Chapter VI (1)

CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH THE SEASONS.

IN the Isle of Man, as elsewhere, many customs and superstitions, as well as much weather-lore, have attached themselves to the different seasons of the year. Both the Celts and Norsemen, before the introduction of Christianity, held high festival at the beginning of summer and winter, the mid-winter and mid-summer feasts being more especially of Scandinavian origin. When Christianity was introduced, its ministers, unable to do away with these feasts, wisely adopted their periods as Christian festivals, and so they have continued semi-pagan in form till the present day. Such ancient observances as perambulating the parish bounds, were also christianised by being associated with Divine worship; and the wells, which the people were wont to visit, were dedicated to the Saints and Martyrs of the Church. After the Reformation, the practice of visiting these holy wells, and of frequenting the tops of the mountains at Lammas, was denounced as superstitious and wicked, but in vain, as, even at the present day, it can scarcely be said to have altogether ceased.

The various customs and superstitions will be considered in the order of the Calender:—

January 1, New Year’s Day, formerly called _Laa Nolick beg_, “Little Christmas Day”, was the occasion for various superstitions. Among these was that about the “first foot.” The “first foot”, called the _qualtagh_ in Manx, is defined as follows by Kelly in his Dictionary: “The first person or creature one meets going from home. This person is of great consequence to the superstitious, particularly to women the first time they go out after lying-in.” The _qualtagh_ (he or she) may also be the first person who enters a house on New Year’s morning. In this case it is usual to place before him or her the best fare the family can afford. It was considered fortunate if the _qualtagh_ were a person (a man being preferred to a woman), of dark complexion, as meeting a person of light complexion at this time, especially if his or her hair is red, would be thought very unlucky. It is curious that the superstition in Scotland is the exact reverse of this—_i.e._, to meet a light complexioned person was fortunate. If the _qualtagh_ were _spaagagh_, or splay-footed, it would be considered very unfortunate. It was important, too, that the _qualtagh_ on New Year’s Day should bring some gift, as if he or she came empty-handed, misfortunes would be sure to ensue. To meet a cat first on this day was considered unlucky. It was supposed to be necessary to exercise great care to sweep the floor of the house on New Year’s morning from the door towards the hearth, so that the dust should go towards the hearth, for, if this were not done, the good fortune of the family would be considered to be swept from the house for that year.

It was formerly the custom for a number of young men to go from house to house on New Year’s Day singing the following rhyme:—

_Ollick ghennal erriu, as blein feer vie;
Seihll as slaynt da’n slane lught thie;
Bea as gennallys eu bioyr ry-cheilley,
Shee as graih eddyr mraane as deiney;
Cooid as cowryn_ stock _as stoyr.
Palchey puddase, as skeddan dy-liooar;
Arran as caashey, eeym as roauyr;
Baase myr lugh ayns ullin ny soalt,
Cadley sauchey tra vees shiu ny lhie,
Gyn feeackle y jiargan, cadley dy mie._

“A merry Christmas, and a very good year to you;
Luck and health to the whole household,
Life, pleasantness and sprightliness to you together,
Peace and love between men and women;
Goods and riches, stock and store.
Plenty of potatoes and herring enough;
Bread and cheese, butter and beef.
Death like a mouse in a barn haggart,[59]
Sleeping safely when you are in bed,
Undisturbed by [60]the flea’s tooth, sleeping well.”

Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. In old times, when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day.

SEASONS.

January 6, _or Twelfth day_, was the thirteenth or last day of Yule in the Northern Calendar. It was one of the days on which no one might borrow fire, but had to purchase it. After the introduction of Christianity, it became a Church festival in commemoration of the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Bishop Phillips, in the Manx Prayer Book[61] written by him early in the seventeenth century, calls it _Shen lail chibbert ushtey_, ‘old feast day of the water-well,’ the meaning of which is not clear. It was formerly a day of much festivity in the Isle of Man, being called _Laa giense_ ‘dance or revel day.’ Among the games then played were “Cutting off the Fiddler’s Head”, “The Lackets”, and “The Goggans.”

The _Cutting off the Fiddler’s Head_ is described by Waldron as follows:—“On Twelfth day the Fiddler lays his head in some one of the wenches’ laps, and a third person asks who such a maid or such a maid shall marry, naming the girls then present one after another, to which he answers according to his own whim, or agreeable to the intimacies he has taken notice of during this time of merriment. But whatever he says is as absolutely depended on as an oracle; and if he happens to couple two people who have an aversion to each other, tears and vexation succeed the mirth. This they call _Cutting off the Fiddler’s Head_, for after this, he is dead for the whole year.” The _Lackets_, _Legads_, or ‘valentines,’ was the name of a game which was played as follows:—A _mainshter_, or master of ceremonies, was elected, who then proceeded to appoint a _legad_ to every man of the party from among the girls present in the following words: _Eaisht-jee, as clasht-jee, as cur-jee myner; ta N. as M. legadyn son y vlein shoh, as ny sodjey, my oddys ad cordail. Moylley as soylley, jingey as pronney daue, &c._ “Listen, and hear, and give heed; N. and M. are valentines for this year, and longer, if they be agreeable. Praise and joy, peace and plenty to them, &c.” (The remaining words are lost.) Doubtless, the appointments of the _mainshter_, who probably had a shrewd idea which of the young people were attached to each other, were the cause of much merriment. It would seem that these entertainments were usually held at a public-house, whose landlord would be elected as the _mainshter_. After the _legads_ had all been appointed, the whole party sat down to supper, each man paying for his own _legad_, or valentine. During the supper the _laare vane_, or white mare,[62] was brought in. This was a horse’s head made of wood, and so contrived that the person who had charge of it, being concealed under a white sheet, was able to snap the mouth. He went round the table snapping the horse’s mouth at the guests who finally chased him from the room, after much rough play. A similar custom is mentioned by Dr. Johnson as taking place on New Year’s Eve, in Scotland: One of the company dressed himself in a cow’s hide, upon which the rest of the party belaboured him with sticks. They all then left the house and ran round it, only being re-admitted on repeating the following words, which are still preserved in St. Kilda: “May God bless this house and all that belongs to it, cattle, stones and timber. In plenty of meat, of bed and body clothes, and health of men, may it ever abound.” Each then pulled off a piece of the hide, and burnt it for the purpose of driving away disease. The Manx custom was probably formerly the same as this.

