento vij. s. iiij. d. Patricco Quy-
deake pro tenemento iiij. s. Johanne Symen pro tenemento
ix. s. vj. d. Gybbon Gellyne pro tenemento vj. s. Paulo
Qaydeak pro tenemento iiij. s. viij. d. Johanne Dogane pro
tenemento iij. s. iiij. d. Johanne McQuayU pro tenemento
XV. s. Donoldo Fergher pro tenemento vj. s. Johanne Bell
pro tenemento xviij. d. Donold Symen et matre sua pro tene
mento vj. s. iij. d. Waltero Bell pro tenemento vj. s. iiij. d.
Johanne Taghertt pro tenemento xij. s. vj. d. Johanne Bell
pro tenemento ix. s. Waltero Bell pro tenemento vuj. s.
Donald Brideson pro tenemento per annum ix. s. Nele Dog-
Ham pro tenemento vj. s. viij. d. Uxore Rieardi Brideson pro
tenemento vj. s. viij. d. Uxore Rieardi Brideson pro tene
mento ix. s. WiUelmo Andrewe pro tenemento iij. s. inj. d.
Waltero Harrison pro tenemento x. s. viij. d. Fynloo Makk
kroUott pro tenemento iiij. s. Thoma Harrison pro tenemento
viij. s. Waltero Bell pro tenemento iiij. s. Thoma McKeyn
pro tenemento vj. s. xj. d. Relicta Finglo Fergher pro tene
mento xij. s. Johanne Brideson pro tenemento vj. s. Fynglo
Brideson pro tenemento iiij. s. vj. d; Waltero Taghert pro
tenemento iiij. s. vj. d. Fynglo Bell pro tenemento iiij. s. vj. d.
Fynglo Fergher pro tenemento x. s. vj. d. Esotto Inequisten
pro tenemento ij. s. Johanne Andrewe pro tenemento ix. s.
Eegis ibidem, solvendis per eosdem tenentes ad manus CoUeotoris vocati les
More, ad hoc colligendum deputati, qualibet septimana, quantum idem Col
lector de eisdem tenontibus in qualibet septimana coUigere potest, ita quod
quilibet tenens ibidem solvat totum annualem redditum suum per vel ante
festum S. Michaelis ArchangeH anno 34. Eegis predicti, iu clauso hujus com-
poti accidente." Le More, or The Moar, is a Manx parish officer, whose chief
duty now is to collect waifs and estrays, deodands and escheats.

THE ISLE OF MAN. 47
Marke Fergher pro uno tenemento ij. s. Finglo Fergher pro
uno tenemento vj. s. Reginald Harrison pro uno tenemento
xviij. s. Ricardo Fergher pro uno tenemento viij. s. Johanne
Blayne vj. s. viij. d. ReHcta Roger Mackelewe pro uno tene
mento iij. s. iiij. d. Edmund Mc elewe pro uno tenemento
uj. s. iiij. d. Danald Blayne pro uno tenemento vj. s. viij. d.
Johanne Brideson pro uno tenemento vj. s. viij. d. Mold Rus
seU pro uno tenemento xij. s. WiUelmo Stephenson pro uno
tenemento ij. s. Johanne McFinloo pro uno tenemento ij. s.
Patrie McFayll pro uno tenemento iiij. s. Johanne Pargher pro
uno tenemento iiij. s. WiUelmo Kayne pro uno tenemento
V. s. vj. d. Thoma Edwards pro uno tenemento iiij. s. Johanne
Gracye pro uno tenemento iiij. s. Johanne Quy Deake pro uno
tenemento iiij. s. Thoma Fergher pro uno tenemento v. s.
Walter Kayn pro uno tenemento vj. s. Henrico Ratcliffe pro
uno tenemento vj. s. Thoma Harrison pro uno tenemento
vj. s. Relicta Henrici Quanlye* pro uno tenemento xviij. s.
iiij, d. Jacobo Taylor pro uno tenemento v. s. Uxore Wil-
lelmi Smythe pro uno tenemento iiij. s. Reginald Barett
et Johanne Blyef pro uno tenemento v. s. Ricardo Halfall
pro uno tenemento v. s. Philippo Skylleskorn capellano
pro uno tenemento xxvij. s. vj. d. Thoma Russheton pro
tenemento cum pertinentis x. £. vj. s. viij. d. Roberto Lit
ter Land pro tenemento et terris xxxij. s. iiij. d. Johanne
A. Moore pro tenemento et terris xxxiij. s. iiij. d. In toto
ut supra ; annuatim solvendis ad festum Sancti Michaelis tan
tum. Bt de xij. s. iiij. d. de Firma unius Molendini aquatici
Bladorum vocati TenetJ Lake, in tenura Laurencii Kyghley,
persolvenda ad festum Sancti Johannis Babtiste tantum. Et de
X. s. de Firma unis Molendini Bladorum Aquatici, vocati Fer
gher Mill, in tenura Johannis Quideake, per annum solvenda
ad festum Sancti Johannis Babtiste tanturn. Bt de x. s. de
Firma Molend' Bladorum Aquatici vocat' Abbay Mill, et Grag
* Quantyne, in another account. t Oi' Jenet Lake ?
t Bailey, in another account.

48 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
Mill, cum uno croft eidem adjacen-te, in tenura Rogeri Deacon-
son, per annum solvenda ad Festum Sancti Johannis Babtistefi
tantum, et tenens tenetur reparari {sic) in omnibus.
Summa. xxxj. £. xvj. s. xj. d.,

Firma Cotagiorum de BallasaUa villa.
Et de xxxix. s. de Firma Cotagiorum in viUa de BallasaUa
scituatorum, prope et juxta Monasterium predictum ; videhcet,
unius cotagii in tenura Rieardi Dogan, x. d. unis cotagii in
tenura Donald Qwynne, xij. d. j. cotagii in tenura Wiflelmi
McQwynne, xviij. s. j. cotagii in tenura Willelmi Quidake ij. s.
j. cotagii in tenura Willelmi Smythe ij. s. j. cotagii in tenura
Rieardi Halsall iij. s. j. cotagii in tenura Johannis Fargher
viij. d. j. cotagii in tenura Nele Bell viij. d. j. cottagii in
tenura Walteri McGarmot iij. s. j. cotagii in tenura Johannis
Glover viij. d. j. cotagii in tenura Johannis Kyrre viij. d. j.
cotagii in tenura relicte nuper Henrici Quan tye xvj. d, j. cot
agii in tenura Thome Mason ij. s. j. cotagii in tenura Thome
McFingloe ij. s. j. cotagii in tenura Marke Wodds viij. d. j.
cottagii in tenura Johannis Taylor ij. s. j. cotagii in tenura
Relicte David McQwayne xvj. d. j. cotagii in tenura Roberti
Kedrawe xvj. d. j. cottagii in tenura Willelmi McQuayn ij. s.
j. cotagii in tenura Stephani McKedrawe xj. d. j. cottagii in
tenura Willelmi Fergher x. d. j. cottagii in tenura Rieardi
Fisher xvj. d. j. cottagii in tenura Thome Qwynne xvuj. d. j.
cottagii in tenura Mc gilhonyld iiij. s. j. cotagii in tenura
Roberti Walker xvj. d. In toto ut supra.
Summa. xxxix. s.
Parochia Sancti Germanic
de Glenfaba Sheding. \
Bt de x. 1. xix. s. v. d. de Redditiljus et Pirmis Tenenolunt
Domini Regis ad voluntatem, infra parochiam predictam.
Videlicet, Johannis Gierke pro uno tenemento cum pertinen-

the isle op man. 49
ciis, ad xij.* solvendis septimanatim, quantum capi potest.
Henrici Smythe pro uno tenemento xij. Willelmi McKayne
pro tenemento xv. s. iij. d. Johannis Qwayne pro tenemento
xij. s. vj. d. Finlo McGilcroste pro tenemento vij. s. vj. d.
Donold McQwayn pro tenemento vj. s. iiij. d. Thome Howard
pro tenemento iij. s. Johannis Haliwall pro tenemento iij. s.
Relicte Johannis Mc qwayn pro tenemento iiij. s. iiij. d. Gil
berti Colbyn pro uno tenemento iiij. s. iiij. d. Donald Qwhayn
pro uno tenemento iiij. s. iiij. d. Reginald McQwheyn pro uno
tenemento xviij. s. Willelmi McCayn pro uno tenemento
vij. s. iij. d. Johannis McKeyn pro uno tenemento vij. s. iiij. d.
Willelmi Stephenson pro uno tenemento xxxiij . s . iiij . d . Reginald
McOayn pro tenemento vj. s. vj. d. Johannis McGybrayce
pro tenemento vj. s. vj. d. Reginold McCayn pro uno tene
mento xij. s. WiUelmi McGilcrist pro tenemento iiij. s. Thome
McGflcrist pro uuo tenemento ix. s. Uxoris Petri Colbyn
vj. s. vj. d. pro tenemento suo. Roberti Colbyn pro tenemento
vj. s. vj. d. Donold McQwhayn pro tenemento viij. s. j. d.
Johannis Mc qwyane pro tenemento viij. s. j. d. Hugonis
Parker pro tenemento xxij. d. In toto ut supra.
Et de xvij. s. j. d. de Redditibus et Firmis Cotagiorum in
Holme towne, in Glen faba ; viz., de Richardo Ithell xx. d.
Uxore Petri Brevell iiij. d. Johanne Haworthe xvj. d. Wil
lelmo Norias xiiij. d. Johanne Hutchon ij. d. Maryano
Hynckyeij.d. Willelmo Ascogh, xiij. d. Willelmo Kerrett iiij. d.
Roberto Alayne vij. d. Johanne BoUand iiij. d. Constabilar'
viij. d. Cristiana Inecayne xxij. d. Rogero Thompson iiij. d.
Hugone Prescote v. d. Rogero Dawson xix. d. Thoma HoUand
iij. d. Recept' de le Pale xvj. d. Hugone perker ij. d. In toto
ut supra. Summa. xj. 1. xvj. s. vj. d,
Sulbye. Bt de xj. 1. iiij. s. viij. d. de Redditibus et Firmis Tenencium
* Sic, probably xij. s. The like omission appears to occur in the following
item. E

50 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
Domini Regis ad voluntatem ibidem, solvendis de septimana.
Videhcet, de Paulo McKrawe pro tenemento viij. s. Wfllelmo
McKrawe pro tenemento viij. s. Edmund McCrawe pro tene
mento vj. s. Paulo McCrawe pro tenemento v. s. Huyn
Standish pro tenemento xxiiij. s. Demyster pro clausura viij. s.
viij. d. Thoma Trowthton pro tenemento iiij. s. vj. d. Gilberto
McCarre pro tenemento iiij. s. vj. d. Gilberto Gawen pro tene
mento iiij. s. vj. d. WiUelmo Caysmyn pro tenemento vij. s.
vj. d. Patrie Cash pro tenemento v. s. viij. d. Gilberto Casy-
mound pro tenemento ij. s. Donold Kyllycorne pro tenemento
xij. s. Willelmo Kyllop pro tenemento ix. s. Paulo McKarram
pro tenemento xij. s. Johanne Thorman pro tenemento xij. s.
Willelmo McKewn ix. s. Willelmo McCashe ix. s. Patrie
McKillope pro tenemento vj. s. Ricardo McKillop pro tene?
mento viij. s. Thoma McKiUop pro tenemento vj. s. Thoma
McGarret pro tenemento vij. s. iiij. d. Willelmo McKillop pro
tenemento viij. d. Roberto McKerran pro tenemento v. s.
Edmund McKerron pro tenemento ix. s. Gilberto McOtter
pro tenemento v. s. Danold Kyllop pro cottagio xviij. d.
Marin' Ine Crayne pro cotagio vj. d. Relicta McQwyne pro
cotagio vj. d. et Bahe Calyworre Ine Casse vj. d. De vj. s. de
firma unis molendini ibidem hic non respondet, eo quod jacet
vastum et inoccupatum, et nil inde levatur per tempus unis
compoti, ex sacramento computatoris. In toto ut supra.
Summa. xj. 1. iiij. s. viij. d.
Skynscowe in parochia Sancti)
Lonani de Garf Sheding. j
Bt de Iv. s. viij. d. de redditibus et firmis tenencium Domini
Regis ibidem, solvendis septimanatim. Videhcet, de Gilberto
McCloyne pro tenemento xvj. s. iiij. d. Roberto Lownye pro
tenemento xij. s. Johanne McOtter pro tenemento iij. s. vj. d.
Patrie McFelys pro tenemento viij. s. uij. d. Johanne McFelys
pro tenemento iij. s. vj. d. Donald McFelys pro cotagio xviij. d.
Gilberto Lowneye pro cotagio xiiij. d. Patrick Lownye pro

THE ISLE OP MAN. 51
cotagio ij. s. ij. d. Johanne Lownye pro cotagio viij. d. et
Willelmo Lownye pro cotagio vj. d. In toto ut supra.
Summa, Iv. s. viij. d.
Spiritualitates .
Bt de vij. 1. vj. s. viij. d. de Firma totius Rectorie de Kirke-
criste in Sheding ; necnon omnium terrarum et tenementorum
quorumcumque infra parochiam de Kirkecriste predictam, dicte
nuper Domui pertinentium, nencon omnes et omnimodo decime
allecium' except omnino et reserv' omnes et omnimodo porciones
Episcopi exeuntes de Reotoria predicta, aceciam Decime j. ba-
telli Domino reservat' per annum ut supra; sicut dimiss' Owino
Norresse Clerico, per Identuram pro termino {blank) datam
anno Domini MD xxv*°; solvend' ad Festum pascHe tantum.
De decimis allecium captorum infra parochiam predictam, vide
licet, de qualibet cimba xij. d.. Hoc anno ml, quia nulla piscaria
ibidem accidebat. Et de iiij. 1. xij. s. de Firma Rectorie Ec
clesie parochialis de Kirk Harbary, alias de Sancto Columb,
sicut dimisse Johanni Gardiner ad voluntatem Domini, tantum
modo exceptis et reservatis porcionibus Episcopi et Vicarii per
annum ut supra, solvend' ad Festum Pasche tantum. Bt de
xvj. 1. xiiij. s. de Exitibus Rectorie de Kirkmalewe nuper in
manibus dicti nuper Monasterii, per annum ut supra. Bt de
hij. s. iiij. d. de Exitibus et proficuis Rectorie ecclesie paro-
chiaHs de Kirke Santon per annum, ut supra, sicut nuper in
manibus dicti nuper Monasterii, per tempus hujus compoti.
Et de Isvj. s. viij. d. de Firma Rectorie de Kirke lownan, in
tenura Jacobi Clerke per Indenturam, ut asserit, minime adhuc
visam, omnes et omnimodo proficue Rectorie, exceptis por
cionibus Episcopi et Vicarii per annum ut supra, solvend' ad
Festum pasche tantum.
Summa, xxx-iiij. I. xij. s. viij. d.
Summa TotaHs oneris, cvj. 1. ij. s. iij. d.
Feoda cum Salariis.
Idem computat in Feodis prepositorum, videlicet, Lez Ser-
e2

52 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
geaunts, videlicet infra parochiam Sancti Lupi xiij. s. iiij. d. ;
Glenfaba vj. s. viij. d.; Solbye vij. s. vj. d. et Skynscowe iiij.s.;
in toto pro uno anno integro finiente in Festo Sancti MichaeHs
ArchangeH infra tempus hujus Compoti accidente, xxxj. s. vj. d.
Et in Sallario Capellani celebrantis infra Castellum de Cas
tell Towne, ex antiqua Fudacione, ad Iiij. s. iiij. d. per annum,
videlicet, in allocacione Hujusmodi per tempus hujus compoti,
Hij. s. iiij. d. Et in Feodo Thome Norrisse capitalis senescalh
Terrarum ibidem, ad Ixvj. s. viij. d. per annum, videlicet in
allocacione Hujusmodi, per tempus Hujus compoti Ixvj. s. viij. d.
Et in Feodo Thome Sainesburye occupantis officium de le
Demester ibidem, ad xx. s. per annum, videlicet, in allocacione
hujusmodi per tempus hujus compoti, xx. s. Bt in Feodo
{blank) Contrarotulatoris Insule pro Factura Librorum dicta
rum, ad XX. s. per annum, videlicet in allocacione hujusmodi
per tempus Hujus Compoti, xx. s. Bt in Feodo dicti Thome
Sainesburye subsenescalli terrarum et Curiarum ibidem, ad
XX. s. per annum, videlicet in persolucione hujusmodi per tem
pus hujus compoti, xx. s. ; et in Feodo Roberti Calcott Recep-
toris terrarum dicti nuper Prioratus, ad Hij. s. iiij. d. per
annum, videlicet, in allocacione hujusmodi per tempus hujus
compoti, Iiij. s. iiij. d.
Summa. xiij. 1. iiij. s. x. d.
Et in denariis in Compote Willelmi BHthman Receptoris
Domini Regis ibidem, onerati ut pro totis denariorum summis
receptis per Thomam Comitem Derbie, de Exitibus et Reven-
cionibus Officu dicti Receptoris, ac per ipsum Thomam minime
solutis super Determinacionem hujus Compoti, — uij.'"' xij. 1.
xvij. s. V. d.
Summa, iiij .^^ xij. I. xvij. s. v. d.
Summa AUocacionum et Liberacionum predictarum cvj. 1.
ij. s. iij. d.
Que Summa Correspondet Summe totah predicte.
Bt equ'.*
* Probably for equat, or eguetur.

THE ISLE OF MAN. 53
(From the "Chronicon Mannise," Johnstone's Translation.)
LIMITS OP CHUECH LANDS IN THE ISLE OF MAN.
I.
This is the line that divides the king's lands from those be
longing to the monastery of Russin : — It runs along the wall
and ditch which is between Castleton and the Monks' Lands ;
it vrinds to the south between the Monks' Meadow and
M'Bwen's farm ; ascends the rivulet between Gylosen and the
Monks' Lands ; turns to Hentraeth ; goes round Hentvaeth
and TroUo-toft along the ditch and wall ; descends by the
ditch and wall to the river near Oxwath ; turns up the same
river to a rivulet between Ar-os-in and Staina ; goes down to
the valley called Fane ; mounts up the ascent of the HiU called
Wardfell ; descends to the brook Mourou ; ascends from the
brook Mourou along the old wall to Rosfell ; descends along
the same wall between Cornama and Tot-man-by ; descends
obliquely along the same wall between Ox-raise-herad and Tot-
man-by to the river called Corna. Corna is the boundary be
tween the king and the monastery in that quarter to the ford
which lies in "the Highway between Thorkel's farm, other
wise Kirk Michael, and Herinstad ; the line then passes along
the waU which is the limit between the above-mentioned Thor
kel's estate and Bally-sallacH; it then descends obhquely along
the same waU between Cross-Ivar-Builthan, and so surrounds
Bally-sallach ; it then descends from Bally-saUacH along the
waU and ditch to the river of Russin, as is weU known to the
inhabitants ; it then winds along the banks of that river in
different directions to the above-mentioned wall and ditch,
which is the Hmit between the abbey land and that belonging
to the castle of Russin. II.
This is the hne that divides the lands of Kirkercus from the
abbey lands :— It begins at the lake at Myreshaw which is

54 EUSHEN ABBEY IN
caUed Hesca-nappayse ; and goes up to the dry moor directly
from the place caUed Monenyrsana; along the wood to the
place caUed Leabba-ankonathway ; it then ascends to Roselan
as far as the brook Gryseth ; and so goes up to Glendrummy;
and proceeds up to the king's way and the rock called Carig-
eth as far as the Deep-pool ; and descends along the rivulet
and Hath-aryegorman; and so descends along the river Sulahy
to the wood of Myreshaw ; it incloses three islands in the lake
of Myreshaw ; and descends along the old moor to Duf-loch ;
and so winds along and ends in the place called Hescanakep-
page. III.
This is the line which divides the king's lands from those of
the abbey towards Skemestor : — It begins from the entrance
of the port called Lax-a; and goes up that river in a line under
the mill to the glynn lying between St. Nicholas Chapel and
the manor of Greta-stad ; it then proceeds by the old wall, as
is known to the inhabitants, along the winding declivities of
the mountains, till it comes to the rivulet between Toftar-as-
mund and Ran-curlin ; it then descends to the boundaries of
the manor called Orm's-house and Toftar^as-mund, and, as is
known to the country people, descends to the sea.

