[from A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect, 1924]

A VOCABULARY OF THE ANGLO-MANX DIALECT

NOTE—
B. The Rev. T. E. Brown.
C. Miss Josephine Kermode (‘ Cushag ‘).

 I

IDLE [], lazy.
Mine (mind) ye kned that daw (dough) well, and don't Pave no idle-pennies (unworked lumps).

ILL []. The word 'ill' is rarely used in Anglo-Manx. 'Sick' is said for 'ill' when it means unwell, and 'bad' is said in most other cases.
Them ones is too fine to say 'takin spite', they mus' call it 'bearing illwill'-jus' lek if they were in the pulfit (pulpit).

I'LL [], 'I will', or, 'I shall'. This is often pronounced 'oll', and in the same way 'I'm' is often pronounced 'om'.
Oll do it if om alive and spar'd.

ILLIAM [] (Mx.), William.
Do you remember Billy-Bill-Illiam? i. e. Billy the son of Bill the son of William. With Illiam Crowe, one-eyed Illiam (B.).

ILLISH, AALISH [] (Mx.), handle of a creel or basket. Sleep, my baby, sleep, ma-villish,
In the basket with no illish.
I, e. Sleep, my baby, sleep, my sweet, in the wicker cradle.

IMAGES, IMAJEE [], 'image', plaster-cast. Don't be standin theer like a imagee.
She's lookin jus' like an imagee ; Stuck up on a shelf she ought to be.

IMMADIENT, IMMAJANT [], 'immediate'.
Bout ship, sir! aye immadient (B.). Be off, immajant. And whipped of coorse immadiently (B.).

IMMEE [i] (Mx.), go.
Him dhrivin the pig and shoutin ' Immee ! immee ! I and the pig navar regardin (heeding).

IMMYR [] (Mx.), ridge, bulk.
The boat got right in the immyr chorry, i. e. the boat got into the butt or dense part of a shoal of spawn herrings.

IMPERENT, IMPRINT [], 'impudent'. In phr. Thou're as imperent as a white stone.

IN [], into; in existence; here, there. The word 'in' is used idiomatically in certain idioms derived from the Manx Gaelic language.
' In' takes the place of the English ' into', the form ' into' not being used in Anglo-Manx :-He went in the house. He's not gone in the chapel, he's only standin at the door.
' In' often represents the English ' in existence', or ' here', or ' there', &c. :-They're sayin there's no fairies in. The lek is in and you'll get Yave,
i. e. such things exist say what you like. I'm goin to keep total (teetotal) as long as I'm in. We m us' put up with wha's in, i. e. we must bear with what is here. And a moon then as big as two, aw, the lek isn in now. It's me tha's in, i. e. it is I who am here. And a chile in (B.), i. e. and a child there. Hardly mindin the lek was in (B.). Nex' night no courtin in (B.). The sweet soft coo there was in (B.).
Is he in ? i. e. is he within ? Is it in you're wantin ? i. e. do you wish to get in
I gorra pain in me head in times (sometimes).

INCH [] a small portion. Sometimes 'pinch' is said for 'inch'.
Ate that porridge up, every inch. Ye might give us a ninth of that. He's got nails on his fingers pinches long.
He was sittin on the end o' the furrim, and he inched up till he got to the top.

INDEED, ONDEED [], certainly.
Ye're fine indeed to-day, As fine as flowers in May. (Said to a showily dressed person.)
Talkin o' money-now it's him that's ruch (rich) ondeed. Indeed, indeed, in very deed,
I sowed my garden full of seed; The seed began to grow,
Like a garden full of snow; The snow began to melt, Like a garden full of hemp ; The hemp began to peel, Like a garden full of steel; The steel began to canker, Like a ship without an anchor; The ship began to sail,
Like a cock without a tail; The cock began to fly, Like an eagle in the sky; The eagle began to fall, Like an egg upon the wall; The egg began to stink, Like a bottle full of ink ; The ink began to spill, Like a fairy on the hill; The fairy began to stutter, Like an old woman clapping butter.
The above is the version of a children's rhyme as said in the north of the Isle of Man. The following is a Peel version of the same :
Man o' war , man o' deed, Like a garden full o' seed ; When the seed begun to graw, Like a garden full o' snaw ; When the snaw begun to melt, Like a garden full o' hemp ; When the hemp begun to peel, Like a garden full o' steel-, When the steel begun to canker, Like a ship without an anchor; When the ship begun to sail, Like a cock without a tail; When the cock begun to fly, Like an aigle in the sky; When the aigle begun to fall, Like an egg upon the wall ; When the egg begun to stink, Like a bottle full of ink;
When the ink begun to spill, Like a fairy on the hill; When the fairy begun to run, Like a man beatin a dhrum ; When the dhrum begun to soun', Like a bull in the poun'; When the bull begun to roor, Like three thousan' men ashoor.
In Manx Notes and Queries, p. 33, C. Roeder gives a south-side version which closely resembles the Peel version in all but the close. The ending given by him is as follows
When the drum began to sound, Like a cow in the pound;
When the cow began to jump, Like the water in the pump ; When the pump was running o'er, And the lion began to roar, Success to ye all, bonny bairns.

