ELLAN VANNIN
Ellan Vannin, Manannan's Isle, Mona's Isle: over the centuries there have been many variations of names for the Isle of Man, a delightful island of hills and glens - and beaches which are never more than a few miles away. It was my childhood home, a place to which I was always happy to return. I knew the eastern side best because we lived in Laxey on the east coast, although at one time or another I must have been over almost every stick and stone on the Island.
My brother Des would undoubtedly have known the south of the Island just as well as our particular stamping ground on the east. After finishing his preparatory education in Dublin he went on to King William's College near Castletown. It was too far for him to commute daily from home but the prospect of boarding was not attractive to him either.
A compromise was reached when a family friend offered to have Des to live in his home in Port Erin. Larry Brennan was an Irish doctor with a practice covering the area around Port Erin, Castletown and Port St. Mary, with surgeries in both Castletown and Port Erin.
Unlike myself, Des was allowed a bicycle and therefore had a good deal of freedom. Occasionally, he even managed a bike ride home at say, a weekend. Apart from that, Larry and my parents being very good friends, there was plenty of coming and going between the two places.
A few miles beyond Douglas on the road to Castletown, just outside the village of Santon, is the Ballalona Bridge, known as the 'Fairy Bridge'. At this point there is a tradition of saluting the 'little people.' I suppose we regarded it mainly as a bit of fun but adhered to it none the less.
'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen' (or whatever the appropriate time of day it is) is the usual salutation. Woe betide you if you forget, it is said. Our family always kept the rule. Always that is, except for one occasion.
My parents were going over by car one evening to visit Dr. Brennan in Port Erin and whilst deep in conversation, passed over the bridge without remembering.
Not long afterwards a heavy fog enveloped them so that they had practically no vision. Then suddenly it lifted to show them about to crash into the wall of the next bridge! Desperately my father wrenched the wheel to the right; the car slewed round, teetered with two wheels in the air, then finally settled with all four on the ground, facing back to Douglas.
For some moments neither of them could speak. Then my father said, "We missed the Fairy Bridge". Not only had they been about to crash into the low wall of the next bridge; the drop, had the car gone over the wall, could have resulted in only one ending.
My father was not a particularly fast driver and certainly not one to take risks when driving, which is probably why the car settled back on the road instead of going over the wall. Nevertheless that was the one and only time my parents forgot the little people.
To get to Port Erin from Laxey the road takes one by Douglas, the capital of the Island and the seat of government of what is probably the oldest parliament in the world.
It is a town of contrasts. There is the excellent Manx Museum which amongst other things tells the story of Mann. Fine hotels and guest houses stretch in an elegant curve from one end of the graceful promenade to the other; but alas, some have already been demolished in the name of progress.
It is a holiday resort with a variety of entertainments and amusements, theatre, dance halls and cinemas. In my girlhood I used to go roller skating with my mother at the Palais de Danse; it was something I did quite well but I think it no longer exists to-day.
On the other hand Douglas can now boast a Stakis 'casino'; inside there are innumerable fruit machines where people sit playing with determined concentration.
Also in my young days there was a cafe owned by an Italian family called Felice. They made the most delicious cakes, the like of which I have never since tasted. The cafe has gone now and the Felice family graves are next to my parents' in the borough cemetery.
Approached from the sea Douglas is magnificent. The splendid arc of its bay against a dramatic backdrop of cliffs and hills is quite incomparable. Looking out from the land one sees the Tower of Refuge, a picturesque little watchtower in the bay.
For transport the two mile long promenade still has its horsecars which run on tram lines and are a great attraction to visitors. During my childhood my mother constantly fretted over the horses. On my last visit to the Island however, I visited their stables near Derby Castle at the north end of the promenade and saw for myself that to-day they are well cared for and looked after. No horse ever works for longer than three hours at a time.
The problems arise at the point when a horse should be retired from pulling the trams. The Home for Retired Horses tries to buy them but it is not always possible. The Home exists purely on charitable donations and of course frequently they do not have enough money. So the horses have to be sold elsewhere.
The Isle of Man, like Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, has a Celtic heritage. Like them it abounds in folklore and mythical tales. Manannan the Celtic Sea-God, for instance - variously identified as king, warrior, pirate, trader, navigator, magician... Amongst other stories about him he was said for example, to envelop the Island in 'a mantle of mist' to conceal it from approaching enemies.
During two separate Royal Visits to Mann, in 1945 and in 1955, a mist came down shortly beforehand and continued throughout the visits. It certainly caused some to remember the legend.
Before the advent of Christianity there were many people of Celtic origin who had settled in the Island. It is thought that the Islanders were converted to Christianity mainly after the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, possibly in the sixth or even the fifth century.
This may have been achieved by Irish missionaries or possibly by monks in Britain escaping from Anglo Saxon raids. Mann was beyond the borders of the Roman Empire and archaeological evidence points to the settlers leading a peaceful existence at that period.
The Island has also a Norse Viking history. Viking raiders and settlers brought paganism partially back and there have been grave finds of Norse burials from that era.
