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© F.Coakley , 2020
[from Brown's Popular Guide, 1887]
In our Itineraries we have given a list of the places to be seen on the various routes. We now proceed to describe the principal excursions ; but would first premise, for the information of the strong tourist, that if he wishes to really see the beauties of the Island he must abandon the beaten tracks and main-roads, and betake himself to the country bye-ways, the glens and mountains with which the Island abounds. Two or three weeks spent in this way would be most enjoyable ; but as few persons can spare so long a time for such a purpose, we must so arrange our '' Popular Guide" as to enable the tourist, following our instructions, to see the principal objects of interests in as brief a period as possible. By means of the Manx railway system many of the most interesting spots can be reached very rapidly, and by those whose stay is to be limited no doubt the railway will be largely patronized, but the most popular and best way for those who have time to spare is that of horse conveyances combined with the railway. On the various car stands, and in the Market Place, vehicles of all descriptions may be had for hire, and it is a very easy matter for a few visitors to get up a party and hire a vehicle to themselves. This is a much better plan than that of going by one of the coaches, because by having a "trap" to themselves, the party can arrange their own time both for going away and returning.
Those who wish to go by railway we must refer, for times of departure, fares, &c., to the time tables. For cost of vehicles, drivers' fees, &c., see the table of car fares, page 21. We now describe the excursions in detail.
Distance: By road, about 11 miles ; by train, 11½ miles.
This is one of the most interesting excursions in the Island ; a whole day should be set apart for it, and the start should not be delayed after nine or ten o'clock. At a distance of a mile and a half from Douglas, Braddan Churches (old and new) will be passed on the left hand, and a little further on, on the hills to the right, will be seen Braddan Cemetery, the Lunatic Asylum, &c., already referred to. A little more than two miles from Douglas, the Union Mills will be reached. Here there is a railway station, the line passing under the main-road. In this pretty village are situated large woollen cloth and flour mills. A little beyond this, on the opposite side of the road, is the Dalrymple Memorial Chapel, erected, in 1862, in memory of James Dalrymple, Esq., a native of Scotland, who died here in 1861, after a residence of over forty years. He was widely known and respected for his great philanthropy. From this point the road gradually ascends, and on reaching the top of the hill a magnificent view of the country is obtained. Four miles from Douglas we come to Glenvine, a picturesque hamlet ; and close to is the Parish Church of Marown, the only parish out of the seventeen into which the Island is divided which is untouched by the sea. On the left is the estate of Ellerslie, on which may be seen the tall chimney of the Great East Foxdale Mine. The hill rising up on the left is the Slieu Chiarn, or "The Hill of the Lord." Not far from the church, on the opposite side of the road, is what would have been (if its construction had been finished as designed) a magnificent castellated building, called by some "Aitken's Castle," and by others " Aitken's Folly," from the fact that the owner, a clergyman named Aitken, never completed it. Soon afterwards the sweetly pretty village of Crosby is entered. This is one of the most charming rural retreats in the Island. There is a railway station here, and close by is a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. There are two "half-way houses" close to this village, and the probability is that the driver will stop here for refreshments. The top of the hill just past Crosby affords a charming view of the valley beyond. Near the foot of the hill may be seen two picturesque castellated buildings, one called Stanley Mount, and the other Greeba Tower. If the tourist have time he should from here ascend Greeba Mountain. It commands a magnificent view.,
At the foot of the steep descent beyond the second Halfway-house, are the ruins of the church of St. Trinian, picturesquely situated at the foot of Greeba mountain, which rises up steeply behind it, a wild succession of huge rocks and crags half hidden amid a luxuriant growth of purple heath and waving ferns. Along its western side trickles a small crystal streamlet, which, crossing the road, finds its way into the Dhoo, in the valley below. The true story of this inter- esting relic has long been lost in the mists of the past, but the little we can know or conjecture of it is very instructive. In ancient times the principal Manx benefices were, for certain good reasons, in the possession of foreign ecclesiastical establishments, which maintained them in efficiency and supplied them incumbents. The church of St. Trinian belonged, in this way, to the Priory of St. Ninian, at Whithorne, in Galloway, the head of which establishment was an Insular spiritual dignitary holding lands in the Island, and as such was summoned by Sir John Stanley, in 1422, to appear within forty days and do homage for his fief. Not appearing within the specified time, his lands within the Island were declared forfeited to the use of the King. The architecture and genéral appearance of the structure point to the 13th or 14th century as the period of its erection, and it is possible that it fell into decay in consequence of the change of proprietorship referred to above. The building itself is of the ordinary type of Manx country churches, simple in its architecture and rude in its workmanship. Itis about 70 feet long and 25 feet broad, and is built of the common slatey stone of the locality, ornamented with red sandstone dress- ings brought from Peel. As was usual in these buildings, there is no structural separation between the nave and the chancel. The east window contained two lights very acutely pointed, and the west window has a turret above it, pierced for two bells. On the south side there was one window with a door in the nave anda second inthe chancel, and on the north side were two one-light windows in the nave and one in the chancel, with a priest'sdoor. In the interior of the structure may be still seen part of the stonework which supported the altar. There is also one rather curious feature in the construction of this ancient building worthy of notice as being probably significant of the character of its original roof. Its walls are pierced by a series of holes intended probably for the insertion of the stone pegs to which were fastened the straw ropes which tied down the thatched roof. The real story of the desolation of this interesting ruin having been lost, the superstitious peasantry have, as is usual in such cases, invented a fictitious one, and the following extraordinary legend is given in order to account for its ruined, roofless condition : -
This was through the malice of a mischievous Buggane, or evil spirit, who, for want of better employment, amused himself with tossing the roof to the ground as often as it was on the eve of being finished, accompanying his achievement with a loud fiendish laugh of satisfaction. The only attempt to counteract this singular propensity of the Evil One which tradition has conveyed to us, was. made by Timothy, a tailor, of great pretentions to sanctity of character. On the occasion alluded to, the roof of St, Trinian's Church was, as usual, nearly finished, when the valorous tailor undertook to make a pair of breeches under it before the Buygane could commence his old trick. He accordingly seated himself in the chancel, and began to work in great haste, but ere he had completed his job, the head of the frightful Buggane rose out of the ground before him, and addressed him thus :- " Do you see my great head, large eyes, and long teeth ?"
"Hee ! hee!" that is "' Yes! yes!" replied the tailor, at the same time stitching with all his might, and without raising his eyes from his work.
The Buggane, still rising slowly out of the ground, cried in a more angry voice than before, ''Do you see my great body, large hands, and long nails?"
"' Hee ! hee!" rejoined Tim, as before, but continuing to pull out with all his strength. The Buggane, having now risen wholly from the ground, inquired in a terrific voice, "'Do you see my great limbs, large feet and long - ?" but ere he could utter the last word, the tailor put the finishing stitch into the breeches, and jumped out of the church, just as the roof fell in with a crash. The fiendish laugh of the Buggane arose behind him as he bounded off in flight to which terror lent its utmost speed. Looking behind, he saw the frightful spectacle close upon his heels, with extended jaws, as if about to swallow him alive. To escape its fury, Timothy leaped into consecrated ground, where, happily, the Buggane had not power to follow, but, as if determined to punish him for his temerity, the angry sprite lifted its great head from its body, and with great force pitched it to the feet of the tailor, where it exploded like a bombshell. Wonderful to relate, the adventurous Timothy was unscathed, but the church of St. Trinian remained. without a roof.
A little further on the road begins to climb the lower slopes of Greeba, affording a fine view of the valley towards Douglas and of the curragh below, and then winding round the base of the mountain below the grounds of Stanley Mount and Greeba Tower - two finely placed castellated mansions half hidden among the thick woods which clothe the mountain side - it passes by the opening of Greeba Glen, crossing the young Dhoo (the Dark River), which rises on the moory uplands at the head of the glen. A short distance beyond is Ballacraine, at which point "the long road to Ramsey" turns up Glen Mooar - a glimpse of the lower portion of which we catch as we pass by. This Glen, which penetrates the heart of the western highlands, is one of the finest examples of a mountain glen in the Island, but we reserve its description for our account of Glen Helen.
Half a mile further on we reach St. John's, a small scattered hamlet, loosely gathered about the pretty church of St. John, and its memorable appendage, the famous Tynwald Hill, and situated on the level summit of an extensive plateau, which slopes, on its northern edge, to the Rhenass river, which flows along a deep vale into the Neb, or Peel river, at a point a little to the west of the Mount, and, on its southern edge, sinking with equal abruptness into the low, swampy Curragh Glass (the grey bog). This so-called bog is broadest at this point, and is best studied here. In very remote times, the valley to Douglas was an arm of the sea, similar to the Sound, which at present divides the Island from the Calf; but, later, as the land oscillated upwards, it became a lake enclosed by the surrounding heights ; and, later still, as this lake became choked with vegetable growth, it became the curragh of tradition. It is now, in great part, under cultivation ; but the surface is so nearly level that the drainage is necessarily very imperfect, and it is liable to sudden and destructive floods. A short distance eastward is the watershed of the streams flowing east and west ; and, so low is it, that the turning of a few yards of turfy soil would divert the Glas into Peel Bay, or make the Neba tributary ofthe Glas, and so turn it into Douglas Bay.
St. John's Chapel is a neat and well proportioned edifice in the early decorated style, built of the light-coloured granite from Barrule, and was erected, in 1847, upon the site of an older building. The incumbent is a Government chaplain, and the living, worth £100 per annum, is in the gift of the Crown. About two hundred yards westward of the church, and connected with it by a fenced pathway, is a grassy mount, called the Tynwald Hill - one of the most venerable objects of antiquity in existence, whether we view it as a spot round which for centuries the free people of Man have gathered to take part in the making of the laws which they were to obey, or as the scene of many of the great events which have made Manx history so interesting and instructive. The origin of its name is not difficult to discover. Bishop Wilson, referring mainly to the ancient appellate jurisdiction of the Tynwald Court, calls it The Hill of Justice ; and the name Tynwald is undoubtedly the Thingwall of Iceland, and the Thingvdllr of Denmark, Upon this point Palgrave says: "The ancient Scandinavian courts were held in the open air, generally on natural hills or artificial tumuli. Their colonies in England and Scotland adopted the same practice, and hence many eminences, erroneously supposed to be Roman camps, still retain the name of Ting or Ding, such as Dingwall, the Tinwald Hill in Dunfriesshire, the Tynwald Hill in the Isle of Man Tingvalla in Iceland, &c." :
This famous mound, though not in the centre of the Island, as some have supposed, is very conveniently situated with regard to every part of the Island, roads from every district, from the Point of Ayre to the Sound, converging upon it as their most convenient centre - a point of no small importance in olden days, when travelling was neither so rapid nor so easy as it is now, and one which ultimately caused the abandonment of all other Tynwald Hills in the Island, such as Cronk Reneurling in Michael, and Cronk-y-Keill Abbane, in Baldwin. The Mound itself is not very imposing in its appearance, its grandeur being more moral than physical. It is 256 feet in circumference at its base,, and rises by four circular platforms, each three feet higher than the one below, to a height of twelve feet, and is composed of earth said to have been brougbt from the seventeen parishes into which the Island is divided. On the eastern side, facing the pathway along which the Tynwald procession approaches the Mount from the church, steps have been formed to make the ascent easier. At present, both the hill and the approaches to it are partially enclosed with trim, well-kept banks of earth and low stone walls; but it was formerly surrounded by a wall, with gates, as is shown in old plans and drawings.