MINUTES OF THE PEEAMBULATION OF THE ABBEY TUEBARY.
SINE ANNO.
From the north corner of BoaUion Renny along an old
hedgestead to the gill near St. Mary's WeU, and from the said
Hedgestead to the westernmost of the three white stones on
the side of Barool in a direct line, and so down by a long slate
stone set up as a landmark, and across the old high-road by
three slate stones, and so down by the south-west corner of
the Folly Rent, and so across the new high-road at a large
slate stone on the said road, and another and a white stone on

THE ISLE OF MAN. 55
the opposite side of the ditch to the fern HiUock in the midst
of the Curragh, grown over with rushes, by a Hillock of soads,
to the joining of the rivulet of Soman Barowle and the Sbinan
Rowany, and so down the said rivulet, the Cop, near Barool
Mill, and so along the said Cop adjoining Keen Dhowag, and
joining Kirk Patrick at Keen Dhowag, and so along the same
as far as the same Oxloads, and then along the pathway ac
cording to a boundary of the parishes, passing by a great stone
opposite to Keon Slew Curragh, so to the south-west corner
of Curragh Potmine at two stones there fixed, and so along
the ditch and the edge of Pot-mine Curragh, joining Kirk
Marown ^o the north-east comer of Rensheant land, and along
the Cop from the said corner to Pot-mine rivulet, and so
along the rivulet to the corner of Balla Nicholas Rent, and
along the same to Shen Valley, and including Ton Vane's, the
Bolt Dallys to Monoul Gate, and so adjoining the Largy Intack,
and so along the corner of BalHn Renny aforesaid.

56

V.

ROBERT THE BRUS BEFORE RUSHEN CASTLE.
BY THE EEV. J. G. CUMMING, M.A., P.G.S.
In the Chronicon Mannioe et Insularum, written by the monks
of Rushen Abbey in the Isle of Man (see vol. iv, Manx Society,
p. 195), there occurs this entry under date a.d. 1313 : —
" Dominus Robertus rex Scociae applicuit apud Ramsa, vide
licet octo decimo die Maii cum multitudine navium et die
dominica sequenti transivit ad Moniales de Dufglas ubi per-
noctavit; et die Lunae sequenti fecit obsessionem circa castrum
de Russin, quod castrum dominus Dungawi Macdowal tenuit
contra prsediotum dominum regem usque diem Martis proxi-
mam post festum Sancti Barnabte Apostoli proximo sequenti,
et ipso die dictus dominus rex dictum castellum adquisivit."
It may be worth while to inquire what brought Robert the
Brus on this distant expedition to Rushen Castle, and who
was this " dominus Dungawi Macdowal" who held the fortress
against him for more than three^ weeks, viz., from May the
18th to June llth. The answer to the latter question gives,
as I think, the key to the former.
This Dungawi Macdowal (called in Camden's copy of the
Chronicon Mannice Dingawy, Dowil, ahd in the Annals of Ulster
"the Lord Donegal O'Dowill") was Duncan Macdougal, or
Duncan de Brgadia. He was the second son of Alaster de
Ergadia, Thane of Glasserie and Knapdale, and Lord of Lorn.
He is called by Chalmers " the most illustrious Celtic chief in
Galloway." He had made his escape to the Isle of Man with

EOBEET THE BEUS BEFORE RUSHEN CASTLE. 57
a great number of GaUovidians, in order to avoid the hostility
of Robert the Brus, who was following up His attacks upon
the Comyn family, with whom the Ergadias were closely con
nected, in their Gallovidian territories. (See Calendar of
Ancient Charters in the Tower of London, p. 121.) On His
father's side he was descended from Shomhairle (or Somerled)
Mac GUbert, Thane of Argyle, by his second wife, Affreca, an
iUegitimate daughter of Olave Kleining, king of Man. His
mother was the third daughter of John the first Red Comyn,
by Marian, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, and sister to
DevorgiUe. He was thus (like the Comyns) descended on
the female side from David Barl of Huntingdon, though his
grandfather, the first Red Comyn, founded his claim to the
Scottish throne by descent from Hexilda, grandaughter of
Donald Bane, king of Scotland. He was also third cousin to
Mary, daughter of Eugene de Brgadia, Lord of Lorn, and wife
of Reginald, king of Man, and afterwards Countess of Strathern.
A son of this Mary, viz., Malise, Earl of Strathern, married
Egidia Comyn, daughter of Alexander Comyn, Barl of Buchan,
and granduncle to this Duncan Macdougal. (See vol. x, Manx
Society, Appendices B and D.)
Hence he was not only closely united to the Comyns, the
great competitors with Robert the Brus for the crown of
Scotland, but had also a personal interest in the Isle of Man
by his connexions with its ancient kings. It should also be
noticed that it was a John Comyn (probably the second Red
Comyn, cousin to this Duncan de Ergadia, or Duncan Mac
dougal) who conquered the Isle of Man for the Scots at the
battle of Ronaldsway in 1270 (according to the Chronicon Man-
nice 1275). To which we may add that Isabella Beaumont,
eldest daughter and coheir of Alexander Comyn, Earl of
Buchan and Lord of Whitwic in Leicestershire, was at this
time (1313) actually Queen of Man; Her husband, Henry de
Beaumont, having in the previous year (1312) obtained a
grant of the island and its regalities for life from King Bd-

58 ROBERT THE BEUS
ward II of England. (See vol. x, Manx Society, p. 98, and
Appendix D.) John de Ergadia, the elder brother of this
Duncan, held large possessions in the Isle of Man, from which,
in consequence of the capture of Rushen Castle by Robert the
Brus, he was driven out, and he did not recover them tfll
1340. The Isle of Man, then, was evidently at this time the strong-
Hold of the Ergadias and the Comyns, — a kind of rallying
point to the most formidable enemies of the new dynasty. It
was, therefore, of extreme importance to Robert that he should
gain possession of it, and place it in the hands of those upon
whom he could rely. Hence we find, immediately afterwards,
that a charter was granted to Thomas Randolph, Barl of
Moray, to hold the Isle of Man under Robert the Brus. {Bot.
Orig. in Curia Scaccarii.)
After the foul murder of the second Red Comyn, in the
church at Dumfries, in 1307, His success at Bannockburn en
abled the Brus so to waste the heritage of the Comyns " that,"
says a chronicle of the age, " of a name which numbered at
one time three earls and more than thirty belted knights,
there remained no memorial in the land, save the orisons of
the monks of Deir." The Ergadias seem to have been more
fortunate; and though Duncan was driven from Rushen Castle,
and his brother John at the same time lost His Manx posses
sions, after a series of years they returned to the family ; and
it is somewhat remarkable that a descendant of John de Erga
dia, Patrick Cuninghame, Esq., H.K., should at the present
time be in possession of property which almost overlooks the
Castle of Rushen.
Looking at the strength of Rushen Castle as it now stands,
we can hardly believe that it was the same as that which was
taken by Robert the Brus in three weeks. Its architecture
seems to point to the time of the first three Edwards. There
are several square-headed trefoil doorways of the thirteenth
century type; but it is probable that its main features received

BEFOEE RUSHEN CASTLE. 59
their impress in the middle of the fourteenth century. The
ground plan of the keep may, however, have been of an earlier
and Norwegian date. It has plainly received many subsequent
modifications. The glacis is said to have been made under the
directions of Cardinal Wolsey, who was one of the guardians
of Edward Earl of Derby and Lord of Man, temp. Hen. VIII,
Ed. VI, Mary, and Elizabeth. James, the famous seventh
Earl of Derby, made additions to the Castle in 1645 ; and
several unsightly buildings Have been joined on to the keep
within the last twenty-five years. It is much to be desired
that an accurate ground plan of the Castle and precincts
should be made.

60

VI.

ANCIENT CHURCHES OF THE ISLE OF MAN,
PRIOR TO THE MIDDLE AGES.

BY J. R. OLIVER, M.D.

Ecclesiastical Histoet.
Among the group of islands known in former times as the Sud-
reyjar, stands prominently the Isle of Man. Anciently cafled
by the various names of Mona, Menavia, Eubonia, etc., and at a
later period Mannin, or the Island of Man, this small spot lying
in the Irish Sea, and centrally situated as respects the neigh
bouring shores, presents very peculiar and remarkable charac
teristics. Though of insignificant geographical dimensions,
being little more than thirty miles in length, and barely twelve
in breadth, it is rich in historic and archajological associations.
Formerly a kingdom, and to this day almost an independent
country. Having its own parliament, making its own laws, and
regulating its own domestic affairs, it presents the singular
spectacle of an island in the nineteenth century, in the heart
of the British dominions, retaining Scandinavian ceremonies*
* In proof of this, I may adduce the existence of the " House of Keys",
anciently called the Taxiaxi, and the ceremonies of the Thingavollr, or Tyn
wald HiU. During the Danish occupancy of the island under the Orrys, the
"House of Keys" is said to have consisted of twenty-four members, eight of
which were elected by the Sudreyjar, or " out isles", and sixteen by the Isle
of Man. The " out isles'' were, Icolinkill, Colonsa-y, Jura, Isla, Le-wis, Arran,
Bute, and the Cumbra-ys. At this period, and also up to the close of the Nor
wegian dynasty in 1265, the Manx parliament was a representative body
elected by the people; a distinctive feature, probably lost in the troublesome':
times succeeding the Scottish occupancy of the island under Alex. III.

ancient CHUKCHES OF THE ISLE OP MAN. 61
and usages, long after they have ceased to exist in the land of
their birth.
From, a very early epoch, the Isle of Man Had been the seat
of a monarchial government. Its first line of kings* were
princes from North Wales, who ruled over it for the space of
four centuries. The earliest and most celebrated of these was
Maelgwyn, King of North Wales, and nephew of the famous
King Arthur. He conquered the island a.d. 525, chiefly
through the assistance of his uncle. From this circumstance
he received the name of Draco Insularis, and became one of
the Knights of the Round Table. The Welsh line of kings
terminated with the demise of Anarawd ap Roderic in the
year 913. During this long period, a close friendship existed
between the Welsh, and the Manx people, cemented and
strengthened by frequent intercourse with each other. Prior
to the Cambrian dynasty, a mythological character called Man-
nanan Beg Mac Y Leir, is said to have governed the Isle of
Man, and to have been its first legislator or ruler. Who this
personage was, or from whence he came, is not very certain.
According to the most approved tradition, he was of royal
extraction, and descended from one of the kings of Ireland.
Being of a restless roving disposition. He found his way to
Man and settled there. Unfortunately, "little Mannanan",
Mannanan beg, as he is called in the Manx language, has the
ominous character of a paynim and necromancer, who by his
occult arts enveloped the island in a perpetual mist, so that
strangers were unable to visit it, whilst he sat at home in ease
on the top of a High mountain called Barrule.f
* For some of these see the An-nales Ga-mbrim, and the Brut -y T-ywysogion.
+ At this period also dwelt in Man another celebrated character called
Melinus, possessed of the art of aeromanoy, and likewise the secret of flying.
By the latter means he oould transport himself to any place he pleased in an
incredible short space of time. Whether Melinus inhabited the island an
terior to Mac Leir, or accompanied him to it, is uncertain ; but tradition
points to priority of residence on the part of Melinus. If so, the likelihood
is, he was the working Vulcan who mystified the island, whilst Mac Leii-
ruled it. All Melinus's accomplishments, however, were of no avail against

62 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
The probabihty is, if such a person as Mannanan ever
existed, he was simply some adventurous seaman or trader
who, happening to visit the Isle of Man, settied in it, and
made it the country of his adoption. He was there at the
time of St. Patrick's visit, and whatever his skiU in the occult
arts may have been, it was not potent enough to prevent his
banishment by the Irish Apostle. The religion of the Manx
at this period is supposed to have been Druidism, and like Me
linus, they were said to be addicted to the practice of the black
arts, a circumstance which sorely grieved St. Patrick, so, that
instead of proceeding on his journey, he stayed in the island
until he had converted them from the error of their ways.
Whatever may be the amount of truth mixed up with the
legend of Mac Leir, there can be Httle doubt that after the
Roman edict, the Druids of Anglesey fled to, and found re
fuge in, the Isle of Man.* Here they erected their altars, dis
seminated their doctrines, and finally perished, — exterminated
it is said by the orders of St. Patrick. At one time they
must have existed in considerable numbers, instanced by the
numerous places still called after them. To the present day,
the peasantry use the term Druid, or Druidical, when speaking
of any old ruin of whose history they have no knowledge,
legendary or otherwise, and apply it alike to the stone circle
of the Norseman, and the debris of a ruined chapel.
Insular tradition, as we see from the above, in its ascription
to St. Patrick of the conversion of the Manx people, hints,
that He made short work of the business, inasmuch as he de
stroyed the Druids by fire and sword. For the sake of St.
Patrick's Christianity, However, we hope the traditionary ac
count is not true, and we may safely ignore it, as being wholly
the great St. Patrick ; for in one of his volitatorial excursions the saint
winged him with a long prayfer, which tumbled the magician to earth, and
killed him. So says Jocelinus.
* Anderson says it was Finan, King of Scotland, who introduced Druidism
into the Isle of Man, about 184 years before the Christian era (Koy. Geneai.)
Upon what authority he makes this statement doea not appear.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 63
contrary to the weU-known precepts and practices of the early
missionaries. They in fact did no violence to the prejudices
and feehngs of our Heathen ancestors; but, by judicious manage
ment, gentleness, and kindness, won over the sympathies of
the inhabitants to the new faith. By this means only did they
estabhsh Christianity, and firmly plant it in the affections of
the people.
Before entering upon the ecclesiological history of the Isle
of Man as developed in its numerous ruined churches, it will
be advisable to glance at its first evangeUsation, and the per
sons who were instrumental in accomplishing it. According
to the generally received tradition, it was Christianised by St.
Patrick whilst on his journey from Rome to Ireland, about the
year 444. This opinion is founded on the authority of Joce
linus of Furness, who in his chapter entitled, " De Mannia et
ahis insuHs ad Deum conversis, states, that St. Patrick return
ing* to Ireland, touched at the islands of the sea, one of which,
Eubonia,t that is, Man, at that time subject to Britain, by his
miracles and preaching converted to Christ". Whether St.
Patrick ever visited the Isle of Man, as stated by Jocelinus, is
open to doubt, as we find writers of equal authority with the
Furness chronicler denying that such was the case, though
they allow his influence may have had considerable weight in
effecting the changes ascribed to him. Colgan, in his Acta
Sanctorum, reiterates the statement of Jocelinus, that the Irish
* " Eegnavignans Hiberniam, ad insulas maris eonvertendas devertit e
quibus Euboniam, id est, Manniam, tunc quidem Britanniae subjectam salu
tari prsedicatione, ac Signorum exhibitione ad Christum convertit." — Jocel.,
Vita Patrieii, a. xcii, f. 43.
t Eubonia. Aliquando Eubonia, eto. Ita Gildse Jooelino, aliisque passim
Britannicis, et Hibernicis scriptoribus vocatur. Mannia enim prisco ser
mone Hibernico Eu-mhoin vel E-iibhoin appellata reperitur, ut constat ex
veteri, et eleganti carmine panegyrico, quod in laudem magni filii Godredi
MannisB regis ante annos quingentos composuit Arthulius, sive saecuU prses-
tantissimus Poeta ; quodque penes me extat. Ibi enim Manniam saepius
vocat Eumhoin abhlach, id est, porno arbore abundans, ad distinctionem
alterius Euboniae seu Bumonise, quae caelebris olim erat sedes regum TJltonias,
et Ea-mhain seu Eabhoin mhacha Hiberni appellatur. [Actt. Sane. Colgani.]

64 ANCIENT CHUECHES OF
Apostle did visit and Christianise the island, adding, that an
ciently it was a dependency of Ireland, and caUed Inis Patrick,
or Patrick's Island, in Honour of the Saint. Probus,* However,
a writer ofthe tenth century, says, that Conindrius and Romulus,
and not St. Patrick, were the first preachers of the Gospel in
Fvania or Man. His words are, "Qui primi docuerunt verbum
Dei et baptismum in Evania, et per eos conversi sunt homines
insulae ad Catholicam fidem". In the Trias Thaumaturga,t
they are called Conderius and Romailus, but it is silent as to
the conversion by St. Patrick, though it Hints at the island
Having become famous as a retreat for monks shortly after his
¦ arrival in Ireland, " venit autem (Macaldus in Manniam sive
Euboniam, olim Druidum et gentilium vatum) postea ab ad-
ventu Sancti Patrieii, christi mystarum et monachorum secessu
et sede nobilem claramque insulam". J According to the Tri
partite Life, Conderius and Romaflus visited the island prior
to 455, and were the persons who disseminated and propagated
the faith and doctrine of Christ in it.
These conflicting statements render it difficult to arrive at a
satisfactory conclusion as to the men by whose exertions the
Isle of Man really was Christianised, though there can be little
doubt it was by the same missionaries, or their immediate suc
cessors, who carried the Gospel to the Irish. The account
handed down to us by the foregoing chroniclers is by no means
improbable. It shows at least, that incidental visits were made
to the island by reHgious men, as early as the fifth century,
through whose labours a Christian church was established in a
heathen land, in the midst of an idolatrous and superstitious
people. Another difficulty meets us, respecting the identity of
the first bishop appointed to govern the new church. Joceli
nus says — "he was a wise and holy man named Germanus, who
placed His ' episcopal seat', episcopalem sedem, in a certain pro
montory which to this day is caUed St. Patrick's Isle, because
* Vita Patrieii, 1. ii, c. 11.
t Trias. Thau., 1. iii, c. 61. j Ibid.

THB ISLE OP MAN. 65
he had remained there for some time.* The site of this seat
or place of worship was old Jurby Church, now beneath the
waves. Here, says the same authority, St. Patrick landed on
his return from visiting the islands of the sea, " ad insulas
maris", and estabhshed a central station for missionary opera
tions, which he placed under the pastoral charge of St. Ger-
man,t enjoining him to build chapels and churches to strengthen
and confirm the people in the faith. Jocelinus is the only
writer among the mediaeval historians, who asserts the Manx
episcopacy of this prelate, an error clearly fallen into through
the profundity of his legendary attainments. The Chronicon
Mannise, a better authority, is silent as to Germanus Having
heeiff. Bishop of Man, an omission its authors would not have
been guilty of, had such been the case. From this it is evident
that the Furness chronicler has committed the mistake of con
founding the missions of Palladius and St. German with the
apostieship of St. Patrick, an error the more remarkable in
this celebrated writer, as He must Have been well acquainted
with the object and extent of the Bishop of Auxerre's visit to
England. Jocehnus, However, is borne out in his statement
respecting the Manx episcopacy by insular tradition, which not
only fully supports Him, but ascribes to this bishop the found
ation of the numerous small chapels scattered throughout the
island, called Cabbals, Keeills, and Treen Churches. Neverthe
less, for the reasons given above, we are compelled to reject
both the Manx tradition and the narrative of Jocelinus as
* " S. Patricius virum sanctum et sapientem, Germanum nominatum, in
episcopum promotum, illius gentis ecclesiae noveUae regentem praeposuit, et
in quodam promontorio, quod adhuc insula Patrieii dicitur, eo quod ipse
ibidem aUquautulum demorabatur, et episcopalem sedem posuit." — 'Vita
Patrieii, c. xcu, f. 43.
t Ger-ma-nus. Vide de ipso Martyrol. Tamlacten. Marianum Gorm. et
Cathaldum Maguir ad 30 JuHi. [Act. Sane] Butler, in his lives of the
Saints, mentions three bishops of this , name. St. Germanus, Bishop of
Auxerre, C. ; born a.d. 380 ; died July 26, a.d. 448. St. Germanus, Bishop
of Capua; legate 519; died October 30, a.d. 510. St. Germa-nus, Bishop of
Paris ; died May 28, a.d. 576.