The _Goggans_, or _Noggins_, were small mugs filled with symbols of various trades, thus—water, for a sailor; meal, for a farmer, &c. These were laid in front of the hearth, and then, when the girls had gone outside, they were changed. The girls were then brought back, and, according to the _goggan_ they laid their hands upon, so was the trade of their future husband.

It was supposed that the weather on the twelve days after “Old Christmas Day”, indicated the weather of each month in the following year.

January 25, _Laa’l Noo Phaul_,[63] “St. Paul’s Feast day”, is a church festival in commemoration of the conversion of St. Paul. There seems to have been a very general superstition throughout Western Europe that, from the state of the weather on this day, the whole character of the year following might be predicted. We have, for instance, the old Latin distich:—

_Clara dies pauli bona tempora denotat anni,
Si nix vel pluvia, designat tempora cara;
Si fiant nebulæ, pereunt animalia quœque;
Si fiant venti, designat prælia genti._

An English version of which is:—

If St Paul’s day be fair and clear,
It does betide a happy year;
But if it chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all kinds of grain;
If clouds or mists do dark the skie,
Great store of birds and beasts shall die;
And if the winds do flie aloft,
Then war shall vex the kingdom oft.

The Manx version is as follows:—

_Laa’l Paul ghorrinagh as gheayagh,
Ghenney er-y-theill as baase mooar sleih;
Laa’l Paul aalin as glen,
Palchey er-y-theill dy arroo as mein._

Paul’s day stormy and windy,
Famine on the earth and much death on people;
Paul’s day beautiful and fair,
Abundance on the earth of corn and meal.

February 1, _Laa’l Breeshey_ “Bridget’s Feast day”, when the festival of this famous Irish saint was celebrated. A parish church, a nunnery, and no less than seven of the ancient _keeills_ or cells are named after her in the Isle of Man, where she seems to have been a great favourite. An old custom on this day was to gather rushes, and standing with them on the threshold, to invite St. Bridget to come and lodge there that night, saying “_Brede, Brede, tar gys my thie, tar dys thie ayms noght. Foshil jee yn dorrys da Brede, as lhig da Brede cheet stiagh._” “Bridget, Bridget, come to my house, come to my house to-night, open the door to Bridget, and let Bridget come in.” After these words were repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of a carpet or bed for her. It is said also that straw was sometimes used, instead of rushes.

A similar custom is described by Martin,[64] as practised in some of the other Sodor Isles:—“The mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats and dress it up in woman’s apparel, put it in a large basket and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Briid’s bed, and then the mistress and servants cry three times, ‘Briid is come, Briid is welome.’ This they do just before going to bed, and when they rise in the morning, they look among the ashes expecting to see the impression of Briid’s club there, which, if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and a prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen.”[65]

There were various weather sayings with regard to this day, thus:—

_Laa’l Breeshey bane,
Dy chooilley yeeig lane._

Bridget’s Feast day white, every ditch full.

_i.e._, If snowy on St. Bridget’s day, there will be a wet mild spring.

_Choud as hig y skell ny-gah-ghreinney stiagh Laa’l Breeshey, hig y sniaghtey roish Laa Boayldyn._ “As long as the sunbeam comes in on Bridget’s Feast day, the snow comes before May-Day.” _i.e._, If mild on St. Bridget’s day, there will be a cold spring.

February 2.—The festival of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Candlemas day, called in Manx _Laa’l Moirrey ny gianle_, “Mary’s Feast day of the Candle”, seems, since St. Bridget has been forgotten, to have taken the place of the festival of the Irish saint, as the prognostics founded on the state of the weather on this day are practically identical with those derived from St. Bridget’s festival. There is a universal superstition throughout Christendom that good weather on this day indicates a long continuance of winter and a bad crop, and that its being foul is, on the contrary, a good omen. Sir Thomas Browne, in his _Vulgar Errors_, quotes a Latin distich expressive of this idea.—

_Si sol splendescat Maria purificante,
Major erit glacies post festum quam fuit ante;_

Of which the Scotch version is:—

If Candlemass day be dry and fair,
The half o’ winter’s to come and mair;
If Candlemass day be wet and foul,
The half o’ winter’s gane at Yule.

