[note split into sections - Douglas & rest of Island]

OLD INNS AND COFFEE-HOUSES OF THE ISLE OF MAN

NEIL MATHIESON, F.S.A.Scot.

Castletown

Notes (Castletown)

The BLACK COCK was at No. 3 Arbory Street, next door to the Union. At some date between 1852 and 1883 its name was changed to the MONA, but during the first world war it ceased to be licensed, and is now Ye Old Mona Café.

The COMMERCIAL was probably ‘the Dwelling House on the Douglas road at the entrance of Castletown, formerly occupied as an Inn’ which was advertised as being ‘to let’ in 1822 (17.12.1822, D.). In 1826 it is mentioned as being in Bridge Street (K.), and in 1853 (M.) to be ‘the first inn to be met with on entering the town from Douglas. ‘ An old resident has said that c. 1860 it was known as the Rock, and that it stood on the seaward side of the sharp corner which ends Bridge Street, and had a yard behind and stables and cow-sheds in front.

The CROWN ARMS was on the Quay, at the corner of Quay Lane, where that little street joins it, and on the left-hand side as you look up the Lane with your back to the harbour. It is now a private house, having ceased to be an inn sometime before the 1914-18 war.

The DUCK’S NEST does not quite come within the date limits taken for this paper, but is yet of considerable antiquity, going back to at least 1876. The name is said to be derived from the Mr. C. R. Duck who built the original wooden erection which housed it (F.L.S.).

DUGGAN’ S INN, which seems never to have had a name, is mentioned by Feltham in 1797 as being one of the three principal inns of the town. When advertised as being ‘to let’ in 1815 (13.5.1815, B.) it was described as ‘The Dwelling-house commonly known as John Duggan’s Inn, near the Chapel, with a garden well stocked with fruit-trees adjoining. ‘ It was probably one of the houses on the Parade, but whether it was still an inn, or had by that time reverted to its original role as a private house is not clear, though the latter would appear to be the case.

The ELLAN VANNIN ARMS was on the Quay, probably in the house flanked by the Police Station on one side and a long, white building — which an old photograph in the Manx Museum shows to have been the Steam Packet Company office — on the other. This house, now a private residence called ‘Ellan Vannin, ‘ fits the description of the inn as given in an advertisement in Jefferson’s Directory for 1859 which refers to it as ‘next door to the Steam Packet office, Quay, Castletown.’

The FORESTER’S REST, said to be in Malew Street in 1852, 15 shown as being in Queen Street in 1857 (H.).

The GEORGE. When Downes died, at the age of 76, in October 1820 he was said to have been landlord of the George ‘for upwards of forty years’ so it must have been in existence from at least c. 1780. After his death the old building was pulled down, and replaced by a new one which opened in July 1821. During the demolition long-hidden evidence of some old crime or tragedy came to light when the skeleton of an infant was found behind the wainscoting of one of the rooms. When the new building was opened Mrs. Downes — who had take her husband’s place when he died — handed the business over to Mr. T. Kneen, and under him and his successors the George continues to this day to serve as the centre of social life in the old Capital. For a short period during 1853 to 1855, while W. Ockerby was the landlord, the George seems to have been called the LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE. Its appearance was altered about the year 1880, when the present more modern type of windows were built.

The NEW GEORGE. For a short period during 1812 and 1813 there would appear to have been an inn called the New George ‘near the Bank, of which P. Johnson was the’ landlord. ‘The Bank’ was, presumably, the narrow little street, now known as Bank Street, which leads from the Bridge to Malew Street, and it seems strange that two inns of the same name should have been in existence at the same time within a few hundred yards of each other.

The PLOUGH was alongside the bridge (known as Maddrell’s Bridge) over the Dumb river at the end of Malew Street, just where it joins the modern by-pass road. The house, probably a crofter’s cottage, which bore the name, had ceased to be an inn sometime about 1880, and had been given to St. Mary’s Church to provide funds for the assistance of poor widows. It has recently been sold, and is now a private dwelling.