66 ANCIENT CHURCHES OF
untenable, and seek in another quarter the founder of onr eccle
siastical system.
Unfortunately, much confusion has arisen in consequence of
the difficulty of identifying the traditionary Germanus of the
Isle of Man, with any real person. We Have seen He could not
have been the famous Bishop of Antissiodorum (Auxerre),
as this prelate's first visit to England was in 429, fifteen years
before the supposed advent of St. Patrick in Man; and his
last, A.D. 448, just four years afterwards.* There are, however,
two others bearing the same name, who flourished towards the
close of St. Patrick's life ; but, as neither were bishops, they
do not lessen the perplexity. One of these, mentioned by Ca
nisius, and also by Messingham,t in his life of Adamnan, was a
Christian bard ; and the other is described as a monk belong
ing to the monastery of St. Finnian, under whom St. Columba
studied, f The only feasible explanation seems to be, that in
course of time, the Bishop of Auxerre's substantiahty became
incorporated into a mythical personage, and so gave rise to the
Manx tradition. §
The Historic fact then amounts to this, that as it is wholly
impossible that Germanus could at any time Have been Bishop
of Man, the only remaining person to whom we can have re
course vrith any degree of probability is St. Maughold, variously
called Maccaldus, Macfail, Maguil, and Cyclops. || He was one
of St. Patrick's earliest converts in Ireland, aud was most
likely sent to the island to assist in the work of its conversion.
Ultimately, He attained to the episcopal degree, 1[ and buflt the
church near Ramsey called after him. He must have been an
active and zealous labourer in his new sphere, as he has an
extraordinary reputation for sanctity and miraculous endow-
* Baron. Ann., a.d. 429. + Lib. 3, c. 4. J Vit. S. Kieran., c. 32.
§ There is a see of St. German in CornwaU.
II So nicknamed in the Fourth Life from having only one eye, p.45, Seo.lxxxi.
IT " Hic enim Maccaldus est episcopus et antistes clarus Ardeb-na/mnsis"
(Hill of Evania, or Man) " cujus nos suffragia adjuvent sancta." — Tr. Thau.,
Septima Vita, p. 161, Sec. Ixi.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 67
ments — gifts very abundant in those days, but remarkably scarce
now. It is to be regretted that so little is known of his career.
He lived in an age when annalists were few, and monastic es
tabUshments yet in their infancy, so that if any biographies
were written, they must have perished in the inroads of the
Danes and Norwegians into this island. The few passing
notices we find of him in the Chronicon Mcmnice, and other
sources, add little to our knowledge beyond the increase of our
legendary lore, and an accession to the treasury of ridiculous
miracles which the biographers of the middle ages so delighted
to record.
The following account of St. Maughold from the Book of
Armagh, is the oldest in existence. It is said to have been
written about the middle of the seventh century. The Latin
text is given below for the benefit of those who may wish to
possess the original.
There was a certain man in the country of the TJlothores
(? Ulster), in the time of St. Patrick, Maccuil of Macugrecca,
and this man was very impious, most cruel, tyrannical, so that he
was called Cyclops* by the more thoughtful, depraved in words,
in words intemperate, mahgnant in action, bitter in spirit,
quarrelsome in disposition, abandoned in body, cruel in mind, a
heathen in Hfe, and void of conscience. Sunk into such a depth
LiBBE AsDMACH^.f VlTA S. PaTEICII.
Erat quidam homo in regionibus Ulothorum Patrieii tem
pore Maccuil Macugreccae et erat hic homo valde impius s^vus
tyrannus ut Cyclops nominaretur cogitantioribus,
* " Cyclops nomi-naretur." Hic est Demana episcopus. Qui ab authore
vitse praecedentis Maguil a Probo Lib. 2, c. 9, Macfil, a Joceliuo, u. 151 et
152, auth. op. Trip., p. 3, c. 60. Machaldus ; hic nunc Cyclops, nunc De
mana, sed dupUci ut videtur, cognomento appellatur. Cyclops enim ad
similitudinem Polyphemi, Cyclopis, ob magna latrocinia et scelera, famosi,
vocatur. Item, De-mana, nisi de Mona potius, sive de Mannia sit legendum,
quia daemon Hibernis etiam Denham appeUatur.
+ The text, which was very corrupt, is here emended. P 2

68

ANCIENT CHUECHES OP

of impiety, that on a certain day, sitting in a rough and high
mountainous place, viz., Hind/ruim Maccuechach, where he daily
exercised his tyranny, committing the greatest enormities, slay
ing his guests on their journey with abandoned cruelty and cruel
wickedness; seeing also St. Patrick shining in the clear Hght of
faith, sparkling with a certain wonderful glory of the diadem of
the heavenly country, firm in the unshaken confidence of his doc
trine, walking in a way suitable to his life, him he meditated to
slay, saying to his attendants, "Behold this seducer and perver-
ter of men comes, whose custom is to practise deceits to entrap
many men, and to seduce them; let us go, therefore, and tempt
Him ; and let us know if that God in whom he glories has any
power." And they tempted the Holy man, they tempted him in this
way, they placed one of themselves under a cloak, feigning him
to be lying in the agony of death, that they might try the Saint

pravus

verbis

In tantum

verbis

intemperatus

vergens impietati

factis

malignus

in profnndum

spiritu

amarus

ita ut die

anima

iracondus

quadam

corpore

sceleratus

in montoso

mente

crudeHs

aspero alto

vita

gentilis

que sedens

conscientia

inanis

loco

Hindrium Maccuechach, ubi ille tyrranidem cotidie exercebat,
Diberca signa sumens, nequissima crudelitate et transeuntes
hospites crudeli scelere interficiens ; Sanctum quoque Patricium
claro fidei lumine radiantem, et mira quadam caelestis patriae
gloria diadematae fulgentem videns, eum, inconcussa doctrine
fiducia, per congruum vitae iter ambulantem, interficere cogi-
taret, dicens satelitibus suis, ecce seductor ille et perversor
hominum venit cui mos facere praestigias ut decipiat homines
multosque seducat eamus ergo et temptemus eum et sciejnus
si Habet potentiam aliquam ille Deus in quo se glorietur.

THE ISLE OF MAN. 69
by this kind of deception ; so, on the arrival of St. Patrick with
his disciples, they were having recourse to tricks, muttering
prayers and practising witchcraft and incantations. The heathen
said to him, " Behold one of us is now sick : approach, there
fore, and chaunt some of the incantations of your sect over him,
if perchance he may be healed."
St. Patrick, knowing aU their stratagems and deceits, with
firmness and intrepidity, said, " It would be no wonder if he
had been sick ;" and, his companions uncovering the face of
him feigning sickness, saw that he was now dead ; and, the
heathens, amazed and astonished at such a miracle, said among
themselves, " Truly this man is from God ; we have done evil
in tempting him."
But, St. Patrick having turned to Maccuil, says, " Why did
you seek to tempt me ?" THe cruel tyrant answered, " I am
sorry for what I have done ; whatever you command me I
wiU perform, and I now deliver myself into the power of your
Temptaveruntque virum sanctum, in Hoc modo temptaverunt,
posuerunt unum ex semetipsis sanum in medio eorum sub
sago jacentem infirmitatemque mortis simulantem, ut probarent
sanctum, in Hujusque modi fallere sanctum seductorem virtutis
prsestigias et orationes veneficia vel ineantationes nominantes ;
adveniente Sancto Patricio cum discipulis suis, gentiles dixerunt
ei, ecce unus ex nobis nunc infirmitatus est, accede itaque et
canta super eum aliquas ineantationes sectee tuae si forte sanari
posset. Sanctus Patricius sciens omnes doles et fallacias eorum,
constanter et intrepide ait, nec mirum si infirmis fuisset; et reve-
lantes socii ejus faciem insimulantis infirmitatem, viderunt eum
jam mortuum ; at illi obstupescentes admirantesque tale mira-
culum dixerunt intra se gentes vere hic homo Dei est malefe-
cimus temptantes eum.
Sanctus vero Patricius conversus ad Maccuil ait, quare temp-
tare me voluisti, responditque iUe tyrannus crudelis ait poeni-

70 ANCIENT CHUECHES OF
Supreme God, whom you preach." And the saint said, " Be
Heve, therefore, in my God, the Lord Jesus, and confess your
sins, and be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And he was converted in that
Hour, and beHeved in the Etemal God, and, moreover, was
baptised ; and then Maccuil added this saying, " I confess to
thee, my Holy Lord Patrick, that I proposed to kill you. Judge,
therefore, how much I owe for so great a crime." Patrick
said, " I am not able to judge, but God wfll judge."
"Do you, therefore, depart now unarmed to the sea, and
pass over quickly from this country, Ireland, taking nothing
with you of your substance, except a smaU common garment
with which you may be able to cover your body, eating nothing
and drinking nothing of the fruit of this island, having a mark
of your sins on your Head, and when you reach the sea bind
your feet together with an iron fetter, and cast the key of
it into the sea, and set out in a boat of one hide, without
teat me facti hujus et quodcumque perceperis missi faciam et
trade me nunc in potentiam Dei tui excelsi quem praedicas. Et
ait Sanctus, crede ergo in Deo meo Domino Jesus et confitere
peccata tua et baptizare in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus
Sancti. Et conversus in illa hora credidit Deo eterno baptizat-
usque est; insuper et nunc addidit Maccuil dicens, confiteor tibi
Sancte domine, mi Patrieii, quia proposui te interficere, judica
ergo quantum debuerit pro tanto ac tali crimine, et ait Patricius,
non possum judicare sed deus judicabit.
Tu tunc egredere nunc inermis ad mare et transi velociter de
regione hoc hibemensi, nihil toUens tecum de tua substantia
praster vile et parvum instrumentum quo possit corpus tuum
contegi, nihil gustans nihilque bibens de fructu insulae hujus,
habens insigne peccati tui in capite tuo, et postquam per
venias ad mare, conliga pedes tuos conpede ferreo et projice
clavim ejus in mari et mitte te in navim unius pellis absque
gubernaculo et absque remo, et quocumque te duxerit ventus

THE ISLE OF MAN. 71
rudder or oar, and wherever the wind and. sea shall lead you, be
prepared to remain, and to whatever land Divine Providence
shafl carry you, be prepared to live there and obey the Divine
commands." And Maccuil said, "I will do as you have said; but, respect
ing the dead man,what shall we do ?" And Patrick said, "He
shall live, and shall rise again without pain." And Patrick
restored him to life in that Hour, and he revived quite sound.
And Maccuil departed thence very speedily to the sea. The
right side of the plain of Inis is reached, having his confidence
unshaken in the faith, and binding himself on the shore, casting
the key into the sea, according to what was commanded him,
he then embarked in a little boat, and the north wind arose and
bore him to the south, and cast him on the island called Evonia,
and he found there two men very wonderful in faith and doc
trine who first taught the word of God and baptism in Evonia.
And the men of the island were converted by their doctrine
et mare, esto paratus, et terram in quamcunque deferet te divina
providentia, inhabita et exerce tibi divina mandata.
Dixitque Maccuil sic faciam ut dixisti divine, autem mortuo
quid faciemus? et ait Patricius vivet et exsurget sine dolore, et
suscitavit eum Patricius in illa hora, et revixit sanus.
Et migravit inde Maccuil tam cito ad mare. Dexterum campi
Inis habetur fiducia inconcussa fidei, coUegansque se in litore
jeciens clavim in mare, secundum quod prasceptum est ei,
ascendit mare in navicula, et inspiravit illi ventus aquilo et sus-
tulit eum ad meridiem jecit que eum in insulam Evoniam nomine
invenitque ibi duos viros valde mirabiles, in fide et doctrina ful-
gentes, qui primi docuerunt verbum Dei et baptismum in
Evonia. Et conversi sunt Homines insulae in doctrina eorum ad fidem
catholicam quorum nomina sunt Conindri et Rumili.* Hii vero
* Coindrius et Romulus. Fuit uterque Patrieii discipulus, et Manniffi suc
cessive episcopus, ut de eis scribunt Joe, u. 152. Prob., Lib. 2, c. 10, et

72 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
to the CathoUc faith,, whose names are Conindrus and Rumilus.
But these, seeing a man of the same habit, wondered and
pitied him, and lifting Him out of the sea, the spiritual fathers
received Him with joy. He, therefore, after finding himself in
a region, believing in God, conformed himself body and soul
to their guidance, and spent the remainder of his Hfe with
those two Holy bishops till he was appointed their successor in
the bishopric.
This is Maccuil Dimane,* Abbot and Bishop of Arddee
Huimdonii.fvidentes virum unius Habitus mirati sunt, et miserti sunt illius
elevaveruntque de mari, suscipientes cum gaudio, ille igitur, ubi
inventi sunt spirituales patres in regione a Deo sibi credita, ad
regulam eorum corpus et animum exercuit, et totum vitae tempus
exegit apud eos duos sanctos episcopos, usque dum successor
eorum in episcopatu effectus est.
Hic est Maccuil Dimane episcopus et antistes Arddse Huim-
nonii. The following addition to the above is from the Triadis
THaumaturgae of Colgan. It is the same as given by Jocelinus,
in His life of St. Patrick, and lends additional interest to the
life of St. Maughold, as narrated in the Book of Armagh.
auth. oper. Prip. et Ussero in indice chron. ad an. 474, ut hic Eomulus vo
catur ejus condiscipuli, et coUegae Conindrii, sive rectius Condirii, ordinatio
nem refert. ITsserus in predictum an. 474. Condirii natalis celebratur die
17 Nov., juxta Mart. Tamlact. et Mariani; EomuU verb 18 Nov., juxta
Ferrar in Catal. generali dicente m ; in Hibernia S. EomuU episcopi ; et in
notis, EomuU alias Eomani ex Martyroiogio Subensi, de eo Joe, c. 152.
Martyrologium Subensi, quod citat ita loquitur 14 Kal. Decemb. in Hibernia
S. Romani episcopi et confessoris, Eomani etiam, uti et Eomani ad eundem
diem meminit Marian Gorm. (Trias Thaum.)
a.d. — SS. Conindrio et Eomulo, St. Patrieii discipulis, et Manniffi insuliB
episcopis vitafunctis, St. Maguil sive Machaldus, St. Patricu etiam discipulus,
suceessit. (Vita S. Gildse Badonici, p. 190; Colgan's Actta Sanctorum.)
* Isle of Man. Intended for De Ma-n-nia.
t The Irish Latinised form of Eubonia; i.e., Ardd<B Eumhonia, Hill of
Eubonia, or Man.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 73
" And when he had for some time abided there, a fish was
one day taken in the sea, and brought into their dwelling, and
when the fish was opened before them, a key was found in his
belly, and Machaldus being released from his chains, gave
thanks unto God, and went thenceforth free;* and he increased
in holiness, and after the decease of these holy bishops, at
tained to the episcopal degree, and being eminent in his mira
cles and in his virtues, there did he rest. In that island was a
city called after him, of no small extent, the remains of whose
walls may yet be seen. And in the cemetery of its church is a
"Qui cum in illo loco multo tempore demoraretur, die quadam
piscis in pelago captus, ad ejus hospitium deportabatur, qui
cum coram illo incideretur, clavis in ejus intestinis invenie-
batur, qua compedibus admota et immissa illorum claustrum
referatur ; ipseque solatus Deo gratias multiplices agens, liber
gradiebatur. Qui postmodum in magna sanctitate excrescens,
post decessum Sanctorum Episcoporum praedictorum Episco
palem gradum promeruit, signis et virtutibus clarus, ibidem re
quievit. t Habebatur enim in illa insula civitas quondam non
exigua, cujus murorum adhuc cemuntur residua, ex ejus nomine
* This part of the legend is evidently borrowed from the Talmudists' fable
of Asaf aud Sakhar, which runs as foUows : —
" King Solomon one day whilst bathing, entrusted his signet ring for safe
keeping to his concubine Amina. She, whilst in charge of the jewel, was
visited by a demon of the name of Sakhar, in the likeness and form of Solo -
mon, who thus obtained the ring. The consequence was, that Sakhar be
came possessed of the kingdom for the space of forty days ; whilst Solomon,
changed in appearance and reduced to beggary, was obliged to wander about
and soUoit alms for subsistence. When the forty days had expired, the
demon threw the king's signet into the sea, when it was swallowed by a
fish. The fish was caught a short time afterwards and given to Solomon,
who, on opening it, found his ring in the beUy. He thus recovered his king
dom, and having seized Sakhar, caused a great stone to be fastened to his
neck and oast into the Lake of Tiberias." (Talm. En. Jacob, part 2.)
t " Ibidem requievit", acta ejus breviter perstringit JoceUnus, cap. 15, et
152 vit* S. Patrieii, et agunt de eo ad 25 AprUis, S. iEngussius, Marian.
Gorm. et Martyroiogio Tamlactensi ad quem diem nos ejus vitam dabimus.
(Colgan's Actt. Sane.)

74 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
sarcophagus of hollow stone, out of which a spring continually
exudes, nay, freely floweth, which is sweet to the palate>
wholesome to the taste, and Healeth divers infirmities, and the
deadliness of poison; for whoso drinketh thereof, either re
ceiveth instant Health or instantly dieth. In that stone the
bones of St. Machaldus are said to rest, yet nothing is found
therein save the clear water only; and though many have often
times endeavoured to remove the stone, and especially the
King of the Norici (of Norway ?), who subdued the island, that
He might at all times have sweet water, yet have they all failed
in their attempts; for the deeper they dug to raise the stone, so
much the more deeply and firmly did they find it fixed in the
heart of the earth.
cognominata. Habetur etiam in coemeterio Ecclesi£e ejusdem
loci sarcophagus cavati lapidis, in quo latex jugiter resudat,
immo sufficienter scaturit, qui hausta dulcis, gustu salubris, mul
tis infirmitatibus et prsecipue veneno infectis, vel potatis, mederi
consuescit. Aut enim post aquae potationem qui libet celerem
sanitatem sentiet, aut cita morte vitam finiet. In hoc etiam
Sancti Machaldi ossa sacra requievisse referuntur, in quo nihil,
nisi aqua limpida, invenitur. Plures etiam pluries lapidem
ilium a loco amovere et etiam Rex Noricorum ut aquam dulcem
haberet jugiter in mari, qui insulam subjugavit, conati sunt;
sed tamen affectu suo omnino frustrati sunt. Quo etiam altius,
ut lapidem effoderent, nisi suffodere sunt, eo firmius et profun-
dius fixus inventus est in corde terrae. (Sexta vita Patrieii,
Trias. Thaum. p. 98, sec. ciii.)
Such is the legendary account of the most celebrated of the
bishops of the Manx church. The history given of him hy
Jocelinus, and reprinted by Colgan in the Fourth Life, is merely
an embellished edition of the version given in the Book of
Armagh. To it we can only add in the words of Prudentlus,
corruptela, dolus, commenta, insomnia, sordes. Like his cele-

THE ISLE OP MAN. 75
brated predecessor, St. Patrick, he is said to have attained to
a very advanced period of life, and to have died at the age of
one hundred and ten years.
Although the above account of the years of St. Maughold is
not without exceptions, and must be received with caution, it
is only another instance, amongst the many we possess, of the
tendency of mediaeval writers to deal in the marvellous, and
bestow upon their heroes a patriarchal age. Maughold's early
career, as we Have just seen, is stated to Have been one of
rapine and profligacy, — a mode of life little conducive to lon
gevity. So if we concede, that by reason of his strength, the
number of his days may have been eighty, or even ninety
years, we shall in all probability Have reached the limit of his
existence. Irish annalists. However, with singular unanimity,
state the year of Maughold's death to be 554, — a date which
makes His age at the time of dissolution, one hundred and ten
and upwards, supposing St. Patrick to have arrived in Ireland
between the years 440-444. At this epoch He could only have
been an infant,* and not the leader of a band of kerns, or free
booters, as stated byhis biographers. If, however, we grant that
Maughold was a predatory chieftain, as represented, and sur
vived to the age of ninety, he must at all events Have been
eighteen years old at the time of St. Patrick's advent ; in which
case the remainder of his days would be seventy-two years, and
the date of obit 534 instead of 554, the traditionary period ;t
a portion of time sufficiently great to enable him to devise and
carry out the ecclesiastical system I Have ascribed to him.f

* His festival day is the 25th of AprU. (Colgan's Actt. SS.)
+ The date of his floruit, then, would be between the years 444 and 534.
The An-nals of Ulster place his obit a.d. 488.
t According to the above view, Maughold was the first bishop, de facto, of
the Manx church, over which he presided for the long period of fifty-eight
years. With StUUngfleet and Lloyd, I have discarded Hector Boece's ridi
culous bishop called Amphihalus, and consigned this absurdity to obUvion.
Maughold was consecrated by Conindrius and Eomailus a.d. 455, eleven
years after his arrival in Man. Before him there could have been no bishop.

76 ANCIENT CHUECHES OF
The history of the ancient church of Man, then, may be di
vided into two distinct and weU-defined periods ; the first of
which, comprising its^earhest condition, extends from the fifth
to the commencement of the twelfth century ; and the second,
from the foundation of Rushen Abbey, in 1134, to its dechne
in the early part of the fourteenth. It is with the first of
these periods we have to do, as embracing the epoch which
gave rise to our cabbals, keeills, and treen churches, the
remains of which still so largely exist. These edifices are
chiefiy interesting as being, in the absence of all historic record,
the only indices in existence of the state of Christianity in the
Isle of Man in the primitive ages. They carry us back to periods
that have bequeathed no written explanation of their origin,
though they show us How gradually, but completely, the influ
ences of Christianity had spread over this island, in an age not
altogether barbaric, but of a civUisation different to our own.
Simple as these churches are, and devoid of .architectural pre
tensions, they are full of interest to the antiquary, and will he
so to him as long as civilisation endures. The existence of a
solitary tumulated ruin in a field, undisturbed for ages, merely
because it is called a " keeill," is a striking instance of the vene
ration with which the Manx people regard their sacred edi
fices ; and to this feeling we owe the preservation of so many of
these interesting memorials of a bygone age.
Teeen Lands.
THe Isle of Man, as is well known, is divided into a number
of sections designated " Treen lands" ; and these, again, into
for there was no church, as Conindrius and his coadjutor, EomaUue, were
not diocesan, but missionary bishops, episcopi vaga-ntes, who after they had
planted Christianity in the Isle of Man, returned to their own country.
* A treen is a manorial division of land. Each parish is divided into a
varying number of treens distinguished by different names. In 1505 the
treen rents, or Beddita Tertia-na, meant division iuto thirds, and were conse
quently rents of the three Sheadings attached to each of the castles of Peel
and Eushen. The land contained in a treen is now wholly quarterland, but
formerly Intacks were included up to 1526. In 1706 they were taken from
the treens.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 77
subsections caUed " Quarterlands," — in Manx kerroo valla.
Originally each treen contained a small place of worship styled
" the treen church"; so that treen lands were, in fact, rudimen
tary parishes. This partition of the soil is of extremely ancient
date, being coeval with the introduction of Christianity into the
island. THe meaning of the word " treen," as applied to these
lands, has been the source of considerable discussion, though
without throwing much light upon the subject. Some deduce
it from the Manx word strooan (a stream), thought to indicate
a portion of land between two streams, — a supposition not
bome out by any fact. Another definition has been offered by
the Rev. Wm. Mackenzie, who derives it from jeih (ten) and
raane (a surety), arguing that each treen consisted of ten fami
lies, and each parish often treens. This explanation, whichis
merely a revival of the Saxon tything and hundred, makes the
treens amount to one hundred and seventy, — a considerably
greater number than exist. Nor was it the case that the
quarterland owners, the union of whose estates constituted the
treen lands, were in any way sureties or bondsmen either for
themselves or for others. They were Odallers, whose right in
the soil was absolute ; and though they had certain duties to
perform in connexion with the treen to which they belonged,
they were voluntary, and for the general good.
The origin and meaning of the word, however, appears to be
that pointed out by the Rev. J. G. Cumming,* as derived from
the Manx word tree (three) and synonymous with trian in Irish
and Gaelic, and traian or traean in Welsh. In the Manx lan
guage the word " treen " is defined to be " a township divid
ing tithe into three"; and in accordance with this definition is
the fact that in Olave I's reign (a.d. 1134), the tithesf of the
* See the valuable notes to SachevereU's account of the Isle of Man,
edited for the Manx Society by the Eev. J. G. Cumming, M.A. P. 186.
t "Huic" (Bishop Eeginald) "primo tertiae ecclesiarum Mannise a personis
concessae fuerunt ut deinceps Uberi ab omni episcopaU exactione fore potuis
sent." (Chronico-n Ma-n-nite.)

