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© F.Coakley , 2020
[from Brown's Popular Guide, 1887]
From Castletown pleasant excursions may be made in several directions. The tourist, coming directly to it from Douglas, may, after examining the town and Castle, stroll around the head of the bay to Hango Hill, the College, and Langness ; returning by Derbyhaven or the valley of the Silverburn. Another attractive ramble may be found up the valley of the Silverburn, past Rushen Abbey and the Crossag to Grenaby, and across the hill side to Colby, or back by Athol Bridge and Kirk Malew. A third walk, and one that should by no means be omitted, is along the western shore of the bay to Scarlett and on to Strandhall, returning by the highway to Castletown, or if more convenient proceeding along the coast to Port St. Mary. No geologist ought to omit this walk from his tour, the geological features of the district are so remarkable and interesting. We have already described the first of these excursions, and the second will come in more conveniently after we have completed our tour along the coast. We shall, therefore, before leaving Castletown, describe a stroll round the coast to Scarlett and Balladoole. Turning out of the Market-place down a narrow street near St. Mary's Church, a short walk brings us out upon the open beach, with the bay to the left and the dark headland of The Stack right before us; while to our right the land rises in a gentle swell, with a succession of green fields and occasional villa residences. Across the bay the long, low peninsula of Langness stretches far out into the sea. A pleasant walk of about a mile brings us to the Lime Kilns. The limestone of this neighbourhood presents several features of great interest. Owing, apparently, to the volcanic outbursts of which this district exhibits so many traces, the limestones have been metamorphosed to an extraordinary degree, the change in some instances being so complete that it is difficult to tell a piece of altered limestone from a piece of porphyritic trap. In the neighbourhood of the Lime Kilns the rocks are extremely hard and durable, and most of the building stone used in the district has been obtained from the adjacent quarries. An example of its practically imperishable nature is afforded by Rushen Castle, which is built of this limestone. Although erected nearly six centuries ago, yet its walls are as sound and its angles as perfect as if it had been built less than.a hundred years. A further effect of the volcanic eruptions referred to are the strange and abrupt contortions and undulations which give such a curious appearance to the rocks in this locality. These undulations become more abrupt, and their diameter less, as we approach The Stack, the centre of the disturbing force. A third interesting appearance noticeable upon these rocks are the numerous groovings and striations which have been formed in the surface rocks by shore ice during the glacial period. They are seen to the greatest advantage in the immediate neighbourhood of the Lime Kilns, where the rocks have been bared of their superficial covering, preparatory to their being excavated for conversion into lime.
The Stack of Scarlett is a rugged mass of black basalt, rising to the height of about 50 feet, and completely insulated at high water. It is evidently the hardened core of an extinct submarine volcano, active during the Carboniferous Age, and to whose violent and repeated explosions the surrounding rocks owe their present altered and disturbed condition. As an example of a carboniferous volcano, and viewed in connection with the disturbance caused by it in the neighbourhood, this huge rock is exceedingly interesting to the geologist ; while its romantic appearance and surroundings cannot fail to make it an attractive object to the general tourist. The view from its summit is very striking. Looking westward, the coast, sweeping round the great indentation of Carrick Bay, past Port St. Mary and Perwick, and rapidly increasing in height, lies stretched out before us in a glorious succession of sunny creeks and rugged headlands, until it apparently terminates in the tremendous precipices of the southern extremity of the Calf. Beyond these, rising out of the waters like a tall pillar, the Chickens Lighthouse stands on its solitary rock, a friendly beacon to warn the passing mariner from its dangerous neighbourhood. Occasionally, as we look at the dark outline of the Calf, the eye catches a strange gleam of light, apparently piercing through the cliff, which forms, as viewed from here, its southern extremity ; this strange rock through which the light shines is The Eye - a remarkable water-worn arch, and one of the greatest curiosities of the Calf Islet. Landward the country swells up from the sea, slope above slope, until it terminates in the mountains of the great central range, which traverse our entire view, like a huge wall, broken only at two points - between the Castles and Bradda Head, below which nestles the beautiful bay of Port Erin; and between Bradda Hills and the Carnanes, where deep down among its mountainous cliffs lies the wild creek of Fleshwick. The summit of this great mountain wall throughout its whole extent is worn into rocky peaks of every variety of shape, which, descending in gentle slopes to the south-east, display their vast proportions to great advantage from this point, while the more distant summits of Carraghan, Bein-y-Phot, and Snaefell, fore-shortened by the distance, form a noble background to Castletown and its bay. To the east, a long line of low coast stretches north to St. Ann's Head - the promontory of Langness, the beautiful bay of Derbyhaven, and beyond the coast to St Ann's Head, with the higher cliffs towards Douglas rising above it. A fairer or more diversified prospect than that obtained from this huge rock it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find in any other part of the Island.
Fossils are rather scarce in this locality, and when found are difficult of extraction, owing to the extreme hardness of the rock, but what there are, are generally valuable, both from their beauty and their scientific worth. The " Goniatites Henslowii," figured by Buckland in his great work, and the"Nautilus Complenatus", were both named originally from specimens found in this spot. A short distance beyond The Stack the path along the rocks is known as Cromwell's Walk. Why it is so-called is not known, as Cromwell was never in the Island. Probably the name was given to it by some of the Parliamentary officers in garrison here, during the republican occupation of the Island, in honour of their great leader. The walk along the coast beyond The Stack is very beautiful and interesting. The path lies over smooth, grassy downs, swelling gently inland, while the rocks present a wild maze of low cliffs and deep gullies, at the bottom of which the waves fret and murmur ceaselessly. All along this part of the coast the rocks are formed of a mixture of volcanic ash, erupted from the submarine crater at or near The Stack, and limy matter, the debris of the neighbouring rocks, and from their wild and rugged character, as well as from the important scientific facts they illustrate, they are very interesting.
After a delightful ramble of nearly two miles we reach a small creek, where is a quarry for working the celebrated "black marble," which here attains its greatest thickness and its best quality. This creek is known as Poolvash, and from these quarries came the great slabs which were presented by Bishop Wilson to form the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. The term "black marble" is applied to a series of schistose rocks found along this part of the coast, and varying in character from a loose shale largely impregnated with sulphuret of iron toa tolerably compact limestone. It is generally fossiliferous - the harder varieties being, according to Mr Cumming, characterised by "an abundance of posidonia (a species of shell similar to the pecten) and relics of tree ferns," while the softer kinds contain goniatites and other cephalopods as their characteristic shells. It is easily worked, and is largely used for chimney pieces, tombstones, &c., but it is too soft to take a natural polish, and it is consequently covered with a black varnish to give it a better appearance.
A little beyond this quarry we come to a small stream beside a farmhouse, and at this point the composition and appearance of the rocks undergo an entire change. The volcanic ash beds, pure or mixed, which have hitherto formed the coast line, now disappear, and in their place a series of light-coloured limestones crop out. These light-coloured rocks are extraordinarily fossiliferous.
From this point a pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields will take our non-geological friends back to Castletown in order to take the train to Port St. Mary.
Continuing our ramble along the shore, we shortly come upon a remarkable spring between high and low water, which, apparently communicating with an underground pool, continues to run as a salt stream several hours after the ebb ofthe tide. At this time we leave the most fossiliferous of the limestones behind us, and enter upon a district in which the rocks are so intersected and metamorphosed by igneous intrusions that it is exceedingly difficult to make out their proper position in the series. The metamorphism in some places is so complete that the rocks have been converted into a pure dolomite - a fact which at one time caused them to be classed as belonging to the later magnesian limestones. It is plain, however, from stratigraphical considerations, that they owe their magnesian qualities to metamorphism in- duced by contact with the numerous trap dykes of the district, and that they in reality belong to the lower beds of the Manx carboniferous limestones. At Strandhall, a quarter ofa mile beyond the salt spring, and the point where the road from Castletown to Port St. Mary descends to the shore, this metamorphism ceases, and the limestone assumes its ordinary character, with its characteristic corals and large deep sea shells. For some time before reaching Strandhall the low cliffs which overhang the beach are composed of the upper drift gravel and sand, with recent shells. The springs in the neighbourhood, together with the general drainage from the higher ground, flowing through and over limestone rocks, are highly charged with carbonate of lime, and in passing through the sand and gravel composing these cliffs have cemented them into a hard, sonorous rock. The conglomerate thus formed, being subject to the direct action of the sea, has been hollowed into numerous large caves, the roofs and portions of the sides of which have partially fallen in, but the effects of the carbonated water are very curious, and well worth the notice of the tourist. In one place a bed of moss is being converted into travertine, the lower parts of the plants being rigid and stony, while the upper parts are green and flourishing. The same appearances may be observed, but on even a larger scale, in the north of the Island.
From this point the bay spreads out into an extensive sweep of low flat shore, extending without interruption to Gansey Point, the projecting ridge east of Port St Mary, covered with a deposit of beautifully fine sand, except below Kentraugh, where the slate rocks, disturbed by the intrusion of trap dykes, are again thrust up. This part of the bay, especially in the Strandhall portion ofit, is extremely shallow, owing to the very low dip of the limestone rocks. It is an interesting sight to watch the waves rolling in to the shore over these extensive shallows, and at low water so great an extent of beach is laid bare that it almost seems as if we could walk from the shore where we stand to the tidal rocks which stretch in an immense curve from the Great Carrick Rock, in the centre of the bay to the Little Carrick off Port St Mary Harbour. Most of the rocks are covered at high water (the Carrick itself is just visible from the shore by the white-crested waves which break over it at the turn of the tide), and this and the general shallowness ofso great a part of the bay make it exceedingly dangerous to vessels venturing too near the land, or making for Port St Mary Harbour. So shallow, indeed, is all the north part of the bay that a com- paratively smail rise of the land would convert the whole of it inside the Carrick Rock into dry land. Nor are we altogether without evidence tending to prove that this process is actually being carried on, and that the land around these shores is being slowly pushed up above the water. We cannot now enter fully into the proofs, but the following facts will, we believe, be found generally interesting, while they furnish one strong proof of the statement just made. Underneath the sand which covers a great part of the northern extremity of this bay there exist the remains of ancient forest land. At Strandhall these remains, so far as they have admitted of examination, consist of a bed of turf, about a foot thick, between high and low water, in which the stumps of trees, chiefly ash and fir, have been found standing uptight with their roots running down through the turf into an alluvial blue sandy marl. These roots have been traced for several feet along the ground, and it is plain that the trees they belonged to lived and died on this very spot, now, be it remembered, far below the sea line. In this turf bed some years ago a large number of fossil bones were discovered, but they were unfortunately scat- tered before they could be properly identified. At Mount Gawne, about a mile nearer to Port St. Mary, similar relics of ancient woodlands are found, especially after violent inshore gales. On one occasion the results of such a storm were particularly interesting. About fifty or sixty years ago it is recorded that after a violent storm the sands opposite Mount Gawne were swept away, laying bare a great number of trunks of trees, some standing upright with their roots in the ground, and others lying prostrate upon the turf towards the north, as if they had been overthrown by some violent incursion of the sea. Among these trees, it is also said, the foundations of a primitive hut were discovered, in which were some rudely-formed woodcutters' instruments, while upon some of the stumps the marks of a hatchet were observed. These facts are very interesting and very signifi- cant. They demonstrate clearly the former existence of a considerable tract of woodland in a part of this district now covered by the waters of the sea ; and, further, they establish the fact that the submersion of this land took place since the occupation of the Island by man. Another class of facts, depending upon the occurrence along the coast of a line of raised sea beach only very slightly elevated above the present sea level, of which we have good examples at Strandhall and Mount Gawne where the road runs along it - a raised beach demonstrably of very recent formation - prove that the land is again rising out of the sea ; thus accounting for the discoveries of ancient forest-land along these shores.
