[from Black's Guide, c.1888]

GLEN MEAY, with its beautiful waterfall and grounds, about ¾ m. from the sea. The stream rises in S. Barrule ; but its purity is sullied by passing near the Beckwith Lead Mine. The fall, though not so high as some others, is certainly one of the most beautiful. Leaving this pleasant resting-place, we may take either the easier carriage road to Peel or walk along the brow of the cliff, having Corrin's Tower for a landmark. Near a slate quarry are the traces of the traditionary Well of St. Patrick, now scarcely discernible. The impression of the scene is deepened here by the thunder of the waves below as they beat into the hollows of the rocky cliffs.

Corrin's Tower, formerly called "Corrin's Folly", is about 50 ft. high; the height of the hill it stands upon is about 500 ft. above the sea. It was built in 1850, by the late Mr. Thomas Corrin of Peel, as a family burial-place. It was also used by other Nonconformists until an unconsecrated cemetery was opened by the Wesleyans. The tower is now in the charge of the Board of Trade as a landmark, and laid down on the charts accordingly.

We descend into Peel near the station.

PORT ST. MARY,

It is important also on account of its fishing fleet, employing about 800 men and boys who live in and near the village. Its little harbour offers shelter to many vessels besides its own fleet, A breakwater, recently built, gives good anchorage in deep water to vessels of large size. The foundation of this work was laid by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, during his visit in January 1882. The event was noteworthy owing to the importance of the breakwater, and also as this was the first stone laid by royal hands in Man. The insular Government contributed about £16,000 towards its cost.

Besides the church which was lately erected, the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel, This village has the advantage, not unfrequently wanting in small seaside resorts, of good sanitary arrangements, and these will, no doubt, greatly conduce to its popularity as a watering-place. There are two hotels - comfortable, but unpretending - the Commercial and the Temperance, besides refreshment rooms and lodging-houses, a daily mail, telegraph, banks, and shops for all ordinary supplies. The fishermen have lately established a co-operative store. There is a steamship company with one vessel chiefly employed in carrying fish to the English markets.

Within easy walking distance are the Chasms, Spanish Head, Port Erin, the Mull Hills, and the interesting villages of Cregneesh, Howe, Fleshwick, and Fistard ; while the whole coast abounds in picturesque beauty and geological curiosities.

CREGNEESH is the most southerly village, and one of the most primitive. But where there were till lately only a dozen native cottages, many modern houses are springing up, and there is a neat little new church. At HOWE, ½ m. beyond, is a Wesleyan Chapel. The whole district affords very fine prospects.

Near Cregneesh, on the way to Port Erin, is a stone circle, about 45 ft. in diameter. This differs from most circles, in being double and divided into spaces about 8 ft. long. These were probably graves.

Port Erin is often called Port Iron, probably from Ierne, the ancient original of Hibernia (Ireland), which lies directly W.

Like Port St. Mary, this little village is an excellent centre for visiting the rock-scenery and other objects of interest in the S.W. of the Island, The bay is enclosed by the Cassels or Castles on its S, side, and by the Bradda Hills, ending in the grand promontory of Bradda Head, on the N. There is good fishing in the bay.

Port Erin is the terminus of the S. branch of the Isle of Man Railway. There are two hotels - the Falcon's Nest and the Marina, besides refreshment rooms, small shops, and lodging-houses, many of the cottagers devoting their houses to these uses.

In order to render the port a harbour of refuge for vessels of all sizes, a breakwater upwards of 950 ft. long has been constructed from the designs of Sir John Coode, C.E. Its consists of solid concrete blocks weighing from 14 to 17 tons each, thrown at random into the sea, upon a bed of rubble. This structure, with subsequent works, cost about £80,000 ; but it has disappointed expectation, having failed to afford adequate protection even to the insular fishing fleet. For convenience of landing, a low- water pier has been constructed, 310 ft. long, parallel to the quay.

Edwin Waugh, in the Pretty Island Bay, says of the village :-

It is a pleasant nook of seanide life at the head of the bay. But as I look seaward, the headlands grow wilder as they recede, ending in scenes of savage grandeur among the storm-worn crags which front the open sea,

"The cliffs and promontories there,
Front to front, and broad and bare,
Each beyond each, with glant feet
Advanclng, asin haste to moet
The shatter'd fortress, whence the Dane
Blew his loud blast and rush'd in vain,
Tyrant of the drear domain,"

