| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Mainshter Juan Comish Kirkland Lake, Northern Ontario, Canada (1887 – 1965) | ||
| Ren ymmodee lhaihderyn jeh’n cholloo shoh goaill soylley mooar ass ny skeeallyn liorish Juan y Comish voish Kirkland Lake, Ontario, ren mee clou er y gerrit. | Many readers of this column greatly enjoyed the stories by John Comish from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, that I printed recently. | |
| Cha dod mee feddyn caslys jeh Juan hene as dimraa mee shoh rish Juan y Geill, nyn garrey voish Colby. | I couldn’t find a picture of John himself and I mentioned this to John Gell, our friend from Colby. | |
| Yindys ny Yinyssyn! Hooar Juan caslys voish shuyr Yuan y Comish ta baghey ayns Purt Chiarn as myrgeddin screeu eh ny cooinaghtyn echey jeh’n traa hie eh hene lesh shilley er Juan y Comish ayns Yn Chanadey ’sy vlein 1959. | Wonder of wonders! John got a picture from John Comish’s sister who lives in Port Erin and he also wrote his memories of the time he went to see John Comish in Canada in the year 1959. | |
| Nish, er hoh diuish caslys jeh’n daa Yuan as skeeal yindyssagh mychione Gaelgeyr ren ceau ymmodee bleeantyn ayns eebyrtys ’sy Cheer Noa. | Now, here is a picture for you of the two Johns and a wonderful story about a Manx speaker who spent many years in exile in the New Land. | |
| (Caslys): Juan y Geill as Juan y Comish ayns Yn Chanadey 1959. Ta’n Juan ainyn er y cheu hoshtal as yn Manninagh Chanadagh er y cheu yesh. | (Picture): John Gell and John Comish in Canada 1959. Our John is on the left side and the Manx Canadian on the right side. | |
| MAINSTER JUAN COMISH | MR JOHN COMISH | |
| KIRKLAND LAKE, | KIRKLAND LAKE, | |
| NORTHERN ONTARIO, | NORTHERN ONTARIO, | |
| CANADA (1887-1965) | CANADA (1887-1965) | |
| Car ny bleeaney shoh chaie ayns y cholloo shoh “Noon as Noal”, ta mee er lhaih shiartanse dy skeealyn ’sy Ghailck ain screeuit bleeantyn er-dy-henney ec my charrey Juan Comish ayns Canada. | Throughout last year in this column “Noon as Noal”, I have read several stories in our Gaelic written years ago by my friend John Comish in Canada. | |
| Gyn dooyrt ta ymmodee studeyryn ny Gailck nish smooinaghtyn daue-hene “Quoi va’n dooinney shoh ayns Canada as Gailck echey?” | No doubt there are many stunts of Manx now who are thinking to themselves “Who was this man in Canada who knew Manx?” | |
| Ta mee sheiltyn nagh vel peiagh erbee bio ec y traa t’ayn nish agh mee hene t’er jeet ny whaiyl as er loayrt rish Juan ayns Gailck, as er n’ghoaill aaght marish as e ven ayns Kirkland Lake. | I imagine there is no one alive at the present time but myself who has met and spoken to John in Manx, and has taken lodging (stayed) with him and his wife in Kirkland Lake. | |
| Myr shoh, lhig dou ginsh diu red ennagh mychione y dooinney hene as kys haink shin dy ve nyn gaarjyn as cre’n traa taitnyssagh v’aym marish Juan ayns Canada. | So, let me tell you something about the man himself and how we came to be friends and what a wonderful time I had with John in Canada. | |
| Va Juan ruggit as troggit ayns Straid Wyllin, Balley Chashtal as va lheid y ghraih ghowin echey er Ellan Vannin as Chengey ny Mayrey ain, dy row eh gynsaghey y Ghailck choud’s v’eh foast ny ghuilley goll dy schoill. | John was born and raised in Mill Street, Castletown, and he had such a love for the Isle of Man and our Native Tongue, that he was learning Manx when he was still a boy going to school. | |
| D’insh Juan dou dy row Gailck ec yn ayr echey as kuse dy shenn Vanninee ’sy valley, agh cha row ad coontey monney jeh’n Ghailck ec y traa shen, as b’egin da Juan tayrn dy chooilley ’ockle assdoo, briaght feyshtyn gollrish, | John told me that his father and some of the old Manx in the town knew Manx, but that they didn’t think much of Manx at that time, and John had to draw every word out of them, asking questions like, | |
| “Cre ta shoh ayns Gailck? Cre’n aght t’ou gra shoh? Cre’n aght t’ou genmys shoh?” | “What is this in Manx? How do you say this? What do you call this?” | |