The Manx proverb corresponding with this conveys a caution to the farmers:—

_Laa’l Moirrey ny gianle,
Lieh foddyr as lieh traagh._

“Candlemas day (or Mary’s Feast day of the Candle), half straw and half hay.”

_i.e._—In the probable event of a mild Candlemas, half the stock of fodder should still be unconsumed, as much wintry weather will probably follow.

_Shrove-Tuesday_, in Manx _Oie Ynnyd_, “Eve of the Fast”, seems to have been observed in the Isle of Man in much the same way as in England. It was formerly the custom to have _sollaghan_, which is made of oatmeal and gravy, for dinner on this day, instead of at breakfast as usual, while the supper consisted of meat and pancakes. The following Manx saying is, we suppose, a warning against relying on the continuance of such sumptuous fare:—

_Ec shibber Oie Ynnyd my vees dty volg lane;
My jig Laa Caisht yiow traisht son shen._

“At Shrove-Tuesday supper if thy belly be full;
Before Easter day thou mayest fast (hunger) for that.”

February 6—A fair, called _Periwinkle_ Fair, was held on this day till 50 years ago. It took place on the shore at _Pooyl-Vaaish_, where cattle, horses, and sheep were bought and sold as usual, and fairings sold, among them periwinkles. Hence the name. The 6th was St. Dorothy’s day, but there seems to be no trace of any special celebration on this day elsewhere.

March—There are various weather sayings about this month:—

_Share craagh ve ’sy cheer, na mee ny Vayrnt cheet stiagh meein._ “Better a slaughter in the country than the month of March should come in mild.”

_Sheeu hishan dy yoan Mayrnt maaill bleeney Vannin._ “A peck of March dust is worth a year’s rent in the Isle of Man.”

_Ta’n Vayrnt chionney as yn nah bee fanney._ “March tightens and the next month skins.” This refers to the characteristics of these two months—dry, with cold winds.

There is an old superstition that a Saturday’s new moon was unlucky, and, if it occurred in March, it was still more so. Hence the saying:—_Ta eayst jesarn ’sy Vayrnt dy-liooar ayns shiaght bleeantyn_. “A Saturday’s moon in March is enough in seven years.”

March 17 is _L’aal Pharick_, “Patrick’s Feast day”, when a fair was held. This famous Irish saint and missionary has three churches and seven _keeills_ dedicated to him in the Isle of Man. This day was also called _Patermas_, “Patrick’s Mass”, and on it the saint’s staff was carried in procession by some one who was paid by the owner of the saint’s staffland, who also had to keep in order and renew the staff itself; for there are two small properties, one in the parish of Patrick and the other in the parish of Maughold, which seem to have been held on this tenure. The former of them, first mentioned in a Papal Bull of 1231 as _terram de baculo Sti. Patricii_, “The land of the Staff of St. Patrick”, has long since disappeared as a separate property; the latter, which is part of the Barony of St. Bees, still survives under the name of The Staffland. This place is considered to be freehold, inasmuch as no rent or service is rendered in respect of it to the lord.[66] The service of the Staff of St. Patrick seems to have been commuted for a money-rent at the time of the Reformation, while the Staffland in Maughold fell into the hands of the Christians of Milntown.

There is an old saying: _Laa’l Pharick arree, yn dow gys e staik as y dooiney ass e liabbee_. “Patrick’s spring Feast day, the ox to his stake, and the man from his bed.” It thus seems to indicate the time when active farming operations (March 17) should begin. Seed-sowing is usually begun in the Isle of Man about this time.

April—There is the following weather saying about the month of April:—

_Tra heidys Avril dy-bing e charyn,
’Sy theihll vees palchey traagh as oarn._

When April shall shrilly sound his horn,
On earth there will be plenty of hay and corn (barley).

_i.e._, A dry April is good for the crops.

_Good Friday._—_Jy-heiney chaist_, or, as Bishop Phillips has it, _Jy-heny-ghayst_, “Easter Friday”, was a day on which several superstitious customs were observed. No iron of any kind was to be put into the fire, and even the tongs were laid aside, lest any person should unfortunately stir the fire with them, a stick of the Mountain-Ash (_cuirn_) being used as a substitute. To avoid placing the iron griddle on the fire, a large thick cake, called a _soddag_,[67] which is triangular in shape, was baked on the hearth. It was also a custom for people to go to the shore on this day to gather shell-fish.

_Easter Sunday._—It was believed that anyone who went up to the top of a high hill on this morning to watch the sunrise would see the sun bow two or three times, as if in adoration to the risen Saviour. The superstition that the sun bowed or danced on this day was once very prevalent in England, and was embodied by Sir John Suckling in the following verses on a belle of the day:—

Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice peep’d in and out,
As if they feared the light!
And oh! she dances such a way—
No sun upon an Easter Day
Were half so fine a sight.

April 25 is now best known as _Laa’l Noo Markys-yn-sushtallagh_, “St. Mark the Evangelist’s Feast day”; but it was formerly connected with the famous Manx saint, Maughold, to whom a parish church is dedicated. He had two days in the year, this, the first and more important, being called _Laa’l Maghal toshee_—Maghold’s chief Feast day. The superstitions formerly practised on the eve of this day were the same as those belonging to the eve of St. Mark in England. If a person on the eve of this day were to watch in the Churchyard from eleven in the evening till one in the morning he would see the wraiths of those who are to be buried there during the year.