"Those grim sentinel crags have seen strange scenes of storm and battle and shipwreck during their long watch over the entrance to Port Erin. Oft has the ancient Dane steered his nailed bark, laden with son-robbers, into that little bay, and he has oft been wrecked pon that craggy coast. Spanish Head overfrowned the destruction of part of the great Armada. One of the guns of that armament now Hes upon the terrace in front of the hotel at Port Erin, thickly encrusted with rust. Many a noble ship has gone down in the wild Sound, between the island and the Calf of Man. ...About the middle of the scattered village, a modest chapel atanita Ina little patch of ground enclosed by low white walls. It stands there, sweet and simple, by the side of the mountain road, about one hundred feet above the head of the tide; and it isa pleasing feature in the scene. The village is all under the eye from the place where I am sitting, and the quiet play of out-door life going on there is novel and dreamy-looking. The whole scene is picturesquely varied-the wild mountain tops, clustered in the direction of Fleshwick, as if in solemn council ; the craggy head- lands at the entrance of the bay, with the blue sea heaving between ; the smooth beach, where the tide is singing and surging up; the quiet, wandering village; and the fertile plain, rolling away between the hills in picturesque undulations, landward. Port Erin is enchanted ground"

St, CATHARINE'S WELL, a spring rising in the sand at the head of Port Erin Bay, is named from a religious house formerly near it. But the miraculous powers once ascribed to it are no longer discoverable.

The MILNER TOWER, which crowns Bradda Head, is a memorial of the late Mr. Milner, the head of the firm so renowned for the manufacture of safes, who built a residence here. His good works for this neighbourhood are commemorated in the following inscription over the door :- "To William Milner in grateful acknowledg- ment of his many charities to the poor of Port Erin, and of his never-tiring efforts for the benefit of the Manx fishermen. This Tower was erected by public subscrip- tion, A.D. 1871."

Among Mr. Milner's benefactions was a bequest of funds for the building and endowment of a church at Port. Erin. Bradda Head (766) stands out grandly ; its almost perpendicular sides are the habitat of innumerable sea-birds, while the sea dashing around it and enveloping it in foam forms a majestic picture.

From the Falcon's Nest Hotel at Port Erin there are good footpaths the whole distance, 1½ m. ; and it is less difficult than it seems to ascend the Head from Fleshwick Bay.

The copper mines worked by the Romans may still be traced on the face of the cliff, but there is difficulty and danger in approaching them. The, modern mine extends under the sea. Copper and lead are both found, the former both as pyrites and silicate; the lead is chiefly galena.

The thatched cottage at the foot of the hill belonged to the late A. W. Adams, Esq., Clerk of the Rolls.

The keys of the Tower are kept at the hotels, and also in the village of Bradda.

GRAMMAH HILL, between Port Erin and Fleshwick Bay, although so low, affords a very fine view, both sides of the Island being visible from it.

RUSHEN CHURCH (Kirk Christ Rushen) is about 1 m. N.E. of Port Erin. It contains a fine window in three panels aS a memorial of the late Mr. E.M. Gawne. The subjects of the paintings are the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection,

Near Ballacregyan Farm are the Giant's Quoiting Stones, 10 ft. high, on a hill called Cronk Skibbylt. The giants are said to have thrown these from the Mull Hills,

On the shore, N. of St. Mary's Bay, passing Gansey Point, is Kentraugh, the mansion of the late E, M. Gawne, Esq., formerly Speaker of the House of Keys; opposite this is a warren of black rabbits. Beyond this and a disused mill we find Strandhall, where are the remains of a forest once submerged, and a spring so strongly impregnated with lime as to petrify moss, etc., into travertine ; and the low gravelly shore is cemented into conglomerate.

POOLVASH BAY (Bay of Death), is shortly reached, where there are quarries of black marble (see Geology p. 97), of which tombstones, chimney pieces, etc. are largely made. The steps of St. Paul's Cathedral are made of some which was presented by Bishop Wilson in 1706. Crossing the stream near the farmhouse, another kind of rock occurs, rich in fossils. This is Balladoole Bay, from which Castletown is 1½ m. We may return hence to Port St. Mary or Port Erin by train.

Near Ballagawne is a fine garden-ferns, flowers, and fruit with vineries; this may be visited without charge.

The coast scenery is rich and interesting all along, and it affords many a pleasant nook for a picnic.

THE CHASMS, 1½ m. from Port St. Mary. There are several ways to this somewhat dangerous locality, which Waugh truly describes as "the most remarkable bit of scenery in the whole Island" - either from St. Mary's, passing Fistard and along the steep rocky path by the old mine, or along Lime Street, past the point and the old limekilns to the shore, thus reaching the cliffs and Perwick Bay by a zigzag path. Here are some highly interesting caves. Thence is a footpath along the cliffs. The easiest access to the chasms is from the refreshment house just opposite. Besides ten or twelve clefts, some a yard wide, dividing the rock to its base, there are innumerable cavities, some of them so hidden by gorse and heather that great caution is necessary to avoid them. Looking down, the abyss is so gloomy that we cannot see its end ; while on the shore are vast masses which once were part of the cliff, and many huge columns inclining outwards seem ready to follow them.