In accordance with the ancient Scandinavian custom,, that every law which was to bind the action of a freeman must be proclaimed openly in a formal assembly of the people, every law adopted by the Tynwald Court, after having received the Royal Assent, must be promulgated from the top of Tynwald Hill before it can come into force. Formerly the practice was to read the laws 7" extenso in Manx and English, but thishas been discontinued of late years on the ground of the greater publicity now given to the proceedings of the Legislature by the Insular Press, and only their titles and side-notes (both in Manx) are now read. The ceremony of this promulgation takes place on the 5th of July, unless that day falls on a Sunday, in which case it is put off until the next day; but special Courts are held whenever the necessity arises, the same course of procedure being adopted as on the annual Tynwald Day.
"Tynwald Day" is the great national holiday of the Manx, and natives and visitors throng to St. John's from all parts of the country. A fair is also held on the plain adjoining the Mount, which adds largely to the gaiety and enjoyment of the same. The business of the day begins at 11 o'clock, when the Lieut.-Governor, the Legislature, the clergy of the diocese, and the Coroners of the several sheadings attend divine service at St. John's Church. This service usually concludes. about noon, by which time the entire space between the church and the Tynwald Mount, with the exception of the rush-strewn path, which is kept open by a line of soldiers brought up from Castletown for the purpose, is occupied with thousands of interested sightseers, who cover every coign of vantage along the grassy slopes, the boundary walls, and the cars and carriages which fill up a great part of the level area. On the conclusion of divine service the procession forms according to ancient precedent, and passes along the broad path between the military to the Mount in the following order, the soldiers along the line of march presenting arms as it passes by : - Three policemen walking abreast ; the six coroners; the captains of the seventeen parishes ; the clergy of the Island; the four High-Bailiffs ; the members of the House of Keys; the members of the Council; the Lieut.-Governor's sword bearer, carrying the sword of state with the point upward ; the Lieut.-Governor ; his chaplain, and the Surgeon to the Household; and the chief. constables. Arrived at the Mount, the procession places itself upon it in the order prescribed by ancient custom, "as given for law" to Sir John Stanley, in 1422, in the following extract from the Lea Scripta of the Isle of Man :-
Our doughtiful Lord and gratious. - This is the constitutions of the ould Tyme the wch we have seene in our dayes, how you shalle be governed upon yor Tynwald dayes. Forst, you shall come thither royally and in yor royall arraye, as a kinge ought to doe by the prerogatives and royalties of the land of Man ; upon the Tynwald sitt in a chaire covered with a royal cloth and quishines, and yr vissage unto ye East, yor swoard before you, houlden with the point upwardes, yor barones sitting in theire degre beside you, and yr beneficed men and yr demesters sitting before you, and yr clarkes and yor own knights, esquires, and yeomen in wynge about you in theire degre, and the worthiest men in ye land to be called in before yor demesters, if they will ask anything of them, and to heare the governance of yor land, and yor will, and the comones to stand without in a circle in the folde, and the 3 reliques of Man there to be, before you in yor presence, and three clarkes bearing them in theire surplesses, and then you shall make be called in before (you) the More (of) Glanfaba, and he shall call in the Crowners of Man, and theire yardes in their hands, with theire weapons over them, sword or axe, and the mores (Moares) that be of every Sheading. Then the cheefe, that is the More of Tynwald, moreover no risinge make in the Kinge's presence, upon pain of hanging and drawinge. And then you shall lett yor Barons and all other acknowledge you to be theire Kinge and Lorde.
These old traditionary ceremonies are practically still unchanged ; the present procedure being this - The Court having been "fenced," that is all persons having been warned under penalties against disturbing the Court, by the Coroner of Glanfaba (the chief Coroner of the Island), the coroners for the past year appear and deliver up their wands of office, which are small canes with a piece of ribbon. attached, and the new coroners are sworn in by the First Deemster, or Insular Judge The tithes and marginal notes of all Acts of Tynwald ready for promulgation are then: read, first in English and then in Manx, and the procession being re-formed, returns to the church in the same order, where the remainder of the public business is gone through. On first returning to the church the two branches of the Legislature sit apart, the Governor and Council sitting in the chancel, and the Keys sitting on. the south side. Thus placed, the members of the Court present attest the promulgation of the Acts. Then comes a message from the Governor, requesting the attendance of the Keys. They walk into the chancel, where Seats opposite the Council, forming a Tynwald. The accounts for the preceding year for King William's College, the Highway Fund, and Lunatic Asylum are received, and the various public committees for the ensuing year are appointed. If there is any other business to be transacted it is gone through, if not the Court is formally adjourned, and the proceedings terminate.
Many events of great interest have taken place in the immediate neighbourhood of St. John's, among them being two great battles, one fought in 1229, between the two brothers Reginald and Olave, for the sovreignty of the Island, and the other in 1238, in the civil wars which followed the death of Olave. As might have been expected, numerous antiquarian remains and burial mounds have been discovered in the neighbourhood of St. John's, some of these of considerable scientific importance. In especial, several kist-vaens have been exposed, one 200 yards from the Tynwald Hill, on the road leading to Glen Mooar (an illustration of which we give on page 121), and a second about 50 yards distant, in which were found some bones, together with a battleaxe, a spur, and other articles
Leaving St John's the road to Peel shows nothing of special interest, and we soon enter the suburbs of the town
The railways in the Isle of Man are, for the purposes of ecconomy, constructed on the narrow gauge principle, the rails bemg laid 3ft apart, as compared with 4ft 8½in., the general width im England. The railway between Douglas and Peel was opened for public traffic on July 2nd, 1873. Elsewhere in "The Popular Guide" io the Isle of Man (page 93) there is an article by the Rev. T. E. Brown, showing very completely how to use the Manx Railways to advantage in seeing many out-of-the-way nooks of the Island. Consequenity, all we have to do here is briefly to describe the jourmey to that part of the Island which we are now treating of, viz, Peel. The distance from Douglas to Peel by rail is 11½miles. The journey, including all stoppages, is accomplished in from forty to forty-five minutes, and the fares are sufficiently reasonable. The views along the line, and the general features of the route, are, in most respects, similar to those we have mentioned in our description of the journey by road ; but, occasionally, peeps into scenery of a most picturesque and charming nature are obtained which cannot be had from the high-road ; and, consequently, our advice to the tourist is, if his time will permit, to do the journey in both ways - by rail and by road. By the latter he will have a leisurely opportunity of examining features of interest which he cannot enjoy by train; while, by the former, he will have the advantage of speed and of glances of rural scenery which, as we have stated, cannot be had from the high-road. The railway station at Douglas is conveniently situated at the head of Douglas Harbour, near the bridge. Entrance to the station can be had either from the end of Athol-street or from the gate near the bridge. Within half a mile from Douglas Station, the train passes over the level crossing at Pulrose, and soon afterwards runs over an iron bridge which spans the river Glas just above its junction with the Dhoo. About here the scenery is very charming, all the surrounding country beimg well wooded. About a mile from Douglas, the line cuts through the gardens of the Quarter Bridge Inn, and passes over another level crossing, and into the green fields opposite Kirby - the mansion appearing to great advantage on an eminence to the left, while just below the railway runs the river Dhoo. Soon afterwards the train passes under a bridge, and, to the left, Braddan old and new churches are visible. Two miles and a half from Douglas the first stopping place is reached. This is the Union Mills Station, as sweetly charming a spot as could be desired. A little beyond the Union Mills, by looking back, a very pleasing view of the Racecourse and the Lunatic Asylum can be had. The next feature of interest is the Closemoar crossing, which passes over the road leading, by the south, to Glen Darragh, Mount Murray, &c. Soon afterwards the train stops at Crosby Station, which is 43¢ miles from Douglas. This is the station to come to for the purpose of visiting Glen Darragh or Greeba mountain; the latter is seen to the right, rising to aconsiderable altitude. St. Trinian's, which is about a mile further on than Crosby, may also be visited from this station. One of the prettiest views on the Island is obtained from the train about a mile past Crosby. The ivy-covered mansions of Greeba Tower and Stanley Mount appear, most picturesquely situated, perched, as it were, on the lower rocks of Greeba mountain, which towers above; while, to the right, there are the gently swelling uplands, which rise here only to droop down into the lovely glen of Baldwin on the other side. About three miles from Crosby the train passes under the new railway to Foxdale, and enters St. John's Station. Coaches to Glen Helen will generally be found waiting here. The geologist will regard with interest along cutting close to St. John's Station (with a pool of water at the foot), made in the construction of the railway. By this cutting has been laid barea long section of the Pleiocene period, full of sand, gravel, and round pebbles, affording a striking evidence of the soundness of the geological theory which contends for it that, in the olden times, the sea ran along the narrow valley which stretches from Douglas to Peel. At this station access is obtained to the famed Tynwald Hill, which, together with the old-world ceremony practised there on the 5th of July, is fully described in our account of the journey to Peel by road (pages 113-122.) Tynwald Hill and St. John's Church are reached by passing up the road to the right. The road to the left (or south) leads to the Glen Meay Waterfall, which is four miles off. The mountain road, running nearly in the same direction, but more to the left, leads to Hamilton Waterfall, Foxdale, South Barrule mountain, and so on to Castletown and the southern districts of the Island. Close to the station the mountain of Slieu Whallan rises abruptly to a height of nearly 1,100 feet. It is easily ascended from here. In the distance, towards Ieee, a good view of Peel Hill and of the tower known as Corrin's Folly may be obtained. About half a mile past the station the train passes over the river Neb, which, taking its rise in the mountain land stretching above Glen Helen, forms the Rhenass falls, and flows through Glen Moar, until it is Joined by the discoloured water which comes down from the Foxdale mines. After passing the disused works of the Mona Brick and Tile Company, the train winds along the base of a number of sand hills, and, running under Glanfaba Bridge, soon stops at the station at Peel,
Peel, anciently Holme, Halland, Holm Town, and Peel Town, and in Manx Purt-ny-Hinshey (the Port of the Island, i.e., Peel Island, or St. Patrick's Isle), is placed at the mouth of the river Neb, and possesses a large and well-sheltered harbour,.capable of containing the whole of its fishing fleet of above 200 vessels, manned by 2000 men and boys. The chief points of interest to the visitor are its ancient ruins, situated on St. Patrick's Isle, and its fishing feet. Peel itself is an old-fashioned, last-century town, with narrow, winding, lane-like streets, and small, mean, regularly built houses, and strongly resembles the old parts of Douglas, having had the same origin in the necessities of the old contraband trade of the Island It is now, however, making great efforts to utilise its great physical advantages of climate and scenery, and has entered into vigorous competition with with Douglas and Ramsey as a summer resort. A joint-stock company is now engaged in forming a fine marine Promenade at the northern portion of the bay, from Creg Malin to the town, and upon the site thus obtained a number of large and handsome houses, suitable for summer visittors, are in course of erection. In the town itself, too, a considerable amount of building is going on, and efforts are being made to improve the appearance of the buildings. In addition to these private improvements, some progress has been made towards draining, and otherwise improving the town, under the direction of the newly-constituted Town Board. The town is mainly situated in the ecclesiastical parish of German, and the parish church is the quaint old Church of St. Peter, which we pass on the left as we enter the Market Place, and whose tower, 70 feet high, forms so conspicuous an object in the views of the town. This tower contains a very valuable public clock, the gift of Mr Ward, of Montreal, Canada, and the church itself possesses a fine stained-glass window, the gift of the Misses Crellin, of Ramsey. Some years ago, however, this church, which is probably about three hundred years old, and contains accommodation for 500 persons, was thought to be unsuitable to the increasing requirements of the town, and a new one has been erected (page 125) in the eastern suburb of the town, capable of holding 900 persons, which, it is hoped, will ultimately become the cathedral church of the diocese, the ancient Cathedral of St. German, in the precincts of the Castle, being in ruins.
