[From Manx Soc vol 11 - Waldron's History] 

NOTES BY THE EDITOR

[W. Harrison].

Notes 32 to 48

NOTE 32—page 15.

" These Towns are divided into seventeen Parishes."—This is evidently a mistake,—the Island is " divided into seventeen Parishes." The names of the Parishes are very incorrectly spelled, but it has been considered advisable to print them as in the text. And the order in which they stand is not quite correct. Patrick is the first in order, then German, Michael, &c. as given.

NOTE 33—page 16.

"Population."—The census appears to have been taken at various times, but probably with no particular degree of accuracy until of later years. It was returned in

1726 14,006
1757 19,144
1784 24,924
1792 27,913
1811 34,316
1821 40,081
1831 41,758
1841 47,986
1851 52,381
1861 52,252

OFFICIAL CENSUS RETURN.—1861.

The total population (52,252) shows a decrease of 135 since 1851, when it was 52,387; but the returns made by the Board of Customs of crews on board vessels in the harbour will, it is calculated cover this decrease, and thus make the present population as nearly as possible the same as 1851. The non-increase of the population, especially in the country districts, is accounted for by the large number of young persons who annually emigrate to distant parts of the world, and go to service in England.

NOTE 34—page 16.

" Keeping the Laity in the most miserable ignorance."—Bishop Wilson's zeal for ecclesiastical discipline may have been intemperate and severe, as remarked by Dr. Knox, yet he laboured hard for the improvement of the people in the Isle of Man, as is evinced by his numerous public works, his constant anxiety for the translation of the Scriptures into the Manx tongue, and the formation of parochial libraries, which he commenced in 1699, with the assistance of Dr. Thomas Bray, which he afterwards established and completed throughout the diocese, and gave to each a proper bookcase, furnishing them with Bibles, Testaments, and such books as were calculated to instruct the people in the great truths of the Gospel. An Act of Tynwald was passed in 1734 for their protection and preservation, and among other things, it was provided that " every rector, vicar, or curate, or their executors or administrators, shall be accountable for such books as are already remaining, or shall hereafter be given to the full value of the same; and every rector, vicar, or curate, shall, immediately after his induction or licence, make a new catalogue of all the books belonging to their respective churches, and shall deliver the same to the episcopal registrar, to the end that the said books may be accounted for and made good, according to the purport of this Act." How the rectors, vicars, or curates have carried out Bishop Wilson's wishes in this respect is for them to say. I fear the catalogues will exhibit but a sorry record of their zeal at the present day.

NOTE 35—page 16.

" He."—This gentleman was Dr. William Walker, rector of Ballaugh, and then Vicar-General of the diocese. The Rev. William Crebbin, who was vicar of Jurby, and translator of the Book of Numbers, and who resided at the time at Bishop's Court, is certain that the copies he saw were in the handwriting of Dr. Walker, for Bishop Wilson used to give him the perusal of them, in order the better to qualify him also for translating.—See Butler's Life of Hildesley, p. 254.

Dr. Walker, having been rector of Ballaugh parish for about twenty five years, and one of the vicars-general, seventeen, died June 18th, 1729, aged fifty-nine.

His epitaph, inscribed on a flat stone in the parish church of Balllaugh, where his remains were interred, was composed by Bishop Wilson.

NOTE 36—page 16.

" Books in the Manks Tongue."—The first work published in Manx was Bishop Wilson's " Principles and Duties of Christianity, for the use of the Diocese of Man, with short and plain directions and prayers. In English and Manks. London, 1707. With preliminary instructions to the Clergy of the Isle of Man, Rules for marrying couples, and Devotions to put into their hands after marriage." An edition had probably appeared a few years earlier—about 1699. Chaloner states the Book of Common Prayer was translated into Manx by Bishop Philips in 1605, but it was not printed. Bishop Wilson also published, in 1724, a small work " On the Education of Rich and Poor Children, for the Masters and Mistresses of Charity Schools, especially for the use of the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man." In Butler's Memoirs of Bishop Hildesley, 1799, is given, p. 211, a complete "Narrative of the origin, progress, and completion of the Manks version of Holy Scripture, and other religious books for the use of the native inhabitants of the Isle of Mann." Dr. William Walker, Vicar-General of the Diocese, translated the four Gospels and Acts, and part of the Common Prayer.