Perhaps the most important survival from that period is the institution of Tynwald, the Parliament Field. This was the ancient assembly ground where laws were made, Parliament, in fact. The word 'Tynwald' is of Viking origin and comes from the Norse 'Thing Vollr'. It is thought that Tynwald may even be older than the Icelandic Parliament which was established at Thing Vellir in 930 AD.
The Manx Parliament sits to-day in the House of Keys in the capital, Douglas. Tynwald however still has a special role to play. An open air ceremony is held on Tynwald Hill on July 5th each year, when the Manx Parliament and people meet there for the promulgation, in both Manx and English, of new laws.
It is an interesting fact in modern history that Manx women were the first women in the world to get the vote.
An ancient monument of particular interest to myself because it is so close to Laxey, is King Orry's Grave at Minorca. King Orry is thought by some to have been Godred Crovan who ruled over the Island in the tenth century and is reputed to have been an early law-maker.
According to folk tales, when he and his Vikings landed on the Island and he was asked where he had come from, his reply was to point to the Milky Way, saying, "That is the way to my country". So the Milky Way sometimes used to be called 'Raad Moar Ree Gorry' - the Great Road of King Orry.
Ancient sites such as this are to-day noted and signed by Manx National Heritage. When I was a child however, I cannot remember that anything much was ever made of them. I could of course be mistaken. Going away to boarding school meant that holiday times were very precious to a child and much given over to childish pleasures. It is doubtful if in those circumstances I would have remembered or indeed had any interest in things historical.
The Isle of Man is always represented by its well known emblem of three armed legs and the legend 'Quocunque Jeceris Stabit' - 'wheresoever you throw it it will stand.'
The origin of the sign is not known. There was a somewhat similar device amongst Celts and Norsemen in Europe and one, Analaf Cuaran, a tenth century Norse king had a simplified Three Legs Emblem on his coins. In folk tales Manannan too has been connected with the emblem.
Certainly the Three Legs and similar devices date back to pagan times, being almost certainly connected with sun worship, the sun being regarded as the source of life.
The Island is well known as a tax haven and has its own stamps and currency to the same value as the British. On my last visit there I had the impression that there might be quite a few tax exiles residing in the Laxey area: the harbour to-day seems to have several rather nice yachts. In my childhood days of course Laxey was just a simple village.
Admittedly we did have the Laxey Glen Gardens with dancing on the outdoor dance floor and visits from Scots and Irish Pipe Bands. But the dance floor has gone to-day.
The Big Wheel - the Lady Isabella - was there of course as also the Manx Electric Railway station with its branch line for the mountain. Snaefell is the Island's only real mountain, all the others rating just as hills. But there are plenty of them, all over the Island in fact, except beyond Ramsey, stretching to the northernmost point. Here where the land is really flat, the Island's most northerly lighthouse stands at its tip, the Point of Ayre.
Going up Snaefell by the Mountain Railway is a scenic treat, which I would appreciate much more to-day than when as a child I scorned it as being too tame. The route winds upwards encircling the mountain and one gets an ever changing view of the splendid hills.
Laxey lies in the parish of Lonan and my maternal grandmother is buried in Lonan parish church cemetery. It is so quiet there. In the background the hills rise up all around, lonely, beautiful, rather grand and infinitely peaceful.
Thinking back to my many crossings on the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ships, I am reminded that later, during the Second World War, a number of them played a valiant part in that conflict. Incorporated in 1830 the IOMSPC is in fact the oldest passenger shipping company in the world still trading under its original name.
In 1940 Dunkirk saw eight ships of the IOMSPC helping in the evacuation. Between them they rescued 24,669 British and Allied personnel. In all, about 900 vessels took part in that operation and evacuated over 338,000 people. It has been estimated that one in 14 were rescued by Manx steamers.
A fortnight after Dunkirk, four of the Company's ships, the Lady of Mann, the Manxman, the Tynwald and the Manx Maid, were involved in the evacuation of troops from Cherbourg, Le Havre and Brest. The Manxman was the final troop ship to escape from Cherbourg, getting away to safety virtually as the Germans were entering the port area. Rommel is said to have described her as 'that cheeky two funnel steamer.'
Shortly after Dunkirk, 1800 children from the Channel Islands were brought to Britain by the Viking, one of the company's ships. The Channel Islands were invaded by the Germans in July 1940 and were not liberated until May 1945.
In all the IOMSPC ships did yeoman service. They became troop transporters, anti-aircraft cruisers and landing craft carriers, and did convoy escort work in the Western Approaches. The Tynwald was sunk when she took part in the North Africa campaign.
On June 6th 1944, the Ben My Chree was at Omaha Beach as HQ for the 514th Assault Flotilla, and the Lady of Mann at Juno Beach as HQ for the 512th Assault Flotilla. Victoria landed assault troops at Arromanches on D Day.
A number of the Company's ships were sunk during the conflict and there was a sad loss of life of both officers and ratings. But the record is a proud one and should never be forgotten.
After his second accident when I was ten years old, my father never rode a motorbike again. For one thing he had had to have a plate in his leg and and was often in pain, particularly in bad weather. However he was very philosophical about it, acquired a car and on his free day used to take us all out with him.
He had an arrangement with two insurance companies to carry out medical examinations on prospective clients. He always did these on a Thursday because that day he had no surgery, which allowed him time to be away from the practice.