78 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
island were distributed in conformity with the above rendering
of the word,— one portion going to the bishop, another to the
Abbey of Rushen, and the remainder to the clergy.* Several
of our. parishes stiU show that the principle of division by thirds
was the ancient practice adopted in this island. Ballaugh, for
instance, is divided into the sea, the middle, and the fell thirds,
 an arrangement evidently designed for the convenience of
the tithingman. In the appHcation of thirds to treen lands,
However, as they at present stand, this principle does not
wholly apply ; for though we find a great many to consist of
three quarterlands, there are some which contain only two,
others four, and some considerably Higher ;t an irregularity I
believe to Have been occasioned, in course of time, through al
terations of boundaries, ahenations, and sales of portions of
quarterlands. In the oldest accountj we have of the Isle of
Man — a metrical history written in the commencement of the
sixteenth century — a treen is stated to consist of three estates
{treen bailey) united for ecclesiastical purposes, and this prob
ably was its ancient condition. Upon the treen lalley devolved
the obligation of erecting and maintaining the treen church,
the formation of burial-grounds, and other duties now merged
in the parochial system. Each of these diminutive parishes
contained its own church, the service of which was conducted
either through the instrumentality of itinerant clerics, or else the
ministrations of one of the heads of the treen balle-u. At this

* It is remarkable in connection with the above distribution of the tithes,
that no provision seems to have been made for the maintenance of the poor.
(They were relieved by the monastic foundations, which had a third of the
tithes.) •f- Though the number of treens now existing amount to one hundred and
fifty, or thereabouts, there is reason to beUeve that originaUy they may not
have exceeded half this number ; as we flnd some treens, as Howstrake, for
instance, contain six quarterlands ; others ten j and some, as the treen of
Commessary, Malew, twelve quarterlands to the treen. This great dissimila
rity in size is explicable on the supposition, that anciently the treen was
larger than we find it at present ; or else that in process of time, two or
more became incorporated into one, and produced the present irregularity.
X A MS. baUad iu the EoUs Office, styled Man-nanan Beg Mao -y Ldrr.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 79
period the Manx church was purely diocesan ; there were no
benefices, and the bishop was the sole incumbent, assisted by a
few presbyters who lived with him, and were His assistants and
council for the diocese at large. The system of treen lands and
churches arose out of the exigencies ofthe times. Small chapels
or churches of the rudest formation Had sprung up everywhere,
many isolated, and few, if any, canonically disciplined ; so that
like the Irish churches of the same period, they required re
modeling. St. Maughold commenced the work ; and in the
formation of the treen bailey, we have probably one of the
earliest attempts at a parochial system in Britain.
ECCLESIOLOGT.
It is to be regretted that the Isle of Man possesses no record
of its ancient ecclesiastical edifices — not even a fragmentary
notice that such a class of buildings as churches ever existed
prior to the twelfth century ; and were it not for a passing
allusion to the subject by Jocelinus, and the monks of Rushen
Abbey, we should be, as far as history goes, absolutely
churchless. Consequently the archaeologist Has nothing to as
sist him in his investigations, except tradition and his own
researches. THe difiiculties in his way also are greatly increased
through the extremely early epoch in which the Manx cabbals
and keeiUs originated ; and from the circumstance, that few are
now to be found in a tolerable state of preservation. Many
present only the appearance of an old hedge, and others a
shapeless mass of stones and earth, the combined results of
decay, and the industry of the agriculturist, who utilises them
as a convenient receptacle for the upturnings of the plough.
A remarkable circumstance in connection with these cabbals
and keeiUs, is the number that at one period must have existed,
as some hundreds stiU remain.* Two orientations are also
noticeable, one east and west, and the other towards the point
* The Ordnance Survey, at the present engaged in this island, seems to
show, that anciently there was a chapel to every quarterland.

80 ANCIENT CHUECHES OF
of the horizon where the sun rose on the saint's day to whom
the church was dedicated. In their materials and construction
they correspond with the account given in the Book of Ar
magh of similar places of worship in Ireland of the age of St.
Patrick. When the apostle visited Tirawley " He buflt there a
quadrangular church of moist earth, because there was no wood
near."* Here we have an exact description of the Manx cabbal,
and there can be no doubt that the primitive churches of Ire
land formed the model ofthe Manx. Itis singular that amongst
the numerous remains of these churches scattered throughout
the island, there is not an instance to be found of any built in
the crucial, semi-circular, or octagonal forms ; nor is there an
example of cyclopean architecture in the Isle of Man, although
an approach to it may be occasionally noticed. THe result is,
the style is in every instance alike, one embracing the utmost
simplicity and uniformity of design. Consequently the cabbal
and keeill are invariably quadrangular; the lights oblong, or
quadrilateral openings splaying inwards, and the stonework of
the doors and windows unchiselled. This uniformity of design
no doubt had its origin in the veneration felt for some ancient
model given to the people by their first teachers, independent
of any abstract considerations arising out of primitive causes.
Hence we find their archaic form, slightly altered, still preserved
in our parish churches, as may be seen in the rectangular shape,
absence of chancel and couched semi-circular absis. In few of
them moreover do we find any traces of an altar. If they
contained any, they were simply altataria portatilia, or do-.
mestic altars, removable at pleasure.
It is singular, in connection with the history of the Manx
church, that there is hardly a record of sacred relics having been
introduced into the Isle of Man.f There are no examples of
* " Fecit ibi ecclesiam terrenam de humo quadratam quia non prope erat
sUva." (Terecham, Lib. Armac, fol., 1466.)
+ There were the " three relics of Man" ordered to be borne before the
Lord in the great Tynwald days. See vol. iii Ma-nx Society, page 72 ; and in
a roU of 32 Henry VIII (1541) mention is made of "one hand and one
Bysshope hede," which were probably reliquaries.

The Mtauc Cabbal aftlu Fi/tk CtiUuiy.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 81
saints leading an eremitic life. It is difficult to account
for this, unless on the supposition that such incentives to
religious devotion were Held to be valueless, and consequentiy
rejected. At this epoch, the Manx church seems to have
approximated more closely to the first churches of Asia,
than at any subsequent date. The worship was simple and
unadorned, and the bishops elected by the unanimous voices
of the clergy and laity, and not, as in modern times, by a conge
d'elire from the crown. Neither did the people pay tithes, but
supported their pastors by voluntary oblations, which in these
days were probably sufficient for the purpose, as we find no
mention made of other sources of revenue, such as obventions,
altarage, and mortuary dues. From this we learn that the
church was deambulatory, and Had neither cathedral, dean, nor
chapter. The foregoing are the chief features of Manx churches, prior
to the middle ages. I shall now describe them in detail, accord
ing to the following classification : —
The Cabbal.
The Keeill.
The Teeen Chuech.
The Moetuaey Chapel, and Bueial Geound.
The Cabbal.
The Isle of Man, unlike England or Ireland, never possessed
any churches built either of wattles or wood. The reason of
this was the scarcity of timber ; whilst, on the other hand,
stones and sods were abundant, and offered an unlimited supply
of a more durable material. I have mentioned that the churches
of the fifth century were called " Cabbals," and I shall confine
myself in this section to a description of these edifices, as the
oldest places of worship in the island, and the original form of
building in which the Gospel was first preached to the Manx
people. The cabbal is an earthen structure, quadrangular in form,
G

82 ANCIENT CHUECHES OF
of very small dimensions, and rarely exceeds twelve feet in
length, by nine in breadth. It is invariably situated on a low
truncated Hillock of artificial formation, called the " chapel
mound," and enclosed by a sod fence. There is no burial place
attached to it, as the Manx did not in the fifth century inter in
consecrated ground. Up to the ninth century, we find the
same plan still adhered to in the elevation of the church and
churchyard above the level of the adjacent land ; the design is
evidently the embodying of the scriptural principle, of a church
set upon a hill being a visibly conspicuous object. In the
early examples, the plateola within the vallum is of very small
dimensions, scarcely allowing sufficient room for three persons
abreast to pass between the chapel and the circumvallation. ¦
THe walls of the cabbal are low, pyramidal in form, and of great
width at base. They never exceed five feet in height, and are
constructed to carry a low-pitched sod or heather roof. (See
plate, "Manx Cabbal ofthe fifth century.") In the inside they
measure from a foot to a foot and a Half more than externally, in
consequence of the floor being sunk to that extent to heighten
the interior. The entrance to these chapels is through a small
opening in the south-west angle of the gable. This doorway, in
the greater part of the cabbals qf the fifth century, had neither
jambs nor lintels, and was also the only source of light to the in
terior. To protect the inside from effects of the weather, the
contrivance made use of was a bundle of gorse, or a screen
of faggots laid across the doorway, and called in the Manx
language, skeiy sy doarlisJi, " a bundle of faggots in a gap."
THe mode of construction of the cabbal was as follows : —
A suitable spot Having been selected, the builders threw up a
small conical truncate mound from three to four feet high, and
around the edge of the truncated portion built a low sod wall.
Within the enclosed space the cabbal was erected, not in the
centre of the plateola, but towards its eastern portion, and
formed of the same materials as the circumvallation. In these
churches there were no seats, the congregation standing during

¦¦m'jtH'

THE ISLE OP MAN.

83

divine worship, so that the service would necessarily be of short
duration, and most likely wholly consisted in the adorations of
prayer and praise. The Keeill.
In the preceding section I have described the cabbal as it
existed in the fifth century, and now come to a better class of
buildings denominated Keeills, introduced about the middle of
the sixth. These churches are of two kinds : one built wholly of
stone, and the other of a mixture of sods and stones. They are
larger than the cabbals, and measure from fifteen to twenty feet
in length by twelve in breadth, but rarely exceed these dimen
sions. Both have bui-ial grounds within the circumvallation ; but

Stunc Font, Keeill Pharic, Ballufreer Xvirk, Marown.
through the absence of all extemal indications of the nature of
the place, most observers would pass it by unnoticed. In a few
instances the keeill carries a slate roof. It has also side Hghts,
and a door of entrance in the south wall. (See plate.) Rude stone
vessels caUed " fonts " are sometimes found within them, and
occasionally a quadrangular recess is observed in the east wall.
Like the cabbal, the keeiU also stands upon artificially raised
ground, is rectangular in form, and altogether better buflt than
g2

84

ANCIENT CHUECHES OP

the former. In the superior examples, the interstices of the
masonry are filled up with mould, to steady the stone work and
exclude the weather. The mode of construction of the keefll
was similar to the cabbal. The following account given by
Bede of the building of St. Cuthbert's Church, Lindisfarn, in
684, so exactly describes the method pursued in the Isle of
Man, that I quote it in preference to giving another : —
" The church was round, and about four or five perches wide
between the walls. On the outside the wall was the Height of
a man ; in the inside Higher, so made by sinking a huge rock,
done to prevent the thoughts from rambling, by restraining
the sight. The walls were neither of squared stone, nor brick,
nor cemented with mortar, but of rough unpolished stone, with

stone P'ont, St. Lingan's, Kirk Marown.

turf dug up in the middle of the place and banked on both
sides all round. Some of the stones were so big that four men
could scarcely lift one. The roof was constructed of unhewn
timber and thatched."*
The annexed view of the ruins of St. Lingan's Treen Keeill
and enclosure, Marown, will give the reader a correct idea of
one of these old places of worship. It is situated on the Bal
lingan estate adjoining Ballaguinney, about a mile and a
* Beda Vit. Cudberti, p. 243.

DOOEWAT, BALLAQUINNEY TEEEN CHAPEL.

THB ISLE OF MAN. 80
quarter from the Peel Road, and is one of the best specimens
existing of our insular keeills. THe enclosure in which stands
the keeill is one hundred and eight feet long by sixty-three
feet broad, ovicular in form, and in an excellent state of pre
servation. This is the necropolis of the church. In the south
east part Hes St. Lingan's. The portion of the walls remain
ing measure four feet high by three feet thick, but the masonry
is of a much superior description than is usual in keeills of the
sod and stone formation. In the west end there Has once beeu
a window, but it is now entirely destroyed by visitors using it
as a short cut into the church. The doorway is in the south
east angle, and guarded by two inclining monolithic jambs
siipported by rubble stonework, so regular as to have the
appearance of ashlar masonry. (See plate.)

'*«

^'^^

 -^l^..-^Ml/'--^::ir^^_^~^=-^'
Doorway, Keeill, St. Lingan, Marown.

In the north-east angle of the church, deeply embedded in
the ground, Hes the font. (See plate B, p. 84.) It measures
one foot eleven inches long, by ten and a Half inches broad.
The interior walling of the west end is concave, and gives it
the appearance of a couched semi-circular absis. It is, how-

86

ANCIENT CHUECHES OP

ever, nothing more than irregular masonry producing this
effect. The gentleman* who owns the property, with a laud
able motive, has planted the enclosure with trees to protect it
from injury. An example we should wish to see more fol
lowed.

Interior Walling of Ballaquinney Treen Keeill, Marown.

Though I Have stated that stone churches were not in use in
the Isle of Man till the close of the sixth century, there was
one exception to the contrary as early as the fifth. This was
the church built by St. Maughold on the headland near Ramsey
bearing His name. Although I have characterised it as a church,
it was a conventual establishment, partaking of the Irish type
of that period, and consisted of the church, the bishop's resi
dence, and cells for ecclesiastical and other purposes, enclosed
by a double embankment of unusual strength. The existing
plateau contains three acres of ground, and originally must
Have been much larger, as only a segment of it now remains,
having the shape of the letter R. It differed from its Irish
archetypes in being surrounded by a double circumvallation,
and in Having the cemetery within the enclosure. From the
strength and height of the embankments, they seem to have
been intended for defensive purposes, and are probably a later
* J. J. Carran, Esq.

Tkt Trim Church of tht Mifhlh Century.

THB ISLE OF MAN. 87
addition to the churchyard, the work of the Pagan Norsemen
when in possession of this Isle.* It is not impossible. How
ever, that they may Have been erected by St. Maughold Him
self or His immediate successors ; for, at the period when he
buflt his church, before Heathenism was fully eradicated, and
whflst the Manx people were stifl in a perturbed and instable
state, it is probable that latent feelings of hostihty to the new
faith remained, which rendered the adoption of precautionary
measures a matter of necessity. However this may be, it was
from this spot, the school of learning and the centre of civilisa
tion in the Isle of Man, that issued that noble band of eccle
siastics who finally established the Christian faith, and left
behind them in the crumbling waUs of the cabbal and keeill
memorials of their pious labours that Have long survived the
memory of those who reared them.
The Teeen Chuech.
We now come to an entirely different class of buildings, in
termediate between the keeills and the churches of the middle
ages. These are the true treen churches, introduced towards
the close of the eighth century. They differ from their pre
decessors in form and construction, and in presenting a more
regular style of architecture. The masonry is still rude, but
* Since the above was written this view has to some extent been confUmed
by recent discoveries in the churchyard. Within the last few weeks a por
tion ofthe southern extremity of the inner embankment has been removed,
in consequence of alterations making in the cemetery. Beneath it a sub
stantial stone wall has been exhumed, and close to it a heap of ashes. These
consist of charcoal, bone ashes, and minute globules of lead. The Eev. Wm.
Stainton Moses, to whom I am indebted for the above information, suggests,
that the waU may be a portion of the ancient boundary of the churchyard,
and probably runs the entire length of the vaUum. As this can only be deter
mined by au examination of the whole structure, it must remain for future
investigation. The ashes, however, show, that at one period, heathen rites
have been celebrated here ; aud these must have been either anterior to the
introduction of Christianity, or else subsequent to that event. In the latter
case, they can only be ascribed to the Pagan Norsemen, during their occu
pancy of this island.

88 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
for the first time we find it put together with cement.* The
entrances now carry doors suspended from incHning monoHthic
jambs. The side lights are more numerous, and a rudimentary
bell turret surmounts the western gable. In dimensions these
churches do not exceed the keeills, averaging from fifteen to
twenty feet long, by ten in breadth. The roofs are high pitched,
and the general appearance more imposing than their prede
cessors. A remarkable alteration is now noticeable. The
chapel mound and raised graveyard Have disappeared, and the
whole partakes more of the characteristics of churches of modern
times. They appear to be the originals from which those of
the present day have been modelled.
The following description of the Treen of Ballakilley, Malew
(see plate), lying three miles north-east of the parish church,
will enable the reader to form some idea of the architec
tural arrangements of these edifices. The treen is situated
about fifty yards from the farm house. Its dimensions inside
are twenty-one feet long, by nine in breadth. The western
gable, crowned with ivy, is still standing, but the east end is in
ruins, and blocked to the height of the remaining portion by
quantities of fallen masonry. This church has a very peculiar
appearance from the walls being built of rounded boulders of
granite and quartz, giving to the whole the resemblance of a
pile of cannon balls. Their height is six feet three inches from
the ground to the spring of the roof; and the western gable
sixteen feet nine inches to the peak. In the south wall near
the eastem angle is the door of entrance, five feet two inches
in height, by two feet six inches at base, and diminishing up
wards to two feet. Opposite it, in the north side, is a square
headed window, and another in the south wall near the west
end. This window externally is two feet six inches high, by

* The cement made use of is a, tenacious plastic clay, which in time
hardens almost to stone. Lime mortar was not known in the Isle of Man
till the middle of the tenth century, and was first employed in the building
of Castle Eushen.

THE ISLE OF MAN. 89
one foot six inches broad splaying inwards. Internally it
measures two feet six inches high, by three feet broad. In
the north-west angle of the gable is a similar window, measur
ing one foot five inches long, by nine inches broad, and splay
ing internally to one foot five inches in length, by one foot
eight inches in breadth, so that the extemal and internal
measurements are reversed. The cemetery has long been under
cultivation, and cannot now be distinguished, but it yearly dis
closes before the plough of the husbandman numerous remnants
of mortality. The Moetuaey Chapel.
The chief of the mortuary chapels now remaining in the Isle
of Man is St. Luke's, a small edifice in ruins, lying on the
western slope of the Cronk-na-Irey Lhaa, in the parish of Kirk
Christ Rushen. It is traditionally known as the church aud
cemetery of the Danish kings. The neighbouring village of
Dalby, two miles west of the chapel, was anciently a Scan
dinavian settlement, supposed to Have been founded by an offset
from the Danish conquerors of England, who gave to the place
a celebrity and a name. Be this as it may, the present insig
nificant village shows no indications now of ever having been a
place of importance, much less an abode of royalty. From it
the funeral processions embarked for St. Luke's (? St. Leoc's),
and landed at the foot of the ravine, between the Cronk-na-Irey -
Lhaa and the Carnanes. This is the most feasible way of reach
ing the mountain from Dalby, as the approach to it by land is
both difficult and dangerous.* Beneath the chapel on the beach
is the Fern cave, abounding in almost every variety of this ad
mired plant. Nothing can exceed its beauty. From the roof and
waUs hang, in graceful festoons, thousands of ferns of the most
* The best way of reaching the chapel is by means of a boat from Mes-
wick Bay, and saiUng thence round the headland of E-nnyn Mooar. A
Uttle further on is a smaU rocky point running into the sea from the
Carnanes. This is the entrance to the ravine leading to the church and
cemetery.

