[From Mona Miscellany second series Manx Soc vol 21]

GOLD ON CUSHAGS.

"Ta airh er cushagyn ayns shen."
"There is gold on Cushags there."

Cushag is the Manx name of the rank weed Ragwort, which grows most luxuriantly in the Isle of Man. It is an ironical expression, often used when people talk disparagingly of the island and boastingly of other places, either where they have been, or where they purpose going to. Men frequently speak of other countries as the land of Goshen, where gold is so plentiful that it can be gathered off the very weeds of the field!


[FPC]

Goshen in the Bible is the part of Eygpt in which Joesph settled and was spared the seven plagues prior to the exodus.

The name also occurs in the 'stage-name' of Arthur Caley, the manx Giant, who adopted the title Colonel Ruth Goshen.


 

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