The front view of the chasms is best obtained by boat. Landing in Stacka Bay, the ascent to the top of the cliff, though steep, is not difficult. Going by carriage, it is best to alight at Cregneesh, from which a short walk across the fields brings us to the same place.

At the N.E. corner of Stacka Bay is the famous "Sugar Loaf", an isolated stack 150 ft. high, once, no doubt, a part of the main cliff. Innumerable sea-birds and the wild dashing of the waves add much to the animation of the scene. In calm weather a boat may be taken through the cavern in the rock called Fairy Hole, the other end or "back-door" of which is just below the chasms.

FLESHWICK BAY, about 1½ m. from Port Erin and 2 m. from Bradda village, is a wild solitary scene. From its glen we may ascend Carnane (900). The summit of Bradda Head may be reached from the bay by a good walker in half an hour.

FAIRY HILL or Cronk-na-Mooar (the Big Hill), near Four Roads, is only 40 ft. high, and 50 yards in diameter. Being surrounded by the remains of a ditch and a parapet, it is supposed to have been a fort. Near it Reginald, son of Olave the Black, waa slain by the knight Ivar in 1249.

SPANISH HEAD, the moat southerly point on the mainland, was long supposed to be so called from part of the Spanish Armada having been wrecked there. (See p. 10.) It is not safe to venture very near its sloping edge, for its face is nearly perpendicular, At its base are many little bays and caves,

Two other remarkable rocks, the Burrough and the Eye, then come in sight beyond the Calf.

The SOUND, which separates the Calf from the mainland, may be reached by a walk of about 2 m. along the cliffs, or by road from Cregneesh. Its narrowest part is less than half a mile wide; it is divided into two unequal channels by the rocky islet called Kitterland, that between the islet and the mainland is only 50 yards wide at low water; the other, called the Calf Sound, is about 200 yards across. But there are many sunken rocks, besides a shoal called Thousla's Rock, and, as the current rushes through at the rate of from 5 to 10 m. an hour, there is often much danger in crossing it. Indeed, in stormy weather no boat can venture. Thousla Rock has upon it an iron frame or cage, intended partly as a beacon, partly as a refuge for shipwrecked sailors.

Boats may be hired with experienced men, at Port St. Mary or Port Erin ; and in calm weather the sail across is well worth doing, especially as the whole of that part of the coast scenery which surpasses all the rest in wild grandeur, can only be seen to advantage from the sea.

KITTERLAND has an area of 1½ acres. Its name is thus accounted for:- In the days of King Olave Goddardson, a great Norwegian baron, Kitter, while hunting upon. the Calf, heard his cook Eaoch, whom he had left at home, screaming to him that the house on South Barrule, 10 miles off, was on fire. Kitter was so eager to get home that he disregarded the dangers of the channel, where his boat was wrecked on the rock which has ever since borne his name.

THE CALF ISLAND,- Its Manx name Colloo is perhaps an imitation of the cry of the puffin, formerly found upon it abundantly, but now extinct. The islet is about 5 m. in circuit, and contains above 600 acres, mostly grass, or rocky land on which rabbits abound, a small patch around its solitary farmhouse being under tillage. There were formerly two lighthouses, whose towers remain ; but they were disused, as the fogs and mists so often obscured them. They are now superseded by the magnificent lighthouse on the Chickens Rock, which is about 1 m. S. of the Calf.

On the highest point (360) are the ruins of a very ancient chapel; some Scandinavian monumental stones found in it are now at Castletown. These are thus described :- This is supposed to be part of a coffin-lid, which was found in the ground at about 2 feet depth, near the old ruinous chapel, which was destroyed for the sake of the stones. The figure on the right was probably that of the soldier piercing Christ's side. It is undoubtedly very ancient.

A ruinous hut is said to have been the abode of Thomas Bushell, who was engaged in some mining enterprises in connection with Lord Bacon ; and, being ruined by his patron's sudden fall, he retired to this desolate solitude as a hermitage, hoping to lengthen his life indefinitely by following the great philosopher's directions as to diet and regimen. But the experiment seems to have ended .in his death within three years. He says of himself :-

"In obedience to my dead lord's philosophical advice, I resolved to make a perfect experiment upon myself for the obtaining a long and healthy life (most necessary for such a repentance as my former debauchedness required), as by a parsimonious diet of herbs, oil, q@ustard, and honey, with water sufficient, most like to that of our long-lived forefathers before the flood (as was conceived by that lord), which I most strictly observed, as if obliged by a religious vow, till Divine Providence called me to more active life.” -Blundell's MS. History.

