[From Annual Register for the Year 1765 pp 70-76]

[Included more for amusement than than any information other than an example of an article derived from several sources to provide to a general readership some background of the Island during its brief rise to prominence in 1765 following the Revestment]

A Description of the Isle of Man, lately drawn up from the best authorities.

THE present name of this island appears to have been immediately derived, with little or no variation, from Mona, the name by which Julius Caesar mentions it. Ptolemy. calls it Monaeda, and Pliny Monabia, which names are supposed to signify the more remote Mona, in order to distinguish it from the island of Anglesea, also known to the Ro mans by the name of Mona. This opinion seems to be confirmed by the practice of later writers, particularly Bede, who calls the isle of Man Monavia Secunda, in contradistinction to Menavia Prior, the name by which he calls the isle of Anglesea ;. and yet a late writer is of Opinion, that the name Man is derived from the Saxon word Mang, which signfies 'among', and is supposed to have been applied to this island from its situation, between Great Britain and Ireland ; being in a manner surrounded by England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

The Isle of Man, which is the see of a bishop, lies about half way between Great Britain and Ire land, directly west of that part of the Britsh continent called Cumberland and the bishop's palace, which is in the parish of Kirk-Michael, nearly in the middle of the island, is situated in 54. degrees, 16 min. of north latitude. This island is about 30 miles long, and 15 broad in the wide part; it is no where less than 8 miles.

There are but few streams in the Isle of Man, and these so inconsiderable, that they can scarcely be called rivers. They are not distinguished by any particular names or descriptions in any account of the island. In some maps, however, we meet with the Neb, which rises in the southern part of the island, runs north-west, and falls into the sea at Peel, one of the principal towns ; and the Clanmey, a small stream, which runs nearly parallel to the Neb.

The air of the isle of Man is cold and piercing, especially in winter; but it is reckoned very healthy, .no contagious distemper having, ever been known in the island; and the inhabitants living generally to a great age. This island being very rocky and mountainous, the soil is generally barren ; oats and potatoes being the chief produce of the lands, which the inhabitants manure by lime and sea wreck: The black cattle of this island are generally less than those of England ; here are how ever, some good draught and saddle horses ; in the mountains is a small breed of horses, litte more than three feet high ; also of a small kind of swine, called parrs, and another of sheep, which run, wild upon the mountains. these wild sheep are accounted excellent meat, and several of them, distinguished by the name of Loughton, are remarkable for very fine wool, of a buff colour. Here is an airy of eagles, and two or three of hawks, remarkable for their mottled colour. The isle of Man is well supplied with fish, particularly herrings, which are the staple commodity of the island, and of which there is such a considerable fishery, that more than 20,000 barrels have frequently been exported in one year to France and other countries. No coal-mines have yet been discovered upon this island ; but here is plenty of peat for fuel ; good quarries of black marble, and other stones for building ; and mines of lead, copper, and iron, which, though now neglected, have been formerly worked to great advantage.

The principal manufactures of this island are linen and woollen cloths, in which a considerable foreign trade is carried on; other articles of trade are black cattle, wool, hides, skins, honey, and tallow; but particularly herrings. It is said that this is a place of refuge for persons who have committed crimes, or contracted debts, elsewhere ; and that many persons, who owe large sums in London, Paris, and Amsterdam, live here, at a small expence, unmolested, as long as they do not trespass against the laws or government of the island. It is also said, that as none or very small customs are paid in this island, vast quantities of goods from the East and West-Indies, from France, Holland, and other places, are landed here, put into warehouses, and afterwards run ashore in many parts of Ireland, Scotland, and the West of England.

