[From Cumming 'Castle Rushen etc'. 1857]

CHAPTER III.

RUSHEN ABBEY.

"And yet there still remains
Beauty and peace in thee,
And in thy loneliness
There is deep witchery." 

MRS. E. S. C. GREEN.

Two miles from Castletown northwards is Ballasalla, famous, last century, for its poultry market, and the largest and most picturesque village in the Island. Take a turn to the left for the purpose of musing awhile in the neighbourhood of the remains of the abbey of Rushen.

Just above the abbey of Rushen is a very old bridge,– how old it would be hard to tell; it appears in the earliest maps of the Island, and is sketched by Camden as a remarkable object in his day. It is impassable by any vehicle except a wheelbarrow, being only six feet eight inches in the clear, and indicates a time when pack-horses were alone used for the transport of men and their chattels. One of the arches is pointed. The neighbours know it by the name of the Crossag. Just above it is a mill-dam, whose original fabrication we may well believe to have been by the monks of this abbey. How frequent a concomitant the mill is to the religious houses of the Cistercian order is well known; and as they, in the Isle of Man, were the special almoners of the poor, there is the best reason for believing that it was not by mere accident that in this locality, as in most others, the abbey and the mill were so closely connected. It is stated by Sacheverell, but on uncertain authority, that this abbey was founded by one Macmarus, A.D. 1098, Goddard Crovan, son of Harold the Black, of Iceland, was at this time really King of Man, though temporarily expelled from his kingdom by Magnus Barefoot, (Barefod, or Barbeen, so called from his wearing the Highland dress,) King of Norway, who overran the Western Isles in 1093. Magnus, on his return to Norway, left as his viceroy one Outher. The inhabitants of the southern district of the Isle rebelled, and elected Macmarus in his stead. A battle was fought at Stantway, in Jurby, in which the southerns were victorious against the northerns, who still sided with Outher, but both the leaders were slain. Sacheverell says that

"The women of the south side on this occasion came with so much resolution to the assistance of their husbands, that they not only restored the battle, but, as a reward of their bravery and virtue, to this day they enjoy half their husbands' estates during their widowhood, whereas the northern women have but a third." Account of the Isle of Man, p. 34.

In this juncture Magnus arrived a second time from Norway, A.D. 1098, and again took possession for himself. It is just possible that Macmanis may have given lands at Ballasalla for an abbey, and that the grant was confirmed afterwards by Magnus Barefoot to the Abbot of Rievalle, according to Camden, who further states that "they did not build there."

Magnus Barelegs was slain in an invasion of Ireland in 1103, at Moichaba. He left four sons, the youngest of whom, Harold Gillie, set up a claim to the throne of Man on the death of his father. This claim was rejected by the inhabitants, who gave in their allegiance to Lag man, eldest son of Goddard Crovan. (See Appendix A.) His tyrannical conduct, more especially his cruel treatment of his brother Harold, whom he barbarously muti lated, created such dissatisfaction that he was obliged to fly the country. It is stated by the chroniclers of Rushen that, repenting of his cruelty towards his brother, he spontaneously resigned the sceptre, and set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he died.

The Manx, finding themselves thus without a sovereign, and threatened with foreign enemies determined to send for Olave Kleining, (or the dwarf,) the youngest son of Goddard Crovan, who had been brought up at the court of William Rufus, and his successor, Henry I., whose grand-daughter Aifrica (daughter of Fergus, Prince of Galloway) he subsequently married. Olave was then (1111) quietly established on the throne of the Isle, where he appears to have ruled with mildness and equity forty years.

It is their opponent, Olave I., who must be regarded in reality as the founder of the abbey of Russin, or Rushen. In the year 1134, according to the Chronicon Manniae et Insularum, preserved in the British Museum, written by the monks of this abbey, he gave to "Ivo, or Evan, Abbot of Furness, a portion of his lands in Mann, towards building an abbey in a place called Russin; he enriched the estate of the church with revenues, and endowed it with great liberties."

The revenue he apportioned thus: one third of all the tithes to the bishop for his maintenance; the second to the abbey for education of youth and relief of the poor; and the third to the parochial priests for their subsistence. In 1176, King Godred, his son, gave, as an expiation for having married Fingala without the usual rites of the church, a piece of land at Mires-cogh, (Ballamona,) in Lezayre, for a cell, the monks of which soon transferred themselves to the abbey of Rushen.

In the year 1192, finding their building too small, the monks transferred themselves to Douglas for four years, during which Rushen Abbey was enlarged.