The ROYAL OAK, although it seems to have been an inn for but a few years, was in a house with a long history. This house (No. 2 Parliament Square) though partly hidden by the old meeting-place of the Keys — now the Westminster Bank — is easily recognized by the five red sandstone steps which lead up to its very solid and dignifled front door. A competent judge considers it probable that it was built in the early or middle years of the eighteenth century; and it was said (by the late Mr. Wm. Cubbon, of the Manx Museum) to have been the residence of Robert Kelly, who was High Bailiff of Castletown from 1808 to 1825. Though mentioned as an inn in 1843 it appears to have reverted to private ownership very soon afterwards — perhaps the need for an hotel in that locality ceased when the Keys, who met so near by, migrated to Douglas in 1869.

Recently restored and modernised internally, its carved wooden staircase sweeps gracefully upwards, giving access to large and high-ceilinged rooms which, furnished with taste and elegance, provide the greatest possible contrast to the unadorned exterior which the house presents to the little square in which it stands. From inside, looking through its front windows, one sees only the grim old Castle: but through the rear ones are visible the interesting little harbour; the green, white-capped waves rolling by outside, and the sunlight painting glorious patterns on Langness. With its deep cellars and rambling attics — which doubtless housed an ample staff — it must, either as house or inn, have been a pleasant place in which to reside.

The UNION. Behind this house, just off the Parade, may still be seen the extensive range of stabling which once belonged to it. It gives a vivid impression of the business which must have centred on an inn of this class. The present building was badly damaged by fire in 1885, when the wall above the front door was destroyed (F.L.S.).

The WHEATSHEAF cannot now be identified with certainty, but it was probably the inn in Malew Street now known as the VICTORIA (or, unofficially, as Spion Kop).

Peel

Notes (Peel)

The history of these Peel inns is far from clear, but it is hoped, at a later date, to elucidate it further and to make any corrections which may be found necessary to the following Notes.

The CALEDONIAN AND LIVERPOOL. In 1821 Robert Grant, of the Liverpool Coffee-house, appears to have altered its name to that of the Caledonian and Liverpool, and in 1825 to have moved it from wherever it had been (see Z. , V, p. 431) to ‘the house near the Quay formerly occupied as a Custom House’ (4.6.1825, D.) where he presided over it until at least 1835 (K.). This house was probably the one which is now the PEVERIL, first mentioned as an inn, under that name, in 1857 (H.) with Wm. Clarke as the landlord.

COWIN’S was near the Marine. It no longer exists.

The CROWN occupied the large and solid-looking house, now No. 7, on the south side of Castle Street. This is now a private residence.

The LORD NELSON was opened in 1806 by G. Sutherland ‘in the house formerly occupied by Mr. McGuffog’ though where this was is not stated. It appears to have prospered, for two years later he added a ballroom to it. In 1813 it was advertised as being ‘to let, ‘ and after that no further mention of it has been found. A Mr. Sutherland kept a coffee-room on Douglas Quay in 1802, and this may have been the same man.

The MARINE, now destroyed (see Z., V. p. 431), was probably the one used as a residence by Bishop Richmond in 1772 during the extensive repairs made to Bishopscourt at that time.

The NEW INN. In 1815 T. Long, of the Liverpool Coffee-house, Douglas, handed it over to H. Roberts and returned to Peel, where he had conducted an hotel (also called the Liverpool Coffee-house) from 1809 to 1811 Back in Peel he opened, on 22nd April, 1816, the New Inn, in a house which had been the residence of Dr. Thomas. In 1818 Long died, leaving the New Inn to be carried on by his widow. In a few months, however, she disposed of it to a certain Capt. W. Norris, who combined the duties of an innkeeper with those of commanding the cutter "Charlotte’ which sailed regularly between Peel and the Irish port of Ardglass. In June 1821 Norris, while retaining the name of his inn removed it to a house of whose location nothing is known beyond the fact that he described it as commanding a beautiful prospect of the Bay and Castle. In 1824 (after the death of Norris ?) it appears to have become Robt. McKinley’s COMMERCIAL Inn (later WHITE LION and COMMERCIAL), and, if this was the case would be the building (now Green’s fish-shop in Bridge Street) which is mentioned regularly as the White Lion between 1862 (Leech) and 1885 (L.).