The isle of Man, though held of the British crown, is no part of the kingdom of Great Britain, but is governed by its own laws and customs, under the hereditary dominion of a lord, who had formerly the title of king, and who, though he has long ago waved that title, is still invested with regal rights and prerogatives. He appoints a governor or lieutenant general of the island, who constantly resides at Castle-town, the metropolis, and superintends all civil and military officers: The governor is chancellor of the island ; and to him, in chancery; there lies an appeal from the inferior courts ; from the chancellor there lies an appeal to the lord, and finally to the king of Great Britain in council. Here is a council, consisting of the governor, the bishop, the archdeacon, two vicars general, the receiver general, the comptroller, the water bailiff, and the attorney genéral. Twenty-four men, called the Keys, represent the commons of the land, and two men, called Deemsters, are the judges in cases of common law, as well as in criminal and. Capital offences. The council, and the twenty-four keys, pass all new laws; and, in conjunction with the Deemsters, settle and determine the meaning of the ancient laws and customs of the country.

On a hill, near the middle of the island, in the open air, is held a court, annually, on St. John's day, called the Tinwald, a name derived from two Danish words, 'Ting', which signifies 'a court of justice', and Wald,'fenced round' this court consists of the governor, the spiritual and temporal officers, with the twenty-four keys, and two Deemsters. At this great assembly, all new laws are published, after they have received the asent of the lord of the island ; and every person has a right to present any uncommon grievance, and to have his complaint heard in the face of the whole country.

The bishop is styled bishop of Sodor and Man, and sometimes Sodor de Man; whence he derived the title of Sodor, is, uncertain, and is variously accounted for ; but the most probable opinion appears to be, that it was from a church at Peel, dedicated to (Zolip) Our Saviour, thence originally called Ecclesia Soterensis, and now corrupted into Sodorensis. He is named to the see by the lord of the isle, who presents him to the king of England for his royal assent, and then to the archbishop of York, to be consecrated. The bishop, though a baron of the island, has no seat in the British parliament ; he has a court for his temporalities, where one of the Deemsters sits as judge. The ecclesiastical courts are held by the bishop in person, his archdeacon, his vicar general, or the archdeacon's official, who are the proper judges in all controversies that happen between executors, within a year after the probat of a will or administration is granted

In the several courts of this island, as well ecclesiastical as civil, both parties, whether men or women, plead their own Causes, it is but of late years that attornies came into any practice here, and still law-suits are determined without much expence. The manner of summoning a person before a magistrate is somewhat remarkable. Upon a piece of thin slate, or stone, the magistrate makes a mark, which is generally the initial letters of his name and surname ; this is delivered to the proper officer, who shews it to the person summoned ; acquaints him with the time and place in which he is to make his appearance, and at whose suit. If the person summoned disobeys the summons, he is fined, or committed to gaol, till he pays costs, and gives security for his future obedience.

The isle of Man, which is supposed to contain about 20,000 in habitants, is divided into six divisions, called sheadings, each of which has its own coroner, or constable, who, in the nature of a sheriff, is intrusted with the peace of his district, secures criminals, brings them to justice, and is appointed by the delivery of a rod at the Tinwald court, or annual convention. It contains four market-towns, which, being situated on the sea coast, have each a harbour, and a Castle or fort to defend it. The island, which is a diocese of itself, lies in the province of York, and has seventeen parishes.

The market towns are Castle-town, Douglas, Peel, and Ramsay.

Castle-town was thus called from a fine ancient castle, said to have been built by Guttred King of Man, about the year 960. This town is also called Castle-Russin; and, being the metropolis, here the governor keeps his court, the lord's officers reside, and the courts of the justice are held. It stands on the southern coast of the Island near a fine harbour, called Derby haven, at the mouth of which is a very strong fort. The buildings of Castle-town are the most regular in the island. The castle which is built of marble, is a strong place, surrounded with two broad walls and a moat, over which is a draw-bridge; and, ad joining to it, within the walls, is a small tower where state prisoners were formerly confined. Within the castle the courts of justice are held, and on one side of it is the governor's house, which is a commodious and spacious structure, wih a fine chapel, and several offices belonging to the court of chancery.