The mention of the lake Mirescogh reminds us of a strange legend detailed by the venerable chroniclers of Rushen Abbey.

In an old document at the end of the Chronicon Manniae, tracing out the boundary of the church lands, we find mention made of three islands in the lake Myreshaw. One of these islands seems to have been occupied as a state prison, and was once, as the good old monks tell us, the scene of a notable miracle wrought by the intercession of St. Mary of Rushen.

One Donald, a veteran chieftain, a particular friend of Harald Olaveson, flying the persecution raised by Harald Godredson, took sanctuary with his infant child in St. Mary's monastery at Rushen. He was, however, induced to come forth, under faith of a promise from the king of perfect safety. Within a short space, however, the king, violating his sacred engagement, ordered Donald to be seized and conveyed to the state prison in one of the islands in Mirescogh. In his distress Donald prayed earnestly to the Lord to deliver him, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin, from whose monastery he had been so in sidiously betrayed. The divine interposition was not with held. One day as he was sitting in his chamber, guarded only by two sentinels, the fetters dropped from his ankles, and he found himself free. He made the best of his way to the abbey of Rushen, which he reached on the third day, where he put up thanksgivings to God and the most merciful Mother for the deliverance. This declaration, adds the chronicler, we have recorded from the man's own mouth. The date of the miracle is 1249.

In Sacheverell's Account of the Isle of Man, p. 33, we read,– "The monks of Rushen lived by their labour, with great mortification; wore neither shoes, furs, nor linen, and eat no flesh except on journeys. The company consisted of twelve monks and an abbot, of whom the first was called Conanus. The Cistercian order had its beginning in 1098, though, probably, they were not planted here till six-and-thirty years after, by Evan, Abbot of Furness.

Respecting the foundation of the friary Bymakyn, (Beemaken, Bowmaken, or Bimaken,) in the parish of Arbory, an offset of the abbey of Rushen, I have not been able to make out any particulars. A short account is given of the effects and appurtenances, both of it and the nunnery at Douglas, in some of the rolls at the Augmentation Office, Carlton Ride, pertaining to the dissolution of the abbey of Rushen, 34, 36, 37 Henry VIII., but they are not referred to in the "Computus" of 32 Henry VIII., which I have given in Appendix B. Remains of the friary Bymaken, now converted into a large barn, may be seen, a quarter of a mile east from the parish church of Arbory, on the side of the road thence to Rushen Abbey.

The abbey of Rushen being a Cistercian cell dependent on the abbey of Furness, received its abbots by appointment thence.

The abbot, in right of his barony, was authorised to hold courts of "leet and baron," wherein his seneschal presided; but as some of the bishop's tenants had to pay customs, boons, suits and services to the Lord of the Isle, the southern deemster, with the comptroller and attorney-general, also attended to take notice of anything that might happen concerning the lord's interest. The deemster and the comptroller were each, according to statute law, to have a fee of eight shillings and fourpence for every such day as they sat in the court, to be paid out of the abbey revenue. Hence arose the singular enactment---" lf any abbey tenant transgressed the law so as to forfeit either life or goods, if he paid rent to the amount of one penny, (although he held an estate under the abbot,) the forfeiture fell to the lord and not to the abbot."

The abbey of Furness seems also for some time to have appointed to the bishopric of Man. Certain it is that Wimond, who was Bishop of Man from 1113 to 1151, was a monk of Furness Abbey, as was also Nicholas de Meux, who was made bishop in 1203. The former, there is reason to believe, was of Manx descent. In the year 1257, Richard, Bishop of the Isles, consecrated the abbey church, (St. Mary of Rushen,) which had been commenced 130 years before. There are no clear traces of this portion of the building.

The following account of the religious services of this ancient abbey, taken from a manuscript formerly in the possession of the late Joseph Train, Esq., will interest many

"The sacrist shall cause his beadle to ring the bells on holy-days and festivals throughout the year for Matins in the Morning at five o'clock. The Matins being performed he shall ring the little bell for the Mass of the Virgin Mary, and at eight o'clock, he shall ring the little bell again for the souls of the faithful departed. He shall provide fresh water if need be every day in the morning throughout the year for holy water and the Baptismal font, and fire for kindling the candles at the high Altar when needful. He shall keep a lamp burning day and night before the holy Sacrament. He must see washed at least 6 times a year, the vestments of the high Altar of the blessed Virgin Mary and of the holy Cross. He must go before the chair in procession with a wand in his hand must provide Palms on Palm Sunday, and keep clean the holy embossed Evangel."