The ROYAL OAK was in a large house (still standing, though very dilapidated) at the Harbour end of Castle Street, almost opposite the Public Library. Of the two three-storeyed houses, with somewhat lower ones to right and left of them, the Royal Oak is said to have been the one on the right as looked at from the Library entrance. Last mentioned as an inn in 1883 (L.) it later became an Alms-house (F.L.S.) while the very extensive cellars which run beneath it and its neighbours were used as a laundry.

The WATCH HOUSE was near where the Customs House now is. It was kept by Tom Corkan, who was likewise the Harbour-master, and was used as an office by the tidewaiters (Mannin, No. 6, p. 320).

WINTER’S INN was on ground now occupied by the Customs House .

RAMSEY

Notes (Ramsey)

The ALBION, at the corner of Waterloo Road and Ballure Road, is now a block of flats known as Askog Hall.

The BALLURE INN was in a small, whitewashed cottage with a porch, still standing in Ballure Road about fifty yards on the Ramsey side of the Beach Hotel.

The BRITANNIA, the palm trees in whose garden lend a tropical appearance to its surroundings, is to be found at the junction of Waterloo Road and Parliament Street, opposite the cinema. It was formerly known as the WATERLOO.

The CUMBERLAND, of which the earliest recorded date is 1857, is said to have been in existence at least eleven years earlier than this, and probably more. It occupied the building which is now Skillicorn’s Café, No. 3 Parliament Street.

The FARMER’S ARMS is also shown as being in King Street in 1852 (H.) and at Old Cross in 1857 (H.).

The FRIENDSHIP INN no longer exists. The building that housed it now serves as offices for the Ramsey Coal Company.

The GEORGE was opened by A. Bailiff in August 1820, in the building described as ‘Llewellyn’s Big House. ‘ Where this was is not clear, though it seems probable that it was the one which had earlier housed the King’s Head. Though in competition with the already well-established Mitre, the George appears to have at once become the venue for such social gatherings as the local dancing assemblies, etc.

The HIGHLANDER, which was in Church Street, no longer exists. It has been described as ‘little, low and dark, ‘ and having a sign depicting a stag (F.L.S.).

The KING’S ARMS. Woods. who visited this inn in 1810, has left rather a striking description of its landlord, whose name was Smith.

He was, says Woods, ‘ a very civil man, who is usually drunk every day, and in this state utters loudly and with little intermission the most horrible oaths. ‘ He had taken it over from Hendry in 1801 and, despite his bad habits, remained in charge until he died in June 1813, when he left it to his niece, Miss Sophia Hill, who kept it on.

The KING’S HEAD. In 1803 Cornelius Hind, the landlord of this inn, moved it from the site it had occupied when Feltham visited it in 1797 to a large house near the Quay which had previously been occupied by Mr. Llewellyn. When Hind died in 1805 the management was taken over by his widow but she survived him for only a few months, and on her death the inn appears to have been closed. Ten years later however it was opened afresh, under the same name and in the same house, by J . Warrener. What happened to it next is not clear, though it appears probable that it was where the George opened in 1820 in ‘that extensive concern known as Llewellyn’s Big House.’

The MARINE ceased to be an hotel sometime after 1863, and became the Telegraph Office and, later still, a private house. Now known as Marina House it stands next door to the Customs House, on the Market Place.

The MITRE. The earliest mention of the Mitre is in 1814 (17.3.1814, C.) when Chas. Richardson, who had kept the Crown and Mitre at Kirk Michael, announced that he had ‘removed to the Crown and Mitre, near the Court House, Ramsey’ — though whether he opened a new inn, or took over one already existing, is not clear.

In January 1815 John Evans announced that he had opened ‘Evan’s Hotel, late Richardson's;’ but, when he died in July of the same year, M. Ryde announced that she was continuing under the name of Ryde’s Hotel, the house belonging to her ‘lately known as Evans,’ opposite the Court House.’