May 11—_Oie Voaldyn_, or May-Day Eve—was the occasion of many superstitious observances. On this evening the Fairies were supposed to be peculiarly active. To propitiate them, and to ward off the influence of evil Spirits and Witches, who were also active at this time, green leaves or boughs and _sumark_, or primrose flowers, were strewn on the threshold, and branches of the _cuirn_, or Mountain-Ash, were made into small crosses without the aid of a knife, which was on no account to be used, and stuck over the doors of the dwelling-houses and cow-houses. Cows were further protected from the same influences by having the _bollan-feaill-Eoin_[68] (John’s-feast wort) placed in their houses. This was also one of the occasions on which no one would give fire, and on which fires were and are lit on the hills to drive away the Fairies, Witches, &c., and also to purify the fields, cattle, and horses by the smoke passing over them. It is said that a handful of gorse was formerly lit in each field to purify it.

With reference to the practice of not giving fire, Waldron remarks that there was not one of the native families “but keeps a small quantity of fire continually burning, no one daring to depend on his neighbour’s vigilance in a thing which he imagines is of such consequence: everyone consequently believing that if it should ever happen that no fire were to be found throughout, most terrible revolutions and mischiefs would immediately ensue;”—and, as to the lighting of fires, Kelly says that “the inhabitants kindle fires on the summits of the highest hills, in continuation of the practice of the Druids, who made the cattle, and probably the children, ‘to pass through the fire,’ using certain ceremonies to expiate the sins of the people; but the northern practice is for each _balla_ or town to kindle a fire, so that the wind may drive the smoke over their cornfields, cattle, and habitations.... The inhabitants dress their houses with flowers, and before every door a considerable space is strewed with primroses.... On this eve also the damsel places a snail between two pewter dishes, and expects to find next morning the name of her future husband in visible characters on the dish; but the success of this depends on her watching till midnight, and having first purified her hands and face by washing them in the dew of the wheat.”[69]

Fifty years ago the celebration of May-Day Eve was still very general, as will be seen from the following account extracted from the _Mona’s Herald_ newspaper of the 5th of May, 1837; but now it has almost died out:—“On May-Day eve the people of the Isle of Man have, from time immemorial, burned all the whin (gorse) bushes in the Island, conceiving that they thereby burned all the witches and fairies which they believe take refuge there after sunset. The Island presented the scene of a universal conflagration, and to a stranger, unacquainted with our customs, it must appear very strange to see both old and young persons gathering particular herbs, and planting them at their doors and in their dwellings for the purpose of preventing the entrance of the witches.”

It is thus clear that the Manx people placed very great reliance on the influence of fire in protecting them from the powers of evil. This influence was also made use of—or would seem to have been made use of—by sacrificing animals as propitiatory offerings to the powers above mentioned. Such a method would naturally be supposed to have belonged to past ages only if there was not evidence that lambs have been burnt on May-Day Eve or May-Day—_son oural_—for a sacrifice within living memory. Such sacrifices seem to have been distinct in their purpose from the burning of animals already mentioned (in Chapter V.) for discovering Witches or driving away disease.[70]

May 12—_May-day_, or _Laa-Boaldyn_, the _Beltaine_, as it was called in Irish, was the first of the great Celtic feasts, and was held at the opening of the summer half of the year. Cormac, in his Glossary, says that this name, _Beltaine_, arose “from two fires which the Druids of Erinn used to make with great incantations”; and he adds that cattle used to be brought to these fires and driven between them, as a safeguard against diseases. According to Jameson, “the Gaelic and Irish word, _Beal-tine_ or _Beil-tine_, signifies Bel’s fire; as composed of _Baal_ or _Belis_, one of the names of the sun in Gaelic, and _tein_, signifying fire;” but, as a matter of fact, this is all pure guess-work, no one having given a satisfactory derivation of the name.[71]

At an early hour on this morning the maidens went forth to gather the dew, and wash their faces in it, as it was supposed to ensure a good complexion, as well as to render the hostility of the Witches innocuous. At an equally early hour, horns were blown to prevent the Fairies from enticing children away. Later on in the day a Queen of the May was chosen, according to Waldron, in the following fashion: “In almost all the great parishes they choose from among the daughters of the most wealthy farmers a young maid for the Queen of May. She is dressed in the gayest and best manner they can, and is attended by about twenty others, who are called maids of honour, she has also a young man, who is her captain, and has under his command a great number of inferior officers. In opposition to her is the Queen of Winter, who is a man dressed in women’s clothes, with woollen hoods, fur tippets, and loaded with the warmest and heaviest habits one upon another; in the same manner are those who represent her attendants dressed; nor is she without a captain and troop for her defence. Both being equipped as proper emblems of the beauty of the spring and the deformity of the winter, they set forth from their respective quarters; the one preceded by violins and flutes, the other with the rough music of tongs and cleavers. Both companies march till they meet on a common, and then their trains engage in a mock-battle. If the Queen of Winter’s forces get the better, so far as to take the Queen of May prisoner, she is ransomed for as much as pays the expenses of the day. After this ceremony, Winter and her company retire and divert themselves in a barn, and the others remain on the green, where, having danced a considerable time, they conclude the evening with a feast, the queen at one table with her maids, the captain with his troop at another. There are seldom less than fifty or sixty persons at each board.” For the seizure of her majesty’s person, that of one of her slippers was substituted more recently, which was in like manner ransomed to defray the expenses of the pageant. The procession of the summer, which was subsequently composed of little girls, and called the _Maceboard_, outlived that of its rival, the winter, some years. The Maceboard went from door to door, inquiring if the inmates would buy the queen’s favour, which was composed of a small piece of ribbon; this has also fallen into disuse.