There is great plainness and simplicity in the few relics of the architecture of this abbey which now remain to us; square-headed windows and doors, as plain as those of the plainest cottage on the mountains, give clear proof both of the ancient character of this religious house, and of the limited extent of its revenues at any time. There is certainly no evidence here to bear out the statement which has been made by some, that, in consequence of an accession of temporal dignity, the abbot and monks degenerated from their primitive simplicity and humble industry into pride and luxury. The property made over to their hands was in trust for others, and we have no evidence that they abused their trust.

In the year 1541, Henry VIII. issued injunctions for an estimate to be made of the value of the property of Rushen Abbey, in order to its dissolution. In the Augmentation Office, at Carlton Ride, London, we have the transcripts preserved of several rolls, giving accounts of the valuation of effects made in this and the immediately subsequent years. A copy of a similar roll, the transcript of which is now in the possession of M. H. Quayle, Esq., the Clerk of the Rolls in the Isle of Man, I have given in the Appendix B. In one of the rolls, 32 Henry VIII., an account is given of the lead, timber, slates, live stock, and other spoils of the monastery, which were sold off piecemeal. Some of the articles sold are extremely interesting in their character, as will be seen by the following statement of the "Jocalia," which were delivered over to the Earl of Derby, viz. :–" Four chalices, one 'chrouche,' (i.e., the abbot's pastoral staff,) one censer, one cross, two little headless crosses, one ship, (i.e., the navicula, or box for incense,) one hand, and one Bysshope hede, (probably reliquaries in the form of a hand and a bishop's head,) four cruets, (for wine and water at mass,) eleven spoons, two standing cups, two pocula (called ale pottes) with covers, one flat pece, (or drinking cup,) one salt, two masers, (wooden drinking cups silver mounted,) one pix of silver" (for the reservation of the holy sacrament). For the whole of this silver plate the earl paid £34 8s. 5d. the following year.

The dissolution of the abbey was not, however, at once effected, probably from the remonstrance and resistance of the Stanley family, one of whose members (Thomas) was at this time Bishop of the Isle. Thomas was deposed by Henry VIII. in 1545, either on this account, or because of his opposition to the statute of 33 Henry VIII., dissevering the bishopric from the province of Canterbury, and annexing it to York. Thomas was restored by Mary, and not again deposed by Elizabeth, and it was not till late in her reign that the dissolution of the abbey really occurred.

Brown Willis, in his History of Monasteries, says that, in 1553, there remained in charge the following pensions, viz., to Henry Jackson the Abbot, £10; James More, John Allowe, and Richard Nowell, £2 13s. 4d. each.

By letters patent dated 18th March, 7 Elizabeth (1565), the possessions were granted to Richard Ashton, Esq., for twenty-one years, commencing from Michaelmas preceding, under the rent of £101 15s. 11d.

On the surrender of the said patent, 12th February, 24 Elizabeth (1582), the possession was granted to Henry, Earl of Derby, for thirty years, under the rent of £101 15s. 11d. The same grant was afterwards assigned to Alice, countess-dowager of the then late Ferdinand, Earl of Derby.

On 17th March, 3 James I. (1605), on surrender of this grant, (or rather on seizure being made of it by the crown,) letters patent issued to Sir Thomas Leigh, and Thomas Spencer, for forty years from the date thereof under the said rent of £101 15s. 11d., and the increased rent of £4 4s.

Again, 2nd May, 8 James I. (1609), letters patent were issued to William, Earl of Derby, and Elizabeth, his countess, for ever, (subject, however, to the above term of forty years to Leigh and Spencer,) as of the manor of East Greenwich, under the said rent of £101 15s. 11d. to be paid into the exchequer by equal portions at Michaelmas and Lady-day yearly. Besides–

For 4 sheep & hospitality to the king, &c £3 4 0
To the Bishop for Synodals & Chapters 2 0 0
To the Lord for the Abbey Turbary Rent 1 6 8
For the Friary rent 1 0 0
To the Chaplain of Rushen 4 13 4
To the Vicar of Conchan 0 10 0
To the Vicar of Malew 6 0 0
To the Sergeant of Malew 0 13 4
Ditto German 0 6 8
Ditto Sulby 0 7 6
Ditto Skinsco 0 4 0
£20 5 6