| derrey veagh ny shenn gheiney skee jeh as gra “Immee royd” as “ersooyl lhiat”. | until the old men would be fed up with him and say “Go on your way” and “away with you”. | |
| Ny keayrtyn yiarragh ad “Bare dhyt jarrood y Ghailck, cha jean ee dy bragh cosney ping er dy (dty) hon ansherbee.” | Sometimes they would say “It would be better for you to forget Manx, it will never earn a penny for you anyway.” | |
| Tra daag Juan y schoill hie eh myr prindeis fuinneyder ayns Balley Chashtal, as lurg shen myr fuinneyder er ny baatyn “Blue Funnel” shiaulley magh ass Lherpuyl gys yn Niar Foddey, Malaysia, China as Japan. | When John left school he went as an apprentice baker in Castletown, and after that as a baker on the Blue Funnel boats sailing out of Liverpool to the Far East, Malaysia, China and Japan. | |
| Va gioot ec Juan son glaraghyn, v’eh fer tushtagh ayns ymmodee chengaghyn s’anvennick veagh eh gobbragh marish skimmee loayrt y Vaarle, er-lhimmey jeh ny fir-oik, agh va’n Ghailck Vanninagh rieau yn chied ghraih echey, as oddagh eh loayrt, lhaih as screeu ee derrey hooar eh baase ayns 1965. | John had a gift for languages, he was a knowledgeable man in many tongues and rarely would he would with an English-speaking crew, except for the officers, but Manx Gaelic was always his first love, and he could speak, read and write it until he died in the year 1965. | |
| Dy jarroo, tra daase eh ny shinney as nagh vod[1] eh screeu lesh e laueyn kyndagh rish martarys, chionnee eh jeshaght-screeuee! | Indeed, when he grew older and he can’t (couldn’t) write with his hands due to disability, he bough a writing-machine (typewriter)! | |
|
[1] dod] text gives
[vod]
| ||
| Lurg baase e ayr ayns 1912, hie e voir as cagh elley ny clienney dys Lherpuyl, as dy gerrid lurg shen va Juan poost, | After the death of his father in 1912, his mother and all the rest of the children went to Liverpool, and shortly after that John was married, | |
| agh va Juan shiaulley car bleeantyn yn chied Caggey Mooar, as tra va’n caggey ec jerrey hie Juan as e ven as cloan gys Canada. | but John was sailing during the years of the First Great War (First World War), and when the war ended John and his wife and children went to Canada. | |
| Dobbree eh hoshiaght myr fuinneyder ayns Thie-Lheihys, eisht ayns “lumber camp”, as fy-yerrey haink eh gys Kirkland Lake gobbraghey ayns mean-airh, agh cha row Juan thoallee as lajer dy liooar dy laboraght fo-hallooin, as lurg chingys liauyr, v’eh eginit goaill obbyr myr “janitor” as gareyder ec oik y veain. | First he worked as a baker in a Hospital, then in a “lumber camp”, and finally he came to Kirkland Lake working in a gold mine, but John wasn’t tall and strong enough to work under ground, and after a long illness, he was forced to take work as a “janitor” and gardener at the office of the mine. | |
| Va mee gyndys ny cheayrtyn cre’n aght chooinnee Juan y Ghailck gyn clashtyn fockle erbee j’ee er ny loayrt, agh va ymmodee lioaryn echey ’sy Ghailck. | I was wondering sometimes how John remembered Manx without hearing a single word of it spoken, but there he had a lot of books in Manx. | |
| V’eh screeu rish Thie Tashtee Vannin ayns Doolish as kionnaghey dagh lioar Ghailckagh va currit magh, as veih’n Cheshaght Ghailckagh neesht. | He was writing to the Manx Museum in Douglas and buying every Manx Language book that was published, and from Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh too. | |
| Cheau eh ram traa ec y thie lhaih as screeu y Ghailck ayns ny laghyn feayr as dorraghey ’sy gheurey, trra nagh voddagh eh goll magh. | He spent a lot of time at the house reading and writing Manx in the cold and dark days in the winter, when he couldn’t go out. | |