This custom was evidently derived from the Northmen, whose proceedings on this day are thus described by Olaus Magnus, who wrote in the sixteenth century:—“The Southern Swedes and Goths that are very far from the Pole, have a custom, that on the first day of May, when the sun is in Taurus, there should be two horse troops appointed of young and lusty men, as if they were to fight some hard conflict. One of these is led on by a captain, chosen by lot, who has the name and habit of Winter. He is clothed with divers skins, and adorned with fire forks, and casting about snow balls and pieces of ice, that he may prolong the cold, he rides up and down in triumph, and he shows and makes himself the harder, the more the icicles seem to hang from their stoves.(?) The chieftain of the other is for summer, and is called Captain Floria, and is clothed with green boughs and leaves and summer garments that are not very strong. Both these ride from the fields into the city, from divers places, one after another, and with their fire spears they fight, and make a public show, that Summer hath conquered Winter. Both sides striving to get the victory, that side more forcibly assaults the other which on that day seems to borrow more force from the air, whether temperate or sharp. If the winter yet breathes frost, they lay aside their spears, and riding up and down, cast about upon the spectators ashes mingled with live sparks of fire taken from the graves or from the altar; and they, who in the same dress and habit are auxiliary troops, cast fire-balls from their horses. Summer, with his band of horse, shows openly his boughs of birch, or tiel-tree, which are made green long before by art, as by the heat of their stoves and watering them, and privately brought in as if they newly came from the wood. But because nature is thus defrauded, those that fight for winter press on the more, that the victory may not be got by fraud; yet the sentence is given for summer by the favourable judgement of the people, who are unwilling to endure the sharp rigor of winter any longer; and so summer gets the victory with the general applause of them all, and he makes a gallant feast for his company, and confirms it by drinking cups, which he could scarcely win with spears. This is the custom of driving away the winter, and receiving of summer.”

The Welsh story of the contest of Gwyn, as representing the powers of darkness, and Gwythur, as representing the summer sun, makes them fight for the possession of a beauteous damsel on the first of May. Gwythur gains the victory, which symbolises the recovery by the Sun-God of his bride at the beginning of summer, after his antagonist had gained possession of her at the beginning of winter.

The 12th of May is still the general day for letting houses, paying house rents, and taking grazing cattle, and also for farm girls going to their places; but the distinctive observances connected with it have died out.

On the 10th of this month was the Church festival called _Laa’l Spitlin souree_, “Spitlin’s summer Feast day”, after a Saint now unknown.