Thus the abbey of Rushen was the last which was dissolved in these realms, and all the monastic possessions, the lands, and impropriate tithes, were at length granted to the then Earl of Derby and his heirs in tail male, remainder to James, Lord Stanley, his eldest son in tail male, with divers other remainders over in tail male. There was, however, this special restriction in the above grant, that the said several persons in tail should not have any power or liberty to give, grant, alienate, or dispose of the said tithes, &c., for any other terms or estates than tenants in tail, by the statute of 32 Henry VIII., might lawfully do of lands in England, and that all gifts, grants, &c., to the contrary should be void. Leigh and Spencer's term expired in the lifetime of the said James, Lord Stanley, then Earl of Derby, who made leases thereof for lives and years, as by the said statute 32 Henry VIII. is warranted. When Bishop Barrow came to the see in 1663, he found those vicars, the tithes of whose parishes were in the hands of the lord, in the greatest destitution, and, devoting all his energies to this object, he managed to raise amongst his friends in England upwards of £1000, with which he purchased from Charles, Earl of Derby, a lease of the above impropriations for a term of ten thousand years, under the annual reserved rent of £66 3s. 2d., and a fine of £130 every thirtieth year, and these impropriations the bishop set aside for augmenting the livings of the vicars. The term being contradictory to the above said restriction in the Act of Parliament, an estate of the earl in England, viz., the manor of Bispham, together with the farm or tenement called Methop, was collaterally bound for the payment of the clergy.

On the alienation of the Island from the Derby family, the Duke of Athol claimed the impropriations as an in separable appendage of his estate and royalty, of which it could not be divested by any right that had or could be shown. The clergy were thus thrown upon the collateral security, viz., the estate of the Earl of Derby. The deeds for some time could not be found, and the clergy were under most painful apprehension, and would gladly have taken any reasonable consideration rather than lose all. At last, through the exertions of Bishop Wilson and his son, they were discovered in the Rolls Office, and the claim of the clergy was established. The compensation then agreed on to be paid out of the Derby estate was £219 per annum; but, in 1809, Bishop Crigan demanded a revisal, on the ground that the Earl of Derby had granted to Bishop Barrow all tenths yearly renewing, growing and increasing, and that the said tenths had greatly increased since 1735, when the former compensation was agreed on, and it was found that their real net annual value was £663. Lord Derby hereupon agreed to pay down the sum of £16,000 to be rid of the annual charge on his estate altogether, and very unwisely the sum was accepted, and spent in bad purchases of land, returning only about £400 per annum. Before the sale of his rights to the English crown in 1765, under the act called the Act of Revestment, the Duke of Athol had sold half of the impropriations to different parties; the other half is now in the hands of the British government, amounting to above £525 per annum, which goes into the surplus revenue. The inhabitants claim that the surplus should be spent in the Island upon improvements, and with seeming justice. Surely the Church has an annual claim upon that surplus fund to the extent of £525 for the augmentation of the number of her clergy, their training, and the general purposes of church educa tion. It thus appears that of more than £1000 per annum, the present value of the third of the tithe belonging anciently to the abbey of Rushen for the purposes of ecclesiastical education and relief of the poor, none is applied to its ancient use; it is alienated from the church; the £400 per annum applied to the augmen tation of the salaries of the poorer clergy being, in reality, the proceeds of a certain claim upon an English nobleman's estate, obtained of his ancestors, with the moneys collected by the pious Bishop Barrow in 1666.

A regret has often been expressed that the site of Rushen Abbey was not chosen for the erection of King William's College. Bishop Barrow, himself the real founder of King William's College, seems to have had an eye to it for that purpose, as appears by the following instrument, which may be seen in the Rolls Office

"Whereas there is a full accord between the Bishops of St. Asaph and the Isle of Man concerning the profits belonging to the Bishopric of the Island from the time of its vacancy, and all disputes and differences between them about any concerns in the island being concluded; And whereas it is agreed between them, with my consent and approbation, that the whole profits for the year 1671 shall be placed in the hands of William Banks of Winstanley in the county of Lancaster, Esq., till we can meet with convenient purchase for the erection of a public school for academic learning: These are to require you to collect the profits aforesaid, and all charges necessary for the collection being deducted, to return the money by the first opportunity, that it may be fixed and employed according to the agreement between us.

"Given under my hand at Knowsley the 8th June 1672.

"DERBY."

"To the Deputy-Governor of my Isle of Man.

" In presence of ISAAC. ASAPH.
Henrie. SODORENSIS.