NOTE 37—page 20.

" A Popish Priest then resided and officiated at Douglas."—" Towards the end of December, 1725, an alarm arose of a sort of Popish conventicle in Douglas, sermons preached, and a child baptised in the house of one Patrick Kelly, by a supposed priest, who went by three several names. It was thought right to enforce the then law of the Isle against the parties as for an illegal conventicle. On their non-appearance an order was made for their committal; but the Bishop privately notes 'an intimation that these people have the countenance of the Governor.' This was Thomas Horton, Esq., of Chadderton near Manchester, who was sworn in Governor, October 9, 1725, of whom Bishop Wilson writes under date of 'Oct. 11.—I waited on the new Governor, and found him the most prejudiced against the church, churchmen in general, and in particular against the laws and discipline of this church, which by his own acknowledgment he was a stranger to.'

In the matter of the priest, the aid of a soldier was denied, notwith standing the twenty-four Keys had declared on the 24th of June previously, the law concerning soldiers to put in execution the orders of the Ecclesiastical Court, and the then Governor gave orders accordingly, the new Governor reversed those orders and is resolved to deny the country the benefit of the plainest and strongest law ever made in this land."—Keble's Life of Wilson, 1863, p. 655 & 658.

NOTE 38—page 21.

" Kirk Jarmyns."—This alludes to the ecclesiastical prison under the Cathedral at Peel Castle.

NOTE 39—page 21.

" The Discipline of the Church."—When Bishop Wilson came to the Island he must have found that the discipline of the church was in some measure relaxed to what it had been in the days of Bishop Barrow, arising from various causes. The Island had been without a bishop for a length of time since the death of Levinz in 1693 to the appointment of Wilson in 1697, when a great struggle took place, as Bishop Wilson began to put the ancient rules in force. He had to contend with the hostility of the civil authorities against being subject to church censure, and the long disputed point of " the exemption of soldiers, or any other that recede pay of the Lord or of any of the Lieutenants' families," from the same, caused the Bishop a vast amount of anxiety, and ultimately led to his imprisonment in Castle Rushen, along with his Vicars-General, the Rev. Dr. Walker and the Rev. John Curghey, on the 29th-June, 1722, and fines levied on them. On appeal to the King in Council, 4th July, 1724, all the proceedings of the officers in the Isle of Man were reversed; the Governor, Alexander Home, resigned; and the Bishop thus accomplished his object, the establishment of the discipline of the church. For a time it was maintained with some degree of rigour, but gradually it became a name and nothing more.—" Tempora mutantar, et nos mutamur in illis."

NOTE 40—page 21.

" Purging."—Numerous presentments were at various times made by the different churchwardens in their various parishes for what would be considered very trivial faults at the present day. When the Manx Society publish the extracts from these registers, they will no doubt be accompanied by a full account of the discipline of the Manx Church. Lord Chancellor King remarked on the ecclesiastical code, framed by Bishop Wilson in 1703, " If the ancient discipline of the church was lost elsewhere, it might be found in all its purity in the Isle of Man:" The punishment for a minor offence, as ordered by Bishop Wilson, was, "The penitent, clothed in a white sheet, is brought into the church, immediately before the litany, and there continues, standing upright, till the sermon is ended, and after a proper exhortation from the pastor, the congregation are desired to pray for him; thus he is dealt with every Sunday, till receded again into the church." For more serious cases the punishment accordingly was more severe. At Bishop's Court, on the 8th November, 1705, William Kissack of Kirk Christ Lezaire, who had committed incest and adultery with his wife's sister's daughter, Alma Christian, was sentenced " to be committed a month to St. German's Prison, and before his release to give bonds to perform the ensuing censure: viz.—To make one Sunday's penance at the church door of every parish, and at the market crosses of every town within this Isle, in the habit and manner following:—That he be ready at the Ringing of the last peal to morning prayer to begin his penance, barefooted and bare-legged and bare-headed, covered over with a white linen sheet, and a small white wand in his hand; and so to stand during the going in and coming out of the parishioners; and also to stand at the said market crosses for the space of two hours on the market days, from nine to eleven in the forenoon, with a schedule on his breast intimating his crime, which is to be read by the ministers of the respective parishes, and to be repeated by the above offender."