What happened to it between 1815 and 1840, when Thos. Brett opened — with a grand Dinner — the ‘recently erected hotel known as the Royal and Mitre’ is not clear, except that M. Slater is shown as the landlord in 1831-2, but there seems to be no doubt that this was the one which still flourishes in Parliament Street.

The PRINCE OF WALES was earlier known as the NEPTUNE.

The ROYAL is said to have been at one time the home of the Monk family, owners of the Ramsey windmill.

The SWAN, now standing in Old Cross Square, had a predecessor, the ruins of which may still be seen in College Street. It is said that this ruined building was at one time the home of the La Mothe family, and the yard and stables attached to it were much appreciated by patrons of the inn who came into Ramsey from the surrounding countryside. When it was an inn the landlord was a man named Hampton whose wife was the daughter of a character known as Robin Sam, who had conducted an ale-house which went by the name of ROBIN’S NEST. The bride, when she married, brought the licence of this with her to her new home at the Swan.

The UNION was on the Quay, at the north-east corner of the Market Place. The building is now used by the Education Authority in connection with the scheme for the training of apprentices.

COUNTRY

In addition to the regular inns (Manx ‘Thie Aaght’) scattered about the countryside there were also establishments — better described as ale-houses (Manx ‘Thie Oast’) — where, as old folk will tell you, so and so was ‘keeping a barrel of ale. ‘ These little places, too numerous to be listed here, though not of sufficient importance to be mentioned in Directory or Guide Book were, nevertheless, well known in their day and neighbourhood. The memory of them still remains green in the recollection of a few old people, and in the Manx Museum Folk Life Survey may be found references to quite a number of them

Among the regular inns were those shown on pages 155-158.

Notes (Country)

The ALBERT (Ballaugh) closed a few years after the end of the 1914-18 war. It occupied the building now called ‘Albert House’ and its stables etc. have been converted into the building, now in part a greengrocer’s shop, which projects into the western side of the main road through the village on the Ramsey side of the bridge.

BALLACRAINE. The Mansion House on the estate of Ballacraine ‘which is well adapted for an Inn’ was advertised as being ‘to let’ in 1819 (14. io. 1819, B.) and described as ‘old established’ when R. Sutcliffe, late head waiter at the Castle Mona, became the landlord of it in 1847 (16.6.1847, E.), so its career as an inn probably started about 1820. In 1876 it was conducted by John Parkes, of the Star Hotel, Douglas, who described it as a ‘Branch Establishment.’

The BRIDGE, Onchan, cannot be traced. Except for the one entry in Slater’s Directory it does not seem to be mentioned elsewhere, and to be unrecollected in either village or parish.

The BRIDGE (or BRIDGE HOUSE) Inn, Braddan. Some hundred yards west of Kirk Braddan Church, on the road to Peel but on the side opposite to the church, there is still to be seen a rather long, low cement-covered building with a row of old stabling behind it. This building is now divided into two cottages called Lower Ballafletcher (or Ballafletcher Beg), but in the first quarter of last century it was known as Bridge House, and was for a while the residence of Mr. David Stratton, who was Steward for Col. Wilks when that gentleman lived at Kirby. In 1825 John Armstrong was the tenant, and when in February 1826 he opened the Three Tuns Tavern in Douglas he advertised as being ‘to let’ the Bridge Inn House — either as an inn, or for the use of a private family — and so exactly does the description he then gave of it fit the present house that there can, I think, be no doubt of it being the same place. As I have, however, found no later mention of it as an inn it would seem probable that after a brief spell as one it again became a private residence — and with its long garden in front and trout stream at the side a very pleasant one it must have been.

The BRIDGE, Laxey, is said to have been originally a small, whitewashed house which was enlarged and refronted c. 1905.

The BROWN COW, Santon, once a well-known place of call for the old horse coaches on a day trip from Douglas to the South, has been a private residence since about 1925. On the east side of the main Douglas-Castletown road, a few yards north of Santon Post Office, its old black and white decoration scheme has been changed to green and white; a small garden — in which may still be seen the iron pump which once supplied water for thirsty horses — now separates it from the road; while the range of stabling a little to the rear of it on the Douglas side has been converted into a modern bungalow.