Mr. Wood in his Account describes the house as the refuge of one who, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, "murdered a most beautiful lady in a fit of jealousy."

Aubrey, in his Anecdotes, describes Bushell as the Chancellor's amanuensis, and in his 26th year, when his great master's death led him to become "the recluse of the Calf." Tennison adds, "Bushell was a very strange man, and has told so many improbable stories of his master, and so many silly ones of himself, that what he says deserves no credit, further than as it agrees with other evidence." - Account of Lord Bacon's Works, p, 97.

The view from the Calf is most striking and varied. From Bushell's House we look down upon the stacks and the lighthouse, with the open sea as a background, while the grand cliffs of Spanish Head and the coast beyond are backed by the mountains of the interior in beautiful succession.

(For access to the Calf, see p. 72.)

THE CHICKENS ROCK AND LIGHTHOUSE.

This is supposed to be so named from having been the haunt of the stormy petrel, which the sailors call "Mother Carey's chickens," Others think that the form of the rock or reef, when exposed at low water, has some resemblance to a bird, and thus the name has been given. Being hidden at high water, it has caused many terrible wrecks. So, as the old lighthouses on the Calf were so often obscured by mist and fog, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, with the concurrence of the Board of Trade, appointed Messrs. Stevenson of Edinburgh to erect this admirable structure. Although the work could be carried on only during a few months in the year, and between the daily tides, it was completed between April 1869 and August 1874, and was first lighted on New Year's Day, 1875. It is built of pale gray granite from Dalbeattie, Dumfries; the stones were worked into shape at Port St. Mary. Its height is about 123 ft., its diameter at the base 42 ft., and at the top 16 ft. with a parabolic curvature; the tower is solid up to the doorway, above which are eight apartments, connected by ladders. The light is given bya large central lamp, around which eight lenses revolve so as to show every halfminute a bright glare, which is usually visible about 18 m. There are two large bells on the gallery, to be tolled during fogs.

BALLASALLA is a large village famous for its limekilns. It is one of the few places where Deemster's Courts were formerly held.

RUSHEN ABBEY.-A little way out of Ballasalla are these ancient ruins, embosomed in trees, venerable from their antiquity, and rich in association with those stirring old times when "the life of every great man was a romance." The tower and portions of the refectory and dormitory are tolerably perfect, and will repay examina- tion ; albeit the windows are square-headed, and the details are lost. The imagination will readily suggest the "deep solitudes and awful cells" in which the Cistercian monks of old sustained the austerities of that most rigorous order, and where they compiled that record of insular events which has come down to our times as the Chronicon Mannie.

Its enclosed grounds are now used as a nursery and fruit-garden, the refectory and dormitory being converted into storerooms for its produce, of which many tons are unnually preserved and exported. There is a carved coffin-lid of the 13th century, and fragments of carved-stone, with bones, are often turned up.

The Abbey, supposed to have been founded by Macmanus, a viceroy of Magnus of Norway, late in the 11th century, was not completed till the time of Edward III. Before this, Olave, in 1134, granted to Ivo of Furness, lands which had been offered to the monks of Rievaulx. It seems to have been first named St. Leoc's. But Manx kings and bishops had been interred before the appointment of its abbot was made by the Chapter of Furness Abbey. Within it were twelve Cistercian monks, who at first conformed to the usual rigour of their order, abstaining from meat, keeping the vows of silence, etc., wearing neither shoes, furs, nor linen ; but, as their revenues increased, their austerity was relaxed ; they then applied one-third of the tithes to education and the maintenance of the poor. The abbot was a baron, and, as such, held independent courts. Rushen Abbey was not dissolved till the later years of Elizabeth ; thus being among the latest. In 1610 its endowments were granted to William, the sixth lord of Man, by his payment of an annual acknowledgment.

CROSSAG BRIDGE.-This is very near the abbey. It is mentioned in some of the earliest insular records; its narrowness shows that its antiquity dates beyond the use of wheel carriages, when the pack-horse was the only means of conveyance.

In the neighbourhood are extensive quarries of lime- stone, which is burned here and used in all parts of the Island for building and agriculture.

MALEW, or ST. LUPUS'S CHURCH. - We reach this by following the descent of the stream. There is an ancient bell-tower and rude font, and the church is rich in monuments ; the earliest date is 1578. The chapel at King William's College, St. Mary's Church at Castletown, St. Mark's Chapel of Ease, and the schoolhouse at Grenaby ~ on the Silverburn, are all in this parish.

At ARBORY, about 2 m. W. of Rushen Abbey, was the Priory of Bechmaken, for Grey Friars, founded about 1373; all that remains is the portion now used as a barn.