Peel is specially favoured in its schools. It possesses a moderately good grammar school, founded by Philip Moore, of Douglas, with which is combined the Mathematical School, founded, in 1763, by Dr. James Moore, of Dublin. It also possesses excellent elementary schools in the Wesleyan Methodist Day School and the ' Christian's Endowed National School," which latter was founded, in 1652, by Philip Christian, a native of Peel, but a citizen of London and a member of the Guild of Clothworkers, who left certain. property to the Clothworkers' Company on condition that they should pay annually £20 towards the education of the poor of his native town. The Company have more than fulfilled this condition, having several times increased the amount payable, and built good school-rooms, the last addition being made in 1879, when a fine new school was erected for boys, the old buildings being devoted exclusively to girls and infants. There are several good hotels and boarding-houses in the town, the principal hotels being the Peel Castle, the Creg Malin, the Peveril, the. Royal, and the Fenella. The population, in 1881, was a little over 4,000.
The chief industry of Peel are its fisheries, with the minor but growing manufactures depending upon them, such as boat-building, netting, and sailcloth. The fishing season begins in March with the mackerel fishing off the south-west coasts of Ireland, which lasts until June, when the boats return home and commence the herring fishery, beginning along the west coast of the Island, and following the shoals, as they migrate eastward, until September, when it comes to an end off Clay Head, north of Douglas. Next comes the late herring fishery, "the back fishing," off the north-east coasts of Ireland, lasting until November or the early part of December, after which most of the boats are laid up until the spring. But several attempts have been made to establish a winter herring fishery on the north-west Irish coasts, in the neighbourhood of Donegal, though not with any encouraging success as yet; and an increasing number of Manx boats are beginning to take part in the summer herring fishery, off the north coast of Scotland, after the conclusion of the Kinsale mackerel fishing. The coast fisheries for cod and flat fish are of considerable value, and employ a large number of the smaller boats. The Manx fishing fleet numbers altogether between three and four hundred boats of the largest size and most improved type. The capital invested in them is close upon half-a-million.
But the greatest attractions of Peel, to the great bulk of its summer visitors, are undoubtedly the venerable ruins of its ancient Castle and Cathedral, which, together with the remains of a number of buildings, are situated on St. Patrick's Isle, a small islet, about seven-and-a-half acres in extent, oft the south-west horn of Peel Bay, connected with the main- land by a substantial causeway, recently converted into a convenient landing-quay. This islet, with its ruins, may be approached by the bridge at the head of the harbour, or by ferry from the pier. The buildings upon it are all enclosed by a wall, said, by Bishop Wilson, to have been erected by Earl Thomas in the year 1500, but Cumming, in his work, believes it to have been built by Henry, third Earl of Derby, in 1593. Entering the antique pile by a flight of steps roughly cut in the solid rock, we enter by a portcullis door, said to be 1000 years old, and are taken in charge by Sergeant Paullin, Constable of the Castle. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Germain, the legendary successor, in the Manx Episcopacy, of St. Patrick. It is cruciform in shape, with a tower, but without aisles and porches. The oldest part of the present building is the choir, ascribed to Bishop Simon (1226-1247). The other parts are considerably later. They are built of the local red sandstone, and are greatly decayed. The roof is entirely gone, the lead having been stripped off it, by Bishop Wilson, in order to use it for roofing the parish church of Kirk Patrick, it having been granted to him for that purpose by an Act of Tynwald dated Oct. 20, 1710. Further mischievous dilapidations were caused by a Captain Holloway, of the Royal Engineers, in 1814, who pulled down several ancient buildings connected with the Cathedral, including the episcopal palace and the Governor's residence, in order to utilise the materials in the erection of a two-gun battery, &c. About ten years later, in October, 1824, during a very severe gale, the last standing oak timbers of the Cathedral roof gave way. Being composed otf a soft sandstone, and exposed, roofless, to the fury of the elements on its storm-beaten rock, the Cathedral was rapidly wasting away, when, some years ago, Governor Loch undertook its preservation and partial restoration. In the course of these labours, which extended over a long period, many interesting discoveries were made of portions of the building which had been covered up by the débris. About £1200 have been expended upon these repairs out of the payments made by visitors for admission to the Castle area. The length of the choir is 36ft. 4in., of the nave 52ft. 6in., of the tower 26ft. ; the entire internal length being 114ft. 6in. Its width, at the intersection of the transepts, is 68ft. 3in. ; the height of the choir walls, 18ft. ; and the thickness of the wall, 3ft.
There is authentic evidence that two of the kings of Man died in Peel Castle, namely, Godrved, on the 10th November, 1187, and Olave, on the 21st May, 1237. The former was buried in the Castle, but his remains were removed, in the following summer, to Iona. The latter was interred in the Abbey of St. Mary of Rushen.
1. Wymundus, or Reymundus A.D1151
2. John . . A.D. 1154
Both these are stated to have been buried in St. Germain's Cathedral. This clearly
establishes the fact that the present building, and which was undoubtedly erected
during the episcopate of Bishop Simon, between 1226 and 1247, was not the original
cathedral. The Rev. J. G. Cumming, in his history of the Isle of Man, says:
- Of the original church of St. Germain not a trace, as we can point out, remains."
3. Simon . A.D. 1245 Being the first interred in the new cathedral
4. Mark. .. A.D. 1303
5. Huan Hesketh 1510
6. John Philips A.D. 1633
7. Richard Parr A.D. 1643
The latter was, at his own express desire, buried in the same grave with Bishop
Philips. This fact is recorded in the Register Book of Burials in the parish
of Ballaugh.
8 . Samuel Rutter A.D. 1662
In 1865, the members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association paid a visit to the Island, and, among other work done by them during their visit, they opened the grave of Bishop Rutter. At the depth of about a foot below the surface, a stone slab was found, which bore, round the edges, he following inscription : -
SAMVEL RVTTER,
LORD BISHOP :
OF SODOR AND MAN,
1661
The slab was much broken ; but the fragments, having been carefully collected, were cemented together, and the whole aid in a solid bed of concrete. Let in on the upper face of the stone was an oval brass - 10½ by 8 inches), supposed to have contained either his armorial arms or those of the diocese, and, in the centre, a brass plate (16 by 7¾ inches), bearing the following inscripsion, said to have been written by the Bishop himself, who was both a wit and a poet : -
IN HAC DOMO QUAM A VERMICUIIS
ACCEPI CONFRATIBUS MEIS SPE
RESURRECTIONIS AD VITAM
JACEO SAM: PERMISIONE DIVINA
EPISCOPUS HUIUS INSULAE
SISTE LECTOR )=( VIDE : AC RIDE
PALSTIUM EPISCOPI
ORBIT XXX DIE MENSIS MAY ANNO 1662
Samuel Rutter, who had been, during the Commonwealth, archdeacon of the Island, succeeded to the bishopric in 1661. He was a friend and companion of the great Earl of Derby, generally known in the Island as the " Stanlagh Mooar" (or the Great Stanley), who, in his letters to his son, Lord Strange, expresses a high opinion of the prelate. He was present at, and took an active part in, the memorable seige of Lathom House (anna 1644), and was the staunch friend, as well as the able counsellor, of the heroic Charlotte de la Tremouille, during her brave defence of. that place against the Parliamentary forces under Sir Thomas Fairfax, and acted as chaplain to the garrison of the beseiged. He wrote poetry for the Earl's amusement, which, down to a late period, was popular in the Island. Bishop Rutter governed the Manx Church, with exemplary goodness and piety, till his death, which occurred in 1662.
The brass plate, which was supposed to have been stolen by some casual visitor, and which fact is referred to to by Feltham, in his Tour through the Island, in 1797, was, in 1844, discovered in the well near the sally-port of the Castle. This curious relic is still in good order, the only injury it had sustained being the breakage of one of the corners. After its recovery, it was preserved at Bishop's Court until the summer of 1875, when his Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Loch obtained possession of it, and handed it over to the High-Bailiff of Peel, with an intimation that it would be advisible to have it re-set in its original position on the Bishop's tombstone in the Cathedral.
The Castle Preservation Committee thereupon determined to have the plate repaired by having a piece of brass soldered to it, and having the missing letters re-engraved. This having been done, the plate was restered to its former place in the centre of the stone tablet before referred to, and which stands near the middle of the unroofed portion of the Cathedral.
Below the fourth window on the south side of the choir there is a door descending to the crypt by one of those con- cealed passages formed in the wall which were so common in buildings of the Middle Ages. The crypt itself is 34 feet long and 16 feet broad. . The roof is vaulted, and supported by 13 diagonal ribs, or groins, each springing from a short pilaster placed upon the bare rock ; and it is lighted only a small opening under the east choir window. Originally much loftier than it is now, a flagged floor having been discovered some feet lower than the present level during restorations carried out some years since. This wretched was the prison for ecclesiastical offenders until 1780. Dering the explorations in 1871 a second rudely-formed doorway was found leading to the rock outside the castle all immediately below the chancel, together with a splayed lsov hole intended to light the room. A third doorway, faced with red sandstone, was also discovered on the north side of the crypt, with the remains of a flight of stairs leading into a smail enclosure, a few feet square, adjoining the north wall of the chancel. It was in this confined space that the unfortunate Duchess of Gloucester took her short daily walk during the 14 years of her long imprisonment, and, as its floor was at that time fully six feet lower than it is at present, so not only did its high walls shut out all hope of escape, but they even prevented her solacing herself with gazing at the beautiful scenery surrounding her prison. Adjoining the Cathedral are the ruins of the Bishop's palace - a rudely-constructed building, whose most noteworthy feature is the Banquetting Hall, 42 feet long and 20 feet broad, in which are recesses, probably used for the storage of wine, &c. In clearing out this latter building and the neighbouring yard in 1874 the workmen discovered an ancient well filled up with rubbish, which, when this had been removed, was found to give an abundant supply of the purest water, much better than that of the old well near the sally-port, which is brackish and unpleasant. A pump has since been placed over this well, and the water is much used by strangers seeing the ruins.