In the Chancery Book, 1675, there is a deed of sale from Charles Moore to Bishop Bridgeman, by which it appears that in that year the bishop purchased the abbey of Rushen from Charles Moore, with the intention of erecting the Academic School there; but having been unable to accomplish this through want of funds, the property was subsequently restored to the said Charles Moore.

That Rushen Abbey was at one time a place of sound learning and religious education we can have little doubt, and that the system of pupil teachers also was in vogue there, and not the mere invention of the present day, is manifest from the following singular indenture, which I have extracted from the Harician Manuscripts, fol. 147, in the British Museum

"This Indenture made the xjth day of December in the xviijth yer of the reygne of king Henry the vijth betwen W. Park on the one party and John Darsse uppon the tother parte witnesseth yt ye said John is agreed and also by yt Indenture graunteth to ye said William Park to abide and dwelle with ye said William from the feste of our lady, etc. unto the end & terme of vj. yeres from the same fest next etc. duringe which terme ye said John graunty the truly lawly & deligently to serve the said William and all besines & honest labores at ye requeste and commandment of ye said William to accomplish & performe and hys desyres and byddyngs to observe and obbey in all thyngs lawfull and honest. Also the said John grauntyth to behave hof & doo dwe reverence vnto the aforesaid William during the tierme aforesaid as a curtesse and lawly servant owe to doo to his maister. And yf the said William command ye said John his servant to [broken] or go to tech or instructe any of ye said Williams scolers durynge the terme afore reherssed that ye said John shall with good wyll indever hymself to doo ye same without gruggying or gaynsayying Allso to provide holyday wark to tech vnder the said William unlesse he send hym on other besines. And yf the said John be obstinate in doying of ye servisse & wyll not fulfill his maisters commandment that then it shal be lefull to correcte & punysch hym after his demerets. Also yf ye sayd William have any besynes to do that he be from hom a quarter or half a yer or be veset with sikness that then ye sayd John serve delygently his sayd maister traine & kepe his scule to ye most profett of his said master and not to depart from the service of the said William without licence & good wyll duringe ye terme afor reherssed. Unlesse yt John Abbot of Russin send for hym by a sufficient wrytyng under his seall. For which covenants truly to be ob served & kept on the parte & behalfe of the said John Darsse the said William Park grantethe by this indenture unto the said Darsse that he shall first informe hym of hys dayly synns aneust God also to instructe hym in dyscyplyne of good maners & also to tech hym to synge prykktsong dyscant of all maner mesurs & to syng upon a prykt songe fawburdon to tewnes of every mesure & to set a songe of thre parts iiij or v. substancyally and also to play upon the organs & any maner playsong or prykkytsong two parts or thre and to make playne & shew hym the secretts & speedd of techynge and instruccyon of every of the premysses in the best maner & most speedfull he can yf so be yt the said John will delygently apply hymself therunto & y^t his reasson & capacyte can extend to the same. And also to se yt he schall have net drryse & other nessessaryes sufficient & convenient for such a scoler provided alway y^t yf the sayd abbot of ye chyrch of Rus chyn in the Ysle of Man yerly content & pay to the above named William or to any one for hym in moni or other nessessarys to the yerly fyndynge of ye said John to ye some of xiijs iiijd that somm to be parcell of ye sayd Johns exhehecyon & yearly to be alowed to ye sayd Wylliam Park durynge ye terme of vj. yers and to ye trew performance of all & evere of the covenants afore sayd on the parte of ye said John well & truly to be observed & kept. John Abbot of the Monasterie of our lady of Ruschyn in the Ysle of Man above named Rayff Byrkhened Recorder of ye Cete of Chester & William Chreech Theykman of the said cete beyn bonde & evere of them is bounden vuto the said William by this obligacion in the some of xx'~ all in the hole & every of theym in the hole which obligacion ye said William Park grantyth to be void & of non effecte yf ye said John his servant well & truly observe performe & kepe all & singler hys covenants afor reherssed in this indenture specified on his parte to be performyd. In witnesse of which ayther of ye parties to this Indenture inter changably have set to their sealls. Wretyn ye day & yer above specified."

This abbey is said to have been set on fire by a party of English at the period of the Reformation. The Church of Man seems always to have suffered from outward enemies. Every innovation in doctrine and discipline up to the present day has come, and seems likely to come, from the other side of the water. The Manx themselves, if let alone, would still carry out their own proverb,– Mannagh vow cliaghtey cliaghtey, nee cliaghtey coe?"

If custom be not indulged with custom, will not custom weep?"