_Perambulation of Parish Boundaries._—On the Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, before Ascension Day it was an ancient custom in the Isle of Man, as in England, to perambulate the boundaries of the parishes. In Roman Catholic times, this perambulation was a matter of great ceremony, and banners, handbells, and lights enlivened the procession. In Queen Elizabeth’s reign it was ordained that the people should, once in a year, make a circuit of the parish with the curate, who was to admonish the people to give thanks to God, as they beheld his benefits, and for the increase and abundance of the fruits upon the face of the earth. This custom seems to have been derived from the Roman _Terminalia_ and _Ambervalia_, which were festivals in honour of the god Terminus, and the goddess Ceres. In England, and, as we shall see, in the Isle of Man also, it has likewise a twofold object, firstly to preserve a correct knowledge of the bounds of the parishes, and secondly to supplicate the divine blessing on the fruits of the earth. How this custom was performed in the Isle of Man will be seen from the following injunction by the Bishop, Henry Bridgeman, in 1677:—“Upon a solemn and tedious audience of the tennants of my Ld Bp’s demesne together with most or many of the most aged and most substantiall parishioners of the parish and parish Church of St Mary of Ballaugh, in the Isle of Mann, concerning the performance of parochiall rights and the payment of Parochiall duties betwixt the s^d tennants and the rest of the parishioners aforesaid, which difference hath now continued to be agitated betwixt them for many years. It was finally sentenced and determined upon the second day of February, 1677, by the Right Rev^d Father in God, Henry, Ld. Bp. of this Isle, before whom it was clearly proved by the oaths of Thomas Craine, of the Glaick, in Ballaugh, aged 71 years or thereabouts, and of Thomas Kinred, of Ballaterson, in the same parish of Ballaugh, aged about 60 years, and of Thomas Cowley, of Knockan, in the psh aforesaid, aged about 55 years. Many other aged persons of the said parish being ready to confirm the same by their respective oaths had they been thereunto admitted or required, which was forborne for the said Ld. Bp.’s tenants did before his L’sp then and there confesse and acknowledge the verity of their assertions vidt. That they had for severall years known the respective parsons of Ballaugh and vicars of Kirk Michaell meet upon severall ascension dayes together with their respective parishes at the gate of B’sp’s Court, and in their perambulation goe into the Chappell of the said Ld. Bp., and there unanimously agree that the upper or East end thereof did stand, and was of antient time held to be within the præcints of the Parish of St. Mary, of Ballaugh, and the tower or West end of the said Chappell was of ould time accounted and esteemed to be within the site and præcints of the parish of Kirk Michaell and that the said respective Parsons and Vicars did severally officiate divine service, the one at the one side or end of the said Chappell, and the other at the other side or end of the same Chappell alternately upon the said same dayes of perambulation. The Parsons of Ballaugh coming down by a well called Aulcaugh als Phinlowes’ well and so along by the river or milne-dam of the said Ld. Bp’s demesne up to the said Chappell: and from thence with a considerable part of his meadow called Ballaugh-third, conterminating upon the middle-third of the said meadow, and thence to a parcell of land called John Gawn’s Croft, and so to Brough-garge’s lands, which goes along the Strand or seaside whereby it did evidently appear unto the said Ld Bp that all his tenants upon the Demesne aforesaid which were inhabitants within the said perambulation of the Parson of Ballaugh were and ought to be esteemed, and are now by his Lp accordingly adjudged to be parishioners of the parish and Church of St. Mary, of Ballaugh, and so subject and liable to all parochial duties and performances unto ye said church as the rest of the parishioners of the said parish are (excepting _onely_ the payment of such tythes as now are and of ould usually have been due and payable unto the Ld Bp.) And more particelarly yt it is incumbent upon them (as such) to make their proportionable part of the churchyard hedge or ditch of the said parish of St. Mary’s of Ballaugh, according as it is apportioned them in ye Register Book of the s^d church in the year 1660, and it is now ordered and decreed by the said Ld Bp that henceforth all the said tenants shall repaire unto divine service and all the offices of the Holy Church upon every Ld^s Day, every holy day, and other extraordinary dayes of public fasts and thanksgivings unto the said church of St. Marie’s, as to their sole proper parish church; and yt if they shall absent themselves frequently from the same upon such dayes (without a lawfull and sufficient cause and reason to be allowed by the s^d Ld Bp and his successors or his Vic^r Gen^{le}) that they shall be presented by the churchwardens of the said parish for the time being (whose consciences are hereby onerated to deall faithfully therein) unto the Bp or his Vic^r Gen^{le} that they may be punished or fined 12d apiece for every such dayes absence whereof they cannot give a reasonable and satisfactory account. Provided always that ye decree be no longer of force after they shall produce an antient, sufficient and legall execution, which some of them seem to pretend unto, but are not or have not yet been able to produce or make good, and in the intervine (_sic_) they are hereby required to yield punctual submission and obedience hereunto upon pain of excommunication. Given under the Episcopal Seal of the said Ld Bp this second day of February, in the seventh year of his consecration and in the year of Our Lord, 1677.

JOHAN ALLEN, Actuar
a Secretis D^{mi} Epi.

A copy whereof is hereby enjoyned to }
be entered in the several registers of }
both parishes, and the original to be }
kept in the Ld Bp’s records. }

The following is taken from the Parochial Register of Lezayre, Anno. 1715:—“The Revd. Mr. Wm. Walker, Vicar Genl. and Rector of Ballaugh, and the Revd. Mr. Henry Allen, Vicar of Kirk Christ, Lezayre, together with several of the ancients of both parishes, having met this day at a place called Cottier’s platt in order to determine Boundaries of the two Parishes from the place aforesaid unto the High-road leading from Bishop’s Court to Ramsey: and both Parties having agreed to leave it to me to hear what can be sayd on both sides, and to put a final end to all controversies for the future concerning the said Boundary, I, therefore, having heard all that hath been sayd by both Parties, and having carefully viewed and walked the ground, do adjudge and declare that a straight line drawn from the East side of the platt aforesaid, betwixt two remarkable trees growing in the Highway aforesaid, and betwixt two large white stones on the other side of the said Highway to the end of an Hedge leading from thence to the mountains, shall ever hereafter be looked upon and be the true Boundary of the two Parishes, with which both sides being entirely satisfied, I do hereby require that nobody do presume presumptuously to cut down the trees or to remove the stones aforesaid; and that a true copy of this determination be preserved in the Registers of both Parishes, as an end of all strife on this account. Given under my hand and seal at Bishop’s Court the day and year above written.

(Signed) THO: SODOR AND MAN.”