Douglas is situated on the eastern coast, and is by much the most populous, the richest, and the best town in the island. It has lately increased greatly in trade, and proportionably in buildings. The harbour is not only the best in the island, but one of the best in the British dominions,

Peel is situated on the western coast, and, being a place of considerable trade, here are several good houses, Upon a small island, close to the town, is an ancient castle, called Peel-castle with a garrison. This is one of the strongest and best situated castles in the world. The island, upon which it stands, is a huge rock of a stupendous height, above the level of the sea, so that it is inaccesible from all quarters but the town, from which it is separated by a small streight, fordable in low tides. The ascent towards the Castle, which is surrounded with three walls well planted with cannon, from the place of landing to the first wall, is by sixty steps, cut out of the rock ; the walls are prodigiously thick, and built of a bright durable stone. From the first to the second wall is an ascent of thirty steps, also cut out of the rock: on the outside of the exterior wall are four watch towers, and within the interior one, round the Castle, are the remains of four churches, three of which are so decayed, that there is little remaining of them, besides the walls, and some few tombs, which seem to have been erected with more than ordinary care. The fourth church, which is the cathedral of the island, and is dedicated to St. Germain, the first bishop of Man, is kept in some better repair, Within it is a chapel, appropriated to the use of the bishop, and underneath the chapel is a prison, or dungeon, for such offenders as incur the punishment of imprisonment, in virtue of a sentence of the ecclesiastical court; and this is said to be one of the most dreadful places of confinement that imagination can form. The magnificence of the Castle itself is said to exceed, perhaps, that of any modern structure in the world; the largeness and loftiness of the rooms, the fine echoes resounding through them, the many winding galleries, the prospect of the sea and the ships which, by reason of the vast height, appear like buoys floating on the waves, fill the mind of the spectators with the utmost astonishment.

Ramsay is situated on the east coast, towards the north part of the island, and is only remarkable for a good fort and an excellent harbour ; north of which is a spacious bay, where the greatest fleets may ride at anchor with the utmost safety.

Among the curiosities of the isle of Man is reckoned a mountain, called Snafield, which is 1740 feet perpendicular height, and from the top of which there is a fine prospect of some parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

It is said, that no fox, badger, otter, mole, hedge-hog, snake, or other noxious animal is found in the isle of Man; and it is not many years since there were any frogs upon it: but the frog-spawn having been brought over, these animals have multiplied here, and are now to be met with in many parts of the island.

Before the southern promontory of the isle of Man, is another small island, about three miles in circumference, and separated from Man. by a channel a quarter of a mile broad, called the Calf of Man, which, at a particular season of the year, is resorted to by a vast number of sea-fowl, particularly puffins, which breed there in the holes of the rabbits; and, what is more extraordinary, the rabbits quit their habitations to these fowls during the time they remain on the island. About the middle of August, when the young puffins are ready to take wing, the inhabitants of this island have a method of catching them, in such quantities, that between four and five thousand of them are taken every year ; part of which are consumed by the inhabitant themselves, and part pickled and sent abroad as presents. An incredible number of a great many other sorts of sea-fowl breed among the rocks of this little island,

