[from Black's Guide, c.1888]

PEEL

(11 m. N.W. from Douglas, 16 m. 8.W. from Ramsey ; 12 m. N. of Castletown. Hotels: Peel Castle, The Royal, and Fenella, near the castle. Population, 3804 - 1871 males, 1933 females.)

anciently Holene, Halland, Holme Town, Holm Pile, or Peel Town; in Manx, Purt-ny-Hinshey (the Port of the Island), is at the mouth of the little river Neb, which rises in Sartfell. The railway and the high road from Douglas are both in the same valley, nearly parallel.

The chief points of interest in Peel are its ancient ruins and its fishing fleet. The streets are very narrow and irregular, and this, as well as the large cellars to many of the old houses, aided the smuggling which was in old times a general source of income throughout the Island, but nowhere more than in Peel, especially after its garrison was removed. When by an equalisation of duties the profits of smuggling ceased to be worth its risks, the town became very poor, but its prosperity revived by the honest prosecution of the fisheries and the manufactures dependent upon that valuable industry, - netting, rope, sail-cloth, and especially boatbuilding. The arrival or departure of the fleet, sometimes of 200 boats, of the best construction, well-manned and fitted, is a very lively and interesting sight. The mackerel fishing is chiefly on the S.W. of the Island from March to J une; the Manx herrings are taken from June to September ; after this the Peel boats work on the coast of Ireland to the end of the year. Abundance of cod and flat-fish are taken in their seasons. During the last 40 years the number of boats has risen from 70 to 200, and nowhere are there better vessels, either as to build or equipments ; 2000 men and boys are now employed, the capital invested being at least £100,000.

The castle and cathedral are on an islet of 7½ acres extent, called St. Patrick's Isle, now joined to the mainland by a substantial causeway of stone ; there is also a ferry- boat, by which, or by crossing the river near the railway station, the castle may be reached. The buildings are all enclosed by a wall of the 16th century. [1 Bishop Wilson gives 1500 as the date of its erection ; but Cumming ascribes it to Henry, third earl of Derby, 1593] The ruins are open on week-days from 9 a.m. till dusk, and on Sunday afternoons from 2 till 5. A flight of steps cut in the rock leads up to the castle, which is entered through a port- cullis, All that needs description has been shown for 30 years by the same non-commissioned officer, Sergeant Pauline, who relates their histories with the regulation exactness. Of the guardroom the following tale is told by Waldron :-

"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 guard-chamber, where, as soon as 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 apartment, 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 ; for I forgot to mention that the Mauthe Dhoo was always seen to come out from that passage at the close of 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 endeavoured 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 very reprobate manner for some time, he snatched up the keys and went out of the guard-room ; 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 as loud and noisy as he had been at leaving them, he was now become sober and silent enough, for he was never heard 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 signs 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 agonics more than are common in a natural death. The Mauthe Dhoo was, however, never seen after in the castle, nor would any one attempt to go through that passage - for which reason it was closed up and another way made. This accident happened about threescore years since, and I heard it attested by several, but especially by an old soldier, who assured me he had seen it oftener than he had then hairs on his head."

This tradition is thus referred to in the Lay of the Last Minstrel :-

" But none of all the astonished train
Were so dismayed as Deloraine !
His blood did freeze, his brain did burn,
'Twas feared his mind would ne’er return ;
For he was speechless, ghastly, wan,
Like him of whom the story ran,
That spake the spectre-hound in Man."

The most conspicuous parts of the ruins are those of the cathedral, of whose age and history there is no little conflict of testimony. The choir is ascribed to Bishop Simon, 1226-1247 ; other parts are of the Edwardian or Decorated period, a century or so later. The roofless cathedral was rapidly dilapidating, till a fund was raised a few years ago for its restoration, which has accordingly been judiciously carried on by an Insular Archaeological Commission.

The length of the choir is 36 ft. 4 in, of the nave 52 ft. 6 in., the base of the tower 26 ft. ; and the whole about 114 ft. The width at the intersection of the transepts measures 68 ft. 3 in. ; height of choir walls, 18 ft. ; thickness of walls, 3 ft.

A stained glass window, bearing the Manx triune and the monogram of Archbishop Parker, supposed to belong to this building, was taken to Norway, but being brought back to the Island it came into the possession of the Attorney-General, at Castletown.