In 1712, at a Consistory Court held at Kirk Michael, a person who had relapsed into fornication, and is described as " a common, notorious whore," is ordered to be dragged after a boat at Douglas, on the Saturday following. Governor Mawdesley gave his order for soldiers and a boat to execute this censure, and the Vicars-General, pointing out to the constable of Douglas, " that the person above-mentioned with another had long evaded the sentence by absconding themselves," but now, "pursuant to the Hon. Governor's directions, he should forthwith send a soldier to secure them, to be publicly dragged the next market day across the river before the market place and back again. The soldier to charge one of the boats of the town, and the crew belonging thereto, to perform the same, and he is to see it done, and receive the usual fees."

Another unfortunate creature was soon afterwards subjected to the same treatment, although it was admitted she had "a degree of unsettledness and defect of understanding," and, as was certified by the clergy, that she had submitted " with as much submission and discretion as can be expected of the like of her," and " considering the defect of her understanding." The records state—" Forasmuch as neither Christian advice nor gentle modes of punishment are found to have any effect on Kath. Kinred of Kirk Christ, a notorious strumpet, who had brought forth three illegitimate children, and still continues to stroll about the country, and lead a most vicious and scandalous life on other accounts all which tending to the great dishonour of the Christian name, and to her own utter destruction without a timely and thorough reformation. It is therefore hereby ordered (as well for the further punishment of the said delinquent as for the example of others) that the said Math. Kinred be dragged after a boat in the sea at Peel Town, on Wednesday, the 17th instant, (being the fair of St. Patrick) at the height of the market. To which end, a boat and boat's crew are to be charged by the general sumner, and the constable and soldiers of the garrison are, by the Governor's order, to be aiding and assisting in seeing this censure performed.

"And in case any owner, master, or crew of any boat are found refractory, by neglecting or refusing to perform this service for the restraining of vice, their names are to be forthwith g*en in by the general sumner, to the end they may be severely fined for their contempt, as the Governor's order directs.

 " Dated at Bishop's Court, this 15th day of March, 1718.

THOS. SODOR & MAN.
WILLIAM WALKER." 

It was certified by the Sumner-General, so long after as July 18th ensuing, that " St. Patrick's day being so stormy and tempestuous that no boat could perform the within censure, upon St. German's day about the height of the market the within Math. Kinred was dragged after a boat in the sea according to the within order." However, poor Katherine Kinred is not yet done with, for on the 27th October, 1718, having had a fourth bastard child, and " after imprisonment, penance, dragging in the sea, continuing still remorseless," and notwithstanding her " defect of understanding," she is again " ordered to be 21 days closely imprison'd, and (as soon as the weather will permit) dragged in the sea again after a boat, and also perform public penance in all the churches of this Island." After undergoing all this, she is apparently penitent, " according to her capacity," and is ordered by the Bishop " to be received into the peace of the church' according to the form appointed for that purpose." " Given under my hand this 13th of August, 1720."

This is a sad instance of mistaken zeal in Bishop Wilson in continuing a public penance on this unfortunate creature who was evidently imbecile, as appears by the certificates of the various vicars, and it is to be regretted that so good a man should have been led away in this instance, in carrying out what he considered to be strict church discipline.

Another instance of the effect of "Purging" will be sufficient. In 1716, Patrick Crellin of Kirk German, a notorious offender, found guilty of adultery and fornication four several times, and excommunication itself having had no effect upon him, it was thought necessary to treat him in an uncommon manner.—" He was therefore to stand duely in penitential habit at the parish church door every Lord's day during the time of morning service for three years."

Of numerous instances of church discipline and the mode of punishment the reader will find ample details in Keble's" Life of Bishop Wilson," Oxford, 1863.

NOTE 41—page 22.

" Widow at Douglas."—After considerable search in the Rolls Office at Castletown, respecting the truth of the statement that this widow " was condemned to death and accordingly executed," I can find no allusion to it. If such execution had taken place, there must have been a record of it, and it is presumed that some one, taking advantage of Waldron's search after the wonderful, has adopted this mode of imposing on his credulity.