Near to the Episcopal Palace is a modern, building used in 1814-15 as a guard-room in connection with a two-gun battery, also then established. A short distance further the blocked-up entrance of the sally-port, communicating, by means of a covered way, with a battery built on the rocks about sixty feet off. This battery formerly mounted three guns and commanded the entrance to the harbour. Above the entrance of the covered way was a chamber with a projected platform, the supposed object of which was to enable grrison to annoy assailants who might have succeeded in forcing their way into the passage by pouring boiling water or melted lead down upon them.
A few yards further on is a two-storied building, 26 feet 8 inches in length by 15 feet 10 inches in breadth, internally, and surrounded by a battlemented wall, between which and the roof was a walk similar to that of the Cathedral, the portal tower, and other elevated buildings in the Castle. This building was in ancient times designated "The Mooar's Tower," but it has since acquired the name of '" Warwick's Prison," and was exclusively used for civil offenders. It acquired its latter name from the following circumstances : -
Shortly after the accession of Richard II. (22nd June, 1397) he became wantonly extravagant and despotic, and, suspecting that a conspiracy had been formed against him in which his uncle (the Duke of Gloucester) and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick were implicated, he determined to get rid of these men who had once stood high in his favour.
The Duke of Gloucester was arrested and sent to Calais, where he died, or, as is generally supposed, was murdered. The Earls of Arundel and Warwick were committed to the Tower. They were speedily brought to trial on a charge of treason, were found guilty, and sentenced to decapitation and quartering. The extreme sentence of the law was enforced against the first-named nobleman, who was '' beheaded at Cheapside." Upon the solicitation of the Earl of Salisbury and others, the sentence on the Earl of Warwick was commuted to banishment to the Isle of Man. The following is a translation of the Parliamentary Rolls relating to the matter : - ''21 Ric. II.: _' And afterwards our Lord the King, moved with compassion, and the reverence and honour of God, and the prayer of the said petitioner and of the Commons of the said Parliament, and of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, has pardoned the said Earl of Warwick of the execution of the said judgment of death by decapitation and quartering, and has granted to him his life, and that he may be kept in perpetual imprisonment, without this realm, in the Isle of Man for the term of his life; upon this condition, that if he, or any for him, in time to come, seek from the King or his heirs any further grace, or if he escape out of the place assigned to him to dwell in prison, that the said judgment of death be put in execution, and his reprieve held as void. And that he be to sea, on his passage towards the Isle of Man, before the expiration of a month from this the 29th day of September, to dwell there for the term of his life in manner aforesaid. And that he, the said Earl of Warwick, be delivered to Sir William le Scrope, and Sir Stephen, his brother, to carry him safely to the said isle, and guard his body there, without letting the said Earl of Warwick depart from the said isle.
The Sir William Scrope to whose custody the Earl of Warwick was thus confided was, at the time, proprietor of the Island, and was, in fact, King of Man - having, in 1394, purchased the Island, with its royalties, from the family of Montague.
Richard II. having resigned the crown, Henry IV. was proclaimed on the 30th September, 1399, and one of his first acts was to reverse the attainders of the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, and to recall the latter from banishment. The 13th October, 1399 is the date assigned for this act of clemency of the new king. According to the Parliamentary Rolls of the period, it appears that the charges and expenses attendant upon " the safe conduct of Thomas, Earl of Warwick, to the Isle of Man, and for the support of the said Earl there," amounted to £1,074 14s 5d... This was defrayed out of the Exchequer to Sir William le Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire, who was Treasurer of England under Richard II.
Many parties, and indeed some of the writers of the history of the Island, have erroneously referred to the before-named Earl of Warwick as the King-Maker. One recent and notable example of an eminent writer, who, by a palpable'oversight, fell into this error, was the late Professor Wilson, of Edinburgh. That distinguished scholar, in his portion of the memoir of the much lamented and highly talented Manxman, the great naturalist, Edward Forbes, in his remarks on Peel Castle and Warwick's imprisonment therein, thus writes : - " Peel Castle is much older than Castle Rushen. The ruined cathedrals carry us back, at least, to the fifth century and the introduction of Christianity into the Isle of Man, and ruins, still more ancient, survive from pre-Christian times. Traditions, coeval with the buildings, record their fortunes, and form an important part of the mythical and actual history of Man. In later times, the Kings of England occasionally employed Peel Castle as a State prison. Earl Warwick, the King-maker, was consigned to the dungeons for a season by Richard II., and the haughty Duchess of Gloucester, Shakspeare's 'presumptuous dame - ill-nurtured Eleanor,' banished to the Isle of Man, by Henry VI.. for witchcraft, wore a lengthened captivity within its Its not a little remarkable that the historian Froissart, in his Chronicle of England, should have made so grave an error as he did with reference to the place of banishment of the Earl of Warwick - he having stated that the Earl had been "banished to the Isle of Wight" . In a paper published in All the Year Round in 1869, a graphic account of the arrest of the Duke of Gloucester and of the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, by Richard II was given, and therein "the Isle of Wight opposite the coast of Normandy was given as the latter nobleman's imprisonment.
This no sooner appeared than Mr R. J. Moore, then High-Bailiff of Peel, put himself into communication with the late Mr Charles Dickens (the proprietor and editor of the periodical referred to), calling his attention to the error, and pointing out the real facts. In the correspondence which ensued, and which was published at the time, Mr Moore stated in one of his letters - -"I would not have taken the liberty of troubling you upon this subject, were it not that I, in common with my townsmen, feel a degree of pride in the several historical associations and incidents connected with our venerable castle, and one of these associations relates to the imprisonment therein of Thomas Earl of Warwick."
It subsequently transpired that the writer of the article in All the Year Round, was Mr Walter Thornbury, who, in his final communication to Mr Moore, thus expressed himself : - " Allow me now to thank you for the convincing extracts, which prove Froissart to have been wrong." Subsequently, in Notes and Queries (11th Nov., 1871), Mr Thornbury made a public allusion to the unintentional error he had committed by relying upon Froissart as an authority upon the subject.
The " Moare's Tower," or "' Warwick's Prison," was, in later years, the place of confinement of Captain Edmund Christian. This person, who had been Lieut.-Governor of the Isle of Man during the days of the seventh Earl of Derby, and who was confounded by Sir Walter Scott, in his novel of " Peveril of the Peak," with his nephew, "Illiam Dhone," was confined, and died, in Peel Castle. In 1643 he was sentenced, by the Earl of Derby, to be imprisoned and to pay a fine of one thousand marks. According to an old entry in the registry of Kirk Maughold Church, where he was buried, Christian's offence was "sum words spoken concerning ye Kinge [Charles I.] when ye great difference was betwixt Kinge and Parliament." In 1651, after a confinement of eight yeais, he was released by Col. Duckenfield. However, in 1660, after the Restoration, he was again sent back to prison, but was permitted, as an indulgence, in September, 1660, to plead to a suit relative to some property. He was sent back to prison, but only to die, which he did in a few months afterwards - namely, in January, 1661, he having been buried in Kirk Maughold Church (where he had been baptised) on the 22nd of that month.
Close to the "Tilting Ground" of the old Castle is * Fenella's Tower," situated on the edge of the cliffs, and an important sally-port. This portion of the fortress was selected by Sir Walter Scott as the scene of one of the most exciting incidents in his celebrated romance of Peveril of the Peak, some of the most interesting passages in which are laid in the Isle of Man. One of the principal persons in the story is Edw. Christian, a mythical brother of the Manx patriot, William Christian, of Ronaldsway ('"Illiam Dhone" - The Fair- haired William), who had been put to death by the Countess of Derby for heading the rising of the Manx against her in 1651. The main object of Edward Christian's life for many years had been to avenge the death of his brother ; and, in order to effect his purpose, he had placed his daughter Fenella in the Countess's service as a spy on her actions, and, that she might the better carry out his designs, she, under his orders, feigned to be deaf and dumb. This young lady fell in love, after the customary manner of romantic heroines, with Julian Peveril, an officer in the household of the Great Countess, and son of Sir Geoffrey Peveril, of the Peak ; and, though her affection was not returned, she persistently forced her attentions upon him. The connection of Fenella with the tower which bears her name arose in this way : - Julian being sent by the Countess on a secret mission to London, and it being desirable that. his departure from the Castle should be unknown to the garrison, he left the Castle by this Tower, which overlooks an opening in the rocks pierced with a remarkable cave, in which a boat lay concealed waiting to convey him to a vessel lying off the Island. Descending from the Castle wall by a ladder, he was followed by Fenella, who, when he took his seat in the boat, sprang in after him, and insisted upon accompanying him on his journey.
Fenella's Cave penetrates the land for a considerable distance, and can be entered by a boat at low water and with a smooth sea. Visitors frequently pic-nic at Fenella's Tower, and the prospect from its battlements of the venerable ruins, of the town below, and of the western coast scenery, with the bright sea and the Irish and Scotch mountains beyond, is very fine.
Close to the Tower are the ancient Tilting Ground of the Castle and the ruins of a number of buildings, the use of some of which is very uncertain. The Earl of Derby's palace and offices formerly stood at the extreme western corner of the wall, but they have been pulled down, and the only remains of them left are the openings of the windows in the wall.
But the most noteworthy incident connected with Peel Castle was the lengthened imprisonment in it of the Duchess Eleanor Cobham, wife of the "Good" Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, uncle of Henry VI., who was imprisoned in Peel Castle, in 1443-1454, on a charge of treasonable witchcraft against the King's life. Waldron thus describes her offence: "Tn the reign of Henry VI., among the friends of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, his duchess, Dame Eleanor, was arrested. Roger Bolyngbroke, a man expert in necromancy, and a woman called Margery Jourdemain, surnamed the Witch of Eye, were charged with having, at the request of the Duchess of Gloucester, devised an image of wax like unto the king, the which image they dealt with so that by their devilish sorcery they intended to bring the King out of life ; for the which reason they were adjudged to die." The Duchess appears to have been a weak, ambitious woman, not above the superstitions of the age; but, though she is said to have owned to having directed Bolyngbroke to calculate the duration of the King's life (he being sickly, and her husband the next in succession), there is no proof whatever that she designed any active measures against him. Bolyngbroke was drawn and quartered at Tyburn, and the witch was burned at Smithfield. The Duchess was examined at St. Stephen's Chapel, before the Archbishop of Canterbury, and condemned to do public penance in three places within the City of London, and, afterwards, to pass her life a prisoner in the Isle of Man, under Sir Thomas Stanley. The unfortunate lady was removed to Kenilworth and Chester, from whence she was transferred to Peel, in October, 1443. "The Duke of Gloucester," says the old chronicler Hale, "bore these things patiently and said little." But his enemies, chief among whom were the Queen Margaret and her favourite Suffolk, were now preparing for him the safe silence of the grave. Snared to a Parliament at Bury St. Edmunds, which had been previously crowded with Suffolk's retainers, he was suddenly arrested, on the 11th February, 1447, on a charge of high treason, and, on the 28th, he was found dead in his bed - murdered by his enemies, according to the universal belief of the nation.