90 ANCIENT CHUECHES OP
brilhant emerald Hue ; and when the setting sun illumines the
cavern, it Hghts up the place with rays of gold with magic effect.
St. Luke's, styled in a buU of Pope Eugenius III the
monastery of St. Leoc, is simply a mortuary chapel, erected for
the offices of the dead. It is built upon a spur of the moun
tain, about one Hundred and fifty yards from the edge of a
steep precipice. A portion of its walls pnly remain, and these
in summer are so overgrown with fern as to be. entirely Hidden
from view. The cemetery lies on the north side, and is a very
picturesque object. It is bisected in its longitudinal diameter
by a pathway fringed with boulder quartz of dazzHng white
ness. From the end of this walk, a branch diverges to the
south in a zig-zag manner, but originally it was prolonged
northwards as well, and so formed the western boundary of the
cemetery. This pathway terminates in the outer enclosure of
the chapel. (See plate.)
St. Luke's, like the keeills, is a stone erection built without
cement of any kind, but the masonry is more regular, and
much better constructed than in the case of the latter. The
floor, paved with pebbly stones, can with difficulty be seen, from
the mass of debris encumbering the place. The chapel in its
perfect state must have been of very diminutive size, and
could scarcely Have exceeded eight feet in Height to the peak
of the roof, as its interior only measures eleven feet by nine.
St. Luke's differs from all similar places in the island, in having
a double circumvallation encompassing it for two-thirds of the
plateau. In the lower or western portion of the outer circle,
are indications of its having been used as a place of sepulture,
but the mode of inhumation has not yet been investigated. In
the inner circle stands the chapel, from which a pathway leads
between two stone pillars to the ravine. This glen, studded
with masses of white quartz, has a very beautiful effect, and
will amply repay the tourist for the trouble of visiting it. Such
are the chief features of the chapel and burial ground of the
Danish kings. With a brief notice of the mode of inhumation

B OutfT Snelonir*.
O flurial Ground.
Z .4pyro«cAyro»i (Ae Sii.

THE ISLE OP MAN. 91
practised in these cemeteries, I shall conclude this account of
Manx churches prior to the middle ages.
The burial of the dead in the Isle of Man was essentially a
religious belief, involving a lively faith in the resurrection, con
sequently the selection of a burial place, the ubi resurgere,
where the dead might rest in peace to rise again in glory, was
an object of the utmost importance. Hence these cemeteries
usually occupy picturesque and retired localities, with little to
awake the sympathy of the casual visitor, except the sanctity
of the place. They contain no monumental stones, or other
memorials of the dead, to indicate who rests below, but great
and small lie mingled together vrithout distinction in the one
common hope of a joyful resurrection.
The mode of inhumation practised was as follows : — A grave
three feet deep and two feet wide was dug east and west, and
lined with flag-stones to the height of fifteen inches. In it
the corpse was laid wrapt in a mort-cloth, and closed in by a
coverlid of stones. (See Keeill of sixth century, opposite page
83.) A few shovelsful of earth and a layer of sods completed
the remainder. No implements or relics of any kind were en
tombed along with it, but the whole betokens the simple burial
of the early Christian church.
It sometimes happens that two, and even three bodies, rest
in the same grave. When this is the case, they will be found
to lie on their sides with the lower extremities semi-flexed. In
consequence of this, the stone coffin is much smaller in size
than is usually the case, and has more the appearance of a
chfld's than an adult's burial. Very seldom the remains con
tained in these graves will bear Handling, unless the surround
ing soil happen to be of a dry and sandy nature. Their colour
is generally of a rusty iron, or tan hue, caused by the quantity
of ferruginous matter contained in the schistose formations of
this island. The crania belong to the doUchocephalic type.
Burials in stone-lined graves continued in use in the Isle of
Man down to a comparatively recent date, and did not finally
cease untfl the commencement of the seventeenth century.

92

VII.

NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS IN THE
ISLE OF MAN.
BY THE REV. E. L. BARNWELL.
If the stone monuments in the Isle of Man are not remarkable
for their dimensions or their state of preservation, they have at
least an interest wanting in similar remains in Wales, Corn
wall, or other districts where these monuments are not uncom
mon. Generally speaking, such monuments are supposed to
be, and probably are, the rehcs of a certain race, or divisions
of it, whether Celtic or of an earlier unknown people. They
may and seem to have been erected at different periods ; but
they were still erected by the same race, or by its successive
waves. The case of the Isle of Man is different. Within the
Historic period it has been overrun by Norsemen, themselves
builders of structures of a similar character, although present
ing certain distinct features of their own. Had their monu
ments, then, as well as the earlier ones of their predecessors,
been left in any moderate state of preservation, the assignment
of each class to their respective builders would have been in
most cases comparatively easy ; but in their present condition
of almost complete destruction, the attempt to distinguish one
from the other with certainty is almost hopeless. To add to
the difficulty, few satisfactory accounts of the contents of graves
opened in later times, and no trustworthy delineations of the
monuments themselves, before their destruction, have come
down to us. It is true that the work of rifling and destruction.

STONE MONUMENTS IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 93
especiaUy of the earliest examples, may have taken place cen
turies ago, even by the Scandinavian invaders themselves, in
their search for gold and other treasure. On the Continent,
as in the north-western districts of France, the Northmen
appear to have ransacked every grave that promised such
booty ; but in many instances they have left behind them, as of
httle value, articles of great importance to the archaeologist of
the present day. If the same spoliation was practised by the
Scandinavians in Man, they carried on the work so effectually
as to leave little hopes to the Manx explorer. There may, how
ever, still remain, especially in less frequented parts of the
island, graves which may have wholly or partially escaped ; and
if such should be the case, it is to be eamestly hoped that they
will be carefully examined by gentlemen competent to super
intend the operations ; for the safest, if not the only reliable
means of ascertaining any real information respecting the Habits
and uses of the earlier races, which once occupied the island,
can be obtained in no other manner than by a careful examina
tion of such relics.
There are, however, certain distinctive features exhibited in
the various remains throughout Man which deserve attention.
The late Dr. Oswald has, indeed, in his Vestigia, chapter ii,
given a full and accurate description of the most remarkable ;
but his deductions and observations, especially as regards
Druidic theories, must be received with great caution. Besides
his indiscriminate use of the term " Druidic circle," and "altar,"
he introduces us to a distinction between the complete circle
and the semi-lunar forms, which, he says, have been supposed
to have been respectively dedicated to the sun and moon. In
the days of Stukely such theories may have been suggested,
but would hardly be advanced in the middle of the present
century, and certainly should not have been repeated without
some explanatory caution by so good and zealous an archaeolo
gist as the author of the Vestigia; for although it is now uni
versally agreed among the most competent judges, that these

94 ' NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
various circles are simply portions of sepulchral arrangements,
yet there is even at the present day a certain class who see in
them nothing but Bardic and Druidic mysteries.- Thus these
semi-lunar forms are said to be connected with lunar worship, —
the circle with that of the sun ; whereas the former are but
mutilated remains of the latter, whilst these latter are but the
relics of a grave.
In the present notice, stone monuments will alone be touched
on. The numerous early earthworks, of different forms and
intended for various purposes, scattered through the island,
form a class by themselves well deserving a separate examina
tion, although a good account of many of them will be found in
the Vestigia, and is given in the previous Memoir by Dr. Oliver.
Of the cromlech proper there does not appear to be any ex
ample in the Isle of Man, — at least none such was seen during
the meeting of the Association. Whether the small chamber
in the Oatland circle is one, will be best decided by the spade,
as without it it is not easy to determine whether the stones
composing the sides of it were originally placed on, and. not
ivithin, the ground ; for this seems to be the safest test to dis
tinguish the one class from the other. According to this view,
the cromlech is always built on the ground, the kistvaen sunk
within it, so as in fact to become an ordinary rude stone coffin.
A large kistvaen must not, therefore, be considered a small
cromlech, as is sometimes the case. Thus the latter name has
been given to the stone grave near Tynwald Mount, which has
been laid bare by a cutting in the road.
It may be a question whether cromlechs are always of much
older dates than the kistvaen, although the latter continned in
use to a period when even the very nature and object of the
cromlech had become a mystery. In the island especially it is
difficult to say when the practice of burying in kistvaens ceased,
as those opened at Cronk ny Keeillane and elsewhere are appa
rently Christian. The form, however, of such a grave is so
simple and natural, that it is difficult to conceive that it is

IN THE ISLE OP MAN.

95

merely a kind of copy of the cromlech, or even much later.
The two kinds of chambers were probably contemporaneous ;
the larger and more costly cromlech, with its covering tumulus,
being only adopted for persons of distinction ; for when we
consider the enormous amount of labour that must have been
spent in raising the covering stones, sometimes thirty feet
long, and almost always of enormous thickness, on the top of
supporters projecting six or more feet from the surface of
the ground, and the additional labour of covering the whole
with a huge mound of earth or stones, and how much of this

:;.J...B ::^

-^^-z^:^^ .y^y/^^_^  '^

Ruck at Ballamona.

toil might have been saved by merely sinking the slabs within
the ground, it is evident that such a costly practice owes its
origin to some tradition of the remotest antiquity, which may,
perhaps, be traced in the rock-caves of the East, or even the
Pyramids themselves, which look very much like simple tumuli
over the remains of the dead. At Autun, in France, is the
wefl-known mass of masonry, now robbed indeed of its ashlar,
but which is simply a solid stone tumulus (if such a phrase is

96 NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
admissible). These considerations point to the extreme anti
quity of such monuments, usually ascribed to Celtic races,
but which may, and probably have been erected by some ante
rior people. But even allowing the great antiquity of the
cromlech proper, it by no means follows that the kistvaen was
unknown at the same early period.
Of the existing remains, however, in the island, which are
connected with sepulture, the large stone circles, more or less
perfect, may be placed among the earliest ; although, in some
cases, it seems impossible to distinguish those which were
erected in later times by the Scandinavians. The large masses
of white quartz, mostly isolated or not arranged in any order,
seem to belong to the earher class. A faithful representation
is given of one of them at p. 95. It lies on the land of Balla
mona. Other similar masses in the same spot have been either
removed or completely destroyed, so that it is not possible to
ascertain in what order they were once grouped, for although
some may think that they have been brought to their present
situation by natural agency, yet the finding of several near one
another in a particular spot, where they do not naturally occur,
seems to indicate that they have been brought thither, and
that too at no little cost pf labour. The hill above Malew
church, stiU retains two or three similar masses of white quartz,
which the author of the Vestigia seems to describe as having
formed a circle of about ten yards in diameter, although no
traces of it are now to be detected. He speaks of two of the
stones as portal stones, and of a third within the area, which
of course must be the altar stone in the eyes of those, who still
consider these circles connected with Druidic or Bardic myste
ries, but which is more likely to be merely one of the stones
of the circle out of place.
As, however, the late Dr. Oswald seemed satisfied that such a
circle of quartz rocks did exist at Malew, it renders the conjec
ture probable that those at Ballamona also were portions of a
similar circle. It is also remarkable that the ground, which

?•¦. B

3

\^-

PLAN OF OATLANDS CIKCLE, ISLE OF MAN.

isFeet

A. Chamber B.
B. Stone wilh cup markings.
i;. Stone, five feet high.
D. Stone, four feet six. Inches high.

E. Fallen atone — perhapa portion of
the covering stone.
F, Gj H, Detached stones of outer
circle.

Average height of other atones of inner circle, three feet.

,'.' \A dm

'I • '.III'*' I I' ll'

STONE, WITH CUP MAKKINGS, OATLANDS OIXtCLE, ISLE OF MAN.

STONE AVENUE, POOR TOWN, NBAE PEEL, ISLE OF HAN.

kistvaen, NEAE ST. JOHN S TYNWALD MOUNT.

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 97
this circle may have occupied, has been an extensive cemetery.
In addition to the neighbouring tumulus marking a grave,
numerous kistvaens have from time to time been discovered
in ploughing, the fragments of one of which, destroyed a
short time ago, consisted of thin, slaty stones. A Treen
chapel also is said to have stood on this spot, so that if it be a
fact that a primitive stone circle of quartz masses also ex
isted here, we have a remarkable instance of the same burial-
ground having been used by various races down to Christian
times. The earth was excavated' to a slight extent under the Balla
mona block, but nothing was discovered except the two small
stones given in the cut, which appear at first sight to Have been
supporters to the mass, but which, from their diminutive size
and their position, are suspiciously natural. A small fragment
of vegetable charcoal was also found, but its presence, unsup
ported by other indications of fire, is not of much importance.
If any traces of interment exist, they are likely to be found near,
not under the quartz mass, as Mr. John Stuart has frequentiy
found to be the case in Scotland during His numerous diggings
in and about circles.
An important group of circles, known as the Mount Murray
Circles, may be of a later period than those formed of quartz
blocks. These circles are so imbedded in the heath that they
are somewhat difficult to trace, although they are unusuaUy
perfect. If the ground could be cleared, it is not unlikely that
traces of the once existing chambers might be made out. An
upright stone in one of them has certain marks, which at first
sight might be taken for artificial, but which do not appear to
be so. This grouping of circles, almost, if not quite, in contact
with each other, is not unusual, and seems to indicate an early
character. In many instances, such groups have been included
in one large circle, which sometimes remains when the enclosed
circles and graves have vanished. Hence may be explained the
mystery of circles like that near Penrith, known as Long Meg
H

98 NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
and her daughters, which is evidently too large to Have been
intended to surround a single grave.
The circles in Arragon also attracted attention, from the fact
that one of them Had an inner circle of stones placed, not close
to the base of the tumulus, but some little distance up its sides.
This peculiarity was not observed in a circle in the next en
closure. This position of the stones indicates the Scandinavian
character of the tumulus.
Another tolerably perfect circle, composed of quartz blocks,
was pointed out by the Bishop of Sodor^ and Man. It is
situated not far from Bishop's Court, on high ground com
manding a fine sea view. It is probably one of the earlier
class. The tumulus, which once existed, appears to have been
formed of fine soil, if that which still covers one of the stones,
as it seems to be, is a last remnant. If so, the soil must have
been too valuable to the farmer to have escaped removal. In a
small island like that of Man, no part of it can be called distant
from the sea ; but the majority of this class of antiquities seem
to show that, when possible, the builders of them selected sites
commanding a sea view. In no instance is this tendency more
strongly exhibited than in Brittany, where, almost without ex
ception, the great monuments are on the coast. The same may
be said of Wales in a less degree. Instances, no doubt, occur
where they are found more inland ; but, as a general rule, the
earliest vestiges of man are to be found along the coast.
All the circles mentioned have lost the interior structure.
That at Oatlands is an exception, which retains its central
chamber. The inner circle of stones, placed near one another,
marks the limit of the carn or tumulus. Three stones of the
outer circle, placed at greater intervals, still remain.
The chamber itself is composed of substantial slabs of stone,
nor less substantial was the covering stone lying on the ground.
At present the chamber has the appearance of a kistvaen, but
it would be necessary to clear away the soil to ascertain whether
the sides were originally placed on the ground, in which case

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 99
it would be a smaU cromlech. But the most remarkable cir
cumstance connected with it, is that one of the stones Has
several rows of the curious cups, to which Professor Simpson
has caUed the attention of his brother-archEeologists, and which
untfl first noticed by that keen observer, seem to have been
unknown, or at least to have never attracted attention. Now
these cups, and their developments in the form of circles, are
found only in the earlier class of stone monuments, so that there
can be little hesitation in assigning the Oatlands group to the
earliest period. The character of this monument, the cups, and
whole arrangement, will be best understood from the accurate
drawings and measurements taken on the spot by Mr. Blight,
which are given in the accompanying fllustrations. THe cups
are, however, shown more distinctly than they appear in the
original. There is a singular group of upright stones at Poortown on
the old Peel road, forming a gallery. This gallery, covered
with flat stones, was, together with the chamber to which it
led, once covered with soil. In the great majority of existing
cromlechs, all traces of a gallery conducting to the chamber
have long since vanished, but in this instance the chamber has
been destroyed, and the gallery left. It is, however, by no
means certain that gaUeries always formed a portion of
such structures; examples might be given where it is proved
they never existed. One of the best authorities on this sub
ject has suggested that the more important chambers were
built with a view to subsequent interments, so that it would be
necessary to Have such a means of access without disturbing
the tumulus or chamber; but that where this motive did not
operate, the chamber was closed up, and no gallery added.
The traces of such gaUeries are very rare in these islands. One,
or rather the remains of one, exists in the cromlech on the
Henblas estate in Anglesey, which was visited by the Cam
brian Archasological Association during the Bangor Meeting.
They are, however, common enough in Brittany. H 2

100 NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
If, However, the moderate height of these stones seems to
show that they could not have served as the walls of a gallery,
it is not impossible but that in this group we may Have an ex
ample of the stone avenue or alignment ; — an arrangement
common enough in Brittany, but in these islands of the highest
rarity. The stones are, however, placed much nearer to each
other than is usual in an ordinary avenue, so that on the whole
it seems more probable that it is the remains of a covered
gallery to a grave. Under either supposition, however, it is
certainly one of the most interesting, if not the most interest
ing, of Manx stone monuments, and deserves to be carefully
protected from the destroyer.
This Manx example is composed of such small stones, that
unless the ground has been raised by natural causes, access
could not have been obtained in an upright position. But
this question can be determined by clearing away the soil,
which Mr. Harrison, the owner of the estate, has promised to
do. If there has been any accumulation of soil, the floor may
possibly remain, which is frequently formed of one or more of
large flags. Several large stones, which seem to have belonged
to this group, are now on the other side of the bank.
The stone monuments Hitherto noticed are, with the exception
of the Arragon circles, most probably of the earlier kind. The
remarkable circle of graves on the hill above Port Erin may
belong to the same class, although they are not built of the
same substantial slabs, which generally characterise the earlier
chambers. Their remarkable grouping, however, so as to
form a perfect circle, and the fact of a small raised bank en
closing the circle, seem to indicate a very early character.
There appears to have been more than one entrance into the
circle, although this appearance may have arisen from the dis
placing of some of the stones. A reference, however, to the
ground plan, made by Mr. W. Matthews of the Government
Harbour works, will best show this peculiarity. There was not
sufficient time on the occasion of the visit to examine with

IN THE ISLE OF MAN.

101

greater care these outlying stones, so as to ascertain whether
they are original portions of the group. The general view is from
a drawing made for the Association by Mr. Jeffcott of Castletown,
who has, in a subsequent memoir, furnished some details con
cerning it. It is situated in the highest parts of the mountain
called " The Mull," in the parish of Rushen, close to a rocky
valley which gives to the monument its name, RhuUick-y-lagg

/

Plan of Circle on Mull Hill, Isle of Man.

Shhggagh, or " the grave-yard of the vaUey of broken slates."
It was with no little difficulty that Mr. Jeffcott ascertained its
Manx name, which, but for the information he obtained from
two octogenarian natives, might have been entirely lost. The

102 NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
materials of the kists have been evidently taken from the spot,
and vary much in thickness, namely from six to sixteen inches,
and are entirely without any marks of tooHng. The interior
diameter of the circle is forty-six feet. It is very remarkable
that this curious circle had not hitherto attracted any attention,
or even been noticed, except by Mr. Halliwell, in his Round
about Notes (1863). He thinks, however, that stone avenues
existed ; but this seems doubtful. There are, indeed, one or
two irregularities in the exterior of the circle, which may have
been caused by later kists added on the outside. He is, how
ever, not far from right in thinking it to be "perhaps the most
curious sepulchral mo-num.ent in Great Britain."
From the regularity with which the graves have been arranged
in pairs, and the complete similarity of the kists themselves,
they appear to have been the work of the same hands, and of
the same time. Other graves are said to exist on the mountain,
but not arranged as these are. It is. However, certain that
no careful examination has yet been made of the ground, an
omission which it is to be hoped will soon be rectified. Imme
diate steps should at any rate be taken to surround this group
with a wall to prevent its destruction, for although the kists
are individually of no great importance, yet their being thus
grouped together gives them a value, which it is to be hoped
will be appreciated by the proprietors of the land.
The other stone remains .visited during the meeting of the
Cambrian Association are of the later kind, and must be re
ferred to Scandinavian occupiers of the island.
In a field near the Tynwald Mount were three kistvaens, one
of which was laid bare by a cutting through the road, and ex
amined during one of the excursions of the week. This had
evidently been buried within the ground, to some depth, as will
be seen from the accompanying illustration. At the time of its
discovery nothing was found within it, so that it may have been
rifled on a former occasion. Near it were the two other simflar
graves, close to one another, — one of which contained a battle-

iKf"^ U

A

^

13 '<i v'*'*;

Jtl

BEADS, KOCK UltVSTAL, AND ORNAMENTS, FOUND IN A KIS'l'VAEN NEAB
ST. JOHN'k TYNWALID MOUNT, ISLE OF MAN.