The tomb of Bishop Rutter, the last of the bishops buried here, was laid open in 1865. The following inscription, supposed to be his own composition, had been found in 1844, in a well near the sally-port, and, after being preserved at Bishopscourt till 1875, was then replaced on his tomb :-

"In hac domo quam a vermiculis accepi confratribus meis, spe resurrectionis ad vitam, jaceo Sam permissione divina Episcopus hujus insula. Siste Lector vide ac ride palatiam episcopi. Obiit xxx° die mensis Maii anno 1662."

He had been archdeacon, and was chaplain to Charlotte de la Tremouaille.

In 1871, in a recess on the side of the chancel, a tomb, supposed to be that of Bishop Simon, was laid open. The bones were reburied, and covered with a slab bearing this inscription :-

"In repairing the ruins of Peel Castle in 1871 by the authority of H. B. Loch, C.B., Lieutenant-Governor, the remains of Simon, Bishop of Sodor and Man, and the rebuilder of this cathedral, were here discovered and reinterred. He died 28th Feb. 1247 in the 21st year of his episcopacy."

In the nave is a Runic stone, much defaced ; it is inscribed,"__ raised this cross to his wife Astrith, daughter of Utr" (Otter). There is a curious crypt, outered by a narrow dark passage, opening from the S. aide of the choir. It is 34 ft. long by 16 wide. Its roof is elliptical, with 13 groins or diagonal ribs, each springing from a short pilaster placed upon the bare rock ; an opening under one of the choir-windows. is its only. light. This was the ecclesiastical prison till 1780. Two other doors, a splayed loophole, and a flight of steps were found during some excavations made in 1871. It was a prison for civil offenders also.

Richard II., like all despots, was in continual apprehension of conspiracies; one of the most formidable was that in which his uncle the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick were implicated. This led to the mysterious death of Gloucester at Calais, and the decapitation of Arundel ; while the capital sentence passed on Warwick was commuted to perpetual banishment to the Isle of Man. He was accordingly confided to Sir W. Scrope, then King of the Island, 1397. The expense of his transportation thither amounted to £1074. It is curious that Froissart not only confounded this Earl with "the king-maker,"  who lived in the next century, but also describes his place of confinement to have been the Isle of Wight. The late Professor Wilson fell into a similar error; his words are these :- "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," etc. This error was repeated by Mr. Walter Thornbury in All the Year Round; but Mr. R. J. Moore, High Bailiff of Peel, corrected it by a correspondence with the late Charles Dickens, the editor of that periodical.

Upon the deposition of Richard IT., Warwick was recalled with honour. His prison was a square building on the W. side of the castle, since called "the Moare's Tower."

To the readers of Scott's Peveril of the Peak a special interest is attached to "Fenella's Tower." Few purely imaginary heroines have been so completely identified with a local habitation, as this remarkable young lady is with Peel Castle.

Eleanor Cobham, wife of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, was there imprisoned in 1446, on a charge of treasonable witchcraft directed against her husband's nephew, Henry VI. Waldron thus describes her offence :-

"In 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."

Bolyngbroke was at once beheaded, the witch was burned, and the duchess was condemned to the mitigated sentence of perpetual banishment to the Isle of Man, after doing penance: this was the walking publicly round the city of Chester several times bareheaded, carrying a lighted taper. She was then removed to Kenilworth till her embarkation. Shakespeare describes her sentence in Henry VI, Part ii,

It was, however, not Sir John who died in 1432, as stated by Shakespeare, but Sir Thomas Stanley, to whose charge she was committed.

There is an opening from the crypt mto a very small open yard ; this was the only place in which the duchess could take her one hour's daily exercise during the fourteen years of her weary imprisonment. Her death took place here in 1454, and 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 walls, constantly every night as soon as the clock strikes twelve. The conjecture is that it is the troubled sprite of this ludy, who died as she had lived, dissatisfied and mourning her fate."

Between the cathedral and the round tower is some very coarse masonry, having round-headed arches and groins of sandstone. This is called St. Patrick's Church. A bell-turret on the W. gable has been removed. A smaller building N. of this, is supposed to have been a private chapel ; but it has now lost its claim to the honour of buing founded by the great saint. It may, however, be one of the oldest parts of the buildings, presumably of the 14th century. The ruins of an apartment, 42 by 14 ft, are described as the banqueting-hall of the ancient palace, Recesses in the walls are supposed to have been for the storage of wine.