Arrived on the Island, the Duchess was closely confined in the ecclesiastical prison beneath the Cathedral; and in this wretched dungeon, and the small adjoining yard into which it opens, and in which she was permitted to take one hour's exercise daily, she passed the eleven weary years of her imprisonment. Notwithstanding her husband's apparent apathy and his miserable death, several unsuccess- ful attempts were made by her friends to restore her to liberty, but she ended her life, in prison, in 1454. Waldron says - " Ever since, to this hour, a person is heard to go up and down the stone staircase of one of these little houses on the wall, constantly, every night, as soon as the clock strikes twelve." The conjecture is that it is the troubled spirit of this lady, who died as she had lived, dissatisfied and mourning her fate.
The historical truth of the story of the imprisonment of the Duchess of Gloucester in Peel Castle has been strongly contested by a local critic, the Rev. T. Talbot; but he has failed to produce sufficient evidence to establish his contention, and there appears to be no real ground for doubting the substantial accuracy of the ancient account.
In 1710 Bishop Wilson, a strict ecclesiastical disciplinarian, committed the Clerk of the Rolls to this dungeon for refusing to pay the sum charged against him as tithes ; and, in reply to the prayer of the prisoner to be heard in his own defence, the Bishop wrote on the back of his petition with his own hand that such hearing was not customary, and would not be allowed. It was continually used as an ecclesiastical prison until a century ago, the last person confined in it being one Thomas Kneale, who was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for an offence against morals. Upon complaint that he was of "too weak a constitution to endure the severity of the cold prison," he was liberated by Vicar-General Christian upon giving security for his future good behaviour, 4th March, 1780.
One of the most conspicuous objects among the buildings in the Castle area is the Round Tower, near the centre and highest part of the islet. It is 50ft. high and 45ft. in circumference near the base, and its internal diameter is 5ft. 9in. Facing the east is a door, 6ft. 9in. from the ground. Near the top are four square apertures facing the cardinal points ; and lower, on the seaward side, is another opening. The top shows the remains of the battlements which formerly crowned it. It is built chiefly of the local red sandstone, and is much worn by time and weather. It has been much disputed whether this interesting object should be regarded as an example of the Irish round towers, or as merely a medieval watch-tower. Mr Petrie, in his Ecclestastical Architecture of Ireland, says, 'It is in all respects similar to those of Ireland;" but.the Cambrian Archeological Society, in their journal, had pointed out certain important differences which distinguish it from the Irish towers. The Irish round towers are from 60 to 130 feet in height, their circumference varies from 45 to 60 feet, and they gradually taper from the base to he summit. The walls, which, at the bottom, are from three to five feet thick, diminish, towards the top, to one foot. The one entrance is always some distance from the ground, and is occasionally as much as 20ft. high. The openings in the walls vary in number in different examples, but are always small, and the upper ones always face the cardinal points, The roof was always conical and of stone. The internal diameter, at the doorway, varied from seven to nine feet, and decreased regularly upwards. The Peel tower varies from this type in several important particulars. It was only 50ft. high, while its circumference was 45ft. - a proportion unknown in Irish towers. Again, while the Irish towers taper from bottom to top, the Manx tower is a cylinder of the same diameter from bottom to top. And, lastly, the Peel tower, in place of the Irish conical roof, has medieval battlements. The battlemented parapet is indeed said by some to be a a lter addition, but there is no evidence of this in the appearance of the object or the character of the material of which it is constructed. The strongest points of resemblance betweeb the Peel and the Irish towers are the doorways and the upper| windows.
There is nothing about this interesting object indicative of the period of its construction, but it is evidently of very great antiquity. It is erected on the highest point of thei and may probably have been wivendeaee a Tea old drawing of the sixteenth century represents it with a conical roof ; but this was apparently the ordinary sugarloaf- shaped roof of the period, formed of timber, covered with lead or slates, and it has long since disappeared. In the early part of 1871, a considerable part of the western side fell to the ground, and great fears were entertained lest the remaining Portions should follow; but the Preservation Committee took prompt measures to restore the fallen parts, and it is now in a more stable condition than before.
To the east of the Round Tower, and between it and the Cathedral, are the ruins of the Church of St. Patrick - probably the most ancient building on the Islet. It is built of the ordinary slate rock of the district with occasional blocks of old red sandstone in the arches and coigns, and the workmanship is very rude, exhibiting the peculiar style of building called "herring-bone" masonry. There was formerly on the west gable a turret for two bells.
In the centre of the area enclosed by the Castle walls, is a large rectangular mound about 70 yards along each of its four sides, and surrounded by the remains of a ditch. The origin of this interesting relic is lost in the mists of the past put it has been suggested that it was an earthwork erected by the natives before the Castle itself was built, and possibly altered by the Norsemen on their first landing. In some respects it strongly resembles the great aboriginal earthwork known as the Fairy Hill, in Rushen, and, like it too, it has at some periods of its existence been used as a burial ground, their proximity to the respective parish churches facilitating this use of them.
A short distance south of St. Patrick's Church are the ruins of the Armoury, from which, at the period of the Revestment, a considerable number of matchlocks and other ancient weapons were removed by the British Government. Several of the guns formerly belonging to the Castle were found stored in a house in the town, in 1774, and a number of them were set up as mooring posts along the Quay. They were formed of iron bars placed longitudinally, strengthened by thick iron rings, and they had a bore of about eight inches. These antique weapons attracted the notice of an artillery officer of high rank on a visit to the town, and in consequence of his report the authorities at Woolwich had them removed in 1864, sending in their stead an equal number of modern guns. Two of them, however, were placed in the Castle, and are objects of much interest to visitors.
Near the entrance to the Castle is the guard room, ot which the following marvellous tale is told in Waldron's book, published in 1731 : -
They say that an apparition, called, in their language, the *Mauthe Dhoo, in the shape of a large black spaniel, with curled shaggy hair, was used to haunt Peel Castle, and has been frequently seen in every room, but particularly in the guardchamber, where, as soon as tiie candles were lighted, it came and lay down before the fire, in presence of all the soldiers, who at length, by being so much accustomed to the sight of it, lost great part of the terror they were seized with at its first appearance. They still, however, retained a certain awe, as believing it was an evil spirit which only waited permission to do them hurt, and for that reason forebore swearing and all profane discourse while in its company. But though they endured the shock of such a guest when all together in a body, none cared to be left alone with it; it being the custom, therefore, for one of the soldiers to lock the gates of the castle at a certain hour, and carry the keys to the captain, to whose aparte ment, as I said before, the way led through a church, they agreed among themselves that whoever was to succeed the ensuing night his fellow in this errand, should accompany him that went first, and by this means no man would be exposed singly to the danger 5 for I forgot to mention that the Mauthe Dhoo was always seen to come out from that passage at the close of the day, and return to it again as soon as the morning dawned, which made them look on this place as its peculiar residence. One night a fellow, being drunk, and by the strength of his liquor rendered more daring than ordinary, laughed at the simplicity of his companions, and, though it was not his turn to go with the keys, would needs take that office upon him to testify his courage. All the soldiers endearoured to dissuade him, but the more they said the more resolute he seemed, and swore that he desired nothing more than that Mauthe Dhoo would follow him, as it had done the others, for he would try if it were dog or devil. After having talked in a yery reprobate manner for some time, he snatched up the keys and went out of the guardroom. In some time after his departure a great noise was heard, but nobody had the boldness to see what occasioned it, till the adventurer returning they demanded the knowledge of him; but, asloud and noisyas he had been at leavin them, he was now sober and silent enough, for he was never eat to speak more ; and though all the time he lived, which was three days, he was entreated by all who came near him either to speak, or, if he could not do that, to make some sigus by which they could understand what had happened to him; yet nothing intelligible could be got from him, only that, by the distortion of his limbs and features, it might be guessed that he died in agonies more than are common in a natural death. The Mauthe Dhoo was, however, never seen after in the castle, nor would anyone attempt to go through that passage, for which reason it was closed up, and another way was made. This incident happened about threescore years since, and I heard it attested by several, but, especially, by an old soldier, who assured me that he had seen it oftener than he had then hairs on his head.
* There is no such word in the Manx language as Mauthe. The word is Moddy (a dog), Dhoo (black).
This tradition is also spoken of by Sir Walter Scott, in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel " -
But none of all the astonished train
Were so dismayed as Deloraiue !
His blood did freeze, his brain did burn,
Twas feared his m'nd woul ne'er return
For he was speechless, ghastly, wan,
Like him of whom the story ran,
That spake the spectre-hound in Man.
"Just outside the Castle walls, is a grassy mound, about go feet long; and about 5 feet broad, known as "The Giant's Grave." Tradition says that this monster, who lived in the days of St. Patrick, was the terror of the Islanders, on account of his strength and ferocity. He had three legs, and was so active that he made light of leaping at one bound from the Castle Islet to Peel Hill. He would also occasion- ally, for pastime, seize large boulders and fling them against the opposite hills, where their fragments are visible to this day with the marks of his fingers deeply indented in them ! At last when the saint called him to account for his misdeeds, he attempted to kill the holy man. For this act he was cursed by the saint, in the Virgin's name, and in terror fled the Island. The legend says that he rushed at one stride over Contrary Head into the sea, and was never more seen or heard of. Of his burial in the grave, which bears his name, the story says nothing. The fragments of the boulder which he flung are of white quartz, and are on the hill above Lhergydhoo, three miles north of Peel !
In 1791 a Royal Commission was issued to inquire and report upon the rights of the Duke of Athol and of the Crown with respect to the Island. The report of the Commissioners with respect to the Castle and Cathedral are in these words (report dated 21st April, 1792) : -
The Castle of Peel is situated on a small island, which is stated to contain between four and five acres, and is separated from the mainland and town of Peel by a narrow channel of the sea. The Castle of Peel was one of the Lord's garrisons; it is expressly named in the original grant from King Henry the Fourth to the Stanley family, and is frequently mentioned in the Acts of Tynwald. :
The Cathedral Church of the Diocese, lately fallen into a state of dilapidation, stands on the island. Since the revestment more than one bishop has been installed in the choir, which was the last. part of the edifice preserved from decay.
The inhabitants of the town of Peel claim aright of interment, and many have been buried within the walls of the cathedral. The ecclesiastical prison is a subterranean vault under the cathedral, but has not been used for many years. Since the year 1765 the officers of the Crown have taken possession of this island, which has been held as a perquisite by the Governor. It is at present, and has, for sometime, been occupied by the High-Bailiff of Peel, who uses it as a sheep-walk, and has annually paid a lamb, or some such small consideration, to the Governor by way of acknowledgment.
For several years previous to the time spoken of, the Rey. Henry Corlett, Vicar of Germain, had occasionally solemnised marriages in the cathedral, notwithstanding the semi-ruinous state in which many portions of the buildings then were. The last marriage celebrated appears, from the parochial registry of Germain, to have been in 1753. It is thus entered : - '1753. Thursday, September 27th, Mr Edward Trevor, a Protestant, from Longbrickland, in the kingdom of Ireland, was married in the Cathedral of St. Germain, to Miss Mary Savage, born and baptized in Douglas, but now a Roman Catholic resident in Ireland. N.B. - A dispensation was given for their marriage upon the request of the Honble. John Murray, Esq., nephew to his Grace the Duke of Athol."