A letter of Bishop Wilson’s, on the subject of perambulations follows:—“To the Reverend the Archdeacon and the rest of the Clergy of the diocese of Sodor and Man: My brethren,—The last Convocation but one, you were put in mind of a very considerable ommission, in not going every Holy Thursday the boundary of your severall Parishes or some part of such as are large which hath been practised till of late, time out of mind. In order, therefore, to the keeping of this laudable custom, you are hereby required to give notice to your Parishioners on Rogation Sunday, May 3rd, that you purpose (God willing) to walk the boundarys of your Parish, or some considerable part of them, on Holy Thursday following, and desire the people to meet you at prayers and to accompany you. And that they may be better dispos’d to do so, you shall inform them that besides the great advantage of settling and securing the boundarys of Parishes, the great design is to give publick and national acknowledgement and thanks to God for all his blessings both by sea and land, and especially for the fruits of the earth which at this time begin to appear, as also to beg of God to send us such seasonable weather, as that we may receive the fruits thereof, to our own comfort, and for the relief of those that are in want, and lastly to beseech God of his mercy to preserve us from all infectious diseases and unusual mortality amongst men and beasts and from the rage of enemies. You shall further inform them, how necessary this is to keep up a constant sense of our dependence upon Almighty God, for every blessing we enjoy or hope for, whether peace or plenty, or security from our enemies, or health to enjoy these blessings. Now, the manner of observing this laudable custom has been at certain places to read distinctly the 103rd Psalm, by the Minister only, and in other places to pronounce openly the curse set down in Deut. 27, 17—‘Cursed is he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark,’ that is, who defrauds his neighbour of any of his rights, either by fraud or force, or going to law without just cause. At the same time people should be exhorted to beware of the great sin of covetousness, and to be content with the blessing God has given to their own honest labours. That ‘better is the little that the righteous have,’ such as they have gotten by righteous ways, than ‘great riches cf the ungodly,’ which they have gotten wrongfully, and that God will never bless such possessions as are gotten, or defended, or kept by unjust means. Here also it will be very becoming a clergyman against the great sin of Litigiousness by which Christian love and charity are broken, and men hazard the loss of a heavenly inheritance to gain some trifle often in this world.—Dated at Bishop’s Court, the 24th April. 1741. (Signed) THO. SODOR AND MANN.” Below this he appends the proper “Collects to be used on the perambulation: Quinquagesima Sunday; Third Sunday in Lent; Septuagesima Sunday; The Prayer for Rain, if then needful; In time of Death and Famine; In time of Warr; In the Litany, the last two petitions, viz., ‘That it may please Thee to give and preserve to our use, &c.,’ ‘That it may please Thee to forgive us all our sins,’ and the Prayer in Mr. Nelson’s book for Rogation Week.”[72] These Perambulations have not yet fallen entirely into disuse.

The festival on June 24th, _Midsummer day_, and on its eve, _Midsummer-eve_, kept since the change in the Calendar on July 5th and July 4th, seems to have been of Scandinavian origin, for, among the ancient Celts, the longest day, as far as is known, was of no especial account. But to people living within the Arctic circle, who for months in the winter were altogether deprived of the sun, his ascent and descent were naturally of greater importance than to people living further south. This festival was probably originally in honour of Balder, the northern Sun-God, who at Midsummer attained his greatest splendour and duration, and from thence began to decline.[73] The beginning of his declination was commemorated by the lighting of his funeral pyre, which the modern bonfires have perpetuated. Of the later celebration of this eve and day in Scandinavia, Vigfusson writes:—“St. John Baptist’s Day is in the northern countries a kind of Midsummer Yule, and was in Norway and Sweden celebrated with bonfires, dance, and merriment; and tales of fairies and goblins of every kind are connected with St. John’s Eve in the summer as well as Yule-eve in winter.” And with regard to its origin, he says:—“The origin of this feast is no doubt heathen, being a worship of light and the sun, which has since been adapted to a Christian name and a Christian Calendar.”[74] Very similar are the observances of this eve in Man. Bonfires were lit on the hills, and blazing wheels were formerly rolled from their tops, probably originally with the intention of typifying the beginning of the sun’s declination.[75] Cattle were also driven between or over fires to keep them from disease, and men and boys leaped over the flames. Train says that “on the eve of St. John the Baptist, the natives lighted fires to the windward side of every field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; they folded their cattle and carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times.”

These fire observances were in fact the same as on May-Day Eve, and they seem to have been designed as Charms to secure as much sunshine as possible, which, considering our dull and cloudy climate, is not to be wondered at; and they were at one time connected with human sacrifices.[76] There was also a notion that the corn would grow well as far as the bonfires were seen, and, therefore, numerous bonfires were lit on these occasions, and it was supposed that the height of the straw depended on the height that the men jumped over the flames.

Fairies are supposed to be especially powerful on this eve, and Witches are said to hold a saturnalia.

A curious belief that the souls of all people left their bodies when asleep on this night, and wandered to the place where they would die was formerly prevalent, and from this probably arose the custom of sitting up to watch, and so avoiding such an occurrence. Those who watched in the church porches were rewarded with the sight of those who would die in the year, as on St. Mark’s eve and Hollantide eve. On this eve, too, was gathered the _Bollan-Feaill-Eoin_, “John’s Feast day wort” (mugwort), which was made into wreaths to be worn on the heads of man and beast to protect them from witchcraft.

The next morning the great _Tinwald_ Court,[77] corresponding to the Icelandic _Althing_, was held, when the laws were promulgated, and the festival proper, all Witches and evil Spirits having been disposed of on the previous evening, began. At this festival, which probably lasted a fortnight in old times, there took place not only the Court, but probably a religious feast and merry-makings of all kinds, such as hurling and football, match-making, feasting, and, above all, recitals of legends and traditions. As regards Man, however, we have no definite information about the observance of this day from tradition, except that there was a fair, which still continues; and from written sources there is only preserved a letter written, in 1636, by Bishop Parr to Archbishop Neile, in which he states that on St. John Baptist’s day he found the people in a chapel dedicated to that Saint “in the practice of gross superstitions”, which he caused “to be cried down”, and, in the place of them, “appointed Divine services and sermons.” We can only wish that the good Bishop had informed us what these “gross superstitions” were. We have already seen (Chapter I.) that Manannan received his tribute of rushes on this day, and it is curious that the pathway leading up to the chapel is still covered with rushes supplied by a small farm close by, which is held on the tenure of doing this service.