Proceeding along the road which, as we have just observed, runs along the latest formed of the raised sea beaches for some distance beyond Strandhall, we have on the left the broad expanse of the bay, with the dark bluff heights from Perwick to Noggins Head right in our front. The coast rocks are formed of the dark lower limestone, with its characteristic fossils, its almost horizontal layers running far out into the bay, with the tidal waves rolling sluggishly over them in shallow ripples. About half a mice off Strandhall, and a little beyond the old limekiln, the character of the coast rocks undergoes a sudden change; the limestone disappears, and the clay slates crop out once more. Taking our stand on the beach at this point, the changes appear very striking. On our left are the dark limestones, with a very low dip to the west ; on our right are the clay schists dipping at a high angle to the south. Looking along the line of separation we shall see that it passes through Port St. Mary point and the high coast beyond, while in the contrary direction the same line of fault passes inland to Athol Bridge. West of this line no limestone is found. Passing Kentraugh, the picturesquely-situated residence of the Gawne family, and crossing the Colby river, which, after flowing through a beautiful glen, enters the sea at the western foot of Kentraugh Hill, the road sweeps round the head of Mount Gawne Bay at the southern extremity of the Island, and a little further on is Mount Gawne House, a former residence of the Gawne family. At this latter point the road divides, the branch to the right mounting the rising ground to Port Erin, distant one mile, while the other passes on to Port St. Mary. A short distance beyond Mount Gawne, the road turns off from the shore at a group of buildings known as The Smelt, from the fact that the Dukes of Athol formerly smelted here the ores of lead and copper obtained from the Fistard, Bradda, and Ballacorkish mines. The large flour mill we pass at this point is driven by both water and steam. Throughout the whole of our wanderings round this beautiful bay we have had the Great Carrick Rock full in view, and no doubt its appearance, standing out in the centre of the bay, tall and dark at low water, and with the breakers curling over its shallows at high water, has excited our interest and caused us to wish to visit it. This may be easily done from Port St. Mary, where a boat can at any suitable time be obtained. This rock is composed of the lower limestone, and is a favourite fishing ground with the neighbouring fishermen. It is also inhabited by immense numbers of Saxicava rugosa, a species of boring mollusc, specimens of whose handiwork we are constantly passing - boulders and broken fragments of limestone perforated in all directions, and often as full of holes as a sponge. Witha good hammer we may break off pieces of the rock containing numerous pear-shaped cavities, with the living mollusc in them.
Leaving our companions round the coast at this point to follow the road to Port St. Mary, a distance of half a mile, and wait for us at the village, we shall now return to Castletown to pick up those of our company who preferred to go from that town to Port St. Mary by rail.
Passing from Castletown to the railway station, we cross the Silverburn by the stone bridge at the head of the harbour, and proceed for a short distance along the side of the stream by a recently constructed road. From Castletown southward, the railway passes in a great semi-circular sweep through the flat country lying along the southern foot of the mountain range. This district, which is the most extensive piece of low ground in the south of the Island, is composed of the upper beds of the drift series, the surface throughout consisting of sand and gravel, and its present form and appearance have been given to it by the action of sea cur- rents, which at a comparatively recent period flowed over it from Port Erin and Fleshwick. Though low, it is not a level plain, but consists of a succession of low rolling hills, none of which exceed eighty feet in height. To the student of the complex phenomena of the drift period this district is specially interesting. Its sands and gravels contain numer- ous accumulations of fossil shells of boreal character ; within its area are to be found evidences of an almost continuous physical history of the Island, from the glacial clays to the historical graves and circles so common throughout it. Long after the Island was peopled, the sea flowed over its surface, insulating both the Mull Hills and the Bradda Hills, rounding its swelling hills and deepening its shallow valleys. To the long-continued action of the oceanic currents at this time is owing that striking difference between the contour of the east and west slopes of the land which, known to geologists as the "crag and tail," give to the Island so peculiar an appearance. The western slope of the land is abrupt and precipitous, the mountains descending sheer into the sea almost from their topmost peaks, while to the east they sink ina succession of gentle slopes down to the water's edge. These appearances are the result of the action of the currents which have given their name to the period in which they more especially acted.
The west and north-west face of the land, being opposed directly to the action of the drift currents, has suffered most ; while the east and south-east, being on the lee side of the land, have been less wasted, and retain a more gradual slope. In pre-historical relics, this district is the richest in the Island. In addition to those already described, monumental circles, and stones, and ancient burial grounds are found at short intervals throughout it, and Cronk-Mooar, the largest and most important of all the Insular pre-historic mounds, is within its boundary. This district is exceedingly fertile ; its light, sandy soil, and its warm sunny aspect, giving it extraordinary advantages over the rest of the Island for the cultivation of most kinds of crops.
As the train sweeps along its undulating surface, the landscape in either direction is extensive and picturesque. On both sides of the line are fields, occasionally in pasture, containing large numbers of well-bred cattle, but more generally under cultivation; and our agricultural friends will not fail to notice the numerous unmistakeable signs of careful cultivation and corresponding prosperity. The farm buildings are large and well built, and, generally, in first-rate condition, while the labourers' cottages, though small and often ill-hghted, are warm and comfortable, and will bear a favourable comparison with a similar class of dwellings in the neighbouring countries. Further away to the right, the land slopes gradually upward, dotted with clustering hamlets and isolated buildings, into the dark, heather-clad mountains, whose rocky peaks soar high up into the blue sky. Far away to the north, we catch a glimpse of the giant forms of Snaefell and the neighbouring moutains. In the nearer distance, we pass in succession South Barrule, Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, and Slieu Carnane, while further to the south rise the Bradda and the Mull Hills. These mountains rise along our right like a wall, unbroken throughout its whole extent, except at two points - between Slieu Carnane and the Bradda Hill, where, deep among its tremendous precipices, lies Fleshwick Bay; and further south, between Bradda Head and the Mull Hills, where the beautiful bay of Port Erin nestles among its green hills. To the left the steppe-like plain undulates away to the sea, whose low coast-line is seen distinctly about Scarlett, and, further on in our journey, to the rear of Port St. Mary. At a point about two miles from Castletown the line sweeps round to the west, and here, a short distance to the right, we notice the plain-looking whitewashed church of the parish of Arbory, with its pleasantly-situated parsonage. Close to it, among a thick grove of ash and elm tress, are the remains of the ancient Franciscan friary of Bimaken. About a mile further on we run into Colby station, situated close to the straggling village of Colby. At this pomt a picturesque glen, much frequented by visitors, runs up into the mountains. A small clear stream flows down it, which, passing under the line and across the plain, falls into the sea at Kentraugh. Ona projecting ridge of Slieu Carnane, forming the western side of this glen, we notice the works of the Glen Falcon mines, and a little further to the west we pass the works of the Ballacorkish mines. On the left, situated on a richly wooded eminence; rising abruptly from the plain, we observe the mansion of Kentraugh, the residence of the Gawne family ; and beyond it the blue line of the sea, bounded on the extreme west by the high cliffs about Perwick and Spanish Head. A little further on we pass the Parish Church and vicarage of Rushen, standing on the slope of a gentle eminence, and directly after we reach the Port St. Mary station, where we alight for the Calf, Spanish Head, and the Chasms.
For several reasons Port St. Mary is the most convenient place from which to visit the Calf and the Chasms. The southern coast is more protected than the western, and the landing on the Calf islet is more easily and safely effected on the south side than at the landing place in the Sound. The road to the Chasms also from Port St. Mary is shorter, easier, and more direct than from Port Erin. For these reasons, then, we shall do well to select Port St. Mary as our starting point for the south. Before leaving Port St. Mary station, let us take a glance at the long, low, gently swelling hill which skirts the line for some distance to the north. The southern extremity of that hill, just above the railway, is the site of one of those ancient burial grounds so numerous in the Island, in the centre of which there formerly stood a small chapel, dating back to the time of St. Germanus, in the middle of the fifth century. The ruins of this chapel existed so late as the end of the eighteenth century. During some excavations made by the railway engineers to obtain gravel for ballasting the line, the foundations of the old chapel were laid bare, together with a few of the stones of its walls, including a rudely sculptured door post, and completely rooted up. They are now utilised in the wall which separates the hill from the road. During the same excavationsa large number of graves were discovered, and, with the most of their contents, destroyed. They were rudely constructed, in the superficial soil of the hill, of thin slabs of slate, and were evidently the last resting-places of two distinct races of men, probably of the Danish conquerors of the Island, and their Manx serfs. In some of the most carefully constructed of these graves, the contained relics presented appearances which proved that the bodies had been partially consumed by fire before interment - a most interesting fact, showing that cremation was practised among the Northmen, who, to so great an extent, peopled these Islands as late as the middle of the tenth century, the date of the graves in question, several silver coins of the reigns of Edwy and Edgar having been found in them, An ancient runic stone, which formerly stood close to the treen chapel, after much ill-usage and many vicissitudes, now stands at "The Four Roads," about 200 yards above the railway-station. It is about 12 feet high, and 3 feet broad at its base, but tapers to about half that breadth at its point. The inscription which it formerly contained is, through ill-usage, almost effaced and quite illegible. It is the largest Runic monument in the Island, and is the only one now found in the southern district.
