Claare Ny Gael - Manx Radio

Writing in 1832, Rev Thomas Stephen is giving us 'A Poetical Guide to the Isle of Mann'. He includes the Island's government, including the role of the Legislative Council - though without mentioning that he, as Vicar-General, was an ex officio member of it. Jonathan Harker realises that he was not dreaming when he was faced with three beautiful women for whom he felt lust, which turne...

We continue with Rev Thomas Stephen's 1832 publication, 'A Poetical Guide to the Isle of Mann', but we step aside every now and then to find out more about things he mentions in his text. In our translation into Manx of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Jonathan Harker is exploring part of Castle Dracula where it appears the ladies of the household used to live. Feeling tired, he de...

We dip once again into 'A Poetical Guide to the Isle of Mann' by Rev Thomas Stephen, published in 1832. It mixes proud bombast and hyperbole with tongue in cheek cheesiness and a sense of humour and awareness of its own mix of purple prose and bathos. Jonathan Harker can hardly believe his eyes as he witnesses Count Dracula's way of leaving his room to exit the castle. With the Count o...

We turn to 'A Poetical Guide to the Isle of Mann', written by Rev Thomas Stephen and published in 1832. He wrote in the Manx language as well, but we hear from his work in English this time. Thomas Stephen was Vicar of Kirk Patrick for 15 years and was also Vicar-General - though some parts of his work perhaps belie his day job! In our story in Manx, Count Dracula is pressing Jonathan Hark...

In 1975 Kathleen Killip published a collection of fourteen short stories under the title 'Saint Bridget's Night'. In 2017 Ian Cottier recorded ten of them, and we hear him reading 'The White Horse of the Curraghs'. Jonathan Harker listens to some of the history of Transylvania and of the family Dracula from the Count, before looking to the Count's business affairs. It seems...

By the Gregorian Calendar Act, the day after 2nd September 1752 was deemed to have been 14th September. Those 11 days are the reason why high days and holy days are often associated with dates a little later than might be expected. Two days in point are Shenn Laa'l Abban, the Old Style Feast Day of St Abban, and Shenn Laa'l Pharick, the Feast Day of St Patrick by the Old Style. Jonathan Ha...

We heard recently of the controversy when the IOMSPCo Ltd named a vessel the Viking, launched on the Tyne in 1905. We hear this time of the next vessel launched for the company, this time at Vickers, Son and Maxim Ltd in Barrow.  No quibbles about the name when the Ben-my-Chree (III) was launched on 23rd March 1908. Having a shave leads to a surprise for Jonathan Harker, which causes him to n...

William Forster was consecrated as Bishop of Sodor and Man on 9th March 1634, having been appointed to the episcopacy in December 1633. His term of office was cut short when he died in February 1635. He held a court in Douglas in 1634, and his questionnaire, known as Bishop Forster's Visitation, to the churchwardens and sidemen gives a glimpse of life in the Island at that time.   Jonatha...

On 6th March 1905 the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Ltd had a new vessel, its first turbine steamer, launched on the Tyne. We hear of the war of words about a suitable name for it. Jonathan Harker has found a library with a lot of books, newspapers and magazines in the English language. It seems that Count Dracula has been studying the language, customs and manners of the English, prior to a mo...

In late February 1903 a storm - described as a cyclone and a hurricane in the newspapers - caused a lot of structural damage throughout the Island. In Douglas, the tin tab of All Saints' church was damaged, as was St George's, but in the early hours of Friday 27th February 1903 St German's Church in Peel - now the Island's cathedral - was severely damaged. We look at contemporary a...

The early eighteenth century was a time of friction between church and state. One flash point came in 1718, when an appeal against the ecclesiastical courts went to the Earl of Derby. Bishop Thomas Wilson pointed out it ought to go to the Archbishop of York and refused to attend a court called by James Stanley, the 10th Earl of Derby. Wilson was fined £10 for contempt of court on 19th Februa...

Some time ago in 'Claare ny Gael' we were going through A Book of Manx Poetry, chosen and edited by  William Cubbon. When he was about 85 years of age in 1950, his grand-daughter, Thelma, published a collection of poetry called These Things I Would Remember, dedicated to her grandfather. We dip into that. Jonathan Harker is having a troubled ride in a carriage to Castle Dracula, surro...