NOTE 42—page 23.

" Two doctors—Jenkinson and Ball."—That there was a Dr. Ball in the Island is Evident from the following notices in Keble's "Life of Wilson," pp. 666 & 727. " Braddan, March 15, 1726. Captain Tucker, captain of a cruiser, Captain Heywood, P. Ball, and one Mr. Hussey, presented by the churchwardens for giving a masquerade on Sunday the 5th instant, being drunk, swearing, cursing, blaspheming, terrifying all they meet, &c. Evidences taken. Tucker and Ball censured—to ask public forgiveness. Hussey to be excommunicated after due notice. Heywood being already excommunicated no notice of him." Thomas Heywood was then captain of the Fort at Douglas. " March 14, 1731. Dr. Ball, a most atheistical man, died, not without just suspicion of having taken opium on purpose to destroy himself, he being well before; and in his drunken fits declared that the letters he expected that day (and which came before night) would bring him either a gaol delivery or a death warrant. The letters were found in the morning torn in pieces, and himself senseless and in the agonies of death. N.B. This man some years ago took upon him most profanely to absolve Captain Heywood from his sentence of excommunication, upon the Lord's day, and in a company of lewd, wicked fellows in masquerade, whom I then censured," &c. The bishop wrote, '' That it was the same month, and day of the month,that he (Ball) was presented for the above crime." Four days after the death of Ball, Heywood appears to have become penitent. "Braddan, March 19th, Mid-lent Sunday. N.B. I received Captain Thomas Heywood, captain of Peel Castle, into the peace of the church, after having absolved him from the sentence of excommunication upon his public acknowledgment of his sins of fornication and contumacy, and confessing his sorrow for the same, and for continuing so long under that sentence, and earnestly desiring to be restored. And this in a full congregation of Kirk Michael church."

NOTE 43—page 26.

" Character of the Present Bishop."—The character thus given by Waldron is copied and referred to in Keble's `' Life of Bishop Wilson," p. 545.

NOTE 44—page 27.

" Commitments."—This appears not to have been the case in 1664, when several Quakers were sent to St. German's prison, as will be seen by the order printed in the notes to Chaloner's Treatise, (Manx Society vol. x. p. 115.) " If they refuse to be committed by you, call for the assistance of a soldier from Capt. Ascoe. Let the Sumner put this in execution immediately."

This subject appears to have given rise to a number of vexatious disputes about the time of Waldron. Bishop Wilson endeavoured to carry out the canons of the Manx church as he found them, with the customary laws of the diocese, and which had been carried out in their full force in Bishop Barrow's time, and acted on without demur until about the year 1718. " When any is irregular or disobedient unto the Sumner and Ordinary, the Ordinary hath used to send for aid unto the constable of the Castle or of the Peel, who presently ought to send a soldier to bring such offender to the Bishop his prison: and the same soldier to have for his pains of every such offender at the discretion of the Ordinary." also, " If the excommunicated will not appear, it hath been used to send for a soldier to bring the offender to the Bishop's prison."

The Ecclesiastical Constitutions were agreed upon at a Convocation of the Clergy at Bishop's Court, the 3rd day of February, 1703, and were approved by the Governor, Officers, and Keys at a Tynwald Court, held the following day at St. John's; received the Lord's assent, and were finally publicly proclaimed upon the Tynwald Hill, according to ancient form and custom on the 6th June, 1704.

These Constitutions continued to be acted upon with the direct countenance of the civil power, but it having been represented to the Governor that in some instances the church had met with opposition on the part of the government officers, Governor Mawdesley, in 1706, issued the following order—" Whereas complaint is made by the Right Rev. Father in God, Thomas, Lord Bishop of this Island, and the officers of the Spiritual Court here, that very often, when orders were issued by the Court for committing offenders, and in case of disobedience to crave the assistance of a soldier from the near garrison according to law, the Sumner upon such application had been denyed a soldier until he produced the Governor's letter, and given the soldier his fee before he went from the garrison; whereby sundry inconveniences happened, and too often justice was delayed, the Governor directs that upon application from any Sumner producing an order from the Spiritual Court, the constable or captain of any garrison or fort that is so applied unto shall immediately give the said Sumner the assistance of a soldier to commit such refractory offenders (without giving the said soldier a fee in hand); where the said offender or offenders are to remain until they pay off and discharge not only the soldier's fees, but also all other fees payable by them on occasion of their commitment. And this to be a standing rule and order to be observed in these cases for the future.—ROBERT MAWDESLEY."