Proceeding on our journey towards Port St Mary we now mount the rising ground lying between the railway and the village. As we near its summit, and near the farm house of Ballacreggan, we notice in a large field on our left an immense upright block of slate which, when perfect, stood nearly ten feet high. It is one of a pair - its fellow, standing on the slope of a hill facing the east, will be passed inanother quarter of a mile. These monoliths are so placed as to command an extensive view both of sea and land, and it is remarkable that all the so-called Danish memorial stones in the Island are similarly placed. Their origin is completely lost, not even tradition retaining the faintest remembrance of their erection; but they are evidently monumental stones, like the King Orry stone, near Laxey, and mark the grave of some valiant old Norse sea-king, or Celtic chieftain, slain in one or other of the battles fought on the neighbouring battle field above Chapel Bay. Among the peasantry they are known as "The Giant's Quoiting Stones," and are said to have been thrown by two giants from the top of the Mull Hills. At Ballacreggan, the road we are following to Port St. Mary crosses the shore road from Castletown, which we have already described. This road, after its junction with the great western road at this point, is continued into the Mull Hills to Cregneash and the Sound, and is the southern portion of a great highway extending in an unbroken line from the Kitterland Sound to the Point of Ayre. A by-path branches off about a hundred yards up this road, and, after skirting the base of the hill, de- scendsinto Port Erin. After passing the junction of these two roads, the sea again comes into view, and, abreast the second of the giants' stones, which is a conspicuous object on the hill- side above the road, we pass a group of pretty whitewashed cottages, the first signs of our approach to Port St. Mary. These cottages have a special interest for us; they are built upon a part of the site of the ancient chapel of St. Mary, from which the neighbouring port derives its name. Its ruins have long since disappeared, but traces of its former existence still remain in the names borne by various objects. in the neighbourhood. The beautiful little inlet below us, with its broad sweep of smooth brown sand, is ""Chapel Bay"; that low flat reef at the foot of the steep grassy cliff on which we stand, which forms the northern boundary of the sandy beach, is the "Lady's Rock" ; and the clear bright stream which we can see pouring copiously from a stone trough on to the gravel of the shore, issues from a plentiful spring, at the foot of the cliff, called the Lady's Well." It is the purest and most plentiful spring in the neighbourhood, and many of the inhabitants of the village bring from it twice a day the water used in their houses. And lastly, the village itself is called Port St. Mary from the same ancient chapel of St. Mary, the virgin. Surrounding the little chapel was the usual burial ground, and the little gardens behind the cottages occupy a portion of its site. Occasionally, when the ground is trenched deeper than usual, or when the land in the adjoining field is deeply ploughed, ancient graves, similar to those destroyed during the excavations at Ballaquinney, are laid bare. The view from this point is varied and extensive. To the left, the entire south of the Island is visible from the Mull Hills to Barrule, and thence across the country by Foxdale and Marown to Mount Murray. Beyond the bay stretches the long low coast of Poolvash and Scarlett, ending in the Stack, which, seen from this point, shows dark and vast against the sea line. Behind the Stack the southern extremity of Langness is visible with the opening into Castletown Bay. In the middle of the bay the Carrick rock is seen as a long dark ridge at low water, together with a number of other tidal rocks between it and the coast ; at high water its position is marked by the white-crested breakers, which in all weathers roll heavily over it. The cliffs, along whose brow the road, we are following runs, are composed of post- glacial sand and gravel, resting upon the boulder clay, from below which the clay slates crop out much disturbed. At their highest point, near the site of the old chapel, they are about 70 feet high, but they gradually decrease in height towards the harbour, and beyond it terminate in a long pro- jecting ridge of limestone rock, in great part covered by the sea at high water, known as Port St. Mary Point. Continuing our walk we pass the National School, and, rounding a bend of the road opposite a finely-situated terrace of houses with a beautiful outlook, enter the village of Port St. Mary.
Port St. Mary, or, as it is called by the Manx inhabitants, Port-le-Murrey - a corruption of Purt-ny-Murrey, the Port of St. Mary - is pleasantly situated along the eastern foot of the Mull Hills, which here descend in gentle slopes, covered with verdure, to the water's edge. The harbour is small, but it possesses a pier 250 yards long, substantially built of the local limestone, erected in 1827 by voluntary subscriptions, aided by a small grant from the Harbour Commissioners. At its extremity is a small lighthouse, in which there is a light, exhibited during the fishery season and the winter months, which can be seen for 30 miles at sea. This pier, springing from the land in a northerly direction, shelters the harbour towards the east. Along a portion of the western side of the harbour there is a quay, erected in 1845, by the Harbour Commissioners. The new breakwater is called "The Alfred Pier," after the Duke of Edinburgh, who laid the foundation stone on the 31st January, 1882. The port is the principal centre of the fishing trade of the south of the Island, and, during the herring fishery, is the rendezvous of the Manx fishing fleet. At these times the bay and harbour present a picturesque and animated appearance - the anchor- age crowded with heavily laden fishing-boats, whose brown sails shine like burnished copper in the sun, while others are continually rounding the Point into the bay ; the small boats, filled with the shining silvery fish, passing to and fro between the smacks and the shore ; the buyers' carts driving into the water up to their axles to receive the readier the fish from the boats, or dashing through the village to obtain their loads and carry them away to Douglas or elsewhere ; the piers crowded with fishermen and buyers haggling over their bargains - all combine to make the scene most interesting, and to give to the little fishing village its most attractive aspect. The port itself possesses a fleet of about 100 fishing- smacks manned by about 800 men and boys. Several manufactures connected with the fishing trade have been introduced into the village, and are largely and profitably carried on. Among these are ship building and rigging, and rope and net making, and barking. Almost all the vessels belonging to the port were built in the local shipyards, while their nets and other fittings were made at the local manufactories. A handsome new church has been erected in the village, and both the Wesleyans and the Primitive Methodists have neat and comfortable chapels.
The environs of Port St. Mary are romantic and interesting in the highest degree, and, as a centre from which to explore the neighbouring country, and especially the retired and almost unknown recesses of the Mull Hills, and the mountainous coast of the west, it is admirably situated. Chief among the excursions from Port St. Mary is one to the Calf and the Chickens Rock Lighthouse - an excursion which, from the delightful sail past the wild and romantic coast south of Port St. Mary, the peculiar character of the scenery on the Calf, and the instructive interest of the Chickens Rock Lighthouse, every visitor to the south ought to make if possible. As, however, this excursion can only be made in calm weather, owing to the boisterous character of the sea in the neighbourhood of the Calf, it will be necessary to select a day for the purpose. A boat and experienced boatman (none others are safe) can readily be obtained. The distance from Port St. Mary to the landing place on the Calf is about five miles, and occupies about an hour and a half each way.
Rounding Port St. Mary Point, a long flat ridge of rock, the coast for some distance is low, and formed of thick- bedded limestones, dipping slightly to the west, capped with a deposit of boulder clay and drift gravel. After having proceeded about a quarter of a mile, the character of the coast undergoes an entire change, the flat tabular limestone dis- appears, and the clay slates again appear, thrown up into high rocks, strangely contorted and disturbed. This spot is noticeable as the southern boundary of the limestone formation. A little further on we pass a deep wild inlet, surrounded by high precipitous cliffs, and terminating in a small glen running far up into the recesses of the Mull Hills. This is Perwick ; and the hamlet whose white houses we see clustering on the top of the cliffs, is Fistard, an outlying part of Port St Mary. We shall pass through it by-and-by on our way to the Chasms. After passing Perwick, the cliffs rapidly increase in height, and as the boat now approaches nearer to the land, we are better able to realise their true height. Sheer above our heads they rise, ledge above ledge, for nearly 300 feet, while further to the south they assume even vaster proportions, descending like huge mountains into the sea, whose waves dash wildly along their base with a dull ceaseless roar. Not the least interesting part of the scene is the immense number and variety of the sea birds which we see skimming with restless wing the heaving waves, or peering down at us from the rocky ledges overhead. Gulls, curlews, cormorants, stormy-petrels, and numerous others, mingle together their shrill cries, and one of the strangest sights the visitor can witness is the vast cloud of birds, and the huge clamour of their alarmed cries, when startled out of their holes by a gun shot. After skirting the base of the headland (Kione-y-Ghoggane, or Noggin's Head) for some distance, the boat suddenly turns her bow towards the land, and for a few moments it seems as if the boatmen were bent on dashing their boat to pieces against the rocks. But as we sit anxiously watching the approaching cliff, with its line of white breakers, we see a large opening in the face of the rock, through which the boat darts with undiminished speed. The sudden change, from the glare of the sunlight to the dim twilight within the grotto, for some time prevents our seeing the nature of the place into which we have been thus suddenly introduced, but at length, becoming accustomed to the subdued light, we make out that we are in a long narrow winding passage, formed, in the heart of the cliff, along the line of one of the numerous cracks in the almost horizontal strata which a little further on have produced the tremendous clefts known as the Chasms. High over our heads the flexured and polished roof crosses from wall to wall in massive, heavy-browed arches, while below the deep clear waters swarm with fish of every size and form; crabs, lobsters, sea- urchins, sea-stars, and medusa, whose quick glancing through the water, or strange movements along its bottom, afford unceasing amusement to the observer. The splash of our oars and the sound of our voices in this "rare grotto" is very extraordinary, the sound being repeated from point to point of the winding cavity in a thousand strange echoes. In passing through this interesting cavern, which is locally known as "The Hall," the utmost care is necessary, and it is impossible not to admire the skill with which our boatmen navigate its dangerous intricacies. The least failure