INDEPANDIN [i], 'independent'. ' Aw, no ! ' says I, quite indepandin.

INDIFFERIN [], 'indifferent', in poor health. Aw, the poor man is only very indifferin.

INMATE [], ' inmeat', the edible viscera of any animal. Plucks o' sheep, and inmates o' cows, and the lek.

INNAGH [] (Mx.), weft, woof.
He's good all through, Innagh and gloo.
(I. e. He is thoroughly good, in woof and in warp.)

INTACK [], a piece of land enclosed from a moor or common. Intacks, easements and all the rest (B.).

INTARMINED [], 'determined'.
And got him home-intarmined she wud-intarmined (B.).

IRELAN [], 'Ireland'. Prov.
Wha's good for the Isle o' Man is good for Irelan', and the oul' people would be sayin it in Manx, ' Mie Mannin, mie Nherin ! (good for Mann, good for Ireland).

IRISH []. The Irish are often alluded to in Anglo-Manx. Some of these expressions are 'complimentary', and others the reverse.
The English ones, and Scotch ones, And all the Welsh ones too, Are fightin with the Divil,
But it's little they can do ; They'll have to get the Irish
And the Manx in a purshue (pursuit), It's them'il lick the Divil
Till his back is black and blue.
Ye might be Irish, the way yer beer (hair) is all in thavvags (tufts). Hit him again for he's Irish.
Me father and mother was Irish, And I was Irish too;
I boüght an oul' kettle for ninepence, And that was Irish too.
(A children's rhyme, shouted after Irish persons.)

IS [is]. When the nominative is a noun' is' is used for plural as well as singular in the present tense of 'to be' :-The men is good. It is used in the same way with 'these', and with 'them' when 'them' means 'those': -These is good. Them is good. But it is never used with pronouns of the first or second person in their nominative form, or with the pronoun they. it is used, however, after all pronouns in their disjunctive form.
Him and me is friends, yes, we are. Her and us is at outs now. You and him is nice fallas, deed ye are. Him and her is dirts, so they are. We are goin if you are goin, for you and us is nice company together.
I am here and thou are theer,
Thee and me is jus' a peer (pair). (A valentine rhyme.)

ISLAN [], 'island'. The Manx people call the Isle of Man The Islan, as if there were no other island in the world ! They also refer to it affectionately as ' the lil Islan'.

ISLES OF MAN.
The oul' people said Isles of Man, and they were right-they used to say that the Isle of Man was only one of seven, at one time. There 's St. Patrick's Isle an' St. Mial's Isle, an' the Calf Isle, and I forget the res, when you say Isles of Man, you take them all in.
The tales he can tell of what he have seen,
He've thravelled the whole Isles of Mann ;
He've been all the way to the bordhers of Wales
And seen all the shows in the lan'.

ISS, I'S [ ], 'it is '. ' Iss' is often said where the contracted form it's' is written, and sometimes even where the complete form 'it is' is written at length.
Iss well the be him, i. e. it is well to be he. I'm thinkin i's as well to do it now as afther.

ITEM [], atom, particle.
The sugar is all used, every item of it. There wasn an item of his money lef'-away like smook it went.

ITHER, IDHER [ ], ' either', at all. Deed, if he can't I can't idher.
I'm not such a goose as yandher ither (B.).

ITSELF [].
I wudn take a shillin itself for it, i. e. I would not talte even a shilling for it.
If I was young itself I wudn do yandher.