In clearing away a large accumulation of rubbish on the ground floor of the chancel, in August, 1871, a portion of the old flagging, together with the original steps (three in number, of very low riser) leading to.thealtar, were discovered. And in breaking off the thick coating of mortar covering the south wall of of the chancel, a very perfect piscnia (which had been carefully built up with masonry) was brought to light. The arched recesses, on either side of the chancels, were then opened. In the principal one was found a full skeleton, perfect in all its parts. The skeleton appeared to have been partially embedded in, and the cavity of the body filled with lime, or some preservative composition of which lime formed a principal ingredient. Upon inspection the skull seemed to have been very skilfully sawn across, either for post mortem examination, or, what is the more probable theory, for the removal of the brain, with a view to filling the cavity with the same preserving composition as that used for the body.
Taking into consideration the fact that alcoves, or recesses, in the chancels of cathedrals, or ancient churches, being considered the places of honour, were usually appro- priated as the sepulchre for the founders of the Church, or of those who, by some meritorious acts, were considered worthy of distinction, and noting the especial care evidently bestowed in the preservation of the body thus exhumed, there was every reason to believe that the remains were those of Bishop Simon. In order to preserve the remains from injury and to show proper respect, the Lieut.-Governor directed thata tomb, or small sarcophagus, composed of concrete, should be formed in the recess from which they had been exhumed.
It was somewhat remarkable that near the feet of the Bishop were found the remains of a dog, the jaw bones and some of the teeth being quite perfect.
The discovery of the bones of a dog in a bishop's grave subsequently gave rise to considerable discussion and correspondence between antiquarians and archaeologists.
A concrete tomb having been formed in the alcove before referred to, the entire skeleton, together with the preservative compound in which the remains had been partially embedded, as well as the bones of the dog found therewith, were carefully placed. Over this a substantial body stone of red freestone, having a moulded Latin cross down its entire length, with a goblet and other carvings, was set. On the outer face is the following inscription : -
IN REPAIRING THE RUINS OF PEEL CASTLE, IN
1771 BY THE AUTHORITY OF H.B. LOCH C.B.
LIEUT.-GOVERNOR THE REMAINS OF SIMON
BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN AND THE REBUILDER
OF THIS CATHEDRAL WERE
RE-INTERRED. HE DIED 28TH FEBY., 1247, IN THE
21st YEAR OF HIS EPISCOPACY.
The drive from Douglas to Foxdale by the Cooil and Braaid is really magnificent, and it has, moreover, the recom-mendation that it can be taken in connection with an excursion to Glen Meay and Peel, being, at the farthest, not more than two miles of a round, or it will form a pleasant after- noon's run from the town.
At.the distance of three miles and a half from Douglas the tourist reaches Mount Murray, and from the shoulder of the hill sees lying many hundred feet below him the beautiful valley of Marown. It was at this spot John Martin sat when making the first of his sketches for his great picture, "The Plains of Heaven." The three hills which form the back- ground at the right of the picture are well seen from here in the exact relative positions they occupy in the painting. Snaefell, the most elevated, in the centre, Pen-y-phot and Slieu Mullagh Oure flanking it at equal distances on either side. Like all the others in the picture, except Greeba, these mountains are treated artistically, and built up into craggy pinnacles, but the relative distances are so exactly preserved pie any one familiar with the picture will readily recognise them.
Descending from Mount Murray to Braaid, the tourist will see in a field adjoining the road an ancient stone circle in perfect preservation [see page 67], which the archzologist never passes by, and about a mile from Braaid is Dreamland (a corruption of the old Manx name, Dreemlang).
It was at Dreamland that Martin made the sketch which forms the groundwork of the greater part of the picture, and it is from Dreamland that the greatest number of points can be identified, foremost among them being Greeba, which is shown in the picture exactly as it exists in the landscape. In the foseground the "New Jerusalem" stretches across from Injebreck to Baldwin in the foreground. The lower part of the valley, where the river Dhoo runs, is filled up with a lake in the picture, and the whole embellished and idealised as would be expected from an artist of Martin's wonderful power of imagination.
Quite apart from its connection with the picture, the valley as seen from Dreamland is positively glorious. Travellers who have seen both pronounce it superior to the Vale of Clwyd. When the tourist has done admiring the view, there are three objects of high antiquarian interest close at hand which he will do well not to miss. In a field below Dreamland, and visible from the house, is St. Patrick's Chair. Here, tradition says, St. Patrick stood, Sunday after Sunday, preaching the gospel to the heathen inhabitants, who were then worshippers of Baal, the Phcenician deity, in all probability, and this. erection was made as a sort of pulpit from which to address the people [also see page 68.] On Dreamland itself, a few hundred yards from the road, is an ancient well, built entirely of great blocks of quartz, some of them several tons in weight, the existence of which was, until within the last few years, only known to the inhabitants of the immediate neighbourhood. The blocks of quartz are of the purest white, and they are accurately joined without mortar or cement. Before the land was brought into cultivation, which was about seventeen years ago, the well was always full of excellent water, even when the pumps all round were dry. Now, however, there is very little water in the summer, partly owing to the cultivation of the surrounding land, but more to the fact thar it has been choked up by children when picking the stones off the field. |The opening into the well is about five feet wide, but it originally ran some yards further back, as the quartz blocks forming the retaining wall can be traced to some distance, the tops projecting over the soil.
There is nothing to indicate the period of its construction, as there is nothing like it in the British Islands. Probably it was built by the Druids, and used in their religious ceremonies at the admission of neophpytes into their order, or it may be of earlier date. The retaining wall runs due east and west, and the opening is to the west. This may indicate some connection with sun worship.
At Dreamland there is also a most remarkable echo, which will repeat three short words as distinctly as the human voice when the wind is from the south, but cannot be well heard when the wind is from the north or east.
The third object which the tourist is recommended to visit is the old fort at Ballanicholas, near Campbell Bridge, which, by an inscription on it, professes to be equi-distant from Douglas, Castletown, and Peel. The fort is only a few hundred yards below the bridge, and within a mile from Dreamland, and is by some thought to be the real Black Fort of " Peveril of the Peak." The trout stream by which it stands was known to be the best on the Island till polluted by the washings from the lead-mines at East Foxdale. Lower down it is known as Santon River, and still has a good reputation as a fishing stream, the lead held in solution by the water being, for the most part, deposited before it gets there.
The site of the Black Fort has been of late years fixed at St. Mark's, where there were the remains of a strong granite structure, of a circular form, within the memory of the present generation ; but the little stream which passes this locality, though it has plenty of trout, is a mere ditch, in most places hardly a yard wide, where fly-fishing is impossible, and bait- fishing very difficult. It runs, moreover, into the sea close to Castletown, and Julian Peveril would not require the services of a pony to reach it. The fort, being of granite, also, would be more correctly called the White Fort.
Close to the fort at Ballanicholas, is Ballanicholas House, an old structure with a high pitched roof of Queen Anne's time, or at least not later than George the Second, exactly corresponding to the description of the house where Alice Bridgnorth was immured. 'This fort is in good preservation, and might be taken for a barrow but for the remains of the breastwork on the top, and its position would immediately strike a soldier's eye. At both sides of the fort, and extend- ing for nearly three-quarters of a mile, there is a very steep natural escarpment, 25 to 30 feet high for the greater part of the length, but at the point where the fort stands, which is almost the centre, the escarpment sinks down to the stream. At each end of the escarpment there are extensive boggy tracts, and an army posted above it could not easily be attacked on either flank, It would be impossible for cavalry to attack it, and very difficult for infantry. The fort would be the centre and key of the position, commanding, moreover, access to the stream. It would accommodate soarchers conveniently, but if necessary 100 could be placed on it. With the assistance of this fort, an army posted behind it would occupy an exceedingly strong, defensive position, and there are proofs all along the valley, almost to Ballasalla, that the country between this point and Castletown has been, at some former time, the theatre of a fierce war. Not far from the fort in the marsh, to the east of it, there are the remains of a Danish encampment. The circle at.St. Marks was probably the site of another, and between St. Marks and Ballasalla there are several others still to be seen. It would appear as though an army landing in the south was making its way across the country in face of a very determined opposition, gaining a little every day till it reached Balla- nicholas, but was either unable to force that position, or quickly and completely defeated its opponents there. The frequency of the encampments between Ballasalla and Ballanicholas favours the former theory. An army which could keep the invaders in check so long and so stubbornly, and which would be constantly receiving reinforcements from the country behind, could hardly be driven from so strong a position by an enemy with which it appears to have coped on not very unequal terms before.
The circular fort in the marsh, on the east, was no doubt intended to facilitate an attack on the flank, but only the outline of this fort is now to be seen, so that it would seem to have been forcibly destroyed before the lines of circumvallation had time to become consolidated ; that, also, would indicate that the invaders were unsuccessful in their attempt to force the lines of the native army.
Dreamland is about two miles from Crosby Station by road, and St. Patrick's Chair is about half way; but tourists coming out by train are advised to walk home by Mount Murray, so as not to miss the other view.
Coming out by a conveyance, visitors will do well to visit the picturesque village of Foxdale, which also has its water- falls, known as the "Hamilton Falls," really one of the finest in the Island; but, lying by the side of the main road, it has not attracted the notice of the public as the falls in the glens,
The beautiful glen and waterfalls of Glen Meay can be conveniently visited on the return journey from Peel to Douglas. Departing by the Kirk Patrick Road, we cross the river by a picturesquely situated bridge, and enter a broad level plain - the dried up estuary of the Neb in olden times. The first conspicuous object on the hill to the right is a building rightly described as looking "something like a dismantled lighthouse." It is, in fact, a tower erected as a monument, and at its base there is a small burying-ground. From the inscription on the tombs, we find that Mr Corrin, the pro-prietor of Knockaloe-beg estate, and his wife were buried there. As the burial of a Manxman elsewhere than in the consecrated churchyards is of very rare occurrence, we will just mention, in passing by this landmark, the occasion of this eccentric proceeding by the Corrin family. Although the great bulk of the country people of the Island are Dissenters, they, nevertheless, retain many prejudices which they fear to break through. A generation or so ago, a Manx Dissenter who contemplated being buried without the offices of the Church by an ordained minister, and elsewhere than in consecrated ground, would have been considered a very daring person. The Mr Corrin in question was a Dissenter, differing from the generality of Insular Dissenters. He was an Independent, and having very strong opinions, he carried them out by being instrumental in inducing the Rev. Samuel Haining, highly respected in his day, to take up his residence here. He and his friends founded the Independent Chapel in Athol-street, Douglas, which has disappeared within recent years, to be followed by the handsome church possessed by the sect in Buck's-road, Douglas. Old Mr Corrin generally drove his ten miles to service on Sundays ; and, to teach his countrymen that they could not only live but might be buried beyond the shadow of the Church, he prepared the tower on the highest spot on his estate, as a burial monument, and, by his directions, both himself and his wife were laid in this unconsecrated ground. Until the opening of a Wesleyan burial ground at Peel, of late years, the Corrin burial ground was the only one unconsecrated by the "Holy Church" in the Isle of Man. An Englishman, at this date, can scarcely realise how great a shock this was, at the time, to the prevalent feelings of the Manx country people, and many misgivings were expressed about the direful consequences that would result from what appeared to be an irreligious proceeding. The country people could not understand the feeling which induced a man of strong conscientious opinions to carry them into practice in this way, and so they called the tower " Corrin's Folly," a name it retains to this day.