on their part to guide the boat through the abrupt windings of the cavern, or to counteract the strength of the current through its narrow passages, and she would be instantly overturned, and we should be left struggling for our lives in the deep pool beneath us. Emerging at length from the cavern, through what is called "the back door," into the clear light of day, we find ourselves at the foot of a vast precipice, fully 300 feet high, while immediately in front, separated from the headland by a narrow passage into which our boat is just entering, rises a huge conical rock, 150 feet high, called by Mr Challoner " Charing Cross," from its fancied resemblance to" the famous monumental cross which formerly stood at Charing, in London, but this peculiar rock is more generally known as "The Sugar Loaf." It is represented in our illustration (page 278). Passing through the channel between the Noggin's Head and the Sugar Loaf, we find ourselves in a shallow bay, about half a mile across, known as " Stacka Bay," from the stack or isolated rock called "The Sugar Loaf? High above our heads the cliffs rise, crag above crag, for above 300 feet, rent into numerous fissures, many of them apparently extending from the top of the cliff almost to the level of the sea. The ledges along the face of the cliff are crowded with immense masses of loose rock, which threaten every moment to descend, avalanche-like, upon our heads. Noris this anunusualevent. The beach at the foot of the cliffis strewn with huge blocks which have thus fallen from above, and almost every year some of the rocks we see suspended above us become loosened and fall with an awful crash into the sea. It is probable that the entire bay has been formed by a series of such events. It is possible to climb the face of the cliff to the Chasms at its top, but it is a difficult and a dangerous feat, and should only be attempted by good climbers with steady heads, and in calm weather} The summit may be more easily reached at the westein corner of the bay, where a small stream, "the Cass Strooan, runs into the sea, but it would seriously interfere with our visit to the Calf, and it will be better to defer our excursion to the Chasms until we return from the Calf, when it will naturally fall into our wanderings among the Mull Hills. Passing Black Head, the western boundary of Stacka Bay, we coast for some distance along a series of moun- tainous cliffs, terminating in Spanish Head, the most southerly point of the Island. At this point the scenery is peculiarly striking. On either hand a succession of lofty precipices culminating in the gigantic cliffs of Spanish Head, which, like a stupendous wall of grey schist, rears' itself directly out of the sea to the height of nearly 400 feet, a height still further magnified by its reflected shadow in the clear deep water at its foot. Right in front flow the rapid waters of the Sound, or Kitterland Strait, the narrow strait which separates the southern declivities of the Mull Hills from the bluff crags of the Calf. In all directions innumerable flocks of sea-birds are flying about, skimming the surface of the waves in search of prey, or circling round our heads with shrill cries, or gazing stupidly at our movements from the ledges of the rocks above, which, by the by, are literally honeycombed with their holes. Altogether the scene is so wild and rugged that it is without parallel in the Island, and words fail to give any adequate idea of its appearance. It must be seen to be realised. The headland is supposed to have obtained its name of "Spanish Head" from the fact, traditionally remembered, of the wreck upon it of a portion of the great Spanish Armada, in 1588. The tradition may be founded upon fact, and, undoubtedly, many a noble ship has met its fate upon this iron-bound coast, but we have no historical confirmation of the statement, though the date of the supposed disaster falls within the reign of the Stanley family. Upon these inaccessible rocks the samphire grows plentifully, and the natives formerly gathered it, though at a fearful risk. A story is current in the neighbourhood which shows the terrible dangers attending its collection. Two samphire gatherers, a man and his wife, belonging to the neighbouring village, having discovered a fine bed of the plant on a rocky ledge, some distance below the summit of the precipice, determined to obtain it. Fastening a rope, which he carried for the purpose, round his wife's waist, the man lowered her over the edge of the cliff down to the spot where it grew. Having collected the tuft, she signalled to be drawn up again, but the strands of the rope, frayed by the sharp edges of the rocks, gave way when she was within a few feet.of the top, and, in the sight of her agonised husband, she fell from rock to rock, until at last she rolled a mangled corpse into the white surges below.
The Sound, in its narrowest part, is only about one-third. of a mile wide, but in this part it is encumbered with several rocks, and, from the nature and direction of the tidal currents, its navigation is at all times difficult. During strong north-west winds, the tide runs through the narrow passages among the rocks at the rate of from eight to ten miles an hour, breaking upon the rocks and shoals with great fury, and rendering its passage very dangerous, and occasionally preventing communication between the opposite shores for many days at a time. In. its narrowest part the strait is divided, by a small island called Kitterland, into two channels. That between the islet and the mainland, called The Little Sound, is only 50 yards broad at low water. The other, between Kitterland and the Calf, is called the Calf Sound, and is about 200 yards across. Right in the middle of its north-western entrance is a shoal, visible at low water, known as "The Thousla Rock," upon which an iron beacon has been erected by the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, partly to mark its position and partly to afford a refuge to shipwrecked mariners. The necessity of such an erection was forcibly seen on several occasions, but especially when the French schooner, the Jeune St. Charles, was wrecked upon this rock in March, 1858. This unfortunate vessel, being driven dangerously close to the land during a gale of unusual severity, her captain, ignorant of the character of the coast, and even of the existence of the Kitterland sound, with its strong currents, endeavoured to stay her course by anchoring off Spanish Head. In this critical situation she was observed from the cliffs above, and the news brought to Port St. Mary, where two volunteer boats' crews were immediately got together, and started for the scene of the expected disaster. Meanwhile the ship, unable to withstand the force of the current, dragged her anchors, and drifted rapidly towards the land. When under Spanish Head, the crew (of four men and two. boys), expecting her every moment to strike upon the rocks, took to their boat, leaving the ship to her fate, and endeavoured to reach land. Unable, however, to stem the current, they drifted with it past the headland, and ultimately both the boat and the deserted ship struck on the Thousla Rock, at the farther extremity of the strait, and, it being near low water, the men succeeded in climbing on to the rock, where, the waves washing over them every moment, they clung tenaciously until help arrived. In this perilous position they were discovered by the men from Port St. Mary, and, after about two hours' arduous exertion, were all rescued with the exception of the two boys, who, unable to retain their hold, were washed off the rock and drowned. Unable to reach the main island, the boat made for the landing-place on the Calf, and, with great difficulty, landed the shipwrecked men. With the rising tide, the stranded vessel broke up, her fragments and cargo strewing the coast for miles. :
The largest of the rocks which encumber the Sound is the Kitterland islet - a large rock, or rather double rock, partly covered with grass, and comprising an area of about an acre and a half. This islet, which gives its name to the strait, is traditionally said to have derived its name from Kitter, a great Norwegian baron of the days of King Olave Goddard- son, concerning whom certain legendary stories are related characteristic of the habits and ideas of the age.
Some years ago this. rocky islet was the scene of a dreadful disaster, which has given it a lasting but melan- choly interest in the eyes of every inhabitant of the South. During a severe storm in December, 1852, a brig - The Lily, of Liverpool - was driven upon the rocks on the east end of this islet. Three of the crew were washed overboard and drowned ; the carpenter was killed by the fall of the fore- mast ; and the captain was drowned in attempting to reach the Island. In the morning the wreck was discovered, and the remainder of the crew were rescued and taken to Port St. Mary. When the weather moderated, thirty men belonging to the neighbourhood, under the orders of Lloyds' agent, boarded the wreck for the purpose of saving as much as possible of the ship and cargo, when, from some unknown cause, sixty tons of gunpowder, which formed a portion of the cargo, became ignited, and the vessel and all on board were blown to atoms, fragments of their bodies and of the wreck being afterwards found many miles distant from the scene of the explosion. One man alone of all who were engaged about the wreck-was saved. The flash of the explosion was seen as far as Castletown and Colby, and its sound was heard like the rumbling of an earthquake at Douglas and Peel. A handsome sum was collected to relieve the families of the men killed, and a suitable monument has been erected to their memory in the parish churchyard.
The eastern entrance into the Sound is about a mile and a half wide, and in beating across it to reach our landing place on the Calf, we experience the full force of the tidal current. There are two places where we can land on the islet - at Cow Harbour, on its north side, opposite "The Thousla Rock," and at the South Harbour, on the east coast, near the Burrow. The best plan will be to land at the latter place, and while we are strolling across the Island the boat- men can take the boat round to meet us at the north landing- place. , Close to the South Harbour, where we land at the end of a high rocky promontory, which forms the extreme southern point of the islet, is a huge isolated rock, rising to the height of above 100 feet, called the "Eye," from a remarkable perforation through the rock formed by the sea. During our progress round the coast, we have upon several occasions seen the sunlight pouring through this natural opening, a fact which adds considerably to its interest. This rock, with its arch, can be reached, with some difficulty, at low water ; at high water it is so perfectly insulated that a boat can sail through the passage between it and the land. On its summit is the singular excavation called " Bushel's Grave," which is thus described by Mr Wood in 1811 : - "It is in the form of a cross, each of the two longitudinal cavities being about six feet long, three wide, and two deep. Imme- diately at the edge of the cavities is a wall of stone and mortar, two feet high, except at the southern, western, and eastern ends, which were left open, perhaps for ingress, egress, observation, and the admission of light. The whole is covered with slate and mortar. Salt water is found at the bottom, the consequence of the sea breaking over the rock in stormy weather." This curious relic is in reality an ancient post of observation, for which purpose it is admirably placed, both by its height and situation, and probably dates from the time when, as Camden tells us, the islet was held by "a pretty good garrison."