| Va Juan screeu dy mennick gys yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh as tra va ’Neen Franses Davidson ny Scrudeyr, hug ee screeuyn veih Juan dooys briaght orrym dy reggyrt da as shen ren mee chelleeragh. | John was often writing to Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh and when Mis Francis Davidson was a secretary, she gave a letter from John to me, asking me to answer him, and that I did right away. | |
| Dimraa mee dy row my voir ruggit as troggit ec Ballakeighen, as tra haink lettyr elley voish, dooyrt eh, “Ballakeighen — bannaghtyn er y chenn voayl. | I mentioned that my mother was born and raised at Ballakeighen, and when another letter came from him, he said, “Ballakeighen — blessings on the old place. | |
| Tra va mee my ghuilley goll dy schoill ve currit orrym shooyl gys Ballakeighen dagh moghrey Jesarn dy gheddyn bainney geyre as oohyn. | When I was a boy going to school I was made to walk to Ballakeighen every Saturday morning to get buttermilk and eggs. | |
| Va ben aeg chenjal ayns shen as cha lhigg ee dou goll ersooyl fegooish gless dy vainney millish as soddag as eeym er, beagh[2] ish dty vummig?” | There was a kind young woan there and she wouldn’t let me go away without a glass of sweet milk and a cake (baked on a hearth) with butter on it, would she be your mum?” | |
|
[2] beagh] text gives
[veagh]
| ||
| Dinsh mee da dy beagh ee shuyr my vayrey er yn oyr dy row my voir gobbragh ’sy Café Cannell ayns Doolish derrey v’ee poost ayns 1897 as eisht ersooyl gys Lherpuyl as va mish ruggit ayns 1899. | I told him that she would be my mother’s sister because my mother was working in Cannell’s Café in Douglas until she was married in 1897 and then away to Liverpool and I was born in 1899. | |
| Shoh yn aght ghow nyn gaarjys toshiaght as va shin screeu rish y cheilley rish ymmodee bleeantyn. | This is how our friendship began and we were writing to eachother for many years. | |
| ’Sy vlein 1950 va caa aym goll gys America son y Chaglym Bleeanagh jeh’n Cheshaght N.A.M.A. (North American Manx Association) ec Windsor, Ontario. | In the year 1950 I had an opportunity to go to America for the Annual Meeting of the N.A.M.A. Society (North American Manx Association) at Windsor, Ontario. | |
| Tra cheayll Juan dy beign ayns Canada haink goo jeh gra, “Cre’n niaght yindyssagh, shegin dhyt cheet as cur shilley orrin ayns Kirkland Lake, as tannaghtyn marin choud as oddys oo.” | When John heard that I would be in Canada word of him came saying, “What wonderful news, you must come and visit us in Kirkland Lake, and remain with us as long as you can.” | |
| Myr shen laa ny vairagh, lurg y Co-hionnal N.A.M.A. ec Windsor, hie mee er y train gys Toronto as cheau mee cagh elley y laa ayns y Valley. | So, the next day, after the N.A.M.A. gathering at Windsor, I went on the train to Toronto and I spent all the rest of the day in the Town. | |
| Eisht, ’syn astyr ghow mee y train reesht troailt fud ny hoie as feiy’n nah laa dys stashoon beg enmyssit Swastika! raad veagh Juan Comish fuirraght rhym. | Then, in the evening I took a train again, travelling through the night and all the next day to a little station called Swastika! where John Comish would be waiting for me. | |
| Ghow mee ynnyd ayns fainagh-chadlee (Pullman Car) dy gheddyn cadley mie fud ny hoie, agh roish goll dy lhie, hie mee gys y chamyr-chadlee dy gheddyn smook ass my phoib. | I got a place in a sleeper-carriage (Pullman Car) to get good sleep through the night, but before going to bed, I went to the sleeping-room to get a smoke from my pipe. | |
| Va arreyder y fainagh ayns shen, dooinney dhoo, gennal as caarjyssagh as dy gerrid va shin taggloo ry cheilley. | The coach conductor there, a black man, was cheerful and friendly and soon we were talking together. | |
| Dooyrt eh dou, “T’ou uss Sostnagh nagh vel?” | He said to me, “You’re English aren’t you?” | |
| Dreggyr mee, “Cha nel mee Sostnagh, as cha nel mee Albinagh ny Bretnagh noadyr. | I answered, “I’m not English, and I’m not Scottish or Welsh either. | |
| Ta mee er jeet voish Ellan Vannin, boayl beg foddee nagh vel oo rieau er chlashtyn jeh.” | I have come from the Isle of Man, a little place maybe you have never heard of.” | |