After frosts and general cold weather, Wednesday 6th February 1895 saw a fall of snow which began at 7.30am and didn't let up, and with a strong wind created blizzard conditions which piled the snow up to 14 ft deep and smothered the Island and its normal activities. We hear how the Isle of Man Examiner described the conditions. Jonathan Harker has now transferred to the personal carriage of C...

The Isle of Man Times and General Advertiser hailed the passing by a sitting of Tynwald on 2nd February 1872 of the Public Elementary Education Act. The Act required the Bible to be read and explained as part of the curriculum. The editorial was concerned that that this might lead to "denominationalism", as churches and chapels sought to influence what was taught. Jonathan Harker is on a...

Edward Christian was a significant figure in Manx history from about 1630 until his death in 1661, with radical ideas that were well ahead of his time. These were turbulent times, as was his relationship with Yn Stanlagh Mooar, James, the Lord Strange and then VII Earl of Derby. Edward Christian died on 19th January and was buried in the chancel of Maughold Church on 22nd January, 1661. And Jonath...

We heard recently about a trial held over the Christmas time of 1843 in the Halfway House just above Crosby. Was it for trespass on Ballaharry, or was it so that the owner, John Quine, could accuse his sister-in-law of causing the death of some of his animals by witchcraft? After the Mona's Herald reported on it, there was a lively debate in its pages about it during January of 1844. Jonathan...

Although there had been books of poetry by Cushag - Letitia Margaret Josephine Kermode - since 1907, a collection called 'Manx Melodies' was published one hundred years ago in 1922. We hear some of the poetry from that volume. In 1897, a Dubliner living and working in London, Bram Stoker published a book dedicated 'To my dear friend Hommy Veg' - Hommy Veg being Thomas Hall Caine, a...

Our translation of a short story by Anthony Dezenzio into Manx  turns out to be a bit shorter than expected, so we also hear translations of flash fiction by Justin Rulton, John M Carlson and Bianca Sanchez.  We dip into the first newspaper of the new year 150 years ago in 1872, and we hear of children in squalid rags, of poverty and destitution. We also hear criticism of what is suppose...

We look to the newspapers to get a feel for what was happening in the Island one hundred years ago, round about the Christmastime of 1921. Mail delivery was obviously important, and the postal service got little respite. Prohibition in the USA had started in 1920, and there were those in favour of it in the Island, and those opposed to it, as the Island discussed a new licensing bill. And moves we...

In 1843, the reporter in the Mona's Herald was incredulous that, in that modern and enlightened age, people in Marown believed in witchcraft. However, a trial for trespass on Ballaharry somehow became a hunt for the person who was bewitching the farmer, John Quine, who was also a preacher, and apparently supported in his endeavours by two other preachers on the jury. Richmal Crompton is well-k...

We hear how HMS Racehorse came to grief on Langness on 14th December 1822, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of six crewmen and three of the crew of a boat from Castletown that had made four trips, rescuing the rest of those on board, before being swamped as it returned from its fifth mission.  Our short story in Manx is the first part of one written by well-known author, Richmal Cromp...

On 6th December 1878, there was a great concourse of more than 700 people who assembled in the new premises of the Philip Christian Endowed School in Peel, funded by the Clothworkers' Guild of the City of London, of which Philip Christian had been a Warden, and had left London property in his will to the Guild's trust to use the rental to pay for education in his native Peel, where he'...

In a short programme this time because of a Covid briefing, we hear how a case of mistaken identity brought a second celebration of St Maughold, with Shenn Laa'l Maghal Geuree, the old style St Maughold's winter feast day, on 26th November - the day when people elsewhere, particularly in Brittany, celebrate the feast day of St Malo. And only time for part of a story in Manx this time, from...

Belle Vue was a very popular resort presenting circuses, model villages, a replica of HMS Victory and much more at a site about a mile from the centre of Douglas, beween the Rivers Doo and Glass just before they converge to become the Douglas River. We get a glimpse of what was there as we hear of the destruction of quite large parts of it in a fire on 23rd November 1895. It's not so much a st...

We're just about half way through November by now. Or are we? And are we at the start of a new year? For many years, the Hop tu Naa tradition was celebrated on 11th November and on the northside, leases took effect from 12th November. These are the dates as they appear on the modern calendar, but by the unreformed calendar, these would be 31st October and 1st November. Our story in Manx is ano...