The Calf at present is of little importance. A considerable part of its surface is covered with grass, and would furnish good pasture for a large number of sheep, and a small portion in the interior is under cultivation ; but the greater part is rocky and barren, and the entire islet is overrun with rabbits, &c. Formerly this island was of much greater importance, and was accordingly fortified and strongly garrisoned. When its fortifications were dismantled, several. of the iron cannons were brought to Port St. Mary, and placed as mooring-posts upon the old pier. Following the road formed by the Lighthouse Commissioners, a pleasant, breezy walk, of about a mile, brings us to the now-disused lighthouses, in a lofty situation on the western promontory of the islet, in such a position that the lights which they formerly exhibited were in a line with the dangerous Chickens reef, a tidal rock distant rather more than a mile to the south-west. These lights are now discontinued, a magnificent lighthouse having been built upon the Chickens rock itself, which can be seen from a much wider range and during a greater number of days in each year, owing to its insular situation and lesser elevation. The view from the top of the upper lighthouse is magnificent in every direction, except towards the north ; but as we shall have the same view from the top of the hill above the lighthouses when visiting "Bushel's House," with the addition of an uninterrupted view to the north, and as the lights are now discontinued, it is not worth our while to climb the long spiral staircase of the tower. Immediately off the west point of the islet, at the foot of the precipices, close to the lighthouses, are two pyramidal rocks, or stacks, about 100 feet high. They are separated from the bottom of the cliff by a channel about 15 yards wide, through which the tide rushes with great force. These rocks form a very picturesque object from the north-west. On the top of the hill to the north of the lighthouses, on the highest point of the islet (420 feet above the sea), is a signal-post used by the lighthouse people, and close to it, and within a few feet of the edge of the precipice, are the ruins of a small hut, twelve yards long and three yards broad, known as " Bushel's House." Accord ing to the current tradition, this building was erected by a man named Bushel, a follower of the great Lord Bacon, in the reign of James I. Having engaged in some mining speculations which at first promised well, but which, owing to the sudden downfall and death of his patron, proved "abortive," and involved him in ruin, he retired from the Court, and spent three years "in the desolate island called the Calf of Man, where," he states, "in obedience to my dead lord's philosophical advice, I resolved to make a perfect experiment upon myself for the obtaining a long and healthy life (most necessary for such a repentance as my former debauchedness required), as by a parsimonious diet of herbs, oil, mustard, and honey, with water sufficient, most like to that of our long-lived forefathers before the flood (as "was conceived by that lord), which I most strictly observed, as if obliged by a religious vow, till Divine Providence called me to more active life." Another tradition, however, is recorded by Mr Wood in his " Account" of a person who, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, had murdered a beautiful lady in a fit of jealousy, and took refuge in the desolateness and seclusion of this Islet. The view from the summit of this hill, unparalleled in the Island, is well worth the trouble and expense of the journey., To the north the whole of the south half of the Island lies spread out like a map before us ; to the east are the deep indentations of Poolvash, Castletown Bay, and Derbyhaven, with the rich corn lands rising from the water's edge, and extending far up the mountain sides ; to the west the scenery is wild and rugged in the extreme. Rising directly out of the sea are the stupendous precipices which form the western coast, surmounted by the lofty peaks of the great mountain range. Immediately in front are the Mull Hills, sloping down into Port Erin Bay, a large portion of whose lovely sweep we catch a glimpse of. Beyond, rise successively, Bradda Head, Ennyn Mooar, Slieu Carnane, Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, and South Barrule; the first four of which descend at once, without a rest or a break, into the western sea, froma height of from 600 to 1,200 feet. To the west of Barrule we catch a far-off glimpse of The Niarbyl, Contrary Head, and of the hills above Peel, with " Corrin's Folly mounted upon the saddle of the round-backed horse." It is thus easy to give the names of the various objects which, as we look north from the east to the west, fill our vision ; to describe their appearance, to give to the reader any adequate idea of the mountain tops, or of their dark heather-clad slopes, with the swift cloud shadows flying over them, and the perfume of the heath and the gorse scenting the winds as they blow from them, is utterly impossible. Ona clear day the prospect extends much farther than the Isle of Man. As we sweep the horizon, we can distinguish the Arklow and Mourne mountains and the hills about Carlingford Bay and Strangford Lough, in the west, and the Cambrian and Welsh mountains to the east and south. To the south and south- west from the foot of the precipice below us, to the almost verge of the horizon, lie the heaving waters of the Irish Sea, broken only by the tidal rock upon which the Chickens lighthouse rears its slender pillar.
On the highest part of the Calf are the ruins of an old chapel. The foundations only are left. It was built in the form of a cross, and was evidently intended for a private chapel for the few inhabitants of the place, as it is plain that, from the size, it was not capable of accommodating over 20 persons. In this old chapel was some years ago found the lid of a stone coffin, represented in our illustration (page 286). The following description of it is given in the Antiquarian Repertory : -
This curious representation of Christ on the cross is supposed to have been part of the lid of a coffin.
It is engraved on a thin stone, and was found 2 feet below the surface of the ground in or near the old chapel in the Calf of Man.
The chapel, being in ruins, was pulled down for the sake of the stones.
The figure on the right was evidently meant for that of the soldier piercing Christ's side. Probably there were some other figures on the left, now broken off.
The style of this work clearly speaks its antiquity. In all likelihood the person whose remains it covered was of no vulgar note. There are not, however, the least data to form a probable guess either respecting its owner, or time when it was done.
Descending the hill, and following the road which crosses the Calf from south to north, we enter a deep sheltered valley, in going through which we pass a substantially built farm-house, surrounded by some fields, which have been brought under cultivation. This valley throughout is bounded by high ground, which, as we approach its northern end, breaks up into craggy cliffs, which, were we not already beginning to feel surfeited with rock scenery, we should greatly admire. After a delightful walk of a mile and a-half, we arrive, by a rapid descent, at Cow Harbour - a rocky nook, opposite to the Thousla Rock, with its iron beacon. On the shore is a strongly-built storehouse for the convenience of the tenant of the farm we passed in the valley above, and on the opposite side of the straight there is another similar building. At this point the strait is at its narrowest, and its current, too, is much broken by the shoals and rocks which almost block up itsentrance. It is, therefore, usually crossed at this point, and in ordinary weather a stout arm can easily row a boat across. Here we againembark and return to Port St. Mary, or, if we prefer, we can land on the north side of the Sound, and explore the Mull Hills, visiting the Chasms and Cregneesh on the way. If we wish to visit the Chickens Rock and Lighthouse, and to most tourists, especially those from inland parts, this is a very interesting item in their tour, we had better do so before landing on the Calf. This rock, which has probably received its name from the stormy petrel - Mother Carey's chicken, as it is often called by sailors - which frequents it and the neighbouring coast, isa dangerous reef, right in the track of vessels passing in and out of Liverpool and only partially bare at low water. It is about three- quarters of a mile from the southern- most pointofthe Calf Formerly its position was indicated to ma- riners by the lights exhibited in the Calf lighthouses; but, these lights being found to be frequently obscured by the thick mists which often covered the hill upon which they were placed, especially in the winter, when they were most needed, the Commissioners of Noithern Lighthouses, after mature consideration, deter- mined to erect a first-class lighthouse upon the rock itself. \u2018This they have done in the face of great difficulties and danger, under the superintendence of Messrs Stevenson, the celebrated marine engineers, and the magnificent building which now rears its stately head amid the heaving waters, exhibited its warning light for the first time on January Ist, 1875.
The district lying to the south-west of Port St. Mary, with its green, water-worn hills, riven by landslips into deep chasms, and worn by the ceaseless action of the sea into precipitous cliffs and stacks, is undoubtely one of the most interesting localities in the Island. But it is not in its natural features, grand as they are, that its greatest attraction consists ; it is in the quaint, primitive character of its inhabitants that the intelligent tourist will find his greatest pleasure whilst wandering about this almost unknown region. Although in many places very thinly inhabited, in its interior this district possesses a considerable population. Beside the thriving fishing village of Port St. Mary, built at its eastern extremity, it possesses several small hamlets and a large number of farms and cottages scattered along its northern slopes, and in places there are traces of a much greater population in former times. The dwellers among the hills are physically a fine sturdy race, of medium height, but strongly built, especially the men, whose faces, bronzed by exposure to the sea and the weather, give evidence of robust health. A peculiarity in their appearance which cannot fail to strike the eye of the tourist is the half- sailor-like dress and gait of the men he meets throughout this district. This arises from the fact that they are all the sons of fishermen and sailors, and are all fishermen or sailors themselves. Generally speaking every man possesses a small piece of land, either inherited or on rent, which he cultivates in the intervals of fishing. The rest of the year they are afloat. As a race, they are quiet, sober, law-loving, law-abiding men, strongly influenced by deep religious feeling ; intemperance is rare, and crimes of violence are altogether unknown among them. As one proof of the reality of their religious profession, we may state that during the fishing season no boat ever puts out to sea either on Saturday or Sunday ; the Sabbath is kept among this primitive people entirely free from all worldly pursuits. In disposition they are strongly conservative, loving the ways of their forefathers, and hating everything new. What did for my father will do for me,"is a common phrase among them ; and accordingly innovations make slow progress in this district.
The direct road to the Chasms strikes off from St. Mary's, almost opposite the Bank, mounts the hill, and passes through the straggling village of Fistard. We may exchange this route for the shore read, past the Point, with its flat limestone rocks, exceedingly rich in fossils of the lower carboniferous limestones, and walk along the top of the high cliffs which surround the picturesque bay of Perwick, or along the beach at their base, as we prefer. Mounting the cliffs at Scolloway, the nook beyond Perwick, we come out upon the road to the Chasms from Fistard, just beyond the old lead mine at Glenchasse. The view to the north from this road is very beautiful, the entire mountain range to Snaefell being visible, while the country about Poolvash and Castletown is especially fine. About a hundred yards past the old mine the road takes a bend to the right up the hillside. Here we may open a gate, and pass along a path through the fields, which will bring us to the cliffs, directly above the "Sugar Loaf" ; or we may follow the main road, which, after a pleasant breezy walk, will bring us to the refreshment house at the Chasms. The entire distance by this road is about two miles. There is a good carriage road by Ballacreggan and The Howe to Cregneesh and the Sound, whence a few minutes' walk will bring the visitor to the Chasms. The carriage can either wait at Cregneesh, or descend the hill to the Sound, to pick up the travellers after their visit to Spanish Head and the Strait.
Passing through a gateway in the wall which divides the dangerous ground about the Chasms from the premises belonging to the refreshment house, we see the surface of the ground, for about 80 yards inland from the edge of the cliff, rent in all directions by numerous fissures of different width, some almost filled up with debris and overgrown with gorse and heather ; while others are wide, yawning gulfs, extending, beyond the power of our vision, to an unknown depth, possibly to the level of the sea, as some say. Many of these crevices are broad and easily discernible, but others are very narrow, and in great part covered over with loose blocks and earth and bushes, and only show themselves by an occasional opening, into which the incautious visitor might easily fall and be killed or seriously injured. Accidents of this kind are, however, wonderfully rare ; still great care ought to be exercised while examining these interesting places. They have been produced by a subsidence of the rock, as we saw more plainly from our boat when proceeding to the Calf. The line of subsidence can be readily recognised close to the boundary wall. The natural settlement of the cliff has probably, however, been acclerated by earthquakes, of which tradition has preserved a dim recollection. From the edge of the cliff the view is very striking. Below us the precipice sinks suddenly down to the sea, which, 300 feet below, dashes, against the foot of the cliff and the numberless blocks of stone which have fallen from above, in a broad line of white breakers, the sound of which rises up in a strangely subdued murmur. At the north-east angle of the bay, just beyond the bold headland of Noggin's Head, rises the curiously-shaped rock called " The Sugar Loaf," which, from this height, shows its double head more distinctly than from below. The wild beauty of the scene, and the strange ideas suggested by these tremendous fissures, make this a most interesting spot. The adventurous climber will find some good practice among these chasms and along the projecting ledges on the face of the cliff, and his toil will not be altogether unrewarded. In addition to the excitement of the climb, he will probably meet with some of the rare and curious plants and ferns which grow on the face of the cliff and in the deep, moist clefts of the rock. In a retired nook to the south of the Chasms, is a small circle of stones about six yards in diameter; it is usually regarded as a Druidical circle, but this is a mistake. It is evidently a burial circle, and is exactly similar to many others found in different parts of the Island.