The drive from Peel to Glen Meay is a very pleasant one. The road leads through a pretty valley, well cultivated ; and Glen Meay, which translated means the "Vale of Luxuriance," 'is soon reached. The village is a small one. It contains two inns, and close to the fall is the Waterfall Hotel. In order to reach the fall the tourist must pass through the hotel grounds. The fall, which is represented in our illustra- tion, is not large, but the scenery is simply exquisite. The bowering trees and ferns give so much variety and picturesque effect that the beauty of the scene is rendered perfect.
An old rough cart-road leads through the glen to the beach. Down here the scenery is very wild and picturesque. The stream runs over a rocky bed, from which spring high and almost perpendicular cliffs, clothed with vegetation. The beach at the foot of the glen is a charming spot, and there is a fine bathing ground. The rock scenery is grand in the extreme, and to the north there are some very large caves, accessible only on foot when the tideislow. At other times they can be reached in boats, arrangements for the hire of which should be made at the hotel, or at some of the cottages in the village.
Our road back from Glen Meay is through a pleasant district, hilly and cultivated. We pass the base of the Slieu Whallin mountain (the Hill of the Whelp), which is said to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered witch, never visible to mortal sight, but heard every night in strange howlings and mournful echoes. The woman was tried for witchcraft, and condemned to die by being put into a barrel with iron spikes driven round the inside and pointing inwards ; and, thus secured, was rolled by her own weight from the top to the bottom of the hill. We emerge on the high-road again, at St. John's, and thence back to Douglas by the way we came, taking either train or road for it.
St. John's, 8; miles; Glen Meay, 12 miles; Dalby (Niarbyl), 14 miles ; Foxdale, 20 miles; St. Mark's, 23 miles; 3 Douglas, 30 miles.
Although one of the most delightful drives in the Island, this is so much out of the beaten track that it is very seldom done either by tourists or residents. It is a long journey, but it is well worth the doing, presenting as it does a variety of valley and mountain, inland and rocky sea coast scenery very seldom met with in the course of a single day's journey.
The excursion as far as St. John's is precisely the same as that described in our account of the journey to Peel by road. At the railway station at St. John's, cross the railway and turn to the right, passing along the base of Slieu Whallin mountain, the stream coming down from Foxdale bounding the road. After a while this river is joined by that coming down from Glen Helen, and these two streams form the Neb river, at the mouth of which is the town of Peel. A little below the junction of the two rivers the road winds to, the left, and soon afterwards the old church of the parish of Patrick is reached. This is an unpretending structure, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1715 by Bishop Wilson. Ascending the hill leading from the church we have on the right the high land surmounted by " Corrin's Folly," while in front is the Dalby hill, over which peeps the top of the Cronk-ny-Irey Lhaa mountain. We are now in the home of the Manx Fairies - Glen Rushen - and if the tourist enter into conversation with the cottagers he may glean many a tale of "fairy lore." A short distance from here is the village of Glen Meay, which, together with its waterfall and glen, we have described in the previous chapter. If the tourist has time he should not fail to visit the fall and walk down the glen to the sea shore. From here, too, South Barrule can be ascended ; to do this is a pleasant journey up to the Glen Rushen, reputed to be the home of the Phynodderee. From the top of the glen a road may be taken which leads to Foxdale.
When at Glen Meay, if time will permit, the tourist should proceed to Niarbyl Point, which commands a magnificent stretch of rocky coast scenery. Resuming our journey at Glen Meay village, a steep hill is ascended, and from here the road runs along the side of Dalby mountain. If the day is at all clear, the Scotch and Irish coasts will be plainly visible from here. When we arrive at Dalby village we are only a short distance from the Niarbyl Point. The scene there is grand in the extreme. The rocks are worn into all sorts of hollows, into which the sea is continually roaring. Immediately to the left is Niarbyl Bay. Then comes the Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, rising to a height of nearly 1,500 feet. Further south the lonely creek of Fleshwick is visible, dominated over by the burly and precipitous headland of Bradda; and, further south again, loom the towering cliffs of the Calf, rising sheer from the water to a height of several hundreds of feet.
Leading from Dalby village a branch road to the right conducts to the Dalby Lhag (a steep glen), and then winds up Carran's Hill, and so on to the Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, near the foot of which is an old treen chapel, said to be the burying place of the old kings of Man. If, however, the tourist is in a carriage, it is scarcely advisable to take this road, which is, in places, dangerously rough and steep. Keep the direct road, which ascends the hill, leaving the Dalby Lhag Glen on the right. A heavy pull up brings us to the Round Table, a stretch of breezy upland lying between the South Barrule and Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa mountains. From here a fine view is had down Glen Rushen valley, with the Slieu Whallin, Greeba, Sartfell, and other mountains in the distance. At the top of the Round Table there are four roads - -one leading, round Cronk-ny-Irey-Lhaa, to Colby and Port Erin; a second, round by the south of Barrule mountain, and down to Grenaby, and thence to Ballasalla, and so on to Castletown or Douglas ; and a third road leads down to Arbory, coming out on the main road near Arbory Parish Church. If the tourist follow our directions, however, he will take the fourth road, which leads along the western side of South Barrule, and on to Foxdale. The view commanded from this road is really magnificent. After a while we arrive at the main road leading from Castletown to Peel. Here is a choice of roads. If we turn to the left we descend the valley into St. John's. We can go round the north side of the Granite mountain, across the Eary and Dreem Lang, and down to Mount Murray ; or we can descend towards St. Mark's and Castletown. We take the latter. After descending about a mile towards Castletown, we come to a road which leads to the left. This takes us to St. Mark's Church, parsonage, and village, standing on rising ground, commanding a view of wild heath land, covered with granite boulder. This spot is alluded to by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of " Peveril of the Peak." He states that an old Danish fort, called the Black Fort, existed here, but little, if any, traces of it now remain. A drive of a couple of miles or so brings us to Mount Murray, where we have another choice of roads. We can descend along the eastern side of the Slieu Chiarn to the main road between Peel and Douglas at Crosby Station, or we can turn to the right, and get down to the same highway either at the road leading past the Braddan Vicarage, or at the Quarter Bridge ; or, if we go still further, we can get home by the Castletown road, passing through Kewaigue village.
This favourite place of resort for tourists and pin-nic parties, is situated on the high-road from Douglas or Peel, through St. John's, to Ramsey. It is 94 miles from Douglas, 2miles from St. John's, 134 from Ballacraine, and about 4 miles from Peel. Access to it is easy from every part of the Island. First-rate macadamised roads, quite equal to the best in England, converge to Ballacraine from all parts, whence a short walk or drive of one-and-a-half miles, through a must beautiful country, will bring the visitor to the entrance of the Glen; but the easiest mode of access is by rail to St. John's Station, from which omnibuses occasionally run to Glen Helen.
This beautiful.glen was purchased some years ago by Mr Marsden, of Liskeard Castle, near Liverpool, and planted with upwards of one million trees. He also built the picturesque Swiss Cottage at the mouth of the Glen, and, as an approach to it, he threw over the river the suspension bridge which forms so conspicuous an object in the view from the road just before entering the Glen. Both the cottage and the suspension bridge are represented in our illustration. It is in honour of his daughter, Miss Helen Marsden, that this glen received the name of Glen Helen. It ultimately became the property of the Glen Helen Hotel and Estate Company, who, seeing how well fitted it is, by its extraordinary natural beauty, to become a popular place of resort, have converted it into a kind of public pleasure grounds, and it is now one of the most attractive and popular resorts in the whole Island. The Swiss Cottage is fitted up as an hotel, while the glen itself has been opened out in all directions. Walks have been formed in all parts of the glen, rustic bridges thrown across the streams wherever required ; and summer houses erected wherever a cool shade is likely to be desired, or a beautiful view obtained. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Swiss Cottage the sloping banks are carefully levelled, and laid out partly as orna- mental shrubberies and gardens, and partly as play-grounds, where the visitors may amuse themselves with lawn tennis, croquet, quoits, swings, &c.
As we have shown in the chapter headed "To Peel by Road" and "To Peel by Rail," to get to Glen Helen, if we go by road we proceed as far on the highway to Peel as the Ballacraine Inn; or, if we go by rail, we get off at the St. John's station.
Quitting, at Ballacraine, the highway from Douglas to Peel, we turn up a road to the right passing almost at once into the very heart of the high mountain system of the Isle of Man. This mountain system consists of two parallel ranges separated by long narrow winding valleys, of which that we are entering is one of the principal. Soon the sides of the valley begin to contract, and the hills to grow higher and bolder in their outlines, while through openings in the hills or over the lower heights, we catch glimpses of the dark tops of the higher summits of the ranges of Slieu Whallin, South Barrule, and Greeba. About half a mile from Ballacraine, the road descends a gentle declivity, at the foot of which we come upon a small stream, which, after skirting the hills on the right, takes a sudden turn across the road and disappears down an opening to the left, coming out again at St. John's, where, joining another stream from Foxdale, it turns westward to Peel. This stream is the Peel river, and with its winding course of nine or ten miles is one of the largest streams in the Island. It rises mainly along the western slopes of the Greeba range, the offshoots of which form the hills on our right, and, after draining a rather complex system of mountain glens, including Glen Helen, with its various branches, flows into the sea at Peel. At present, shrunk by the summer drought, its waters scarcely cover half its broad pebby bed, and it may seem to the visitor an insignificant little stream, but in winter or rainy weather it presents a very different appearance. Another half mile brings us to a bend in the road, where a small stream flowing down a beautiful little glen to the left runs into the main stream. From this spot there is a view of the lower half of the valley, backed in the distance by the dark, heather-clad top of Slieu Whallin. Beyond, this point the appearance of the valley undergoes a decided change : it rapidly loses its gentler outlines, and assumes the more majestic features of a highland glen. On both sides the hills rise up steeply above the road in bold and often well-wooded buffs, while the river becomes more and more a mere mountain torrent, sometimes winding peacefully through narrow fields of ripening corn and waving grass, and at other times dashing noisily against the foot of the eastern hills. A mile through mountain scenery, as wild and rugged as any in the Island, brings us opposite the mouth of a lovely glen, deep and sheltered among lofty hills, covered with thick waving woods almost to their summits. Right in front, the river, sweeping round the base of the southern hills, is crossed by the suspension bridge, while beyond, half buried amid masses of many-tinted foliage, gleam the quaint gables and chimneys of the prettiest and most romantic Alpine chalet ever seen out of sight of the Swiss mountains. This is Glen Helen; and turning off the main road, which pursues its way towards Ramsey through a steep and narrow gorge in the western hills, we pass through an open gate to the door of the Swiss Cottage. - After passing through a gate on to an extensive lawn, laid out for croquet and other games, we proceed to the upper glens and the falls, there being several roads open to us. If we are lovers of the beautiful in nature, and not pressed for time, we can climb the hill to the left by a zig-zag path through the fir wood, marked '' Road to Pic-nic Hill." From its summit there is a splendid view of the lower half of the glen and the country beyond on all sides - the deep mountain glen gradually widening into the valley of the Peel river - the silvery little stream winding through the thick woods, the green sward below dotted with moving groups whose laughter chimes in faintly with the sylvan sounds around us. Right in front rises the steep hill known as Earey Veg, densely wooded along its lower ranges, and dark with heather and gorse about its summit. Further to the left is the Earey Moar, and beyond it rise the dark mountains of the Greeba range, ridge above ridge, until they culminate in the top of Greeba itself, nearly 1,600 feet above the sea. Turning to the right we look down the valley we have just passed through, shut in on one side by Earey Veg and other hills of the Greeba range, and on the other side by the high rocky hills of the western mountains, and see its river flowing peacefully along towards the distant Slieu Whallin, whose bluff head lifts itself above the lower ridges in the foreground. At the mouth of the glen a rocky projection of the western hills, called " The Craig," rears its gorse-covered head 400 or 500 feet above the road, overhanging the picturesque white gables of the Swiss Cottage, while between it and the hill on which we are standing a wild mountain gorge opens into the valley and pours its tributary streamlet into the main river just above the suspension bridge.
