[From Manx Fairy Tales, 1911]

MANANNAN MAC Y LEIRR

Manannan Beg was son of Leirr,
He was the first that e'er had Mann;
But as it seemeth unto me,
He himself was but a heathen.

'Twas not with his sword he kept her,
Nor with his arrows, nor his bow ;
But when he would see ships sailing,
He hid her right round with a fog.

He 'd set a man upon a brow,
You'd think there were a hundred there;
And thus did wild Manannan guard
That island with all its booty.

The rent each paid out of the land
Was a bundle of green rushes;
And that was on them for a tax
Throughout the country each John's Eve.

Some went up with the rushes to
The great mountain up at Barrule;
Others would leave the grass below,
With Manannan above Keamool.

In this way, then, they lived, I think
Myself their tribute very small,
Without care or anxiety,
Or labour to cause weariness.

Old Ballad.