In 1643 the Earl of Derby imprisoned and fined Captain Edward Christian, who, during the reign of the seventh Hurl, 1628, had been Lieutenant-Governor, "for sum words spoken concerning ye Kinge (Charles 1) when ye greate difference was between Kinge and Parliament". He died in tho castle 1670.

Scott has mistaken this Captain Christian for his nephew Illiam Dhone, who was executed at Ronaldsway (Hango Hill) 1662.

About this time also, during the persecution of the insular Quakers, several were imprisoned here between 1656 and 1662 ; William Callow, Peter Cosnock and his son, among others.

Within the walls is a mound 70 yards square, its sides facing the cardinal points; as bones have been found within, it is assumed to have been a burial-place. Its original purpose and date are unknown. The chancel of the cathedral was used as a parish church till 1799. The building had become dilapidated in 1686, and in 1710 Bishop Wilson was authorised by the Tynwald Court to remove the lead, and use it for covering the Church of St. Peter's, which was built in the 16th century. [Governor Horton removed the roof, 1733, to be placed on his own stables.] There is a Runic stone in the wall.

The Round Tower is 50 ft. high ; its circumference at the base nearly as great as at the summit, 45 ft. ; its inner diameter 5 ft. 9 in. ; height of door above ground 6 ft. 9 in. ; the four square apertures face nearly N.W. and S.E.

Mr. Petrie, in his Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, says- "It is in all respects similar to those of Ireland." - But the Cambrian Archeological Society have pointed out these essential differences :- "The Irish round towers are from 70 to 100 ft. high, their circumference at the base from 45 to 60 ft.; and they are generally tapering, The walls diminish in thickness from 3 to 5 ft. at the base to 1 ft. at the summit. The entrances are sometimes 20 ft. above the ground. But, like that at Peel, the apertures face the cardinal points.

Archeeologists are not agreed as to its original purpose ; whether it was a place of refuge, a stronghold, a belfry, or a beacon tower, are matters of question.

Just outside the walls is a mound 30 yards long; this has the credit of being the grave of that mythical giant who threw the stones from here to Lhergydhoo, which in on the road to Kirk Michael and 3 m. off! This monster was contemporary with St. Patrick, to whom, as well as to the islanders generally, he was terribly offensive. Having three legs he made light of leaping from Peel Castle to Peel Hill, He would, for pastime, throw a houlder of some tons' weight against the neighbouring hills, where the fragments may still be seen! And the marks made by his grasp of the stone are equally plain ! It is said that when the saint called him to account for his misdeeds, he strove to kill the holy man. Thereupon he was cursed in the Virgin's name; and thus, being compelled to flee, he leaped over Contrary Head into the sea, and was heard of no more. Of his burial in the grave aforesaid there is no record preserved.

During the last few years above £1200 have been spent in restorations ; the chancel and west windows and several arches have been repaired. The money was contributed by visitors.

The late Governor, the bishop, and others wished to make it the Cathedral for the diocese, but as this was atrongly opposed, and as the parish church, St. Peter's, had become inadequate, a new church was erected in 1880 from the designs of Mr. Barry of Liverpool. It hae seats for 900 persons. The steeple cost £2000, the entire building about £10,000.

In 1871 a handsome clock-tower, 70 ft. high, was put in the place of the old tower of St. Peter's Church, at the expense of Mr. J. K. Ward of Montreal, a native of Peel. Coloured glass windows were also inserted at the expense of the Misses Crellin and of Mrs, Boardman of Ramsey.

Peel is distinguished for its schools, There is a Grammar School, founded 1746 by Philip Moore of Douglas; with this is now combined the mathematical school established 17 years afterwards, especially for teaching navigation. This has an endowment of about £500, In 1652 Philip Christian, a native of Peel, but a citizen and cloth-worker of London, left property in charge of the Cloth-workers' Company on condition that they should pay annually £20 for the education of the poor of his native town. The company have several times augmented the amount, and built good schoolrooms for boys, girls, and infants. These sums have been incorporated with a bequest by Bishop Wilson ; an excellent schoolroom for boys has recently been built; and as its funds now amount to £200 per annum, all the branches of the institution are maintained in the highest state of efficiency. They are in union with the National Society.

There is an interesting collection of antiquities and other curiosities, which were arranged and described by the late High Bailiff, R. J. Moore, Esq.

Chapels for the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists and Roman Catholics are well supported. In connection with the first is an efficient mixed school.

A substantial breakwater of wood cased with concrete blocks protects the harbour.