Proceeding along a path on the top of the cliffs, we obtain, as we pass along, several exquisite views of The Sugar Loaf and the bay ; the best point, indeed, from which to view The Sugar Loaf Rock, with the headland behind it, being from this part of the bay. Crossing a small stream, the Cass Strooan, which flows into the north-west corner of the bay, and climbing the hill beyond, we find ourselves upon the summit of Black Head, the eastern point of the huge promontory of which Spanish Head forms the western portion. On our way across this headland, keeping as near the verge as the nature of the ground will permit, we pass some frightful precipices - places where the cliffs descertd at one sweep nearly 400 feet into the deep sea at their feet. The hill to the edge of the cliff is in great part covered with a short thick grass, which affords scanty nourishment to numbers of a small hardy breed of sheep ; and in crossing this headland, and often in other similar places, we have seen them scrambling down precipices apparently perpendicular, and cropping the tufts of grass which grow upon the rocky ledges. After following the direction of the coast for about a mile, we mount a rising ground, and find ourselves at last upon the topmost point of Spanish Head, the south-western extremity of the Island. Approaching cautiously the edge of the precipice, and looking over the verge, the view downward is indescribably grand and exciting. Between our eye and the sea, full 400 feet below, there is nothing but empty space ; ledge after ledge, rock after rock, the cliff sinks down sheer into the waves, which fret and foam against its water-worn base. Half-way down, the sea birds, diminished to pigmies, wheel about the cliffs, and fill the air with their shrill cries ; and in the distance the sea is studded with fishing boats going out to their night's toil off the " Shoulder." But the depth is too great, and the sense of emptiness too over-powering, to allow us to linger long thus gazing into the abyss below us; the rush of air up the face of the cliff turns our head dizzy, our eye grows confused, and were we standing, instead of lying, upon the rocky summit, we should certainly fall over the edge on to the rocks below. Drawing back a little, therefore, we seat ourselves upon a grassy bank, and teast upon the wild and romantic scene around us. Behind us lie the green Mull Hills, with the dark summits of the northern mountains rising beyond them. Beneath us the sea, in an impetuous tidal current, breaks upon the pointed rocks at either side of the entrance to the Sound, the broken waves occasionally rising high up to the rocky headlands, and the spray often falling upon their very summits ; it then rushes on through the narrowing strait, and dashes upon the line of rocks and shoals which block up its western outlet in heavy rollers and broad lines of white surf. To the left lie the tremendous precipices of Black Head ; to the right the hills descend abruptly to the shores of the Sound, across which rise the bold cliff and the green hills of the Calf Islet ; while in front the sail-studded sea glitters under the summer sun. Altogether this solitary headland is a spot never to be forgotten. In the course of our further wanderings among the hills of the western coast we shall climb the tops of cliffs much higher than this ; but in the stupendous depths of its abysses, and in the rocky grandeur of its surroundings, it is unparalleled in the Island, and rarely equalled in the circuit of the British Islands.
The geological features of this district are also very interesting. The rock is a variety of thé clay schists, grayish in colour, tough, and very elastic in texture. The strata about Spanish Head and for some distance along the coast, is almost horizontal, and it is thus easily quarried into slabs of considerable length, suitable for lintels, door-posts, &c. The district exhibits striking marks of extensive denudation, especially during the post-glacial period. These signs cannot fail to have attracted our attention during our progress among the-Mull Hills.
From Spanish Head we have two courses before us - we can strike across the country direct for Port Erin, a distance of about two miles ; or we can descend to the shore of the Sound ; and, after following its windings, mount the hills to Cregneesh and Port Erin. For several reasons this latter course is the better; it presents Spanish Head and the surrounding district under new and striking conditions ; it enables us to obtain a better idea of the form of the Sound, and of the character of its currents; and it gives us the opportunity of exploring the north-west corner of the strait opposite Kitterland, which otherwise we should pass at a distance. The extra distance and trouble involved in this longer route are comparatively trifling. Close to the beach in this corner are the ruins of one of the numerous treen chapels, with its circumjacent burial ground - similar to those which formerly existed at Port St. Mary and Ballaqueeney, and to the one which still remains on St. Michael's Island. Mounting the hills from this point by the road which connects the Calf with the rest of the Island, a walk of about a mile brings us to the small primitive-looking village of Cregneesh, situated upon the crest of one of the highest of the Mull Hills. This village, which will strongly remind the visitor of the remoter villages in the west of Ireland, is the most southern inhabited locality in the Island. It consists of about a dozen houses, and was, until the last few years, noted for its persistent retention of the old ways and ideas of the country. The community, small as it is, rarely married outside its own limits. They kept up the old habits and dress of their fathers; Manx only was spoken among them; none of them had been out of the Island, except during their fishing voyages, and many of them had never been outside the limits of their own parish ; deeply impressed with religious feeling, and, on the whole remarkably moral in their lives, their prejudices were strong, their ideas were narrow, their ignorance of everything beyond the sphere of their daily lives was profound, and their belief in fairies, bugganes, and other spiritual beings, without limit. Their houses were low, roughly built huts thatched with straw, while bundles of gorse placed in the doorways served instead of doors: Now, this is all rapidly passing away. Larger and better houses are taking the place of the old one-storied hut ; the English language is fast superseding the Manx. Encouraged by the advent of the "iron horse" into their parish, and the regular passage of mail steamers between the Island and the neighbouring countries, their exclusiveness is fast giving way ; the old national dress - the undyed- loaghtyn wool jacket, the carranes, and the Sunday blanket - has almost disappeared with the national language ; but their narrow ideas and their old-world superstitions are almost as strong and as operative as ever.
A short distance to the north-west of the village is a large, and, in some respects, peculiarly interesting circle of stones, which the visitor ought to examine [page 293]. It is undoubtedly a sepulchral monument. The view from this point is exceedingly fine, and comprehends a widely- diversified expanse of sea and land, cultivated lowlands, green rolling hills, and barren rocky mountains.
Striking across the country from this point in a north- west direction, by a moorland path leading over the hills to Port Erin, we enter upon a wild heath-clad district, and soon find ourselves out of sight of every human habitation and almost of human handiwork. The hills rise in all directions in long low ridges, covered in places with tall, neglected grass, but in most places thickly over-grown with heath and gorse, the perfume from which renders the sweet summer breeze delightfully refreshing to the traveller crossing these wilds. Occasionally, through gaps in the moorlands, we catch glimpses of the hills of the Calf behind us, and of the dark tops of the northern mountains in front, and every now and then we obtain passing views through rifts in the western hills of the blue waters of the sea, and of the giant headlands and sharp rocks which guard them ; but for the greater part of our journey our way lies along a narrow valley, enclosed on all sides by low, rolling hills, which shut out the sights and sounds of the great world beyond. In reality we are at no time any great distance from the haunts of man, the whole distance from the stone circle on the crest of the Mull Hill to Port Erin being only a little over a mile; yet for the greater part of the distance we traverse a district, as wild and as uncultivated, and as free from the dwellings of man, as if we were in the heart of some wild mountain country. To the dweller in towns, wearied with the monotony and the ceaseless bustle of the town, the aboriginal wildness and solitude of these heath-clad hills are inexpressibly attractive, and this short walk across this primitive district will prove one of the most delightrul remembrances of his tour in the Island. After a walk of about half an hour's duration the scene grows less wild, the road leaves the open mountain, passes between fields enclosed by rough stone walls, or earthen banks, and after a rapid descent we enter Port Erin.
The village occupies the upper end of a beautiful bay, situated between the Mull Hills and bluff promontory of Bradda Head, and though of inconsiderable size, being only the relic of a small fishing village in process of conversion into a fashionable watering-place, it has, from the beauty of its situation, and the romantic character of the surrounding district, obtained a great reputation, and is visited by almost every one who comes to the Island. Port Erin Bay is a deep indentation of the western coast, extending in an irregular curve from The Castles, a rocky projection of the Mull Hills, to the huge precipices of Bradda Head, a distance of about two miles. The width of its opening between The Castles and the opposite point of Bradda is about half a mile, and its greatest depth from Bradda Head to the beach below the village about a mile. From The Castles along its southern side it is only about half that distance. From its south-western horn, The Castles, a large breakwater, designed by Sir John Coode, and constructed under the superintendence of Mr Wm. Powell, was formed across the entrance into the bay in a north-westerly direction. Its length was 950feet, and it was formed of large concrete blocks, weighing from 14 to 17 tons each, resting upon an artificial mound of loose rubble. For convenience of loading and unloading ships, a concrete low- water landing pier, 310 feet long, was constructed on to the breakwater a short distance from the quay and parallel to it. The cost of these works was about £80,000. Both, however, have since succumbed to the action of the sea, and have been almost entirely swept away by the waves, the ruins of the breakwater only remaining at the entrance of the bay it was intended to protect.
