tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89537001395710996442012-02-16T22:59:18.740ZAn assortment of news, humour, gossip and stuff from the Isle of Man.Gnoreply@blogger.comBlogger261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-32255482636684138342008-03-27T16:12:00.003Z2008-03-27T16:16:29.270Z

The Manx tartan was invented in 1890s after a long-running battle between the ladies of the Island about who could dress the most stylishly on Tynwald Day.At the annual ceremony in St John’s, it became fashionable for women to wear larger and larger hats to outdo each other. The picture was taken in 1885 and shows Mrs Athenboggle Quirk, who was married to Ayre MHK Fuartangle Quirk.But the

Gnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-42738170964222719152008-03-10T15:20:00.002Z2008-03-10T15:22:48.068Z

The Derby Castle Ballroom in Douglas was the Isle of Man’s largest hall for gatherings until its closure in 1955.It was a huge, grand and elegant hall, built in the early 1800s as a party room for guests of the Duke of Derby who held lavish banquets there.As the aristocracy of the Isle of Man faded, so their property fell into the hands of private businesses, and the ballroom became a popular

Gnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-82473627847460189512008-03-05T16:06:00.000Z2008-03-11T16:08:13.885Z

The Manx gaelic language of the Isle of Man is unusual because for a thousand years it had no letter M.In the early days of Christianisation, the letter was considered unlucky because it was number 13 in the alphabet and the more religious and superstitious types felt that made it ungodly.In recent times, the letter has been reinstated, but this was part of the reason the Isle of Man was named

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-15009532374952014802008-03-04T15:34:00.001Z2008-03-10T15:36:20.443Z

Of all of the customs and ancient holidays ever celebrated in the Isle of Man, the most notorious was the Running of the Welsh.It was outlawed early on in the 1900s but had been marked each May 9 for a hundred years or so.Legend has it that a Welsh invasion fleet foundered off the coast of Port Soderick during the Viking reign of the Island, and only one of the Welsh warriors managed to make it

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-4895853806356492262008-03-03T14:58:00.000Z2008-03-04T15:00:07.284Z

Knockaloe Camp was set up in the Isle of Man in 1914 to house British citizens who were judged to mentally unstable to join the army and fight in World War I.The site, in the West of the Island, was chosen because it was hidden away in a deep valley between two high hills which were covered in dense forests. The huts to contain the prisoners were built on a flat piece of cleared land, and the

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-21113996913489034862008-02-29T16:53:00.001Z2008-03-03T17:02:05.411Z

The Isle of Man’s finance sector has been the driving force of its economy since 1968, when The Beatles began salting away money offshore to escape the clutches of the British taxman.Initially, they had little idea about money and so handed over their cash to Kerruish, Kerruish, Kerruish and Kerruish Bank.This was run by a father, mother, son and daughter all based in a tiny cottage in Cregneash

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-42070203570390528632008-02-28T16:11:00.004Z2008-03-03T16:18:19.308Z

Until 1981, the Isle of Man’s telephone network consisted of thousands of miles of underground pipes and “speaking tubes”.Work began on the Manx All-Island Voice Intertransport System – MAVIS for short – in January 1876, just a month before Alexander Graham Bell patented his first telephone in the US.Although the Isle of Man government had heard of advances being made in telecommunications, they

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-50727118683373481842008-02-27T13:49:00.002Z2008-02-27T13:50:43.383Z

The photo on the left is the only documented shot of the Phynnodderee, a tortured spirit which roams the highlands of the Isle of Man.It was taken in 1926 by Gideon Whitfullington-Phorcast, a housemaster at King William’s College, as he was shooting pheasants on Snaefell. He later told the Mona’s Gazette newspaper: “It was a hell of a beast, hairy and shaggy – looked a bit French if you ask me.