From this time and while Mawdesley remained governor, the civil and ecclesiastical authorities appear to have acted in union, each lending their aid in endeavouring to suppress and punish the prevailing sin of the day, adultery, and for some time after the appointment of Governor Horne in 1714. On the 29th May, 1716, Mary Henricks [Hendrick] of Douglas was presented by the churchwardens and convicted of adultery with Isaac Allgood, and sentenced to penance, but she refused to appear at the court, and was excommunicated and " ordered to be, by the Sumner or a soldier, forthwith committed into St. German's prison." She petitioned the Governor " to grant her the liberty of an appeal to the Right Honourable James, Earle of Derby, Lord of Mann and the Isles, for justice and redress." Thus the point was raised whether the Earl was by the law supreme in causes purely spiritual. While this matter was still pending, Governor Horne refused to supply the aid of a soldier in the ease of Dulcibella Rowe, daughter of Comptroller Rowe who was accused in 1720, of cohabiting with Mr. Farrell " as man and wife, no proof is made of their being lawfully married." The parties" were ordered to stand committed, " until they give bonds to make such satisfaction as the law requires for the evil example and scandal given." Another refusal of a similar nature occurred about the same time, but in 1721 upon Mrs. Horne, the Governor's lady, being charged for slander of Mrs. Puller, and censured, the matter was ultimately brought before a Committee of the Privy Council, when judgment was passed on the Governor for contumacy, which led to his retirement. His successor, Major John Lloyd, acted in a similar manner, for upon being applied to by the Sumner for power to commit one Wainwright under censure for adultery, the Governor "utterly refused his authority," under the plea of his being a soldier. On the 1st December, 1724, the Bishop writes—" Captain Mercer, constable of Peel, sent me word by Mr. M. Curghey, vicar, that he was ordered by the Governor not to grant a soldier to put the orders of the Ecclesiastical court in execution." In March, 1725, the Bishop writes—" Mr. Sanforth brought me a letter from Lord Derby, and an account that Lloyd was turned out from being Governor."

At the Tynwald Court, 24th June, 1725, the Bishop having informed the Deputy Governor that the demand of a soldier from the constables of the garrisons had been denied, both by Horne and Lloyd, desired the opinion of the Deemsters and Keys as to the Ordinary's right. " The Deemsters and twenty-four Keys acknowledged the right, and the Governors promised that orders should be given that the law should be observed without interruption for the future."

Soon after this, Governor Thomas Horton was sworn in on the 9th October, 1725, and on the 21st he reversed these orders, and refused the soldiers notwithstanding the opinion of the Keys, &c.; and continued his refusal on various occasions, which was the cause of sad confusion.

As a further illustration of the Governor's opposition to the Bishop's wishes and orders, the Bishop states - " May 30th, 1728. I gave orders to the General Sumner to employ Lawson, the slater, to mend the roof of the chancel of my cathedral. Lawson told him that the constable had given orders (by orders from the Governor) that no one should be suffered to repair or work there without the Governor's express orders, so that he was not suffered to do the work. The soldiers told the General Sumner the same." " June 5, 1730. Mr. Woods tells me the Governor has ordered the roof of St. German's cathedral to be carried to Castletown, to build stables, &c., and that part of it is already there." [strictly this appears to be the material intended for the roof not the actual roof]

These differences continued with more or less animosity until the death of James, Earl of Derby, on the 1st February, 1735-6, when the Duke of Atholl was proclaimed Lord of Man, and concessions and modifications of the laws were made, satisfactory to all parties. In Keble's " Life of Bishop Wilson," 1863, will be found full details of this struggle, which are well worth perusal.

NOTE: 45—page 27.

'' Cogent of Gabalis."—The book alluded to is, " A divirting Victory of the Rosicrucian doctrine of spirits, sylphs, salamanders, gnomes and demons. By the Count de Gabalis." 8vo., 1714.