IN THE ISLE OF MAN. 1.03
axe and spur, the other a coUection of beads and other orna
ments and an urn. What has become of the former is not
ascertained ; the others are iu the Museum of Practical Geo
logy in Jermyn Street. That the three kists are of the same
character and age there can be little doubt ; and that they were
Scandinavian is shewn by the relics of two of them. A correct
account of these important discoveries is. given in a letter from
Mr. F. Matthews to Dr. Oliver, which -vrill be found in the
Notes to the Vestigia. As it was in this and the adjoining
fields that a battle took place between Olave and his brother
Eeginald, and in which the latter was slain, that there was some
connexion between the battle and these graves is very prob
able. The relics are those of a pbrson of importance ; but
not of Reginald himself, since his body was taken by the monks
of Rushen Abbey and buried in the Abbey of Furness.
The objects in Jermyn Street, since examined and drawn by
Mr. Blight, are represented in the engraving by that gentle
man. No. 1. Yellow glass bead with red markings.
No. 2. Glass bead with facets dark blue.
No. 3. Opaque white glass bead.
No. 4. Turquoise coloured blue bead, larger than the others.
No. 5. Yellow glass bead with dark blue markings.
No. 6. Bead similar in form to No. 3, resembling Samian
ware. No. 7. Blue glass bead similar in form to No. 3.
No. 8. Dark blue glass set in copper nearly converted into
metal carbonate.
No. 9. Rock crystal.
No. 10. A portion of an ornament of silver, much oxydised.
No. 11 . Portion of a copper ring.
No. 12. Portion of a silver ring nearly converted into chlo
ride or horn silver.
No. 13. Fragment probably of an ornament, and which seems
to be metal.

104 NOTES ON THE STONE MONUMENTS
The group in Kirklonan parish, on the Minorca road, be
tween Ramsey and Douglas, is popularly known as King
Orry's grave. The name is associated with other places in
the island, as at Bishop's Court, where the medieval tower is
called Orry's tower. Orrisdale is in the same locality. King
Orry's son and successor died in 954. There appears, however,
to have been more than one grave, as the existing remains
show. The group was opened some thirty years ago, when it
was found to contain a dome vaulted chamber, which itself
contained a kistvaen, as if especial honour had been intended by
this peculiar arrangement. A mere covering of earth or stones
would have been sufficient for the purpose, as was the usual
practice. In this case, a "vaulted chamber had been added.
Professor Simpson has remarked a somewhat similar instance
of this double enclosure. In the cromlech on the mountain near
Harlech, associated with the name of Arthur, he noticed that a
kistvaen had been placed within the cromlech itself. But such
instances are very rare. When Orry's grave was opened, it
contained a few human bones, the skeleton of a horse, an iron
horse-shoe (now in the possession of Mr. Paul Bridson), and
an iron sword, — objects which indubitably point to a Scandi
navian interment. How the chamber was vaulted is omitted in
the account. If the vaulting, so-called, was not effected by
stones overlapping one another, but in the usual manner of
ordinary vaulting, the monument cannot be of very ancient
character.* The Cloven Stones of Laxey, nearer Douglas, are the re
mains of another grave with its surrounding pillar-stones. In
Wood's Isle of Man (1811) the author states he saw twelve
stones placed in an oval form on the mount. If this account
be correct, the position of the stones on the mount, as in the
Arragon circle, would indicate the structure to be Scandina-
* Mr. David Forbes states that the late Mr. Frank Matthews forwarded
to his late brother, Professor Forbes, the sword found in Orry's grave; but
of its subsequent fate he is ignorant.

IN THE ISLE OP MAN. 105
vian. Local tradition terms it the burial-place of a Welsh
prince who reigned on the island between the seventh and
eighth centuries. It is more probably the resting-place of a
Norseman. Another work is associated with Orry's name, called Castle
Cherry, lying still nearer Ramsay. This was not visited ; but
from the representation of it given in Mr. Cumming's larger
work, it appears to be a simple sepulchral circle, retaining in
the interior some of the stones which once composed the in
terior cave or chamber.
The large and small kists in the grounds of Orrisdale, have
been removed for the sake of security to their present position.
Nothing was found in the larger one but a confused entangled
mass of vegetable matter containing small white particles,
which appear to have come from burnt bone. The smaller kist
is square, and of such small dimensions that it could only have
held ashes, or the doubled-up body of a small child. Numerous
similar kists are said to exist on the hill from which these were
brought. Cronk ny Keeillane is on a hill cut through by the high road,
near Peel, and has been well described in the appendix to
Oswald's Vestigia. The mound was raised originally upon the
summit of a rising ground, and has been the nucleus of an
important cemetery, as graves have been frequently disturbed
by the plough. The kistvaens, that have been opened, are
built of thin slabs of slaty rag stones, and are of an humble and
meagre character. The bodies appear to have been placed in
one uniform position, nearly east and west. The skull, which
had been cut through by some trenchant implement, and which
was exhibited in the Museum, was taken from one of the kists.
An old Treen church stood on the plateau above the graves
that were opened, but all traces of its site are gone. Whether
the original church preceded or was subsequent to the inter
ments, is an interesting point; for if subsequent, it would
shew that this spot had been chosen as a cemetery from very

106 STONE MONUMENTS IN THE ISLE OP MAN..
early times, although the character of the present graves is
somewhat dubious. But whether Christian or not, they may
have succeeded still eariier ones ; so that, as in the case of
Ballamona cemetery, we may- have an instance of a cemetery
dating from the earliest period to a comparatively recent one.
Connected with the Treen chapel was a Runic cross, never de
scribed, which, during a murrain among the cattle of the district,
acquired a bad character amongst the natives as being con
nected with the disease. It was accordingly buried in the
ground, and no persuasion to disclose the spot has yet been
effective. The man, who did the act, still lives, but keeps the
secret, — all the less likely to be known at the time, when the
rinderpest existed on the opposite shore. If that plague should
ever find its way into the island, perhaps other Runic monu
ments may disappear.
The other stone remains which exist throughout the island
will be probably found to be similar to one or other of the
classes here briefly touched upon. St. Patrick's chair, at .
Magher-y-Chiarn, in Marown Parish, of a somewhat different
character, may, perhaps, have been the modern fabrication of
a neighbouring farmer, who may have found (if he did not
manufacture them) these stones in different spots, and grouped
them thus together, either from some whim, or to prevent
their interference with his plough. They were not, however,
seen by the members of the Association during their visit to
the island; so their real history must be left for Manx
archseologists.

PATEN, KIEK MALEW, ISLE OP MAN.

107

VIII.

CHURCH FURNITURE IN MALEW CHURCH,
ISLE OF MAN.
BY THE EEV. E. L. BARNWELL.
During the visit of the Association to the Isle of Man, in 1865,
a risit was made to Malew Church, which the Rev. J. G. Cum
ming considers a good specimen of the older Manx churches.
There is nothing very remarkable about the building, except a
roof of the thirteenth century, and a small rude granite font of
uncertain date. The church, however, possesses certain articles
of church furniture of unusual interest, namely, a silver paten,
a bronze crucifix, a portion of a staff covered with brass, and a
curious bronze article, described in some of the guide-books as
an extinguisher.
The paten is represented in the cut, from a careful drawing
and a rubbing ; for the latter of which the Association is in
debted to Mr. Adcock of Birmingham. The face has a some
what rude, archaic appearance, probably arising from a defi
ciency of artistic skill ; but the other details clearly point to
the early part of the fifteenth century. The legend is, sancte
LUPE OEA PRO nobis ; thus Confirming, according to Mr. Cum
ming, the derivation of the name of the church (Malew) from
"Ma", saint, and "Lupus"; as Marown, a neighbouring parish, is
so caUed from "Ma-Rooney". St. Lupus was bishop of Troyes.
The second object is a bronze crucifix. On reference to the
adjoining cut it will be seeii that the lower part of the body is
enveloped in a folded garment, secured at the hip by a ring or

108

CHUECH PUENITUEE IN MALEW CHUECH.

button. This garment has not the appearance of ordinary
drapery. The upper portion of the body is covered with a vest
with sleeves conceahng the arms, perhaps no farther than the

f:

Cracifix.. Kirk Male-n, Isle of Man.

fracture, a little below the elbow; for, . unfortunately, the
figure has lost the extremities of the arms and legs The vest
IS so short that the middle of the body lies exposed between

KIEK MALEW, ISLE OF MAN.

CHUBCH PUENITUEE IN MALEW CHURCH. 109
the two vestments, an unusual arrangement. It is stated that,
anterior to the eleventh century, the body of Christ was covered
with a sleeved mantle ; while during that and the following
century, the lower part only of the body was concealed by a
short jupon. The present example appears to have been a
kind of combination of the two practices. The elongated head,
of Byzantine character, the crown of twisted rope, and the
position of the legs, which were not generally crossed until the
thirteenth century,^.are all indications of the age of the crucifix,
namely, the twelfth century. The peculiar, triangular form of
the cross, ornamented with a kind of bead, and the four streams
of blood descending down the forehead, should be noticed.
The portion of a staff covered with brass is called in some of
the guide-books a candlestick, to which, however, it bears no
resemblance. It may be the remains of the shaft of a proces
sional cross ; or, what is not unlikely, it may be connected
with the very singular article (see cut) which has hitherto been
called an extinguisher, although the small apertures clearly
shew it was nothing of the kind, in spite of its tapering form.
Some present during the visit conjectured it to have been the
cover of a thurible of very unusual type ; but the phlanges at
the lower part shew that it had been permanently fastened.
The conjecture of the Right Rev. Dr. Goss, however, no doubt
solves the question satisfactorily, who thinks it must have been
the top of a lantern suspended from a pole, and borne before
the priests while conveying the host to sick parishioners. The
shape, the holes, the phlanges, all combine to render this sup
position very probable ; and it is not impossible that the frag
ment of the staff just mentioned, may have been a portion of
the pole to which the lantern was suspended. There is a cer
tain similarity in the ornamentation of both articles, shewing
that they are nearly of the same date, which may be as early
as that of the fourteenth century ; but the pattern is of that
simple character which is not easily assignable to any particu
lar period.

110 CHUECH FURNITURE IN MALEW CHUECH.
Mr. Cumming, in his excellent Guide, mentions an ancient
chahce ; which was not, however, exhibited at the time. It is
described as being very small, little larger than what is used
at present for private Communion. A legend, however, is
connected with it, according to the marvel-loving Waldron,
who tells us that the fairies once gave to a benighted tra
veller on barule, a cup, which the then parson of Malew per
suaded the lucky traveller to hand over to his church; and
which, according to Waldron, was used as the chalice in his
time. But however this may be, the island is fortunate in
possessing a very fine chalice, probably of the fourteenth cen
tury, whioh is here given. It belongs to Jurby Church, and
is copied from a drawing kindly lent with the other drawings
by the Rev. J. Simpson of Douglas. (See plate.)
It is very satisfactory to know that these various relics are
properly valued, and carefully guarded, by the clergymen of
the two parishes. Those of Malew Church were until lately
kept in a box under the pulpit ; but have since been properly
removed to the house of the present incumbent, whose refusal
to the members of the Association, on that occasion, to let
them be removed for a night, for the purpose of being drawn,
was as determined as commendable. However, the difficulty
was met by the kindness of Mr. Simpson in lending the Asso
ciation his own drawings, the accuracy of which wiU be at once
recognised by those who examined the objects themselves on
the occasion of the Meeting.

CHALICE FKOM THE PAEISH CHUECH OF JUBBY, ISLE OF

Ill

IX.

UNCERTAIN BRONZE IMPLEMENTS, ISLE
OF MAN.
BY THE HBV. E. L. BARNWELL.
In the Tempora,ry Museum at Douglas, during the Meeting of
the Association in the Isle of Man last year, there was ex
hibited a stone mould, of which an accurate representation is
here given from the pencil of Mr. Bhght. The stone is at
King William's College. In the catalogue of the Museum it
was said to be a mould for casting combs ; but it is doubtful
if combs of such a form have ever been discovered, — at any
rate such a three-pronged article seems ill adapted for such a
purpose. The earliest combs in wood or bone are of very dif
ferent form : in fact, they are almost the same as those in use
at the present day. Men sufficiently advanced so as to prac
tise the art of casting metal would hardly have adopted such a
form if they wanted a comb. It may, therefore, be safely as
sumed that the article in question is nothing of the kind. It
is, however, not so easy to say what it is, and what its use. It
bears, indeed, a faint resemblance to the bronze implement
lately found in Anglesey, and described in a late number of the
Archceologia Cambrensis by Mr. Albert Way. That implement,
which is very similar to one found in Edinburgh, and noticed
in the Proceedings of the Scottish Antiquaries, is supposed to
have been a kind of razor. Similar articles have also been found
in Ireland ; but none of these is of the same form as the one
under consideration, which could not, from the narrow space

112

UNCEETAlN BRONZE IMPLEMENTS.

between the prongs, admit of the finger and thumb, by which
the razors were thought to have been held.
The circular mould also presents another difficulty ; for it is
not easy to guess at its intended use, and whether the disc of
cast metal was in any way connected with the three-pronged
instrument. The presence, however, of the two moulds on one
block seems to shew that these may have had some connexion.

The larger of the two implements may, however, have served
as a veritable fork, which may have been fitted with a double
handle; but in this ease one would have expected that it would
have been provided with a tang or shaft of some kind ; or it
may have been a kind of scraper, although this suggestion is
worth littlo. It is possible that simflar articles may exist in
some coUection, by a comparison of which some Ught may be
thrown on what at present seems to be a puzzle.

113

X.

CIRCLE ON "THE MULL," ISLE OF MAN.
BY J. M. JEFFCOTT, ESQ., H.K.
One of the most remarkable monuments of antiquity on the
island is a circle on the mountain called "The Mule," or "The
Mull," in the parish of Rushen. It is situated on a rocky emi
nence about midway between Port Erin and the hamlet of
Cregneese.* The spot is wild and desolate, and has probably
undergone little change since the circle was first formed. In
the immediate vicinity of the structure is a valley which abounds
with crags and slaty stones. From this valley is derived its
local name, "RhuUick y lagg shhggagh;" i.e., "the graveyard
of the valley of broken slates." I had much difficulty in ascer
taining its name, for which I am indebted to two aged natives
who live at Cregneese : indeed, had it not been for the informa
tion afforded by these venerable islesmen, the name would in
all probability have been lost. The noun shlig means shell,
shred, or fragment ; and my informants explain the adjective
shKggagh as having reference to the pieces of stone or slate
usuaUy found about a quarry.
An engraving from a drawing which I had made of this
circle accompanied the Rev. E. L. Barnwell's "Notes on the
Stone Monuments of the Isle of Man," in the number of the

* This is, perhaps, the oldest and most primitive of the existing hamlets
of the island, and is formed chiefly of thatched cottages. Creg, in the Manx
dialect, signifies "rock"; and -neese, in the same dialect, means "below."
Hence'the name of the village denotes its position, "below the rock." I

114

CIRCLE ON "the MULL," ISLE OF MAN.

Archceologia Cambrensis for January 1866, and is given on
page 101 supra. The circle is formed of kistvaens arranged
singly : throughout the whole ring two cannot be found placed
side by side. Some of thera are nearly entire ; and of these,
the imposts only are wanting. The grey, flat stones of which
they are composed were, doubtless, originally obtained close to
the place where they now stand. Several of the stones are

Plan of Circle on tie Mull, Isle of Man.
seven feet long, and some are upwards of three feet high. They
vary in thickness from six to sixteen inches, and are of a
very rude character. The width of the spaces which they
enclose varies from thirty-four inches to three feet seven
inches. This monument has one novel feature deserving of special

CIRCLE -ON "the MOLL," ISLE OP MAN. 116
notice. At different points two rows of stones are placed
parallel to each other, outside of, and diverging from, the
circle. These, at first sight, might appear to indicate passages
into the interior ; but after several ca.reful examinations of the
remains, I have no hesitation in saying that the spaces which
they inclose were not openings into the structure, nor were
they kists. The stones are unquestionably in their original
position. The spaces enclosed by the several rows are no
where more than two feet wide ; and, though opposite the
vacancies between the ends of the kistvaens, such vacancies
seem to have been, at least in two instances, not more than
fourteen or sixteen inches wide, and therefore too narrow to
have been used as entrances. The kistvaens were originally
covered with turf and soil, combined, probably, with fragments
of stone ; and, with their covering, formed, I believe, a circu
lar bank or an elevated ring. The present appearance of the
structure indicates clearly the former existence of an annular
embankment ; and when this was entire, the narrow openings
between the ends of the kistvaens must have been closed.
Moreover, if the spaces, which I have described, were en
trances or avenues, why do they project five or six feet from
the circle ? The manner in which the stones are placed does
not warrant us in assuming that they formed kistvaens. Their
character is distinct from that of the stones of which the kist
vaens in the circle are composed.
The double rows of stones were eight in number : four of
these rows faced very nearly the four points of the compass,
and the others divided equally the intervening portions of the
circle, in the manner represented in the accompanying plan.
¦ Four are stiU distinctly visible : one opposite the west, and
another the north-west : one opposite the north-east, and an
other the south. These diverging rows of stones must, I think,
have been originally built upon, and have given to the circle,
when entire, an asteriated appearance. The structure may,
perhaps, have been intended to represent a star or the sun.

116 CIRCLE ON "the MULL," ISLE OP MAN.
Is it not possible that the sun and st9,rs were objects of worship
among the primeval occupants of the island ?
Sepulchral mounds and circles are of very frequent occur
rence in Man, and might seem to point to the existence, at a
very remote period, of a dense population. There is, however,
no reason for the belief that the early inhabitants were nume
rous. The monuments themselves are generaUy of very limited
size. The circle which I have described could not, I think,
have contained more than eighteen kists ; and, indeed, the
actual number may not have exceeded sixteen. It was, per
haps, used by only one family ; or it may have been the joint
property of a few families dweUing in close proximity to each
other. At a comparatively recent date, soon after the intro
duction of Christianity into the island, and anterior to its divi
sion into parishes, numerous families had, it seems, their re
spective cemeteries, on which they erected, of sods and stones,
rude and diminutive chapels. (See Dr. Oliver's paper, supra.)
I have been informed that fragments of human bones have
been taken from the kistvaens on the Mull. Most probably
these bones had been partially burned, but unless others be
discovered the fact cannot now be ascertained. Any cinerary
urns, which may have been deposited in the kists, must long
since have been destroyed. It might be interesting to exca
vate within the circle, but it is hardly likely that any valuable
discovery could by excavation be made. Its whole area is
covered only by a small quantity of soil ; the kistvaens stand
upon rock.
The early sepulchral monuments of the island seem to have
belonged to different periods, for they are not all of the same
class. There is one class which differs very materially from '
that to which the circle already described belongs. I refer to
that composed of tumuli capped with great masses of quartz.
A tumulus of this sort occurs in the neighbourhood of Orry's
Dale, in the parish of Michael. On the summit of the mound,
which is partially a natural one, huge stones, each weighing

CIRCLE ON "the MULL," ISLE OP MAN. 117
upwards of a ton, are arranged in the form of a circle. These
ponderous stones are supposed to have been brought from the
bed of Sulby River, a distance of five or six miles ; for no such
stones, it is thought, ever existed in the neighbourhood of the
tumulus. I have no doubt that they were, in their present
position, once covered with turf and sofl ; and there is stiU on
one of the stones a heap of earth. Cinerary urns have been
found in this tumulus. The differences in the form and charac
ter of the Manx tumuli lead to the conclusion that they were
not the works of one tribe. Small AUophylian colonies were
doubtless occasionally formed in the island, and they introduced
among the primordial inhabitants foreign customs and a foreign
idolatry. The frequent occurrence of ancient tumuli and circles
within a short distance from the sea renders it probable that
the aboriginal possessors of the land usually dwelt in creeks
and bays, where they were more likely to obtain subsistence
than in the interior of the country.
It would be interesting to know for a certainty to what use
the spaces within the circles, whether formed of kistvaens, or
solid masses of stone, were applied. It is exceedingly probable
that within such enclosed spaces the bodies of the dead were
subjected to the process of cremation. It can hardly be sup
posed that there were not certain places where the practice
was invariably carried out. We know that in the later times
of the republic, when the custom obtained among the Romans,
they had their ustrince, where cremation was performed.

In further illustration of the subject of the foregoing paper,
it may be stated that the arranging of kistvaens {cistveini) in
circles is thouo'h rare, not without parallel in Wales. Not far
from Newport, in Pembrokeshire, there is a collection of five
kistvaens, or small cromlechs, arranged in a circle ; not, in
deed on the circumference, but radiating from the centre :
that is to say, there is an evident approximation to this form,

118 CIRCLE ON "the MULL", ISLE OP MAN.
One idea, however, started by Mr. Jeffcott is novel, and yet
weU worthy of careful remark ; viz., that the kistvaens along
the circumference were once all covered by a continuous ridge
of earth, forming a kind of embankment. Now we find in
Wales, and, I believe in Britanny, numerous examples of circles
composed of a continuous embankment; but hitherto, I be
lieve, no kistvaens have been found within these embankments.
It would, therefore, be worth while to probe, not to destroy,
some embankments of this nature, in order to see whether
they covered any places of sepulture.
With regard to the kistvaens themselves, they seem to re
semble what we find commonly both above and below ground
in Wales ; but the rows of stones radiating from the outside
of the circumference would seem to be altogether peculiar.
The nature of the soil beneath these stones, being rocky, cer
tainly damps the expectation of finding sepulchral remains
connected with such a circle as that on the Mull ; still search
should be made, and conducted with all precautions calculated
to ensure the preservation of this interesting monument of
early Manx-men.
It is curious that no Roman remains should yet have been
pointed out on the island ; for it is hardly possible that the
conquerors of Britain should not have known, and even estab
lished their supremacy over it. Possibly future discoveries
may solve this part of the problem of Manx history.
H. L. J.

