[From Proc IoMNHAS vol 1]

Meeting held in the Masonic Rooms, Ramsey, April 28th, 1911.

Deemster CALLOW, President, in the Chair.

Eleven members and two visitors were in attendance at the meeting on 28th April. Having signed their names in the Attendance Book, the minutes of the previous meeting were duly confirmed and signed by the President.

...

The Rev. Canon Quine then submitted an interesting paper on "The Bi-lingual Inscription from Knoc-y-doonee." He pointed out the importance of the old Treen names as indications of the dedications-and so of the period-of some of the early Keeills, and argued that Kyrke Asseton, the old name of the Treen of which Knoc-y-doonee was one of the Quarter-lands, was a corruption of Issernin, met with also in Bally-ny-Sare. The name Ammecat in the inscription, he thought, might be identified with Amatheus, mentioned by Nennius ; the other name, Rocat, he suggested, in the form of Maqui Rocat, might possibly refer to the "Coroticus" to whom St. Patrick wrote his celebrated epistle. He argued that the Isle of Man must have been in Roman occupation for two centuries, and that the Camp at Maughold Church was Roman in origin ; and saw no difficulty in supposing that St. Patrick had been born in the Isle of Man.

In the discussion which followed, Mr. Kermode expressed the view that the inscription was of later age than supposed by Canon Quine, dating probably from about the middle of the sixth century. He thought that the Romans could not have occupied the Island without leaving some distinct traces of their occupation in the form of roads or buildings, and, even in regard to mining, to which also the reader of the paper had referred, he would have expected some material evidence in the form of pigs of iron or lead with Roman numerals, or other certain traces of their handiwork.

Among exhibits were a full-sized drawing of the inscribed stone in question ; a small cross-slab discovered a few days previously in the same keeill ; the Scandinavian fragment from Michael, and several drawings and photographs ; the upper stone of a granite quern from Ohio, Andreas ; and a flint javelin-head found by Mr. J. J. Shimmin, near Andreas Village ; also some worked flints from Knoc-y-doonee.