| Eisht haink gearey vooar tessyn e eddin, gra, | Then a great smile (laugh) came across his face, saying, | |
| “Cha nel mee rieau er ve gys yn Ellan ayds, agh ta fys mie aym urree, ta mee er chlashtyn mooarane my-e-chione.” | “I have never been to your to your Island, but I know it well, I have heard a lot about it.” | |
| “Cammah,” dooyrt mee ayns yindys. | “What?” I said in amazement. | |
| “Aw,” dreggyr eh, “Ta’n mainshtyr aym er ny fainee-chadlee ny Vanninagh voish Balley Keeill Eoin! | “Oh,” he answered, “My boss on the sleeper coaches is a Manxman from St Johns!” | |
| Eisht hie mee dy lhie as chaddil mee dy mie ayns shee, fea, as chiass, son t’eh gaase feayr ’syn oie ayns Ontario Twoaie eer ayns y tourey. | Then I went to bed and I slept well, in peace, calm and heat, because it was getting cold at night in North Ontario, even in the Summer. | |
| ’Sy voghrey dee mee brishey-hroshtey mie, foddey ny share na red erbee ry gheddyn er “B.R.” | In the morning I ate a good breakfast, far better than anything available on “B.R.” (British Rail). | |
| Va shin troailt rish ooryn gyn veg ry akin agh loghyn as keylljyn mooarey, agh fy yerrey hoal rosh shin gys Swastika. | We were travelling for hours with nothing to see by lakes and great forests, but at long last we arrived at Swastika. | |
| Cha naik mee peiagh erbee ec y stashoon agh dooinney beg gollrhym-pene as va mish yn ynrican troailtagh dy harlheim ass y train, myr shoh cha row doilleeid erbee dooin dy chur enn er y cheilley. | I didn’t see anybody at the station excepta little man like myself and I was the only traveller to alight from the train, so it was not difficult for us to recognise eachother. | |
| Ghow Juan greim er my ghoarn as chraa eh ee myr dy beagh eh gobbragh y pump-ushtey, as ec y traa cheddin haink lane-veeal dy Ghailck ass er ny loayrt lesh blass Canadagh, s’goan oddins toiggal ee! | Juan took a hold of my fist and he shook it as if he were working a water-pump, and at the same time a mouthful of Manx came out of him, spoken with a Canadian accent, I could hardly understand it! | |
| Agh dy gerrid va shin taggloo dy aashagh as flaaoil. Lurg tammylt ghow shin train elley dys Kirkland Lake, roshtyn thie Yuan mysh shey er y chlag, as va lhongey mooar fuirraght rooin. | But soon we were talking easily and fluently. After a while we took another train to Kirkland Lake, arriving as John’s house at about six o’clock, and there was a big meal waiting for us. | |
| Nish, va Juan ny ghareyder jeean as v’eh feer voyrnagh ass e gharey-hene, as ny blaaghyn echey hooar eh voish Ellan Vannin as Sostyn. | Now, John was a keen gardener and he was very proud of his own garden, and his flowers that he got from the Isle of Man and England. | |
| Ayns ny ardjyn twoaie shen ta’n imbagh-aase feer ghiare, as ta’n gheurey liauyr as feer chreoie as ghow mee yindys fakin lheid yn earroo mooar dy vlaaghyn aalin echey. | In the Northern regions there the growing season is very short, and the Winter is long and very hard (harsh) and I was surprised to see he had such a large number of beautiful flowers. | |
| Ymmodee keayrtyn dooyrt Juan dou kys hug eh dwoaie er dagh geurey liauyr, dorraghey as feayr as eshyn freaylt gys y thie kyndagh rish yn aacheoid, as tra hooyl mee ny straaidyn marish Juan hoig mee mie dy liooar cre gollrish veagh y geurey ayns shen. | John said to me many times how he hated every long, dark and cold winter, with him keeping to the house because of rheumatism, and when I walked the streets with John I understood well enough what the winter would be like there. | |
| Cha row tarmac ny eaghtyr erbee elley er ny straidyn as va ny pemmadyn jeant jeh fuygh, gollrish “duck-boards”. | There was no tarmac or any other surface (top layer) at all on the streets and the pavements were made of wood, like “duck-boards”. | |
| Veagh reddyn erbee elley er ny vrishey as ceaut seose ayns y rio creoie. | Any other things would have been broken and worn down in the hard ice. | |