The CALIFORNIA was in a small house, still standing, on the farm of Mullen-e-Clooie (or Mullen-y-Chleh) some six hundred yards south of Tynwald Hill. It is said that in earlier days it had a thatched roof (F.L.S.). The identification depends on local tradition, supported to some extent by an advertisement (31.8.1811, B.) regarding the letting of ‘Part of the estate of Slieuaalyn, being the claddagh adjoining the river, together with a good Dwelling-house on the Peel road, which is well calculated for a Public House, and has long been occupied as such. ‘ This description exactly fits the house standing with its gable towards the road at the west end of the present farm, which is the one indicated.

CASTLE TAG (or RAG), now an ivy-covered and uninhabited ruin next to the Bay Hotel, has not had a tenant for many years, and my only authority for saying that it was once an inn is the local tradition to that effect, for I know of no written allusion to it. That the building was there in — and looking very solid — may be seen from the picture of Port Erin (now in the Manx Museum) painted by John (‘Warwick’) Smith at that time for the Duke of Atholl. Another tradition, indeed, says that it was built by one of the Atholl lords as a hunting-lodge, to be used when he saw fit to visit the Calf on sport intent, but the only date that can be given is the fairy tale one of ‘Once upon a time.’

The CHURCH GATE at Kirk Michael occupied a building now a private house called ‘Clematis Cottage, ‘ the southernmost one of a row of three in the centre of the village and opposite the Church Hall. As this Hall stands where the churchyard gate used to be in the last century the name of this inn was an obviously suitable one. There are many who will regret that the thick roof of thatch which covered it when an inn has now yielded place to a less picturesque roofing.

The CROSBY HOTEL appears to have been well established in 1825 (2.7.1825, D.), but to have been known between that date and at least 1863 as the YORK COTTAGE.

The CUMBERLAND ARMS (Laxey) was kept by Isaac Milburn, a man from that county who came to Laxey to work as a miner, who, when he died in 1822 was said to have been the landlord of it for thirty years, though the earliest mention of it which I have found is in 1816 (K.). After his death it was carried on, until at least 1855 (K.), first by his widow and later by his son — another Isaac.

Beyond the fact that it was in Laxey its position is not stated, and no local person can now be found who has ever heard of it. There is, however, within a few yards of the bridge near the shore and next door to the present post-office, a house now known as ‘Hillfoot. ‘ This has the look of what a century ago would have been a good-class hotel, and local tradition — supported by certain structural features — says that it was one. It is certainly in what would then have been the obvious position for an inn; being in the middle of the little village, just at the bottom of the steep descent by the old road from Douglas and the even sharper rise (once the bridge was crossed) to Ramsey by way of Ballarragh and the Dhoon. Without having any proof of the fact I think it very probable (but see below) that this was the Cumberland Arms. That it should close about 1855 is understandable, as the need for it would cease when the present high road, which runs through what is now Upper Laxey, avoiding the drop to the old bridge and by-passing the village beside the harbour, was built in 1855-56 and offered the traveller the choice of the New, Queen’s, Commercial or Bridge, all of which were promptly opened upon it.

Against the above suggestion is the fact that another Laxey inn, mentioned in all the Guides from 1822 to 1847 cannot now be located. This is the WATERLOO (landlord, T. Faragher) and it may equally as well have been this, and not the Cumberland, which occupied what is now ‘Hillfoot. ‘ But, if this is so, where was the Cumberland?

The DUKE’S ARMS (Laxey) was said, in a newspaper advertisement of 1812, to have been opened ‘in a house which had been occupied by Messrs. Dobrie and Harrison’ but whether as an inn or otherwise is not stated. No further mention of it has been found anywhere, and it cannot now be traced.

The FALCON’S NEST (Port Erin). From 1843 until 1858, when the name was changed, this was known as the QUEEN’S ARMS.