The view of the bay from various points, but especially from the breakwater and from Bradda Head, is very beautiful. The huge headland of Bradda, with its old mining galleries, rises straight out of the water to the height of about 500 feet, and to its right runs a long line of bold rocky cliffs, broken by sweet little inlets, each with its own tiny stream and its bit of steep shelving beach of smooth parti-coloured pebbles. These cliffs are surmounted by several picturesque villa residences, and above them rise the green rocky slopes of the Bradda Hills. As they recede further from the headland, these cliffs decrease in height and lose their rocky character, and at the inner extremity of the bay, in the neighbourhood of the village, they consist of boulder clay, capped by a thick deposit of upper gravel and sand. To the night of the village, the Mull Hills descend in green cultivated slopes to the bay. From this distance the village itself presents a pleasing and attractive appearance. The white cottages clustering about the sands, the heights behind crowned with the palatial hotels and some handsome villas, together with a number of handsome houses especially built for the accommodation of visitors, and, to the extreme right, the pretty chapel and the old-fashioned fisher cottages - all combine to form a pleasant picture, which the visitor will gaze upon with delight, and which he will long remember among his reminiscences of his Manx tour.
If the visitor can afford the time, we should strongly recommend him to spend a few days in Port Erin or Port St. Mary, making the one or the other his headquarters from which to make excursions into the surrounding districts. It is the terminus of the southern branch of the Isle of Man Railway - the pretty Swiss cottage-like station, with its tall flagstaff, forming an attractive feature in the view of the village from most points.
On the sands, among some cottages, is St Catherine's Well - a spring anciently esteemed sacred, and much frequented in Catholic times, on account of its miraculous properties. There is good fishing in the bay and neighbourhood, and small boats and fishing tackle can be obtained at moderate prices.
Many interesting excursions can be made from Port Erin by sea or land. To the south, the Calf and its neighbourkood may be visited ; to the north, the sequestered Fleshwick Bay, a magnificent sail along the foot of the stupendous precipices beyond Bradda Head. A favourite stroll is to the " Milner Tower," which forms so conspicuous an object on Bradda Head. If we wish to ascend to its summit we must obtain the key at the hotel. The view from its summit is extensive and interesting. Deep down at our feet lies, as in a picture, the beautiful bay of Port Erin, with its breakwater stretching out into the sea, and its white houses clustering along its inner sweep. Beyond are the Mull Hills, rising out of the low plain to the left in swelling green ridges, and sinking abruptly into the western sea in a series of dark picturesque cliffs. Beyond these again are the dark hills of the Calf islet, with the Stack below "Bushel's House," at its further extremity, and with Kitterland and the Thousla Rock at the entrance to the Sound. To the east lies a long stretch of flat country, with Poolvash and Port St. Mary beyond. Westward, the waters of the Irish Sea fill up the view to the furthest horizon, upon which rise in cloud-like outlines the mountains of the North of Irelana. To the north are the higher parts of the Bradda Hills, with some of the mine works upon their summits, beyond which we catch a glimpse of Peel Hill, with "Corrin's Folly" upon it. The tower itself was erected, as we are informed by an inscription upon a stone slab over the door-way, "To William Milner, in grateful acknowledgment of his many charities to the poor of Port Erin, and of his never tiring efforts for the benefit of the Manx fishermen." This tower was erected by public subscription A.D. 1871. Mr Milner, who, before his death in 1874. was the head of the Milner Safe Manufacturing Company, possessed a residence in Port Erin, and during many years took great interest in the place, and in numerous ways promoted its prosperity.
The Bradda Hills are held to be richly metalliferous, both copper and lead having been extracted from them from the earliest times ; indeed, it is asserted that these mines were worked by the Romans.
A walk across the summit of the Bradda Hills is exceedingly interesting, the hills, rocky on all sides and generally barren and unenclosed on their tops, descending abruptly into the sea on the west. During the walk some fine views of wild rock scenery are obtained at several points. The view in all directions is exceedingly fine, the entire country as far as Peel being visible, the sea terminating the view east and west. Though only 744 feet high, these hills are steep and precipitous on every side, while the entire absence of inhabited dwellings on their upper slopes greatly adds to their desolate appearance. The pedestrain, pro- ceeding north towards Fleshwick, may descend into the Fleshwick Glen at the Ballalonney farm-house, about half a mile from the sea. If it is not wished to traverse the Bradda Hills, Fleshwick and the mountain district to the north of it may be reached by following the road through Bradda village, and turning up a road to the left, opposite Bradda Mooar, where the projecting spur of Slieu Carnane is lowest. Half a mile of this walk may be saved by crossing some fields on the Rowaney estate. This route brings us on to Bradda Mooar, or Grammah Hill, as it is sometimes called, a wild uncultivated spot, of no great height, but exceedingly picturesque, and commanding an extensive prospect, including a view, through the opening between Bradda and Ennyn- Mooar, of the western coast as far as Dalby Point.
In a valley to the north of this hill is the remarkable umulus called "Cronk-na-Mooar," or " Fairy Hill." It is a truncated cone, 40 feet high, 450 circumference at its base ; and at its summit, which is surrounded by a breast work 5 feet high, it has a diameter of 25 feet. At its base are the remains of a deep and wide ditch, or moat, which are most distinct towards the eastern side, where it divides the "Cronk" from an low embankment leading through what was formerly an extensive morass. Opposite to this embank- ment the ascent to the summit is somewhat less precipitous than on the other sides. The purpose of this huge mound is uncertain. Similar mounds which have been opened in other parts of the Island and in the neighbouring countries have been found to contain human remains, and it has pro- bably at one period been used as a place of sepulture. But it has also unquestionably been used for other and very different purposes, and especially as a defensible post in time of war. Its structure bears every evidence of its having been a fortified position for twelve or twenty men, and, excepting against missile weapons, it must have been a redoubt of no mean pretentions in ages when, even in England, a hundred men or so were considered an army of a formidable descrip- tion. It somewhat resembles the fortified hills which occur in Ireland, and is not unlike the moat hillsin England. Itis situated so as to oppose the advance of men landing at Port Erin on the west, or at Port St. Mary on the east, which are the only landing-places at this part of the Island.
Reginald, son of Olave the Black, King of Man, was slain here, in 1249, by the knight Ivar, who afterwards in part atoned for his crimes by his glorious death, on the fatal battlefield of Ronaldsway, in 1270.
A short distance to the east of this mound is the Parish Church of Rushen. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and is a plain, unpretending structure. An apse, containing a beautiful memorial window of stained glass in three panels, representing the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrec- tion of the Saviour, has been erected at the east end of the church in memory of the late Mr E. M. Gawne, of Kentraugh, by his family.
Retracing our steps past the Fairy Hill, and following the road past Surby, we cross the spur of the hill and descend into Fleshwick. Here we find ourselves in a deep mountain glen, surrounded on all sides by lofty, precipitous hills, especially to the south, where the Bradda Hills sink into the glen in abrupt, heather-clad crags. As we proceed, the glen, for a short space, opens out sufficiently to admit of a few cultivated fields partly along the level valley and partly along the lower slopes of the mountain, and, at this point, Bradda is most easily scaled or descended. Lower down, the mountains again close in, leaving barely space for a narrow road and aclear little stream which, rising highupthe mountain side, here runs, in a deep, pebbly bed, by the roadside, towards the sea. A short walk now brings us to the shore, where the scene is very striking. The mountains rise on either hand, in bold, rocky headlands, to the height of 700 or 800 feet, leaving between them an opening of about 50 yards, occupied by a shelving beach of smooth pebbles and shells, upon which are lying three or four small fishing-boats, and upon whose margin the clear, green waves fall with a heavy roar. To the south, Bradda Hill towers upwards in perpendicular, unscaleable precipices, while to the north lies the broad sweep of Fleshwick Bay, shut in, at a distance of about four miles, by the Niarbyl Point, and bounded throughout its entire length by a magnificent stretch of lofty, iron-bound cliffs, rising, in places, to the stupendous height of 1,200 to 1,400 feet. This view is without a parallel in the Island for the-high and rugged grandeur of the cliffs, and will strongly remind the tourist of some of the wilder scenes on the Norwegian fiords. This part of the coast, as might be supposed, is very dangerous, The strength and direction of the currents are such as to render it almost impossible fora vessel to escape destruction if drawn within their influence, while the height and character of the coast preclude all hope of escape for the crew of the doomed ship. Some years ago a fine vessel, the Wilhelmina, of Glasgow, bound for Leghorn, was dashed to, pieces against these rocks, and every soul on board perished. It was utterly impossible to render any help from the shore, though attempts were made by letting down ropes from the crags above.
The mountain north of Fleshwick, Slieu Carnane, can be scaled either directly from the glen itself by following the course of the stream, or more easily by taking the mountain road running north from Surby, the direction of which can be traced from below by the succession of cottages and farms which mark its track up the mountain side. This road is of easy ascent, and as we ascend affords us an extensive and beautiful view of the surrounding country. Ata height of about 800 feet we leave all traces of cultivation behind us, ang. enter upon a wild and rocky moorland, producing nothing but heath and gorse. For some distance further the road passes through a longitudinal valley, bounded on both sides by rocky ridges above which rise before us the dark tops of Cronk-ny-Irey- Lhaa and Barrule. Emerging from this hollow we pass a point where a second road joins the one we are traversing. This road branches off from the great north road a little above the parish church, and, on its way up the mountain passes two large upright stones, somewhat similar to those near Laxey, and close to them the site of an ancient fort - both very interesting to antiquaries, but rarely visited. By turning a little out of the track to the left at this point, and climbing the low ridge which shuts us in, we shall reach the edge of the cliff and obtain a splendid view of the coast. A thousand feet below lies Fleshwick Bay. To the left is Bradda Head, a huge abrupt headland, 700 feet high, with Fleshwick nestling at its northern foot. To the north Cronk- ny-Irey-Lhaa, Ennyn Mooar, and the Dalby mountains rise out of the waves in succession, presenting a series of magni- ficent mountainous cliffs, beyond which Contrary Head and the Peel Hill are seen. From this point we have a choice of roads ; we can pursue our journey northward over Cronk- ny-Irey-Lhaa to Dalby, or we can descend the Colby glen which lies immediately below us to the right. The formet will give us a continuation of our exhilarating mountain rambles, with their peculiar scenery, their wide prospects and their fine bracing air, than which there is nothing grander or more exciting in the entire Island. Proceeding northward, the road, with a sudden descent, crosses the upper part of the Colby glen, and, with many windings, climbs the steep side of Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa. At a point about half way up the mountain it will be well to leave the road, which sweeps round the east of the mountain without reaching its summit, and striking across the country make for the top, nearly 1,500 feet above the sea. The view from this point is wide and diversified, almost the whole of the southern half of the Island being visible. The Irish Sea lies directly at our feet, with the Irish mountains rising like a cloud along the horizon. On clear days the Scotch coast is to be seen, and even the mountains of Wales. Descending the northern side of the mountain we soon regain the road we left, and after a steep descent begin the ascent of the Creggan Hill, in the course of which we obtain a fine view down Glen Rushen. From this point also Barrule is fall before us; while Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa presents a bold and striking appearance. Descending the Creggan Mooar the road approaches the coast again, and crosses the Lagg river. At this point we leave the road and descend the stream to the shore, where we shall find a pretty secluded creek, with a clean, smooth, sandy, beach, very suitable for bathing. Following the coast to the Niarbyl we pass some fine rock scenery. At the Niarbyl the rocks are wild and broken, while the view in every direction is very striking. To the the sweep of the land is bold and picturesque, the bays showing themselves in succession behind the headlands, and the cliffs rising directly out of the water to a height in one place of nearly 1,500 feet. To the north the coast, though bold and precipitous, is less lofty.