119

XI.

MANANAN MAC LIR: HIS MYTHIC CONNEXION
WITH THE ISLE OF MAN.
BY EICHARD R. BRASH, M.R.I.A.
The original discovery and peopling of our European islands
are enveloped in the mists of fable and tradition. Saturn,
Jupiter, and Minos are said to have been early kings of Crete ;
Phorcus, a descendant of Noah, to have peopled Sardinia.
Sicilian chronologists deduce the pedigrees of the Sicilians
from Gomer, the son of Japhet, whom they assert to have
peopled that island a short time after the flood. Brutus and
his Trojans are fabled to have found their way to these
islands, and to have given a name to Britain. The Irish
Seanachuidhe attributes the colonisation of Ireland to Partho-
lanus, a descendant of Magog, the son of Japhet, three hun
dred years after the flood ; while Man, not to be outdone by
these greater rivals, claims for itself a truly ancient and fabu
lous colonisation.
The subject I have taken up in connection with the Isle of
Man is an exclusively mythic one. Mananan Mac Lir cannot
claim an historical existence ; nevertheless his name and attri
butes are so mixed up with the written romance, and tradi
tionary lore of Ireland, that the possible existence of some
personage who formed the foundation of these ancient tales, is
more than probable.
The origin of the geographical name, Man, has been a puzzle
to the historian and antiquary. The learnei'l Carnden gives

120 MANANAN MAC LIE.
the names by which it was known to ancient authors. He
writes, — "Ptolemy calls it ' Monoeda quasi Moneitha' ; i.e., if
I may be allowed a conjecture. Further Mona, to distinguish it
from the other Mona ; Pliny, Monabia ; Orosius, Mevania ;
and Bede, Menavia Secunda, where he calls Mona (or Anglesey)
Menavia Prima, and both British islands." In the Irish ver
sion of Nennius it is called Eubonia and Manau. In an an
cient MS. in the Harleian Collections, quoted in the Cam.
Quart. Mag., iv, p. 23, Man is styled Manan Guodotin.
From the foregoing it is evident that the names Manan,
Man, are the foundation of all the above appellations; but
whence this root, and by whom originally applied ? Here
Irish traditionary lore steps in, and supplies the clue when it
states that this island derives its name from Mananan Mac Lir,
or " Mananan the son of the sea," a celebrated navigator and
merchant who made Man the chief depot of his trade. Gough,
in his additions to Camden, notices this tradition when he
states, it makes " the first owner of this island to have been
Mananan Mac Leir, a magician, who kept it enveloped in perr
petual mist till St. Patrick broke the charm." Ler or Iear (the
sea), genitive lir, is an Irish word still in general use. In
Bullock's history of the Isle of Man, the above tradition is thus
introduced from the Manx Statute Book: "Mananan Mac Leir
(the first man who held Man), was ruler thereof, and after
whom the land was named, reigned many years, and was a
paynim. He kept the land under mists by his necromancy.
If he dreaded an enemy, he would of one man cause to seem
an hundred, and that by art magic." Sacheverel, in his ac
count of Man, notices the same myth.
Before entering on the Irish traditions of this personage, it
would be well to notice the close connection existing- between
Ireland and Man from the remotest ages, ^thicus, the cos-
mographer, asserts that the Isle of Man as well as Ireland was
peopled by the Scoti, "Menavia insula «que ac Hibernia a
Scotorum gentibus habitatur." Orosius makes a similar.state-

MANANAN MAC LIR. 121
ment,—" Britannise spatio terrarum angustior sed coeli colitur.
Hinc etiam Mevania insula proxima est et ipsa spatio non parva
solo commoda aeque a Scotorum gentibus habitatur." {Cam-
b'rensis F-versus, vol. i, p. 159.) According to the Irish annaUst,
Tighernac, Oormac, the son of Con Cead-Catha (of the hundred
battles), in a.d. 254 expatriated a number of his rebellious sub
jects, Ultonians, and compelled them to emigrate into Man.
From thence he was called Cormac Ulfada. The learned editor
of the Irish version of Nennius adopts the opinion that the ex
pelled Ultonians were Irish Picts or Crutheni. We have, how
ever, traces of an earlier occupation of Man, as is stated in the
work above cited, — " But the Firbolgi seized upon Man and
certain islands in like manner, Ara, Ili, and Rachra.* (Irish
Arch. Soc. Pub., Dublin, 1848, p. 49.) The Firbolgs were the
colonists who preceded the Tuaths de Danans and Milesians in
the occupation of Ireland.
Camden, Usher, Lhuyd, and Pinkerton, all acknowledge the
Manx to be descended from the Hibernian Scoti. The lan
guages are admitted by philologists to be identical, with the
exception of such variations as local causes, and a strong Scan-
dinarian element would produce.
The topographical nomenclature of Man is intensely Irish
[? Celtic, Ed.] The Rev. Isaac Taylor, in his admirable work.
Words and Places, upon this subject has the following passage:
"The ethnology of the Isle of Man may be very completely illus
trated by means of local names. The map of the island contains
about four hundred names, of which about twenty per cent, are
English, twenty-one per cent, are Norwegian, and ffty -nine per
cent, are Celtic. These Celtic names are all of the most charac
teristic Erse type. It would appear that not a single colonist
from Wales ever reached the island, f which from the mountains
* Arran, Islay, and Eathlin.
t The Isle of Man was governed by princes from North Wales for
the space of four centui-ies. The first was Maelgwyn, who conquered the
island a.d. 525 and the last, Anarawd ap Roderic, who died a.d. 913.
(J. E. 0.)

122 MANANAN MAC Lip.
of Caernarvon is seen hke a faint cloud upon the blue waters."
There are ninety-six names beginning with Balla ; and the
names of more than a dozen of the highest mountains have the
prefix Shew, answering to the Irish Slievh or Sliabh. The
Isle of Man has the Gurraghs, the Loughs, and the Aliens of
Ireland faithfully reproduced. It is curious that the names
which denote places of Christian worship are all Norwegian.
They are an indication of the late date at which heathenism
must have prevailed."
It is a curious and suggestive fact that the fossil deer of
Ireland is found nowhere out of that island except in Man.* On
the Srd of September, 1856, a communication was read before
the Kilkenny Archaeological Society by Mr. Edward Bonn of
Liverpool, advocating the theory of the contemporary existence
of man and the Megaceros Hibernicus, or gigantic fossil deer of
Ireland. He writes, — " I have also stated that they are known
to Ireland only ; but to this there is a very remarkable excep
tion, as they have been, discovered in the Isle of Man, at a
place called Ballaugh. The circumstances attending their dis
covery there are quite" similar to those in Locale in Down,
except that the number of skeletons, compared with heads, is
relatively greater in the former than in the Irish locality. The
place where they are found in Man, which is in the north-west
part of the island, just opposite Locale, had formerly been a
lake ; and in maps of even two hundred and fifty years ago,
large lakes are marked as being at this place where none now
exist  Another curious question is. How did so large an
animal come to inhabit so small a place as the Isle of Man ?
Was it a separate creation ? This is out of the question. Was
it brought there by human intervention ? This is nearly as
improbable. Did it swim or travel on ice ? This also seems
* This statement requires correction. Many examples have been found
in England: in caves, as in Kent's Hole; in peat bogs, in Lancashire; at
Hilgay, Norfolk; at Walton in Essex; and in an oyster-bed at Happiaburgh.
See O'K en's' History of British Fossil Mammals a-nd Birds. The first perfect
specimen was found near Ballaugh, Isle of Man. (Editor, J. G. C.)

MANANAN MAC LIR. ] 23
an improbable conjecture. I think the circumstance is one of
the proofs that this island was once united to Ireland, and not
to England or Scotiand.* Besides the existence of the remains
of the Irish elk, many other things unite to confirm this con
jecture. The inhabitants bear strong points of resemblance to
the Irish ; the zoology is identical ; the absence of moles, toads,
and aU the serpent tribe, point it out as almost a part of Ire
land ; and the circumstance of the Irish hare being found in it,
tends to make the resemblance still closer."
The epoch of the actual separation is, perhaps, not so very far
distant as we might imagine. There is a current tradition both
in Ireland and the Isle of Man, that in "the wars ofthe giants one
took up a handful of earth which he threw at another, but missed
his aim. The place from which the handful of earth was lifted be
came Lough Neagh, and that at which it fell the Isle of Man."
In the topographical poem of O'Heerin reference is made to
Man by way of comparison, —
" Is the plain of Manainn fairer ?"
In a poem contained in the book of Leacan it is stated of
Baedan McCairill, King of Ulster, — " It was by him that
Manainn was cleared of the Galls (foreigners), so that its
sovereignty belonged to the Ultonians from thence forward."
Baedan died a.d. 580. {Cambrensis Eversus, Irish Celtic Soc,
Dublin, 1848, vol. i, p. 165.) In the chapter of wonders con
tained in the Irish version of Nennius we have, — " The won
ders of Manann down here. The first wonder is a strand
without a sea ; the second is a ford which is far from the sea,
and which fills when the tide fiows, and decreases when the
tide ebbs ; the third is a stone which moves at night in Glenn
Oindenn ; and though it should be cast into the sea, or into a
cataract, it would be found on the margin of the same valley."
In the enumeration of the various tributes payable by the
* There is iust as distinct proof that it was united to England and Soot-
land. See Memoir by the Eev. J. G. Cumming, " On the Area of the Irish
Sea", Vol. i, Edi-nbro' New Philosophical Journal. (Editor.)

124 MANANAN MAC LIR.
inferior kings and chieftains to the King of Tara, as set forth
in the Book of Rights, we have included "the fruits of Manann,
a fine present." {Book of Rights, Celtic Soc, Dub., 1847, p. 9.)
Mananan Mac Lir, the supposed coloniser and first ruler of
Man, or Manan, and from which he derives his name, was
identical with the merchant or navigator Orbsen, so celebrated
in Irish bardic history, and from whom Lough Orbsen (now
Corrib in Galway), was named. He is thus introduced to our
notice by the learned author of the Ogygia, — " The merchant
Orbsen was remarkable for carrying on a commercial inter
course between Ireland and Britain. He was commonly called
Mananan Mac Lir, — that is, Mananan on account of his in
tercourse with the Isle of Man ; and Mac Lir ; i. e., sprung from
the sea, because he was an expert diver; besides, he under
stood the dangerous parts of harbours ; and, from his pre
science of the change of weather, always avoided tempests."
{Ogygia, Dublin edit., 1793, p. 26.) The genealogy of Man
anan is given in Keating. " Mananan, the son of AUadh, the
son of Elathan, son of Dalboeth, son of Neidh, an immediate
descendent of Nemedius, the progenitor of the Tuatha de
Danans in Ireland ; that weird and mystic colony who never,
through the lapse of ages, have relinquished their dominion
over the superstitions of the peasantry of Ireland ; but who
are still believed to rule the spirit or fairy land of Erin ; to
reign paramount in the lis, the cave, the mine; to occupy
genii palaces in the deepest recesses of mountains, and under
the deep waters of our lakes." Keating further states, the
proper name of Orbsen was Mananan ; that from him the lake
was called, because when his grave was digging the lake
broke forth. This myth respecting the breaking forth of lakes
is quite common in Ireland. There is scarcely a sheet of water
in the country that has not a tale relating the cause, or incident
connected with its breaking forth. The formation of almost
all the larger lakes is mentioned in the Annals.
In the time of O'Flaherty, the learned author of the Ogygia,

MANANAN MAC LIE. ] 25
Lough Corrib was then called Lough Orbsen. -This was in the
middle of the seventeenth century. In his work on West
Connaught he thus refers to it, as well as to the field of
Magh UUin (now MoycuUin), where Mananan, or Orbsen, was
slain. "Gnobeg contains the parishes of MoycuUin andRahun.
The three first parishes he in length from Lough Orbsen to
the Bay of Galway, and Rahun from the River of Galway to
the same bay. The castle and manor of MoycuUin, whence
the barony and parish are named, hath Lough Lonon on the
west ; Tolokian, two castles next adjacent, on the north ; and
Lough Orbsen on the east. . . . Here UiUinn, grandchild of
Nuadh (silver-hand). King of Ireland twelve hundred years
before Christ's birth, overthrew in battle, and had the kflling
of, Orbsen Mac AUoid, commonly called Mananan (the Mankish
man), Mac Lir (son of the sea), for his skill in seafaring. From
Uilhnn, MoycuUin is named, — to wit, Magh- UUin, the field of
UUin; and from Orbsen, Lough Orbsen, or the lake of Orb
sen. Six miles from a great stone in that field (erected, per
haps, in memory of the same battle) is the town of Galway."
{West Connaught, by the Irish Arch. Soc, Dublin, 1846, p.
54.) The corruption of the name Orbsen to Corrib is easy
and evident, — Orbsen, Oreb, Orib, Corrib. Cormac MacCul-
lenain, king and bishop of Cashel a.d. 901, in his Glossary,
thus notices this personage : " Manannan Mac Lir, a famous
merchant who dwelt in the Isle of Man. He was the greatest
navigator of this western part of the world, and used to
presage good or bad weather from his observations of the
heavens, and from the changes of the moon ; wherefore the
Scots, i.e., the Irish and Britons, gave him the title of ' g^od of
the sea'. They also called him Mac Lir, that is, the son of the sea,
and from him the Isle of Man had its name." (Ibid., p. 21.)
The name of this personage is seldom mentioned in the
traditionary tales and folk-lore of Ireland without Druidic and
fairy associations. He is generally esteemed a good genius,
powerful in magic speUs and enchantments, usually exercised

126 MANANAN MAC LIE.
for benevolent" purposes. He is sometimes represented as
coming from Armenia,, and as having returned thither after the
introduction of Christianity. In some instances he is described
as a Canaanite. Irish myths invariably point to the east, and
more particularly single out those parts which were originally
the seat of primeeval man. The countries bordering on the
Caspian, Iran, Turan, Armenia, are localities from whence
Irish romantic tradition brings her heroes and hero-gods, and
to which she often sends them in search of adventures. Bach
division of Ireland had its fairy king. Mananan is stated to
have ruled over the Ulster genii. Crop over those of Connaught,
Don Firrinn over those of Munster. The palace of Mananan
was fabled to have been on the brink of a lake near Enniskeen,
county of Monaghan.
In a curious historical tract entitled The Fate of the Sons of
Tuirinn, which describes the slavery imposed upon Nuadh of
the Silver Hand and the Tuath de Danans by the Fomorians,
or African pirates, as they are designated in Irish mythic
history, and supposed by many learned antiquaries to indicate
a colony of Carthaginian traders or adventurers who, at some
period unascertained, frequented the coasts of Ireland for
trade, and to whom are attributed the introduction of those
curious leaf-shaped bronze swords so frequently found in Ire
land as well as in the sister country, and which have also been
found in great numbers on the field of Cannae in Italy, the
relics of that terrible battle fought between Hannibal and
.iEmiUus. This tract contains the following passage in refer
ence to Mananan, of which I give a translation from the fourth
volume of the Ossianic Soc. Pub., edited by Mr. Nicholas
O'Keamey, — " The king was. thus situated : the race of the
Fomorians imposed a heavy tribute upon the Tuath de Danans
in his reign, a tax was levied upon the growing crops, and an
unga (ingot) of gold was exacted upon the nose of every one
of the Tuath de Danans each year, from Uisneach to Tara
eastward. This tax was to be paid every year, and whosoever

MANANAN MAC LIE. 127
was unable to pay it, his nose was severed from his face. On
a certain day Nuadh held a meeting on the HUl of Balar, whioh
is now caUed Uisneach of Meath. They had not been long
assembled there when they discovered a weU-appointed host of
people approaching them along the plain from the east ; and a
young man, whose countenance shone like the rising sun,
marched at the head of this dense crowd of men. It was im
possible to look him in the face, he was so lovely ; and he was
no other than Luwy the Long-Handed, the sword-exerciser,
together with the fairy (enchanted) cavalcade, consisting of the
sons of Mananan, his foster-brothers, from Caanan. They had
remained but a short time there when they saw an ugly, ill-
shaped party of people, namely, nine times nine men, who
were the stewards of the Fomorians coming to receive the
rents and taxes of the people of Ireland. And with these
words Luwy arose, and having unsheathed the sword of Man
anan, attacked them; and having cut and mangled eight times
nine of their number, suffered the remaining nine to put them
selves under the protection of the king of Ireland. ' I would
kill yoUj' said Luwy, ' were it not that I prefer you should carry
the tidings to the foreigners rather than send my own messen
gers, lest they might be dishonoured.'"
The Irish mythology, as well as that of the Greeks, is full
of reference to weapons endued with supernatural powers : thus
the sword of Mananan is frequently introduced in the legendary
tales of the ancient Irish. In the volume for 1852 of the Trans.
of the KU. Arch. Soc, p. 32, we have an interesting chapter
on folk-lore by Mr. Nicholas O'Kearney, in which he relates a
mythic tale of Concovar Mac Nessa, king of Ulster, apd of
how he became possessed of the magic sword, spear, and shield
of Cuillean, or Guillean, a weird smith, or the Vulcan of the
the Isle of Man. The passage is as follows : " Cufllean, or Gufl-
lean, himself was a very famous being that once resided in
Isle of Man, and of so long-lived or mythic a nature as to
be found living in aU ages of pagan history ; at aU events

128 MANANAN MAC LIE.
he is represented to have lived at the time when Concovar
Mac Nessa, afterwards king of Ulster, was a young man, who
possessed little prospect of aggrandisements, except what he
might win by his sword. Concovar being of an ambitious and
enterprising nature, consulted the oracle of Cloghor, and was
informed that he should proceed to the Isle of Man, and get
Cuillean, a noted ceard, or worker in iron, to make a sword,
spear, and shield for him ; and that the buadha (supernatural
power possessed by them) would be instrumental in gaining
him the sovereignty of Ulster. Concovar accordingly repaired
to the Isle of Man, and prevailed on Cuillean to commence the
work ; but while awaiting its completion, he sauntered one
morning along the shore, and in course of his walk met with a
mermaid fast asleep on the beach. Concovar bound the syren,
but she having awoke, and perceiving she was bound, besought
him to liberate her; and to induce him to yield to her petition,
she informed him that she was Teeval, the princess of the
ocean ; and promised, in case he caused Cuillean to form her
representation on the shield, surrounded with this inscription,
' Teeval, princess of the ocean,' it would possess such extra
ordinary powers that whenever he was about engaging his
enemy in battle, and looked upon her figure on the shield,
read the legend, and invoked her name, his enemies would
diminish in strength, while he and his people would acquire a
proportionate increase in theirs. Concovar had the shield
made according to the advice of Teeval, and on his return to
Ireland such extraordinary success attended his arms that he
won the kingdom of Ulster. The king was not ungrateful, for
he invited Cuillean to settle in Ulster, and bestowed on him
the tract of land along the eastern coast, extending from Glen
Righe, or the Vale of Newry on the Neath, to Glas Neasa on
the river of Annagasson, near Dun-eany on the south, which
were the bounds of the ancient Cooley." This same personage
flourishes in several other mythic tales. He is represented in
the legend of the "Cattle Raid of Cooley" as inviting Concovar

MANANAN MAC LIR. 129
Mac Nessa to visit him at his residence, requesting the kino-
not to bring with hirn his usual large retinue, excepting a few
warriors, because he had no lands or patrimony to support
them, relying solely on the produce of his hammer, anvil, and
rice. Mr. O'Kearney further states : — " This same CuiUean, or
GuiUean, as he is usually styled in popular tradition, resided
in a cave on Slieve GuUian, and is still remembered with hor
ror in the traditions of the peasantry ; which traditions must
have been derived from the notions concerninaf Guillean, or
the form of religion with which he had been connected, incul
cated by the first preachers of Christianity. There is in Irish
a phrase, 'gioUa Guillen;' i.e., the servant of Guillean, Synony
mous with 'an imp of the Devil,' vyhich strongly warrants this
inference." In this there are many points which identify
Cuillean with Mananan Mac Lir; first, his intimate connection
with the Isle of Man ; secondly, his being a forger of super
natural weapons ; thirdly, his location in Ulster, where Man
anan is said to have reigned over the provincial fairy kingdom;
and in the immediate locality where Mananan is stated to have
had his fairy palace. Cuillean, too, fell into disrepute among
the Christians, as did Mananan.
In that exceedingly curious and mythological tale, the pur
suit of Diarmid and Grainne, the particulars of which bear
such a startling resemblance to many of the Grecian myths,
we have the enchanted weapons of Mananan also introduced.
When Diarmid, who answers to the Adonis of the Eastern
fable, prepares for the hunt of the wild boar of Ben Gulban,
Grainne entreats him to arm himself with the moralltach
(sword) of Mananan ; but he refuses to do so, and takes with
him another weapon : the result is disastrous, and his death
ensues. The passage is worth transcribing : — " The day came
then with its fuU light, and he said, /I wiU go to seek the
hound whose voice I have heard since it is day.' ' Well, then,'
said Grainne, 'take with thee the moralltach; that is, the sword

130 MANANAN MAC LIE.
of Mananan, and the Ga-dearg (the red spear) .' ' I will not,'
said Diarmid; 'but I wiU take the Beag-alltach (the smaU
fierce one), and the Ga-buie (yeUow javelin) with me in my
hand, and Mac-an-Chuill* by a chain in my other hand.'" . . .
The wild boar then came up the face of the mountain with the
Fenians after him. Diarmid slipped Mac-an-Chuill from his
leash against him, and that profited him nothing ; for he did
not wait the wild boar, but fled before him. Diarmid said,
" Woe to him that doeth not the counsel of a good wife ; for
Grainne bade me at early morn to-day to take with me the
moralltach and the ga-dearg." Then Diarmid put his small,
white-coloured, ruddy-nailed finger into the silken string of
the ga-buidhe, and made a careful cast at the boar ; so that he
smote him in the fair middle of his face, and of his forehead.
Nevertheless, he cut not a single bristle upon him, nor did he
give him wound or scratch. Diarmid's courage was lessened
at that ; and thereupon he drew the beag-alltach from the
sheath in which it was kept, and struck a heavy stroke there
with upon the wild boar's back stoutly, and full bravely. Yet he
cut not a single bristle upon him, but made two pieces of his
sword. Then the wild boar made a furious spring upon Diar
mid, so that he tripped him and made him fall headlong. . . .
And when he was fallen to the earth, the boar made an eager,
exceeding mighty spring upon him, and ripped out his bowels
and his entrails, so that they fell about his legs. Howbeit, as
he (the boar) was leaving the Tulach (Hill), Diarmid made a
triumphant cast of the hilt of the sword that remained in his
hand, so that he dashed out his brains and left him dead with
out life. Therefore, Rath-na-h-Amrannt is the name of the
place that is on th^ top of the mountain, from that time to
this." The classical scholar will not here fail to observe the
strong resemblance between the death of Adonis and that of
Diarmid. Venus, as we are informed, was enamoured of
* "Mac-an-ChuiH" (the sou of the hazel), a favourite hound of Diarmid's.
f That is, " The rath of the sword-hilt."