The FARMER’S ARMS (Kewague). Nothing is now visible to show where this little country inn once was. But local tradition tells of one having existed in what is now the house, at the west end of a terrace of four taller ones, a few yards beyond the railway bridge on the south side of the road which leads from the White Ho junction (on the Old Castletown road) towards the bottom of Richmond Hill, and it seems very probable that this was the Farmer’s Arms. Behind this row of houses is the ruin of what was once a flax mill, then a brewery, and later still a dye works.

GRENABY BRIDGE INN. Old residents say that in the middle of the last century there was an inn (or alehouse) in a building which stood at the corner if the high road and the little lane which runs past the south side of the ruined mill on the west side of the road from Castletown as it approaches Grenaby Bridge. Nothing of it is now to be seen however, only the site remains.

The HARP, a small and now dilapidated, two-storied building with an unkempt grass plot in front of it, still stands (no longer an inn) at Malew Cross-four-ways, on the left-hand side as you go towards Castletown. Though in a good position for an inn — near the church and on the direct road to what was the principal town of the Island —it has not had a licence since about 1920.

The KING ORRY at Colby was closed when the present Colby Glen Hotel was built. It is now a private residence called ‘Elm Villa, ‘ just east of the Glen Hotel, on the main road to Douglas. Local tradition recalls that c.1880 the landlord was one Richard Kinvig, generally known as ‘Rosin the Bow’ (F.L.S.), and it bears upon it a plaque in memory of Archibald Creggen, the well-known Manx scholar.

The KING ORRY (Laxey) — a plain-fronted, two-storied but rather striking building with a stable beside it and a dignified doorway approached by five red steps — stands beside the main road from Laxey to Ramsey, about a hundred yards to the north of the point at which that road is crossed by the one leading from lower Laxey to Ballarragh. It must have been an hotel for some years before the first mention of it in 1883, for it is said to have been one when requisitioned as a temporary hospital during the smallpox epidemic which affected the district about 1870. It appears to have become a private residence some time about 1890.

Two LAXEY INNS appear in Thwaite’s Guide for 1863, one managed by H. Baldwin and one by Margt. Kelly, but no trace can now be found of either of them.

The LEVEL, now a private residence, was an ale-house which stood on the north-east corner of the junction between the Arbory-Port Erin road and the steep and narrow one which leads up to the old Ballacorkish mine. It was men from this mine who, some two hundred years ago, were its chief customers.

The LION, Marown, was in the neat and brightly colour-washed building, now divided into two cottages, at the crossing of the Braaid St. Marks and Foxdale-Mt. Murray roads near Stuggadoo, some 600 yds. SW. of the Braaid. The building has been considerably altered, having until recently been divided into four cottages, and prior to that one may presume being all in one when an inn. Attached to it there is still the remains of a small stable, and local tradition that this was indeed the Lion is strong. When it ceased to be an inn, and for how long it was one cannot be said, but its existence in a spot which is now so far from main traffic routes seems to indicate that the smaller cross-country roads were once much more used than they are to-day.

The MITRE, Kk. Michael. About 1799 this inn, which had been established in a residence known as Ballachrink House, was taken over by Wm. Ray, who in November 1808 transferred it to Chas. Richardson, who had conducted the Liverpool Hotel, Douglas. Richardson, in his turn, went to Ramsey c. 1813, where he opened the Crown and Mitre, and the Kk. Michael house passed into the hands of P. Dellany, who called it the New Inn. In 1818 Lt. Ivie was conducting it and the name was once again Crown and Mitre. He was followed by his widow and others until in 1841 it was taken by a Mr. Pitchforth from Yorkshire, who had it all newly papered and painted (8.6. 1841, E.), and since his time several other worthy land-lords have continued to conduct it.

It used, at one time, to be a favourite spot for Manx couples to go to for their honeymoon, being reasonably accessible and yet far enough from both north and south to afford the desired seclusion. This would not come however until the guests, who in accordance with local custom had all come to partake of the wedding breakfast, had departed, suitably fortified, on their homeward ways.

The NEW INN (Laxey) though first mentioned in 1863 is said locally to have been opened in 1854.