As we have already seen from the name, St. John, the Church adopted this heathen festival as that Saint’s feast, _Feaill Eoin_, “John’s-Feast”, as it is called in Manx. It has been ingeniously suggested by Mr. Tylor that this adoption, or rather adaptation, may have arisen from the same train of symbolism which adapted the heathen Midwinter solar festival to the Nativity of our Lord, _i.e._, from our Lord’s own words “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It seems, however, much more probable that St. John was merely substituted for Balder, as our Saviour was substituted for him in other portions of the northern faith.

The following proverb attached to St. John’s Day probably refers to the desirability of having rain to bring on the straw of the corn crops at this time rather than later, when it would interfere with the maturing of the grain: _Lane croie cabbyl dy ushtey Laa’l Eoin feeu mayl Vannin_, “A full horse-shoe of water (on) John’s Feast day is worth the rent of Man.”

July 13 was dedicated to the Saint called German, after whom the Cathedral on Peel Island is supposed to be named.[78] August 1st, kept since the change in the calendar, on August 12th, is called _Laa Luanys_, or _Laa Lunys_, “Luanys’s Day.” This name was probably originally associated with the Celtic god _Lug_, or _Lleu_, as he is called in Wales, who, as he was said to have been brought up at the court of Manannan, was closely connected with Man.[79] In Ireland, his festival, called the _Lug-nassad_, or the wedding of Lug, was celebrated on this day by a fair, at which games and sports took place. In Man, too, there was, within living memory, a great fair in the parish of Santon, on the same day. This festival was, according to Professor Rhys, “the great event of the summer half of the year, which extended from the calends of May to the calends of winter. The Celtic year was more thermometric than astronomical; and the _Lug-nassad_ was, so to say, its summer solstice.”[80] The fair has disappeared; but the ancient custom of visiting the highest hills and the sacred wells on this day, cannot be said to be altogether extinct. These wells are usually found near old ecclesiastical sites, as the holy recluses would naturally build their _keeills_ near springs, where they would construct wells both for their own personal convenience as well as for baptizing their disciples. Some of these wells were formerly much venerated, as their waters were supposed to possess sanative qualities, and to be of special virtue as charms against witchcraft and Fairies. The devotees would drop a small coin into the well, drink of the water, repeat a prayer, in which they mentioned their ailments, and then decorate the well, or the tree overhanging it, with flowers and other votive offerings, usually rags. They believed that when the flowers withered, or the rags rotted, their ailments would be cured. These rites have been observed in the Isle of Man within the memory of those now living. There is a well on Gob-y-Vollee, called Chibber Lansh (where the meaning of _lansh_ is uncertain), consisting of three pools, which was formerly much resorted to for the cure of sore eyes. The cure could only be effective if the patient came on Sunday, and walked three times round each pool, saying in Manx, _Ayns enym yn Ayr, as y Vac, as y Spyrryd Noo_, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, and then applied the water to his or her eye. Many of these wells, however, together with the sacred tree which overshadowed them, were certainly objects of veneration long before the days of the recluses and their religion.[81]

The Church attempted to put an end to this custom, and failed, but contrived to give it a religious character by changing the date of its observance from the first day of August to the first Sunday in that month.[82] The following representation made to the Ecclesiastical Court by the curate and wardens of the parish of Lonan, in 1732, will show that this custom was prevalent at that time:—

“The curate and wardens represent to the Court that there is a superstitious and wicked custom, which is yearly continued and practised in this and the neighbouring parishes by many young people (and some of riper years) going to the top of Snaefell Mountain upon the first Sunday in August, where (as they are informed) they behave themselves very rudely and indecently for the greater part of that day. Therefore, they crave that the Rev. Court may be pleased to order what method must be taken to put a stop to this profane custom for the future.” The Court (consistorial), in consequence of this order, ordained “that publication be made yearly on the two last Sundays in July, by the minister for the time being, after the Nicene Creed, that whoever shall be found to profane the Lord’s Day after this wicked and superstitious manner shall be proceeded against with severe ecclesiastical censures; and the minister and wardens are hereby required to do their utmost in discovering the persons guilty in this particular, and to make presentment thereof.”

But such methods did not avail against this “superstitious and wicked custom” and in vain, too, did Bishop Wilson fulminate against it, as it was quite common 70 years ago, and is not quite extinct yet. It is said that, about 1820, a preacher, named Gick, went up South Barrule and denounced it, and that consequently it has since then almost ceased, though a few people still ascend the mountains on the first Sunday after the 12th of August, pretending that they do so to search for blaberries; and a few may be seen lurking in the vicinity of the wells. There is now an idea prevalent that this custom of ascending the hills is in commemoration of Jepthah’s daughter going forth on the hills, with the daughters of Israel following her, an idea which has probably been promulgated by the preachers with a view of causing a heathen superstition to be superseded by a Christian ceremony.

_Harvest._—When the landlord, or farmer, entered for the first time the field where harvesting operations went on, it was customary to bind him with _sugganes_, or straw ropes, and not to release him till he paid a forfeit.