Quitting the brow of ' The Pic-nic Hill,' we have now a choice of roads before us. We may wander along the crest of the hill forming the northern side of the glen, and, after enjoying a breezy mountain walk of about amile, descend again into the glen just above the falls ; or we may followa winding path through the wood, which, after a pleasant ramble among the fragrant fir trees, will bring us into the road lead- ing to the lower glen about half-way to the falls. Or we may descend by the way we came up, and penetrate the glen from the lawn in front of the Swiss Cottage. Starting along the glen road from the lawn, we wander leisurely along it on our way to the falls. The walk through this part of the glen is very beautiful ; the bright woods delicious with the warm summer air and overflowing with the music of nature, the rustling of leaves, the murmur of rushing waters, the twittering of birds, the big trout leaping in the deep pools and quiet reaches of the river, and the speckled wagtails fluttering among the waterworn boulders ; while, along the paths on both sides of the glen, groups of visitors pass in and out among the trees, their gay parti-coloured clothes flashing in the sunlight, and their merry voices mingling sweetly with the woodland sounds around us ; while some of the disciples of old Isaac Walton may be seen fly fishing in the prettiest trout stream that the sportsman could desire.
After a while the glen rapidly narrows, and the river, leaving a narrow shelving bank on its further side, rushes nosily along the foot of the hill on this side. Rounding a projecting spur of the hill, we emerge from the wood; and from this to the falls the road is almost free from trees, and lies along a steep gorse-covered hill sloping rapidly down to the river. A short distance further, and, turning a bend in the road, the descending waters become visible through the trees and bushes. Crossing the stream by an iron planked bridge, we find ourselves right in front of the lowest fall. At this point the glen divides into two branches, which run back into the mountains with a rapidly increasing slope, and down each runs a small stream, which, uniting Just below the falls, form the Glen Helen river. Both these glens, together with the surrounding heights, are thickly wooded, and the scene in every direction is wild and forest-like. Right in the centre of the view, a huge craggy rock rears itself amid the clustering trees to the height of seventy to eighty feet above our heads ; while right and left of it are the mouths of the two secondary glens. On our left the hill rises perpendicularly, rock above rock, for a hundred feet or more, the upper part covered with clustering trees and bushes; the lower half bare rock, smooth as a rounded pebble out of the stream, and worn by the long continued action of the falling water into numerous fantastic shapes and hollows. Between these two rocks is a deep sloping fissure, across the top of which a bridge is thrown, resting firmly upon projecting ledges of the opposite cliffs, about fifty feet above the foot of the fall, and out of this fissure, about twenty-five feet below the bridge, the river, even in this dry weather a considerable stream of water, rushes and flings itself heavily into a deep double basin, hollowed by the falling water out of the rock at the foot of the cliff. Standing on the bridge placed over the stream at the point where, already a moderately sized river, it emerges from the outermost of these basins, we obtain a splendid view of this, the lower Rhenass Fall. The high wooded cliff on the right, the precipitous hill-side on the left, half covered with dark fir woods, the half bare waterworn rock, the brimming pools of clear nut-brown water, flowing in a calm current beneath our feet, the white flashing water, des- cending solidly from a height of 25 feet into the inner pool, and the strange roar of the falling water, form a picture of romantic beauty and interest which we shall not easily forget. Seating ourselves on a rock at the brink of the outer pool, we may drink in the beauty of the scene - watch the changing hues of the falling waters, and mark the varying cadences in their hoarse roar, and wonder what it must look like in winter, when the river, swollen with rain, pours down from the mountains and dashes over the falls with a roar which can be heard at the Swiss Cottage, a mile away. By and by, we begin to speculate respecting the origin of the curious hollows and projections in the water- worn rock, and as we examine more closely the rocks on both sides of the fall and above it, we see more and more clearly that at some remote time the entire chasm below the bridge was a solid continuous rock, over which the river fell, and that it has been ever since slowly eating its way through more than half the cliff, and thus becoming a mere fragment of the original waterfall. From where we sit we can see the successive stages of the slow erosion both in the sides of the fissure in the cliff out of which the stream rushes, and also in the bare rock to the left of the fall. Thus, the river rushes out of the fissure in an oblong direction, causing the water to dash against the opposite rock to the left. This, we see clearly, has always been the case, and this unceasing action of the water upon the rock would, in course of time, gradually wear away its substance, and form a hollow in it, deep or shallow according to the length of time the water continued to act upon it. Well, now, along the face of the rock against which the descending waters have always fallen, we can see a beautiful series of deep holes, hollowed by the stream as it fell from the different heights ; the first, a little below the level of the biidge crossing the falls, showing that the river originally fell from a point considerably higher than the bridge, and the last is now in process of formation by the waters of the present fall. Than these nothing could be more distinctly marked and conclusive, and they furnish tu everyone, in the least conversant with such matters, indubitable proofs that the fissure in the rock out of which the river issues has been formed by the slow action of the water itself, and that, originally, the river fell from a point considerably higher up the cliff than the level of the bridge over the fall. Such is the result of our observation from the foot of the lower, or, as it is usually called, "The Rhenass Fall," this branch of the stream being emphatically the main stream, and, consequently, the Rhenass river: let us now mount to the top of the cliff, and see how appearances there harmonise with this conclusion.
To ascend to the top of the central cliff, we must climb a zig-zag path cut in the right flank, and, in so doing, we pass through as lovely a bit of woodland as it is possible to imagine, forming a picture of natural beauty it would be difficult to equal. A few steps to the right, and we stand upon the bridge above the fall, and look down upon the swiftly gliding mass of water, leaping from beneath our feet to dash headlong into the heaving pool below. Turning round, the second fall is before us. The river, issuing out of a deep winding passage hollowed out of the rock by the stream, falls over a ledge, about 12 feet high, into adeep dark pool 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, and probably 12 feet deep, smoothly polished by the water, and worn dur- ing its formation into curious bosses and hollows, like the rocks belonging to the first fall. From this basin the stream flows alonga deep winding channel, worn in the rock, and bordered by high craggy banks covered with trees and bushes, to the top of the first fall. Above the second fall there are three others, smaller in almost every respect, of the respective heights of 12, to, and 25 feet, all falling into deep waterworn basins, and connected with each other by deep winding channels hollowed by thestreamoutoftherock. With a glance at the wild mountain valley above the falls, and its quiet river flowing smoothly along, beneath straggling rowan trees, and the distant mountains in the background, we turn away, and, mounting the wooded bank to the right, cross the summit of the rocky hill which divides the two upper glens from each other. Right on the top of this hill we pass a summer-house, fitted with rustic tables and seats for the accommodation of visitors. In its immediate neighbourhood too, are many of the finest views in the entire glen, and right on the edge of the crag has been builta picturesque summer- house, commanding a magnificent view of the glen. A few yards from this, the path begins to descend into the more southerly of the upper glens, and, at the point where we begin to descend, we obtain a beautiful view of its wooded side High rocky banks, covered withthick, waving woods, of every variety of hue, rising precipitously from the narrow shelving bed, down which tumbles and rolls a merry, bubbling streamlet, whose waters now sparkle in the bright sunlight and now hide behind their rocky banks or beneath the dark shade of the overhanging trees. Suspended high above the stream, a light rustic bridge connects the bank on which we stand with the opposite side of the glen, and leads to a picturesque hexagonal belvidere, perched on a steep bluff, round whose rocky base the stream winds. We descend the bluff, and cross the stream by a second rustic bridge. Passing along through the woods by a path on the opposite bank, we emerge, at length, into the main glen at the foot of the lower falls. Or, if we have time to linger amid these beautiful scenes, instead of descending the bluff from " The Round House," as it is called, we may ascend the hill by one of the many paths open to us, and, after traversing the wood on the south side of the glen, emerge on to the main road at humerous points between this spot and the Swiss Cottage.
Having ascended the glen along its northern side we should recommend the visitor, for the sake of variety, to return along its southern side ; this can be done by taking the path through the trees along the left side of the river. We may leave this path at almost any point, either to cross the river to its right bank, or mount the hill side, or we may keep to it until we come to the bowling alley, and there cross the river to the Swiss Cottage. The appearance of the river bed from this path, especially in its upper part, is particularly interesting. We can here see how deeply the stream has eaten into the hard slate rock, plainly showing that, while the water was hard at work on the cliff at the falls, it was not idle in the glen itself. It is interesting also to notice the strange forms which the varying hardness of the rock has caused it to assume in its struggle with the devouring water. In many places, where the rock is of unusual hardness, as, for example, where it is largely composed of quartz, the stream has worn away the softer slate rock, and left the harder quartz standing up in its course, leaving for itself only a narrow passage, just sufficient to allow the ordinary summer current to pass through. In winter, and in times of flood, the increased volume of the river, unable thus to escape, will dash over such a barrier, and form a rapid, or a small cascade. Wandering thus among the trees by the river's bank, we may gather rare plants or ferns. The 'lowering fern, which, in the Isle of Man, grows to a great size, is especially plentiful in this glen, and may be observed in many a sequestered nook on our way.
Since the property came into the possession of the Glen Helen and Estate Company, Limited, many improvements. have been made. The Swiss Cottage has been altered into a first-class hotel ; the restaurant, a beautiful building of a scenery, affording accommodation for dinners, luncheons, &c., has been erected ; and this spot altogether is one of the most enjoyable resorts on the Island.
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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
The Editor |
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