NOTE 46—page 27.

"Fairies or the good people."—They have ever been considered as bringing good fortune to those they visit, and always ready to do a kind service to all who have at any time rendered them any little civility. A slattern was their abhorrence, but the tidy maid would sometimes " find sixpence in her shoe."

Although in the present day the press, the steam engine, and the electric telegraph may have done much, yet they have not eradicated the belief from the minds of the natives in these imaginary beings. They form the theme of many a winter evening's tale, and many a mountain glen is yet believed to be full of them. " The Fairy Doctor" still pursues his avocations and meets with his fair share of business.

Mr. Brand, the author of " Popular Antiquities," mentions having met with a man who said he had seen one that had seen fairies. Truth, he adds, is to come at in most eases; none he believes ever came nearer to it, in this, than he has done. To see a fairy is said to be " good for sore eyes," but as those who are abutted with that malady are not likely soon to find relief by that means, perhaps the next best thing is to see those who have seen one. Such has been the editor's luck, (having come one step nearer than Mr. Brand) and as a consequence has in no way suffered from that affliction, but whether his eyes have been opened any the wider, he will not lose the secret then imparted, by divulging it to the "unbeliever." Among other matters my informant stated that some lifts years ago very early one Spring morning being employed in household duties, there came floating on the air a low murmuring wailing noise. When going to the door to see what occasioned it, behold there were multitudes of the good people passing over the stepping stones in the river, and wending their way up the side of the hill until they were lost in the mist that then enveloped the top of Beary mountain. They were dressed chiefly in Loaghtyn, with little pointed red caps, and most of them were employed in bearing on their shoulders various articles of domestic use, such as kettles, pots, pans, the spinning wheel, and such like, evidently seeking fresh and more quiet quarters, having been disturbed, as was supposed, by the noise of a fulling mill lately erected in their neighbourhood. All the fraternity have a great dislike to noise, especially to that of church bells. There is a Danish story that a farmer once saw a troll sitting on a stone near Lake Tiis, in Zealand, and addressed him; saying, " Well, friend, whither go you ?" " Alas !" replied the troll, in a most disconsolate tone, " I can't stay in this country any longer, there's such an eternal. ringing and dinging !"

When the long talked of railways come into operation in the Isle of Man, we may then bid good bye to the fairies, for they will then have to evacuate this their last stronghold, and we may exclaim as the witty prelate of Oxford, Bishop Corbet did, about 1635.

" Farewell rewards and fairies!
Good housewives then may say;
For then foul sluts in dairies,
Will fare as well as they.

And though they sweep their hearths no less
Than maids were wont to do,
Yet who will then for cleanliness
Find sixpence in her shoe ?

When they have left our quarters,
A register they have,
Who can preserve their charters;
A man both wise and grave.

An hundred of their merry pranks,
By one that I could name,
Are kept in store; con twenty thanks
To William for the same."

NOTE 47—page 28.

"Fairy Cup of Kirk Malew."—This tale shows its Scandinavian origin, for we find a similar one told of the " Altar Cup in Aagerup" a village in Zealand. One Christmas eve a farmer's servant in the village borrowed his master's horse and rode down to see the " troll meeting," and while he was wondering to see how well and gaily the lime dwarfs danced, up came a troll to him and invited him to dismount and take a share of their merriment. Another troll held his horse, when he went down and danced away with them the whole night long. As it was drawing near day he mounted his horse to return home, when a maiden who held a gold cup in her hand invited him to drink the stirrup cup, (Jough as dorragh). He took the cup, but having some suspicion, while he made as if he was raising the cup to his mouth, threw the drink over his shoulder. He then clapped spurs to his horse's sides and rode away with the cup in his hand as fast as the horse could gallop. The trolls set off in full pursuit and gained on him every minute. In his distress he prayed unto God, and he made a vow that if he should be delivered, he would bestow the cup on the church. As he rode along by the wall of the Churchyard, he hastily flung the cup over it, that it at least might be secure; and pushing on at full speed, and just as they were on the point of catching hold of the horse, he sprang in through the farmer's gate and slap's the wicket after him, when he was thus safe, and the cup was presented to the church.