That the isle of Man was, in time of the Romans, inhabited by the Britons, is universally allowed : but, when that people were afterwards dispossessed of the greatest part of their territories by the Saxons, Scots, and Picts, this island fell to the share of the Scots ; and Orosius acquaints us, that, so early as the reigns of the Roman emperors Honorius and Arcadius, towards the end of the fourth century, both Ireland and the isle of Man were inhabited by the Scots. The present inhabitants of the isle of Man appear to be the descendents of the ancient Scots, from their language, which is the Erse, and is the same with that still spoken in the Highlands of Scotland and in Ireland. The Norwegians, however, in their repeated invasions of Britain, conquered this as well as the greatest part of the western isles of Scotland, over which they set up a king, styled King of the isles, who chose the isle of Man for the place of his residence : but in the year 1266, in consequence of a treaty between Magnus IV. king of Norway, and Alexander III. of Scotland, the western isles, and Man among the rest, were ceded to the Scots ; and, in 1270, Alexander, having driven the king of Man out of the island, united it, together with the rest of the western isles, to the crown of Scotland. In the reign of Henry IV. of England, the Isle of Man fell into the hands of that into that monarch, who, gave it to John lord Stanley, in whose house it continued till very lately, when, the last Stanley earl of Derby dying without issue, the duke of Athol, his sister's son, succeeded him as lord of Man and the isles. The ancient churches round Peel-castle are supposed to have been originally pagan temples and in one of them there still stands a largestone, in the manner and form of a tripos. Upon several of the tombs in these churches, are fragments of letters still so intelligible, as to put it beyond doubt, that there were different inscriptions in the different characters of the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabian, Saxon, Scotch, and Irish languages. There is perhaps no country, in which more Runic inscriptions are to be met with than in this island ; and most of them upon funeral monuments. these inscriptions are generally found upon long, flat, rag-stones, with crosses cut upon one or both sides, and other little embellishments, or figures of men, horses, flags, dogs, birds, and other devices, Theinscriptions are generally upon one edge of the stone, and are to be read from the bottom upwards. One of the most perfect of these inscriptions is upon a stone cross laid for a lintel, over a window in Kirk Michael church. Upon another stone cross in the ame church is another fair Runic inscription and in the highway, near the church, is one: of the largest monumental stones in the island which, from a Runic inscription on it, appears to have been erected in memory of one Thurulf, or Thrulf.

Many sepulchral tumuli, of barrows, are yet remaining, in different parts of this island, parts particularly in the neighbourhood of the bishop's seat. In several of these barrows have been found urns, so ill burnt, and of so bad a clay, that most of them were broken in taking them out: they were however each full of burnt bones, as white and fresh as when interred.

About half a mile from Douglas, are still ftanding some noble remains of a most magnificent nunnery, in which are several fine monuments with fragments of inscriptions : one of those inscriptions is as follows. Illustrissima Matilda flia — Rex Mercia ; — which Matilda is supposed to have been the daughter of Ethelbert, one of the Saxon kings of Mercia, who is related by historians to have died a recluse. On another monument is the following imperfect inscription — Cartesmunda virgo immaculata — Anno Domini, 1230, It is supposed that this tomb was erected to the memory of Cartesmunda, the beautiful nun of Winchester, who fled from the violence threatened her by king John, and who, it is probable from this infcription, took refuge in the monaftery of Douglas, where she was buried.

In the laft century, several brass daggers with other military instruments of brass, well made and polished, were dug up in some part of this island ; and afterwards was found a target, in the manner of those still to be seen in pasrts of the Highlands of Scotland, studded with nails of gold, without any alloy, and riveted with rivets of the same metal on the small ends; and, not many years ago, a very fine silver crucifix was dug up, with several pieces of old copper, silver, and gold coin.

The Scottish writers afirm, that the isle of Man was converted to christianity by the care of Crathilinth king of Scotland, who appointed Amphibalus bishop here, about the year 360; but it is more generally believed, that christianity was planted in this island, by St, Patrick, and the episcopal see erected by him in the year 447.

At Bally-Salley, near Castle town, a religious foundation was begun, in the year 1098, by Mac Manus governor of the island ; but Olave king of Man, having granted some possessions here to the abbey of Furnes, in Lancashire, Ivo of Evan, the abbot of Furnes, built in this place a Cistercian abbey in 1134, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and subordinate to Furnes. In 1192, the monks removed to Douglas, where they continued four years, and then returned to Bally-Salley, where they flourished for some years after the general suppression of religious houses in England.

At Ballamona, a monastery was founded, in 1176, by Godred, king of Man; but it was afterwards granted to the abbey of Bally-Salley, and the monks removed thither.

There is no account when the monastery of Douglas was founded, nor what its valuation was upon the general dissolution.

At Bewmahon, in Kirk Harberry parish in this island, was an house of minor friars, founded in 1373, but by whom does not appear.