be warned the geocities website dumps numerous tracking cookies and popup advertising messages on your machine - if like me you also have high security enabled on all web accesses it may hang your IE5 browser (possibly an intended interaction with the browser to force you to release the security needed for them to dump advertising and tracking stuff)
The info is however good though IoM was never (nor is!) part of the United Kingdom (I'm afraid Mormon geo-politics which seems to have difficulty accepting that the Island is not part of England or UK always escapes me)
The 'Ranters' were of course the Primitive Methodists (a breakaway from the Wesleyans) and who were stronger on south of Island appealing in general to a 'lower' social class than the Wesleyans.
However "When the tide was low, people could get to the mainland by stepping from stone to stone, between knolls or miniature Islands. The tide was low such that anyone crossing had to hurry to get back. John was very anxious to deliver every tract, but his foot slipped on a wet stone, and the wind scattered the tracts. He lost valuable time trying to recover them all; and so was late for the tide on returning, and was caught off shore. He bowed himself in prayer, later a man saw and came for him in a boat, reaching him as the tide covered the knoll." defeats me unless he was attempting to cross from Port-e-vullen to Ramsey via the bay as I can think of nowhere on the Island that corresponds - any suggestions from Northsiders.
Other Mormon pioneers and history of the 1840 mission are at http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/manx/famhist/genealgy/mormon.htm