A new road has been made by the Harbour Commissioners from the railway station round the harbour as far as the breakwater. A bridge will be made across the harbour to give access to the castle ; carriages may then drive to the castle gates.

The Fenella Hotel is beautifully situated close to the castle, and there are other hotels and refreshment houses in the town.

The Road From PEEL To KIRK MICHAEL is near the sea, which is generally visible from it ; on the land side it is skirted by high lands, including Sartfell, Farrane, Carn, and others. On Lhergydhoo are some white stones said to have been thrown there by the giant of Peel. In clear weather the Mourne Mountains in County Down, and the three most S. points of Scotland are seen distinctly. On the left, in Glen Mooar, is the Spooyt Vane (white spout) waterfall, well worth seeing. A little farther N. is a road near a Wesleyan Chapel, leading to Injebreck and Douglas.

The small hill before us is Cronk Urleigh (Eagle Hill) or Hill of Reneurling, historically famous for the meeting of the Commoners convened by Sir John Stanley, 1422, to assert their independence of the ecclesiastical nuthority. Near this is a house built by Bishop Cregan.

Glen Wyllin is prettily wooded ; the road to the shore passes through it. About half a mile farther is Kirk Michael (see p. 43).

SNAEFELL.

There is no difficulty, and but little fatigue, in the ascent of this mountain, the highest in the Island (2034), nw it is mostly covered with grass and not very steep ; the bogs and morasses also, which formerly abounded upon it ax well as on most of the other hills, have been much diminished by drainage. Although the three kingdoms are visible from its summit, they are not often seen at one time, as some part of the horizon is usually hazy. Snaefell is an excellent centre for a general view of the surrounding heights. Directly N.is Sulby Glen, between Karran (1084) and Slieu Monagh (1257), On the N.E. is the ridge beginning with Clagh Ouyr (1808) and ending with N. Barrule (1842). On the E. are Slieu Lhean (1515) and Slieu Ouyr (1483). Laxey Valley tends S.E., with Slieu Ree (840) and the Dhoon near the coast. Slieu Mullagh Ouyr (1384) and the hills of Baljean form its W. boundary, and separate it from Glen Roy. An excellent road running N. and S. skirts the bases of Pen-y- Phot and Mullagh Ouyr ; and far behind this is Cairn Gharjohl (461). West of this, and near Snaefell, is Pen- y-Phot (1772), beyond which are the summits of Garraghan (1520), the Creg, and Colden (1599), On the W. are Sartfell (1560), Farrane (or Fraughane) (1602), which, with Slieu Dhoo (1139), form the Druidale Valley in which the river Sulby rises,

A good mountain road extends about 12½ m. from Keppel Gate, 4 m. N. of Douglas, to Park Llewellyn on the slope of N. Barrule, about 2 m. S. of Ramsey. This road is at an elevation varying from 1000 to 1400 ft., thus affording easy access to Snaefell and many others of the central heights. The usual route from Douglas is from Heywood's Bridge (Glencrutchery), turning to the left, along Glen Dhoo ; crossing the ridge, Slieu Ree (1036) is on the left, and Cairn Gharjohl on the right. The road then lies directly N. between Pen-y-Phot and Slieu Mullagh Ouyr leading to the base of Snaefell, This is about 8 m. from Douglas.

By alighting from the carriage at the upper entrance of Tholt-e-Will, visitors may walk through the grounds while the carriage descends a rough steep road, to meet them at the lower gate.

A pleasant route from Douglas to Snaefell is as follows :- "Leaving Braddan Church, the Strang, and Cronk Rule on the left, and crossing the bridge when the road, northward, is parallel to the river Glas or West Baldwin. St. Luke's Church lies on the right. The Creg and Colden being on the left, and Garaghan on the right, we reach Injebreck. Arriving at the cross-roads we turn to the right for a few yards, when a road N.E. leads to Druidale, which lies at the base of the mountain.

Snaefell may be reached from Laxey by a walk of less than 4m. Leaving Glen Roy on the left, and Agneish on the right, the path is parallel to the river Laxey, Clagh Ouyr (1808) and Slieu Lhean (1507) being on the right.

From Ramsey, after ascending N. Barrule, we may keep on the ridge and cross Clagh Ouyr, when we reach the base of Snaefell.

Another easy route is by rail to Sulby Glen Station, where there are usually vehicles thence to Tholt-e-Will. From the upper entrance to these grounds, Snaefell may be ascended in less than half an hour's walk.