Humble in its architectural pretensions as this abbey is, it is the resting-place of the dust of mighty and pious dead. It is known that Reginald, Bishop of Man, who died in 1225, lies buried here; Olave Godredson, King of the Isle in 1226, whose bastard brother, the usurper Reginald, without any legal title himself, surrendered the Isle to the Pope Honorius in 1219, was interred here in 1237, and so also was the Norwegian general Gospatrick in 1240. Magnus, the last king of the Norwegian line, died in 1265, and was also interred in the abbey of Rushen. In the abbey garden may now be seen an ancient tomb-stone, or stone coffin-lid. On its surface is a raised cross of beautiful device, by the side of whose shaft is a knight's sword. This is the famous so-called "Abbot Stone of Rushen," upon which certain erudite dissertations have been written, and conjectures hazarded, such as, that it was the tomb of some "sword-bishop," that is, a bishop exercising temporal and spiritual supreme authority. The floriated head of the cross, having been somewhat damaged, has been converted into a croiser by the imagination of the first writer on the subject; and subsequent authors have taken his statement upon credit, instead of examining for themselves. It appears to have belonged certainly to the tomb of a military person, but has nothing of the ecclesiastic indicated upon it. Its date is probably of the fourteenth century.

After leaving the abbey of Rushen we may ascend the hill, and take the road into Castletown, which leads by the parish church of Malew, a modest kirk, with white washed walls and ancient bell-turret. A painted eastern window has recently been inserted, which casts a hallowed light within the church; and the antique granite font, which for some time had, outside of it, been catching the rain-water gathered from its roof, has been restored to the inside of the building, and occupies its proper place near the south door.

The name of the kirk and parish (Malew) is evidently a corruption of the name of the patron, St. Lupas, in honour of whom the kirk was dedicated, as appears by an inscription on an antique paten. The interior walls of the church are largely occupied by monumental tablets, the oldest of which, in the chancel wall, bears the date 1578, and is to the following effect

"Elm Corwyn, daughter of Robt Corwyn of Cumberland, who was wife to Henry Stafferton receiver of the Castle, who departed in great mikeness & that patience Christ did, 1578."

There are still preserved here the ancient crucifix, candlestick and extinguisher, for the service of the altar, in use before the Reformation.

Waldron, however, out of his own marvel-loving brain, I fancy, has given the following account of the old sacred chalice belonging to the parish church

"A farmer belonging to the parish of Malew was journeying across the mountains from Peel homewards and missed his road. Presently the sound of soft and flowing music reached his ears, on following which he was led into a magnificent hall, where he observed seated round a well-garnished table a goodly number of the little people, who were making themselves merry with the comforts of this life. Amongst those at table were faces which he fancied he had certainly seen in times past, but took no notice of them, nor they of him, till the little people offering him drink, one of them whose features seemed well-known to him plucked him by the coat tails, and forbade his tasting aught before him pain of becoming one of them, and never returnino' to his own home. A cup filled with some liquor being put into his hand, he found opportunity to dash its contents upon the ground. Whereupon the music ceased, the lights disappeared, and the company at once vanished, leaving the cup in his hand. By the advice of his parish priest he devoted this cup to the service of the church, and I am told that this very cup is now used for the consecrated wine in Kirk Malew."

From all the circumstances related above with regard to the dissolution of the abbey of Rushen, and these relics of the sacred things used in the service of the parish church of Malew, (one of which is still used in the celebration of the Eucharist in the same parish,) we can readily perceive how gradual was the Reformation of religion which took place in the Isle of Man. We have seen that the same Thomas who was bishop in the days of Henry VIII. was bishop also under Mary and Elizabeth. Edward Stanley, the third Earl of Derby, (whose autograph I have given at the head of the sheet of facsimiles,) was Lord of Man from 1528 to 1572, having previously, though a minor, been nominally lord from 1521.–(See Appendix A. p. 5.) His power, therefore, ranged through parts of the reigns of Henry VIII., Ed ward VI., Mary and Elizabeth. During his lordship of Man there do not appear to have been passed any acts of Tynwald requiring the adoption of any new service book in the churches, or the abolition of any of the ancient ceremonies; and, as far as I can perceive, the first notice of the sort occurs in an act of Tynwald passed under the lordship of his successor Henry, the fourth Earl of Derby, which, amongst other things, has an item forbidding the "praying upon the graves" in the church-yards. This Henry, as I have before observed, (page 30,) was a strenuous advocate of the Reformation, and it is to him, I believe, we must attribute any energetic measures for furthering its progress in the Isle of Man.