| Dooyrt Juan, “T’eh cho feayr ny keayrtyn ’sy gheirey ta’n gless-hiass tuittym gys 40 ny 50 fo zero, as ta’n rio er ny loghyn 8 ny 9 trieyn ayns chiuid! | John said, “It is so cold sometimes in the winter that the barometer falls to 40 or 50 below zero, and the ice on the lakes is 8 or 9 feet in thickness (thick)! | |
| Shen y traa t’ad goaill tayrneder-snaue (caterpillar tractor) tessyn y logh as cur lhieu er-ash biljin noa-giarrit.” | That is when they take a caterpillar tractor across the lake and they bring back freshly felled trees.” | |
| Veeit mee rish ghaa ny tree Manninee elley ayns Kirkland. Mysh y vlein 1910 tra va ny meainyn ec Forsdal dooint, hie ram Manninee gys ny meainyn airh ayns Ontario, buill gollrish Cobalt, Timmins, Cochrane as Noranda. | I met two or three other Manx people in Kirkland. Around the year 1910 when the mines at Foxdale were closed, many Manx people went to the gold mines in Ontario, places like Cobalt, Timmins, Cochrane and Norands. | |
| Moghrey Jyluain hie Juan as mee-hene dy chur shilley er y veain-airh raad v’eh gobbraghey. | On Monday Morning John and myself went to visit the gold mine were he was working. | |
| Hug eh enn dou er daa Vanninagh elley va gobbraghey ayns shen, Maurice Hastie, fer-reiltagh fo hallooin, as Dick Skelly, y fer phrowall as meihder y yoan-airh. | He introduced me to two other Manxmen who were working there, Maurice Hastie, underground manager, and Dick Skelly, the tester and weigher of the gold dust. | |
| ’Syn oik echey va meihaghey mooar aalin, ayns kishtey-gless, as cha row red erbee lowit dy ve currit cheusthie liorish laue. | In his office there was a beautiful big set of scales, in a glass box, and nothing was allowed to be put inside by hand. | |
| Ghow Dick meer dy phabyr as veigh eh eh, eisht screeu mee m’ennym er y pabyr as v’eh meihit reesht. | Dick took a piece of paper and he weighed it, then I wrote my name on the paper and it was wieghed again. | |
| Dooyrt Dick dy row 1/10,000 jeh milligram dy leoaie er y pabyr nish. | Dick said that there was 1/10,000 of a milligram of lead on the paper now. | |
| Mirrilagh! as quoi va mish dy chur y breag er? | Miraculous! and who was I to say it wasn’t true? | |
| Eisht hie shin gys shamyr y ghreie-chassee (winding engine) agh cha row caa ain dy gholl sheese. | Then we went to the winding engine room, but we didn’t have a chance to go down. | |
| V’ad tayrn ny claghyn veih’n diunid, as dooyrt y fer-greieder va’n veain cho dowin, va ny caaijyn roie ec 50 m.p.h. | They were drawing the stones from the depths, and the engineer said that the mine was too deep, the cages were running at 50 m.p.h. | |
| ’Syn astyr, hie shin marish carrey Yuan elley ayns gleashtan gys Noranda dy chur shilley er meain noa. | In the evening, we went with another friend of John in a car to Noranda to see a new mine. | |
| Er y jurnaa honnick shin mysh daa veeilley jeh’n cheyll loshtit, cha row veg faagit agh genniagh as bwonyn dhoo ny biljyn. | On the journey we saw about two miles of the burnt forest, there was nothing left except sand and the black stumps of the trees. | |
| Ny keayrtyn er y raad honnick mee tholtanyn jeh cabbaneyn-fuygh as dooyrt Juan dy daink ymmodee sleih gys Canada dy scapail Hitler as y Caggey, as yinnagh ad giarey sheese biljyn dy hroggal cabbane daue-hene, eisht gobbragh ayns y veain dy gheddyn argid dy liooar dy hroggal thie jesh ’sy valley. | At times on the way I saw ruins of wooden cabins and John said that many people came to Canada to escape Hitler and the War, and they would cut down trees to build themselves a cabin, then work in the mine to get enough money to build a nice house in the town. | |
| Ayns yn ard shen ta dy chooilley nhee croghey er meainyn-airh, ny lhieggey biljyn as tayrn ad gys wyllin-saue, “Logging” t’ad genmys eh. | In that region everything depends on gold mines, or felling trees and pulling them to a saw mill “Logging” they call it. | |
| (ry – hannaghtyn) | (to be continued) | |