The NORTH STAR, at Baldwin, now a private residence, stands near the Chapel, at the junction of the main road through the (west) valley with the one which leads NW. to Ballaquine. It is a rather long and low building of two storeys; with a little battlemented porch, a coach-house built into one end of it and a range of stabling behind. Its days are now over, but strategically well situated on the old road from the north-west of the Island to Douglas — a road tramped by many a man and woman in the old days — its walls, if they had a tongue, could doubtless tell many an interesting story.

The NORTH STAR, Ballamodha, now a private residence, with a red roof and a decorative embattled doorway, is to be found beside the long, straight road (made c. 1831) which runs from Foxdale to Castletown. It is just opposite the milestone which tells the traveller to the latter place that he still has four miles to go. It has not had a licence since about 1920.

The NORTH STAR (Ballaugh) appears to have been the inn now known as the RAILWAY HOTEL, though there may have been some structural alterations since George Woods visited it in 1811 (see Z. , V, p. 411). The name was probably changed when the newly-formed Manx Northern Railway reached the village in 1879, the first mention found of it under the new title being in 1883 (L.) though the old name must have stuck to it for a while as Porter’s Directory for 1889 uses the older name. These old directories were not very carefully compiled however, and when Thwaites in 1863 calls a Ballaugh inn the OLD NORTH SUN it is quite possible that he was referring to the same place.

The NURSERY, Onchan. The Manxman (No. 3, p. 31) of 1911 states that this inn dates from 1669. It offers no proof of this however, and as other historical facts (so called) in that paper are incorrect I consider this one likewise to be unworthy of belief. The present Nursery Hotel stands in what, last century, was Spittall’s Nursery Gardens, and is said to have been the residence of the head gardener — which is what it looks like. But when it was turned into an hotel is not evident. These Gardens — now partly built over extended down to the main road through the village, the entrance being a few yards on the Douglas side of the top of what is now Royal Avenue. Alongside this entrance (c. 1880) was an inn known as ‘Appleby’s’ which became a private house c. 1900 and now, after alteration and some rebuilding, houses the Onchan Post Office. The rate records of the Onchan Village Commissioners for 1897 (the earliest extant) show an ‘Old Nursery Inn’ in the village in addition to the Nursery Hotel, and it was probably this old inn (the old folk say ‘we only knew it as Appleby’s’) which (see Z. , V, p. 413) was referred to as the Nursery is 1863. It is possible that earlier still it was known as the CHESHIRE HUNT, though nothing to support this surmise has been found beyond the fact that Slater’s Directory for 1852 says ‘adjoining these Gardens is a well-frequented inn, the Cheshire Hunt, kept by Mr. P. Hewitt.’

The PRINCE OF WALES, Onchan, is now a private house, called ‘Sunyside’ on the west side of the main road from Onchan to Laxey, about half way between the top of the Whitebridge Hill and the Half-Way House. It ceased to be an inn in 1910, but would appear to have been a real inn, and not merely an ale-house, for it had accommodation for both travellers and their horses.

The QUEEN’S (Laxey) though first mentioned in 1863, is said on good authority to have been opened in the Spring of 1855.

The RAILWAY HOTEL (Kirk Michael) though still open as a place of refreshment is no longer an inn, not having held a licence since the beginning of the first world war.

The RAILWAY HOTEL (Laxey) was originally the residence of the Captain (or Manager) of the local mines. On a small but verdant plateau between the sea and the hills it stood near to the church, and surrounded by extensive gardens and a piece of open ground which provided a sports ground for the Oddfellows and Rechabites when they held their annual outings. But when the Electric Railway reached Laxey in 1895 this space was taken for the station, and the house became an hotel.

The RAILWAY INN, Union Mills. Prior to c. 1883 this is said to have been known as the GRAPES, and to have had as a sign a large bunch of wooden ones hanging over the door. Guides of the middle of the last century show also four other inns in Union Mills — the Plough, Union, Prince of Wales and Nag’s Head — but I have been unable to find out anything whatever about them, and should welcome any information which readers of this can give me.