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-85523912592448058522008-02-26T16:04:00.002Z2008-02-26T16:05:03.147Z

The only full skeleton of an Isle of Man Rabbit ever discovered is currently on show at the Manx Museum.The specimen is almost four feet tall to the shoulder and was given the latin name cuniculus manximia when it was discovered by archaeologists at Scarlett Point in Castletown in 1962.The skeleton caused great controversy in the scientific world when it was unearthed by Dr Graeme Qualtrough. He

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-34211422670723162372008-02-25T13:58:00.000Z2008-02-26T13:59:46.581Z

Marine Drive (pictured) connects Douglas to Port Soderick on the East coast of the Isle of Man. It was originally built in 1741, although records of an ancient path go back to Viking times.The 18th century road was remarkable because it used a particular type of green stone which (in the British Isles) is only found at one particular quarry in Kirk Michael. When it gets wet, it turns translucent

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-48088313735957091762008-02-22T17:54:00.003Z2008-02-22T17:56:11.345Z

The Isle of Man’s most successful spy was James Qualtrough, codename K-6, who served in MI7 in the 1960s.MI7 (Manx Intelligence 7) was set up shortly after the UK formed its MI5 and MI6 units. The Isle of Man government didn’t want to be left behind in the Cold War espionage stakes and so formed the Manx Intelligence branch.The seven at the end of the name is generally though to be because six

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-29329219827561153602008-02-21T16:13:00.001Z2008-02-22T17:08:42.998Z

Radio Caroline was launched in 1964 and its presenters became familiar faces in the Isle of Man as one of the ships was anchored in Ramsey Bay.The station was set up by Ronan O’Rahilly who wanted a station that played pop music in order to promote the artistes he represented as an agent.But the BBC – which had a broadcasting monopoly in the UK at the time – wanted nothing to do with the vulgar

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-71628598280122310502008-02-20T12:51:00.001Z2008-02-20T12:53:40.867Z

The Isle of Man introduced an anti-spitting law in 1941 as the Second World War reached its height. The measure was brought in after comments from High Bailiff William ‘Draw And Quarter” Cain who noted some off-duty soldiers from England who were stationed in Onchan were spitting at the Manx flag.They were arrested and questioned, and explained they thought the Manx triskele was in fact a Nazi

Gnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-64975794982442185062008-02-19T17:01:00.005Z2008-02-22T17:09:18.801Z

In the 1970s, the Manx government landed itself in an awkward position when it declared war on the Soviet Union. Naturally, the Isle of Man was the underdog in any such confrontation, and difficulties with nationalists burning down English homes here meant the UK refused to send troops on the Island’s behalf.The situation came about when the Russians detained a shipment of cotton in 1979. A

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-40909089912010342642008-02-18T16:30:00.002Z2008-02-18T16:44:26.999Z

The Lunda Tysker Stone (left) was discovered by archaeologists in the Isle of Man in 1980, and it adds credence to an ancient legend which dates back to the time of the Viking invasion.According to the story, Lunda Tysker was a warrior who arrived with King Godred Crovan and who quickly became one of the King’s trusted leaders thanks to his ingenuity and bravery.Unfortunately, Lunda Tysker was

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-2469125980167231612008-02-15T15:37:00.000Z2008-02-18T15:41:45.104Z

Field Marshal Thrumplock O’Crackerley (pictured) came to live in the Isle of Man in 1904 after a lifetime spent in the service of the British Army.His career had been to say the least undistinguished up to that point, after he’d presided over some of the worst military debacles in the Boer War. He was perhaps best known in martial circles for ordering a troop of cavalry to charge into the sea in

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-22921905542351221202008-02-14T12:38:00.004Z2008-02-15T12:52:39.366Z

THE END OF THE ISLE OF MAN ROAD PIRATEFollowing the seagull, the crowd charged up to Skye Hill, where Juan Christian had stopped to eat a meal. As he saw the crowd approach, he loaded his cannons with grape shot, and turned into the wind.The angry throng surged forward, and he opened fire, killing dozens with his first broadside. But they kept coming, and so het set his course directly for them

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-56079243306427597082008-02-13T17:27:00.002Z2008-02-14T17:31:48.771Z