From Dalby the traveller may continue his course over the Dalby mountains to Glen Meay and Peel, or he may return with us to the Round Table, the valley of the Silver- burn, and Ballasalla. Taking the direct road over the mountains, we retrace our steps southward, obtaining, as we ascend, a fine view of the entire coast line to the Calf, the sea being on our right. Leaving Dalby-hill behind us a wide, mountain region lies in front, Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa being on the right, and South Barrule on our left ; behind we obtain 2 view down bleak Glen Rushen, with Slieu Whaliin, Sartfield, Greeba in the background. A steep climb of about a brings us to the summit of the Round Table, as the between Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa and Barrule is called. m this elevated spot, and for some distance down the in side, a glorious prospect is obtained of the south of the Island. The road here divides, the western branch, winding around the eastern side of Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, proceeds south towards Colby or Port Erin; while the eastern branch crosses Cronk Fedjag at a height of about 1,100 feet, after which it again bifurcates - one branch going north to St. John's, and the other south, down to Silverburmn. From this point the ascent of South Barrule is easy, while the scenery is especially grand. The views from the north road along the west side of Barrule are very fine. The traveller high up the mountain side strides along theroad invigorated by the pure mountain breeze, which is laden with the smell of the sea and fragrant with the perfume of the heather; before him is a grand panorama of mountain scenery ; on his right the dark side of Barrule slopes steeply down into the wild bare Glen Rushen, which lies deep below him on the left, with the Dalby mountains rising beyond, bleak and wild. This is one of the finest and most attractive mountain rambles in the entire Island, and no tourist loving such grand and noble scenery should omit it from his tour. The district is one rarely visited, and possesses the double charms of beauty and novelty. (The ascent of South Barrule has been greatly facilitated by the opening of the Foxdale Railway, on August 14th, 1886.)
Our road southward branches from this at Cronk Fedjag. Taking the left-hand branch round the south of Barrule (the right-hand branch descends to Arbory and Castletown), we strike the valley of the Silverburn at Grenaby, whence we can follow the stream to Ballasalla, or continue along the road to the same place. The prospect of the south as we thus descend the mountain is extensive and beautiful, the whole district lying spread out like a map before the traveller. To the geologist, also, this portion of our journey is full of interest, the road being for the greater part cut through the boulder clay, and affords some good sections of that deposit. The district is covered with granite boulders of all sizes, which have crossed the valley from the east side of Barrule during the glacial age, and will furnish the scientific tourist with many interesting problems. A little below Grenaby we cross the boundary of the clay slates, and come upon the old red conglomerate, a fine section of whichis seen by the road- side near Athol Bridge, resting upon the upturned and con- torted schists. A little lower still we get upon thelower limestones, which accompany us hence to Ballasalla.
Throughout the whole of these rambles we have passed through a country thinly inhabited by a primitive, unsophis- ticated race, strongly resembling, in their appearance, habits, and dialect, the people of the more southern district about the Mull Hills. Numerous curious stories illustrative of the credulity and superstition of these simple mountaineers are current in this district, which are both amusing in themselves and interesting as evidences of the tenacious hold which such beliefs retain upon a self-contained, untravelled people. We regret that our space will not permit us to transcribe more of these legendary stories than we have given in these pages, but the curious in such matters will find a good collection of them in Waldron's "Description of the Isle of Man ;" and, if he will undergo the necessary labour, he may gather for himself a much larger collection, equally wild and extravagant, from the inhabitants of this desolate mountain region.
Descending the stream three-quarters of a mile below Athol Bridge we come to the old abbey bridge - the Crossag, or Monk's Bridge, as it is called. This is one of the most interesting and undoubted relics of former times now remaining. It is of very ancient date, appearing in the earliest maps and records of the Island, and its form clearly demonstrates its erection before the introduction of wheeled carriages into the country. Notwithstanding the extreme hardness and durability of the stone employed in its con- struction, it is greatly decayed and weather-worn, but, in spite of this, it is still firm and secure, and, unless destroyed by the hand of violence, will last another 500 years. The bed of the stream at the bridge is about 30 feet broad, and the bridge crosses it upon arches, each about 10 feet span, with a smaller one at the west end, three feet in diameter, evidently intended to allow the escape of the water during the winter floods. The height of the bridge above the stream at its centre and highest point is 20 feet, and the width of its causeway is four feet. It is strongly formed of the hard local limestone, with heavy buttresses on the up stream side, to strengthen the piers against the current. For some distance below the bridge the stieam is bordered by an ancient wall, which, from its appearance, was probably a part of the boundary wall of the Abbey garden.
A short distance lower down the stream are the few existing remains of the Abbey of Rushen. But little of this the tower, refectory, and dormitory are still standing, and even these present few of the architectural beauties usually found in such remains. The windows and doors are square-headed, and "as plain as those of the plainest cottageon the mountain side - -clear proof both of the ancient character of this religious house and of the limited extent ofitsrevenues at any time." But, humble as are its architectural preten- sions, it is a holy and a venerable place, great and good men have lived and laboured within its precincts, and itis the last resting-place of kings, and bishops, and mitred abbots. In the Abbey grounds may be seen an ancient sculptured tomb- stone, or coffin lid, concerning which much discussion has taken place. It is the famous "Abbot Stone of Rushen," and is probably of the thirteenth century. The grounds surrounding the Abbey ruins are extensively cultivated as fruit gardens. The old refectory and dormitory are used as store-rooms for the fruit.
Rushen Abbey is remarkable as being the latest dissolved monastery in the British Isles. Respecting its foundation some uncertainty prevails; but it appears to have been originally founded by Macnamarus, jarl, or viceroy, of the southern half of the Island, or Magnus, King of Norway, in 1098, who established in it an abbot and twelve monks of the Cistercian order. These first monks of Rushen maintained themselves by their own labours, and imposed upon them- selves great mortifications. They wore neither shoes, furs, nor linen, and ate no flesh except on journeys. In 1134, Olave, King of Man, renewed and enlarged this grant of lands for the "building of an abbey in a place called Russin," conferring them, with great privileges and liberties, upon Ivo, or Evan, Abbot of Furness, im Lancashire. To this Abbey he also assigned one-third of the tithes of the Island in trust for the education of youth and the relief of the poor. The Abbey of Rushen, being a Cistercian cell, depended on the Abbey of Furness ; its abbots were appointed by the monks of that monastery. It also appears that they possessed for some time the appointment to the bishopric of Man and the Isles. Owing probably to the disturbed condition of the country, the progress of this monastery was very slow, for, although the lands for its endowment were granted in 1134, the building itself was not completed until 1257, having been 130 years in building. The abbots of Rushen were invested with great privileges. They were barons of the Island, held courts for their temporalities in their own names, and had the right to demand a prisoner from the king's court, if he were their tenant. In 1541, Henry VIII. issued injunctions for an estimate to be made of the property of the Abbey preparatory to its dissolution ; but this threatened step, owing to political circumstances and to the comparative smallness of the plunder to be obtained, was not carried out until late in the reign of Elizabeth. On its dissolution, the endowments of the Abbey reverted to the crown ; but, in 1610, they were granted to the Earl of Derby, Lord of Man, and his heirs, to be held under the manor of East Greenwich under a yearly stated rental. We give a view of the hotel now erected in the old Abbey grounds.
If the visitor has time he should make a special effort to visit the beautiful valley of the Silverburn, above the Monk's Bridge. A very charming walk can be madehere. Entering the glen above the bridge, a short walk brings us to Torrance's umbre works, an inspection of which will prove most interesting. A little higher up the glen is Silverdale, close to which is an old well, the waters of which are reputed to possess medicinal properties. Tradition says that in the old times this was one of those wells to which people resorted on Midsummer eve, the custom being to walk around the well three times with the mouth filled with water from the well, then drink the water and go away, leaving a gift at the well side to propitiate the fairies. Silverdale is a large corn mill, belonging to Mr Quine. Attached is a large dam, said to be the largest in the Island. The stream hereabouts abounds with trout. Still higher up the glen is an woollen mill, in ruins, and which is a favourite resort for pic-nic parties. The district has special charms for the geologist, inasmuch as it lies just on the edge of the limestone formation. A more general charm about the glen, however, is the fact that it is open to all comers, there being no charge whatever for admission.
Leaving the Abbey grounds as we enter we may proceed through the village to the station, or we may descend the stream to Malew Parish Church, with its whitewashed walls and ancient bell turret. The interior of the church is largely taken up with monumental tablets, the oldest of which bears the date of 1578. An antique, rudely shaped granite font, which formerly stood in the churchyard, stands just inside the south door.
Near to the church are extensive quarries and lime kilns, which supply a great part of the Island with lime for agricultural purposes. From hence the tourist may descend the stream to Castletown, two-and-a-half miles distant, or, crossing it, ascend the hill to St. Mark's. This road affords a splendid prospect of the country to the south and west, and the district it traverses is that described by Sir W. Scott, in " Peveril of the Peak." Beyond St. Mark's the road branches to Foxdale on the left; by the central road we can reach Crosby and the Greeba mountains ; while, by the right-hand road, we can reach Douglas by Slieu-Chairn and the Cooil - all three roads lying through a wild moorland region. Failing these alternative roads, he may enter Ballasalla village and proceed to the Railway Station, whence the train will speedily carry him to any point he may select.
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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
The Editor |
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