MANANAN MAC LIE. 1;31
Adonis, and used to meet him on Mount Libanus. Mars, envy
ing his rival, assumed the shape of a wild boar, attacked him
while hunting, gored him with his tusks in the groin, and
killed him. In the Celtic myth, Grainne, the betrothed of
Fion Mac Cumhal, becomes enamoured of Diarmid and elopes
with him ; he is pursued from place to place by his vengeful
rival, and at last arrives in the neighbourhood of the mountain
Ben Gulban, where he take up his abode ; he goes forth upon
a morning to hunt, when he meets the wild boar (who, as in
the classical legend, is a human being turned into a boar) by
whom he is slain, as above described. Fion, his rival, comes
on the scene while Diarmid is in the agonies of death, who
conjures him (by their former friendship, and by many acts of
assistance and kindness shewn to Fion) to bring him a draught
of water from a certain magic fountain close by, which could
arrest death, and restore Diarmid to his former strength and
vigour. This Fion refuses, and his rival breathes his last. I
shall be excused from digressing so much from the main sub
ject of my paper, but the myth is so full of dramatic interest
and of classical allusions, that I would recommend the perusal
of this very ancient tale to the student of native mythology. It
forms the third volume of the Ossianic Soc. Pub., Dublin, 1857.
In an ancient MS., entitled "An T-Octar Gael; or, the
Adventures of Seven Irish Champions in the Ea;st", Mananan
is represented as instructing the Celtic hero, Cu-chuUin, in the
use of the ga-bolg or sting, which he extracted from a serpent
that infested Loch-na-Nia, near the fort of Mananan in Ar
menia ; this myth would appear to have eome bearing on the
use of poisoned weapons among the ancient Irish. In a
very curious and ancient tract, entitled "The Dialogue of
the Sages," and which is found in The Book of Lismore {a
vellum MS. compUed in the fourteenth century from more
ancient sources), we have several passages referring to the use
of such deadly arms, from which I extract the foUowing : —
"And valiant Caol-na-Neavan, with a, lucky poisoned spear

132 MANANAN MAC LIE.
that Finn had, and this was the venom that was on it, for it
never made an erring cast from the hand, and it never wounded
a person when thi'own from the hand that would not be dead
before the end of a moment." MS. translation by Mr. Joseph
Long, of Cork.
It is the general opinion of Irish antiquaries that Mananan
Mac Lir was a real personage famous for his exploits as a sea-
rover and coloniser, that he ultimately became deified as the
Irish Neptune, or God of the Sea. It is true, we have him
represented under different names, as Orbsen, Mananan, and
Cuillean; that different attributes and occupations are ascribed
to him. He is sometimes a warrior, a trader, a navigator, a
forger of magic weapons, a potent magician or Druid, so was
also the Grecian deity ; he assisted his brother Jupiter in his
military expeditions ; he helped Laomedon to build the walls of
Troy ; he was a famous ship-builder, and was the inventor of
chariot-races, and had a great variety of names, as Census,
Enosichthon, Hippius, Soter, etc. Mananan is represented as
enveloping the Isle of Man in mists to protect it from invaders;
— a stratagem, said to have been resorted to by the Tuath-de-
Danans, when the Milesians invaded Ireland. The expelling
of serpents and demons from Ireland is now understood to
signify the overthrow of serpent-worship and other forms of
Paganism which prevailed in that country when Christianity
was introduced. In the historical romance of the " Children
of Lir," we have also a reference to the overthrow of the wor
ship of the Irish sea god. In the myth, the children of Lir
are represented as having been transformed into swans {i.e.,
devoted to the service of the sea god) by their step-mother, a
potent Druidess, and that they remained in this state until the
introduction of the faith, when they were restored to their
natural forms. The foUowing translation of a passage from
this legend will be found in the first volume of the Ossianic
8oc Pub., p. 101, n. : — "The chfldren of Lir remained in that
condition a long time, until the time of the faith of Christ, and

MANANAN MAC LIE. 133
until Patrick, son of Arpluinn, came into Ireland, and until
Mocomog* came to Inis Gluair of Brendan. And the night
that Mocomog came to the said island, the children of Lir
heard the sound of the matin bell near them. They trembled
violently, and started through excessive dread upon nearing
it. 'What, my dear brothers, has troubled you?' inquired
Fionguala. ' We know not,' replied they, ' canst thou inform
us what that unusual detestable sqund which we heard is ?' ' It
is the sound of the bell of Mochomog,' replied Fionguala;
' and it is that which will liberate you from suffering, and save
you from adversity with God's will.' "
Angus Oge, or the immortal, was another name for Mananan.
Tradition states that he remained in Ireland until the time of
St. Colomba, that he endeavoured to be reconciled to the
church ; but, failing in his efforts, he retired to his original
country, Armenia. This myth evidently points to a struggle
between Paganism and Christianity, which eventuated in the
triumph of the latter.
In vol. 3 of the Ossianic Soc. Pub. will be found a curious
romance of the adventures of Cormac Art in the fairy palace
of Mananan ; the tale is full of allegory, and represents the
latter as a wise and benevolent being inculcating lessons of
wisdom, and bestowing valuable gifts of a supernatural charac
ter on mortals.
This tract is so illustrative of the subject in hand, that I
subjoin the English translation in full :—
"How Cormac Mac Airt got His Beanch."
" Of a time that Cormac, the son of Art, the son of Con of
the hundred batties, that is, the arch-king of Erin, was in
Liathdruim, he saw a youth upon the green before his dun,
* There were three saints named Mocomog, all disciples of St. Carthogh
of Lismore who fiourished in the seventh century. The personage men
tioned above was probably the celebrated St. Mooomog, or Pulcherius, of
Liathmore, who died a.d. 655.

134 MANANAN MAC LIE.
having in his hand a glittering fairy branch, with nine apples
of red gold upon it. And this was the manner of that branch
that, when any one shook it, wounded men, and women with
child, would be lulled to sleep by the sound of the very sweet
fairy music which those apples uttered ; and another property
that branch had, that is to say, that no one upon earth would
bear in mind any want, woe, or weariness of soul when that
branch was shaken for him, a,nd whatever evil might have be
fallen any one, he would not remember it at the shaking of
the branch. Cormac said to the youth, ' Is that branch thine
own.' ' It is indeed mine,' said the youth.' ' Wouldst thou
sell it,' asked Cormac. ' I would sell it,' quoth the youth ;
' for I never had any thing that I would not sell.' ' What dost
thqu require for it,' said Cormac ' The award of mine own
mouth,' said the youth. ' That thou shalt receive from me,'
said Cormac, ' and say on thy award.' ' Thy wife, thy son, and
thy daughter,' answered the youth ; ' that is to say, Eithne,
Cairbre, and Ailbhe.' ' Thou shalt get them all,' said Cormac.
After that the youth gives up the branch, and Cormac takes
it to his own house to Ailbhe, to Eithne, and to Cairbre.
' That is a fair treasure thou hast,' said Ailbhe. ' No wonder,'
answered Cormac ; ' for I gave a good price for it.' ' What
didst thou give for it, or in exchange for it,' asked Ailbhe.
' Cairbre, Eithne, and thyself, 0 Ailbhe.' ' That is a pity,'
quoth Eithne ' (yet it is not true) : for we think that there is
not upon the face of the earth that treasure for which thou
wouldst give us.' ' I pledge my word,' said Cormac, ' that I
have given you for this treasure.' Sorrow and hea-viness of
heart filled them when they knew that to be true, and Eithne
said, ' it is too hard a bargain (to give) us three, for any
branch in the world.' When Cormac saw that grief and heavi
ness of heart came upon them, he shakes the branch amongst
them; and when they heard the soft, sweet music of the
branch, they thought no longer upon any evil or care that had
ever befallen them, and they went forth to meet the youth.

MANANAN MAC LIR. 135
' Here,' said Cormac ; ' thou hast the price thou didst ask for
this branch.' ' WeU hast thou fulfiUed thy promise,' said the
youth, ' and receive (wishes for) rictory, and a blessing for
the sake of thy truth.' And he left Cormac wishes for hfe,
and health, and he and his company went their ways. Cormac
came to his house, and when that news was heard throughout
Erin, loud cries of weeping, and of mourning, were made in
every quarter of it, and in Liathdruim above all. When Cor
mac heard the loud cries in Leamhair, he shook the branch
among them, so that there was no longer any grief or heavi
ness of heart upon any one.
"He continued thus for the space of that year, until Cormac
said, 'It is a year to-day since my wife, my son, and my
daughter were taken from me, and I will follow them by the
same path as they took.'
" Then Cormac went forth to look for the way by which he
had seen the youth depart, and a dark magical mist rose be
fore him, and he chanced to come upon a wonderful marveUous
plain. That plain was thus : there was there a wondrous very
great host of horsemen, and the work at which they were was,
the covering-in of a house with the feathers of foreign birds ;
and when they had put covering upon one half of the house,
they used to go off to seek birds' feathers for the others; and,
as for that half of the house upon which they had put covering,
they used not to find a single feather on it when they returned.
" After that Cormac had been a long time gazing at them
in this plight, he thus spoke, 'I will no longer gaze at you; for
I perceive that you will be toiling at that from the beginning
to the end of the world.
" Cormac goes his way, and he was wandering over the
plain until he saw a strange, foreign-looking youth walking
the plain, and his employment was this : he used to drag a
large tree out of the ground, and to break it between the
bottom and the top, and he used to make a large fire of it, and
to go himself to seek another tree, and when he came back

1^6 MANANAN MAC LIE.
again he would not find before him a scrap of the first tree that
was not burned, and used up. Cormac was for a great space
gazing upon him in that plight, and at last he said, ' I indeed
will go away from thee henceforth ; for were I for ever gazing
upon thee, thon wouldst be so at the end of all.'
" Cormac after that begins to walk the plain, until he. saw
three immense wells on the border of the plain, and those wells
were thus: they had three heads in them {i.e., one in each).
Cormac drew near to the well next to him, and the head that
was in that well was thus : a stream was flowing into its mouth,
and two streams were flowing from or out of it. Cormac pro
ceeds to the second well ; and the head that was in that well
was thus : a stream was flowing into it, and another stream
flowing out of it. He proceeds to the third weU, and the
head that was in that one was thus : three streams were flow
ing into its mouth, and one stream only flowing out of it.
Great marvel seized Cormac hereupon, and he said, ' I will be
no longer gazing upon you ; for I should never find any man
to tell me your histories, and I think that I should find good
sense in your meanings if I understood them.' And the time
of the day was then noon. The King of Erin goes his ways,
and he had not been long walking when he saw a very great
field before him and a house in the middle of the field. And
Cormac drew near the house and entered into it, and the King
of Erin greeted (those that were within) . A very tall couple
with clothes of many colours that were within, answered him,
and they bade him stay ; ' whoever thou art, 0 youth ; for it
is now no time for thee to be travelling on foot.' Cormac, the
son of Art, sits down hereupon, and he was right glad to get
hospitality for that night.
'"Rise, 0 man of the house,' said the woman; 'there is a
fair and comely wanderer by us, and how knowest thou but
that he is some honourable noble of the men of the world, and
if thou hast one kind of food or meat better than another, let
it be brought to me.'

MANANAN MAC LIE. 137
" The youth upon this arose, and he came back to them in
this fashion ; that is, with a huge wild boar upon his back,
3,nd a log in his hand, and he cast down the log and the swine
upon the floor, and said, ' There ye have meat, and cook it for
yourselves.' ' How should I do that,' asked Cormac. ' I wiU
•teach you that,' said the youth ; ' that is to say, to split this
great log which I have, and to make four pieces of it, and to put
down a quarter of the boar and a quarter of a log under it, and
to tell a true story, and the quarter of the boar will be cooked.'
' Tell the flrst story thyself,' said Cormac ; ' for the two should
fairly tell the story for the one.' ' Thou speakest rightly,'
quoth the youth, ' and methinks that thou hast the eloquence of
a prince, and I will tell thee a story to begin with. That
swine that I brought,' he went on, ' I have but seven pigs of
them, and I could feed the world with them ; for the pig that
is killed of them, you have but to put its bones into the sty
again, and it will be found ahve upon the morrow.' That
story was true, and the quarter of the pig was cooked.
" ' Tell thou a story now, 0 woman of the house !' said the
youth, ' I will,' quoth she, ' and do thou put down a quarter
of the wild boar, and a quarter of the log under it,' so it
was done. ' I have seven white cows,' said she, ' and they
fill the seven kei ves with milk every day, and I give my word
that they would give as much milk as would satisfy them
to the men of the whole world were they upon the plain drink
ing it.' The story was true, and the quarter of the pig was
therefore cooked. ' If your stories be true,' said Cormac,
' thou indeed art Mananan, and she is your wife, for no one
upon the face of the earth possesses those treasures but only
Mananan, for it was to Tir Tairrngire he went to seek that
woman, and he got those seven cows with her, and he
coughed upon them until he learned (the wonderful powers
of) their milking, that is to say, that they would fill seven
keives at one time.' ' Full wisely hast thou told us that,
0 youth,' said the man of the house, ' and tell a story

138 MANANAN MAC LIE.
for thy own quarter now.' ' I will,' said Cormac, ' and do thou
lay a quarter of the log under the cauldron until I tell thee a
true story.' So it was done, and Cormac said, ' I indeed am
upon a search, for it is a year this day that my wife, my son,
and my daughters were borne away from me.' ' Who took
them from thee ?' asked the man of the house. ' A youth that
came to me,' said Cormac, ' having in his hand a fairy branch,
and I conceived a great ¦wish for it, so that I granted him the
award of his own mouth for it, and he exacted from me my
word to fulfil that ; now the award that he pronounced against
me was, my wife, my son, and my daughter, to wit, Eithne,
Cairbre, and Ailbhe.' ' If what thou sayest be true,' said
the man of the house, ' thou indeed art Cormac, son of Art,
son of Conn of the Hundred Battles.' ' Truly I am,' quoth
Cormac, ' and it is in search of those I am now.' That story
was true, and the quarter of the pig was cooked. 'Bat thy
meal now,' said the young man. ' I never ate food,' said Cor
mac, ' having only two people in my company.' ' Wouldst
thou eat it with three others, O Oormac,' asked the young
man. ' If they were dear to me I would,' said Cormac. The
man of the house arose and opened the nearest door of the
dwelling, and (went and) brought in the three whom Cormac
sought, and then the courage and exultation of Cormac rose.
" After that Mananan came to him in his proper form, and said
thus : 'I it was who took those three away from thee, and I it was
who gave thee that branch, and it was in order to bring thee to
this house that I took them from thee, and there is your meat
now and eat food,' said Mananan. ' I would do so,' said Cormac,
' if I could learn the wonders that I have seen to-day.' ' Thou
shalt learn them,' said Mananan. ' And I it was that caused
thee to go towards them that thou mightest see them. The
host of horsemen that appeared to thee covering in the house
with birds' feathers, which, according as they had covered half
of the house, used to disappear from it, and they seeking birds'
feathers for the rest of it — that is a comparison which is ap-

MANANAN MAC LIE. 139
plied to poets and to people that seek a fortune, for when they
go out, all that they leave behind them in their houses is spent,
and so they go on for ever. The young man whom thou sawest
kindling the fire, and who used to break the tree between top
and bottom, and who used to find it consumed whilst he was
away seeking for another tree ; what are represented by that,
are those who distribute food whflst every one else is being
served, they- themselves getting it ready, and every one else
being enjoying the profit thereof. The wells which thou
sawest in which were the heads, that is a comparison which is
applied to the three that are in the world. These are they,
that is to say : —
" That head which has one stream flowing into it, and one
stream flowing out of it, is the man who gives the goods of
the world as he gets them.
"That head which thou sawest with one stream flowing Into
it, and two streams flowing out of it, the meaning of that is
the man who gives more than he gets of the goods of the world.
" The head which thou sawest with three streams flowing into
its mouth, and one stream flowing out of it, that is the man
who gets much and gives little, and he Is the worst of the
three. And now eat thy meal, 0 Cormac, said Mananan.
" After that Cormac, Cairbre, Ailbhe, and Eithne sat down,
and a table-cloth was spread before them. ' That is a full
precious thing before thee, O Cormac,' said Mananan, 'for
there is no food, however delicate, that shall be demanded
of it, but it shall be had without doubt.' ' That is well,'
quoth Cormac. After that, Mananan thrust his hand into
his girdle and brought out a goblet and set it upon his
palm. ' It is one of the virtues of this cup,' said Mananan,
' that when a false story is told before it, it makes four pieces
of it, and when a true story is related before it, it wfll be
whole again.' ' Let that be proved,' said Cormac. ' It shall
be done,' said Mananan. ' This woman that I took from thee
she has had another husband since I brought 'her with me.'

140 MANANAN MAC LIE.
Then there were four pieces made of the goblet. ' That is a
falsehood,' said the wife of Mananan. ' I say that they have
iiot seen woman or man since they left thee, but their three
selves.' That story was true, and the goblet was joined to
gether again. ' Those are very precious things that thou hast,
0 Mananan,' said Cormac. ' They would be good for thee to
have,' said Mananan. ' Therefore they shall all three be thine,
to wit, the goblet, the branch, and the table-cloth, in consider
ation of thy walk, and of thy journey this day; and eat thy
meal now, for were there a host and a multitude by thee thou
shouldst find no scarcity in this place. And I greet you kindly
as many as you are, for it was I that worked magic upon youj
so that ye might be with me to night in friendship.'
" He eats his meal after that, and that meal was good, for
they thought not of any meat, but they got it upon the table
cloth, nor of any drink, but they got it in the cup, and they
returned great thanks for that to Mananan. Howbeit, when
they had eaten their meal, that is to say, Cormac, Eithne,
Ailbhe, and Cairbre, a couch was prepared for them, and they
went to slumber and sweet sleep, and where they rose upon the
morrow was in the pleasant Liathdruim, with their table-cloth,
their cup, and their branch. Thus far then the wandering of
Cormac, and how he got his branch." {Publications of the
Ossianic Soc, v. iii.)
Many other notices of Mananan Mac Lir will be found scat
tered through the pages of Irish legendary lore.
N.B. — It is stated iu the above Memoir that the Isle of Man derived its
name from "Mananan Mac Lir". It appears, however, to be more correct
to say that he got his name from the island with which he was so intimately
connected. Por we must remember that there was an other Mona or Man,
with whioh he had uo connection whatever, viz., Anglesea.
It has been observed in the first volume of the Manx Society, page 140,
that the two Monas most probably derived their name from their reputed
holy character, as the "Sedes Druidarum", the abode of the Holy Wise Men,
and that the name has the same connection with the Sanscrit root, MS,n, in
reference to religious knowledge, as our word Monk ; so also Moonshee and
the names of ancient lawgivers, as Manu, son of Brahma, Menu, Minos, and
Menes. (Editor, J. G. C.)