The REST AND BE THANKFUL, half way up the long ascent of Slieu Lewaigue, has been for almost the past fifty years a private residence, and coaches no longer stop there, as they did when horse-drawn, their passengers, as they got out, being greeted by the land-lord’s parrot with its cry of ‘Give the horses a rest, byes,’ which no doubt brought him much custom,

The RICHMOND HILL closed c. 1922.

The ROUND TABLE. A traveller from Peel to Castletown in the eighteenth century would go by way of the old road through Dalby. Having struggled up the long rise to the gap between Cronk Fedjag and South Barrule he would then start to cross the windy waste of Ronague, and would welcome the sight of the little inn — later called the Round Table — where he might pause and refresh himself while deciding whether to make the descent to the ancient capital by way of the road through Arbory or that through Colby. The present building — a private house — is built on the site of the old thatched one, which ceased to be an inn in 1926. It stands where three roads divide; a few yards from Ronague Chapel, its nearest neighbour in that empty countryside, and shows no signs of its predecessor, so that people in passing cars little think how welcome the light from the windows of the earlier one must have been to a tired traveller facing a cold wind from the sea in the dusk of a winter evening.

The SALUTATION. I have been unable to discover where this inn was, or to find out anything about it beyond the fact that it was probably in the vicinity of Douglas, since a Meet of the Douglas Hunt was advertised to take place at it at 7.30 am. on the 28th October, 1809.

The SHANNIN RUY (or Rae) stood on the east side of the main road from Onchan to Laxey, just at the northern exit from the former, and near where the road begins to dip towards the Whitebridge. A photograph of it in the Museum shows a small, whitewashed cottage with a thatched roof, and having its gable end towards the road. When it ceased to be an inn is not known, but when it was destroyed by fire in 1934 it had been for some years no more than a labourer’s cottage; and though it is referred to by old folk in Onchan as an inn I think it doubtful whether it was ever, in fact, more than a small ale-house, particularly as I have found no printed references to it. The name is something of a puzzle; but Mr. Clark, of the Manx Museum, suggests the possibility that it may be a mixture of Manx and English — shan (old) — inn — ruy (red) — or the ‘old red inn,’ the adjective following the noun in the Manx fashion.

SUNNY HARBOUR. That this inn was in Malew is thought possible because the only mention found of it is a notice of the marriage, at Kk. Malew, of ‘Mr. Nicholas Lawson, of the Sunny Harbour public house, to Miss K. O’Kneale, both of that parish. ‘ A Mr. Nicholas Lawson is mentioned in 1813 (22.4.1813, C.) in connection with the estate of Orrisdale in Malew, and the inn may have been on that estate, though I know of nothing to support this conjecture and the name is a strange one for an inland site.

The present TYNWALD INN at St. Johns was built c. 1900, taking the place of an earlier one which used to be on the open space in front of it. This building was demolished when the present one was erected.

The UNION, Onchan. The entry in Slater’s Directory regarding this inn does not make it clear whether it was in the village of Onchan or merely in the parish of that name, and until some further information regarding it is forthcoming it appears probable that the latter was the case. The writer would be glad to hear of anything which is known of it.

The UNION, Lonan, and the one of the same name in Braddan. These are two further instances of inns which seem to have left no trace, and I should be grateful for any information regarding them which fellow-members of our Society could let me have. The one in Lonan is mentioned as early as 19th August, 1823 (D.) and in Thwaite’s Guide for 1863.

The WHITE HORSE. At the junction of the road through the West Baldwin valley and the small one which leads from it to the Rheyn, is a private house known as Sunny Bank, which is locally reputed to have been an inn though no name is recalled for it. The O.S. Map of 1868 marks it as a public house, and shows also that though most of the Baldwin valley is in Braddan this particular portion is in Marown. It seems highly probable therefore that this is the ‘White Horse, Baldwin’ listed under Marown in Thwaite’s Guide for that year; and as the old mill stands just a few yards from it, across the road, it is probably the one referred to as ‘the Public House at Baldwin Mill’ in evidence given at an inquest reported in the Sun of 6th May, 1823.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 1999