This is an adventure common to many countries, and will remind the reader of Tam O'Shanter. The ancient paten still preserved in Kirk Malew church has engraved on it, " Sancte Lupe ora pro nobis."

Chancellor Gervase, of Tilbury, writing in the thirteenth century, makes mention of a knight who, on being presented with a large horn adorned with gold and gems, out of which he was to drink, rode off with it instead of returning it to the " ancient people." The Earl of Gloucester condemned him to death, and presented the horn to the most excellent king Henry the Elder.

A cup with some mysterious drink is common in Celtic traditions; cups from which all sorts of drinks came, the cup of Fionn which healed diseases, and the Saint Graal of medieval romance. When Diarmid had found his princess under the waves, he had to cross a great strait to get the cup of the king who ruled over the dead. The cup, described as " The Luck of Eden Hall," has been often told, and one of a similar character was preserved at Kirby, having been presented to Col. Wilks by a relative of the Fletcher family, former proprietors of the estate. The late Dr. Oswald possessed a drawing of this cup, which is given in his " Vestigia," vol. v. Manx Society's publications.

As this relique of former days so particularly relates to this subject, it will not be thought amiss to repeat Dr. Oswald's account of this cup as given in the Appendix to his " Vestigia," p. 189.

" The Ballafletcher Drinking Glass.—This drinking cup, now in the possession of Major Bacon, of Seafield House, upwards of two hundred years ago adorned the beaufet of Ballafletcher House. It was purchased at the sale of the effects of the last of the Fletchers, in 1778, by Robert Caesar, Esq. who gave it to his niece for safe keeping, in consequence of an ancient tradition 'that whosoever had the misfortune to break the glass would surely be haunted by the Shannon Shee of Ballafletcher' (the peaceful spirit of Ballafletcher). The cup is a crystal cyathus, engraved with floral scrolls, having between the designs, on two sides, upright columellae of five pillars, and was a votive offering to the goddess for her protection or forbearance. The following is the legend:— In ancient times there stood in the parish of Braddan (of which the bishop is legal vicar) a mansion called Kirkby. It was so named because it was the place of entertainment for the Bishops of Sodor, in their progresses to and from the Isle. Of this building nothing now remains except its site, near an ancient encampment, and the picturesque churchyard of Braddan with its numerous runes and tunic crosses. More than two centuries ago, when Kirkby merged into the Fletcher family, its ancient name was changed, and the place took the designation of the new owner. To the first of this family was given the cup, with the injunction 'that as long as he preserved it, peace and plenty would follow; but woe to him who broke it, as he would surely be haunted by the Lhannan Shee' [the familiar spirit]. The glass stood in a recess, and was never taken from its place or used except on Christmas and Easter days. It was then filled with wine, and quaffed off at a breath by the head of the house only, as a libation to the spirit for her protection. The cup belonged, it is said, to Magnum, the Norwegian king of Man, who took it from the shrine of St. Olave, when he violated the saint's sanctuary. This cup is uncommonly light and chaste in appearance, and might pass for a specimen of the glass of ancient Sidon, once so famous.
Alcinous, king of Coreyra, addressing Ulysses, says:—

'I give him also this golden cup,
Splendid, elaborate: that while ho lives,
What time he pours libation forth to Jove
And all the Gods, he may remember me,
He ended, at whose words Atreta bade
Her maidens with despatch, place o'er the fire,
A tripod. ample wombed.'

—Cowper's Odyssey, book viii.

'And with a gorgeous cup, that to the Gods
Libation pouring, ever while thou livest
From that same cup, thou may'st remember use.'

—Southey's Odyssey, book iv."

NOTE 48—page 29.

"Fiddler to the fairies."—An amusing tale is recorded in Stewart's " Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland," (1823, p. 98.) of a couple of fiddlers having been engaged in a similar manner, in the neighbourhood of Inverness, when having played to the revellers the the whole of the night, were dismissed in the morning with most liberal gifts. When they returned to the town, and to their amazement and consternation found everything changed, a very old man, upon hearing their tale, thus addressed them: " You are the two men my great grandfather lodged, and who, it was supposed, were decoyed by Thomas Rymer to Tomnafurich. Sore did your friends lament your loss, that the lapse of a hundred years has now rendered your name extinct."