THE DOWNFALL OF JUAN 'THE BUTCHER' CHRISTIANJuan Christian decided to take advantage of the terrain and headed for Snaefell, relying on the mountainous terrain to hide his tracks.As he sailed his wagon upwards, he came upon a Methodist lay preacher, Mitsimara Quayle, and a band of followers who were singing hymns.Christian fell upon them and put them to the sword – killing every man, woman and

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-19622098720153856652008-02-12T15:50:00.000Z2008-02-13T16:15:19.322Z

BUTCHER'S NIGHT - AUGUST 4, 1790Juan Christian escaped from the clutches of the angry mob in Ramsey and took his sailwagon to Bride, where for a few days he laid low and formed a plan to destroy the Isle of Man.Feeling hated and rejected by the Manx community, he resolved to extract his revenge on the people of Ramsey. He disguised himself as a travelling purveyor of marrows from Cathay and

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-13253349111574252112008-02-11T18:50:00.001Z2008-02-13T16:14:34.981Z

PART ONE: JUAN 'THE BUTCHER' CHRISTIANSo who was Juan 'The Butcher' Christian, apart from the Isle of Man's most notorious pirate?Well, simply put he was the younger brother of Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian, born a year after Fletcher in 1765. The two were very close and when Fletcher decided he wanted a life on the waves, Juan decided he’d quite like to go to sea, too.However, the moment he

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-75869239822040530702008-02-10T12:22:00.001Z2008-02-10T12:27:41.842Z

The Isle of Man is ruled over by a Lieutenant Governor, who is chosen by Her Majesty the Queen to be her representative on the Island.Until 1988 (when the governor was ripped to pieces by an angry mob after a long-running debate about the Island’s horse trams turned violent) he held absolute power of life and death over the Island’s entire populace.Most governors respected the people and were

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-20607051166296754202008-02-09T11:20:00.001Z2008-02-09T11:21:35.580Z

THE FREEDOM TO FLOURISH STORYIn 894AD, the Isle of Man was ruled by an Atlantean race known as the Jecerits (the c is a sibilant, so the word is pronounced “jesserits” rather than “jeckerits”).The first king’s name was Jecer, hence the name of the tribe, and he landed in Peel in 893AD and spent a year travelling around with his army conquering the Island.When he was installed as King of Mann, he

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-19445477847832826522008-02-08T16:36:00.001Z2008-02-08T16:38:43.545Z

The Isle of Man’s early prehistory is fascinating because there are so many theories about how it formed.Well, it certainly wasn’t a lump of earth ripped from Loch Neath which Cuchulain threw into the Irish Sea. And it didn’t rise from the sea as Atlantis sank. And it wasn’t formed by tectonic movements.No, the Isle of Man was a piece of the moon which fell to earth in the pre-Cambrian period.

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-10283534980194776832008-02-07T17:11:00.000Z2008-02-07T17:13:35.746Z

So what became of the three members of the Hu Chi Tau band?Bicky Thwaginsack was attacked by seagulls in 1951 and never quite recovered from the experience. He was later killed when he launched himself from Douglas Head in a vain attempt to catch the seagull he thought was behind the attack.Danko Billy Oofenthwaite gave up music and started up a mobile nightclub on board a bus. He was later

Gnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-15157595151343938122008-02-06T16:41:00.000Z2008-02-07T10:47:04.391Z

PART TWOBetween 1935 and 1939, the Hu Chi Tau Band managed to appear on radio stations no less than four hundred times, often playing accompaniment for other artistes such as vaudeville comedian Big Tommony Tonky and mime artist Leuf Le Feu.Such was their popularity that during one impromptu gig performed on the dockside in Liverpool, they had to be whisked away by police after a crowd of

Gnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8953700139571099644.post-60949280240597389172008-02-05T16:03:00.000Z2008-02-05T16:06:30.635Z

PART ONEThe Hu Chi Tau Band were a band in the Isle of Man during the 1940s and were stationed in Douglas to cheer up the troops here.They would often play to prisoners of war in internment camps, and liked nothing better than to mix their traditional Lancashire folk music with the crazy rhythms of other nations.Their Asian appearance shouldn’t fool you though – they were born and bred in

Gnoreply@blogger.com0