| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| COOINAGHTYN ELLEY YUAN Y GELL | MORE OF JOHN GELL’S MEMORIES | |
| VA Mainshter Ned Maddrell yn chied Vanninagh dooie as Gailck echey haink mee ny whaiyl, as va shen ’sy vlein 1938, tra nagh row Ned foddey er jeet thie voish y cheayn. | Mr. Ned Maddrell was the first true Manxman with Manx that I met, and that was in the year 1938, when Ned wasn’t long after come home from the sea. | |
| Va mish ny yoarree da gollrish Sostnagh, as cha row monney Gailck aym noadyr, as va’n veggan ayms er ve ynsit ass lioaryn | I was a stranger to him like an Englishman, and I didn’t know much manx either, and the very little I had had been learnt from books. | |
| . Hooar mee magh dy leah nagh row blass ny Gailck ayms kiart! | I found out soon that the Manx accent I had wasn’t correct. | |
| Aghterbee, va Ned feer foddey-hurransagh marym as fy-yerrey oddysmayd jannoo co-loayrtys beg ’sy Ghailck. | Anyway, Ned was very long-suffering with me and finally we could make a small conversation in Manx. | |
| S’cooin lhiam Ned briaght jeem, “Cre voish t’ou?” as “Quoi va’n jishag ayd?”, “Vel mooinjer erbee ayds ayns Purt le Moirrey?” | I remember Ned asking me, “Where are you from?” and “Who was your dad?”, “Do you have any relatives in Port St Mary?” | |
| “Ta,” dreggyr mee, “Va W. H. Gell, Purt le Moirrey braar my ayrey as ta Harry Collister, masoonagh, poost rish shuyr my ayrey.” | “Yes,” I answered, “W. H. Gell, Port St Mary, was my father’s brother and Harry Collister, mason, is married to my father’s sister.” | |
| Va shen dy liooar! Va mee my Vanninagh! Eisht ghow toshiaght caarjys firrinagh ren tannaghtyn rish shey bleeantyn jeig as feed! | That was enough! I was a Manxman! Then I started a true friendship that remained for thirty-six years! | |
| S’cooin lhiam Ned briaght jeem, “Cre’n eash t’ou?” | I remember Ned asking me, “What age are you?” | |
| Nish cha dod mee coontey feer vie ayns Gailck ec y traa shen as dreggyr mee, “Ta mee bunnys daeed.” | Now I couldn’t count very well in Manx at that time and I answered, “I am almost forty.” | |
| “Daeed?” dooyrt Ned, “Cha nel oo jeeaghyn shen edyr.” | “Forty?” said Ned, “you don’t look that, at all.” | |
| Eisht dooyrt mee, “S’feer eh, va mee ruggit mysh y traa vrish magh y Caggey Boeragh ayns Africa.” | Then I said, “It’s true, I was born about the time when the Boer War broke out in Africa.” | |
| Traa erbee va mee er yn Ellan, yinnins my raad gys thie Ned ec Glion Chiass. | Any time I was on the Island, I would make my way to Ned’s house at Glen Chass. | |
| Dagh voghrey Jedoonee yinnagh Ned as e vraar Jack as ghaa ny tree fir elley gimmeeaght reue gys boayl ec cass y Bayr Claghagh ta leeideil gys ny Skortyn. | Every Sunday morning Ned and his brother Jack and two or three others would depart to a place at the foot of the Stony Road that leads to the Chasms. | |
| Cha row monney Gailck goll er loayrt, er lhimmey jeh Ned as Jack ny keayrtyn, agh va palchey skeealyn ’sy Vaarle as gannidys as gamman ny mast’oc. | There wasn’t much Manx being spoken, except for Ned and Jack sometimes, but there were plenty of stories in English and mockery and banter amongst them. | |
| ’Sy tourey, 1939, va mee ec thie Ned tra haink naight gys Ned as e ven, gra dy row nyn vac Edard er choayl e chass ayns drogh-haghyrt er-boayrd y vaatey choud’s v’ad kiangley seose ee ec Manchester. | ’In the Summer, 1939, I was at Ned’s house when news came to Ned and his wife, saying that their son Edward had lost his foot in a disaster onboard the boat whilst they were tying her up at Manchester. | |
| Va seaghyn mooar orroo as va my chree co-ennaghtyn maroo ayns nyn angaaish. | They were greatly upset and my heart was sympathising with them in their anguish. | |
| Ny s’anmee haink Ned harrish yn ushtey dy chur shilley er Edard ’sy thie lheihys as cheau eh yn oie marin ec Little Sutton roish goll dys y vaatey Vanninagh laa ny vairagh. | Later, Ned came over the water to visit Edward in the hospital and he spent the night with us at Little Sutton before going to the Manx boat the next day. | |
| Eisht, lurg da Edard v’er n’gheddyn e lurgey-oalsey, (v’ee giarrit jeh fo y ghlioon) haink eshyn gys y thie ain as cheau eh laa ny jees marin. | Then, after Edward had got his false leg, (it was cut off under the knee) he came to our house and he spent a day or two with us. | |
| Va Ned trimshagh ec y traa shen as cha row eh son[1] loayrt monney Gailck. | Ned was sad at that time and he wasn’t wanting to speak much Manx. | |
|
[1] son] In the writing of Ned Beg Hom Ruy and the recordings of native speakers
[son] is used to mean ‘can’. However, L2 speakers and writers tend to use it to mean ‘for’, as in ‘in favour of’, or ‘wanting to’.
| ||
| V’eh smooinaght dy beagh Edard rey rish y cheayn, agh va cree dunnal yindyssagh ec y ghuilley as fy-yerrey v’eh shiaulley reesht as haink eh dy ve ny chaptan er e vaatey hene. | He was thinking that Edward would be done with the sea, but the boy had a wonderfully courageous character and at last he was sailing again, and he became a captain on his own boat. | |
| Nish t’eh er roshtyn yn eash dy chur seose y cheayn as t’eh gobbragh ayns oik er-halloo. | Now he has reached the age to give up the sea and he’s working in an office ashore. | |
| Rish bleeantyn va foddeeaght orrym dy gheddyn obbyr er yn Ellan, as hooar mee obbyr myr fer-ynsee keirdey ’sy tourey 1944. | For years I had a longing to get work on the Island, and I got work as a trade teacher in the summer of 1944. | |
| Haink mee gys yn Ellan son qaaltys marish Lught-Ynsee Vannin er yn kiarroo laa mee Jerrey Souree, as hannee mee marish Ned as e ven. | I came to the Island for an interview with the Isle of Man Board of Education on the fourth day of the month of July, and I stayed with Ned and his wife. | |
| Hooar mee y ‘job’ kiart dy liooar, agh cha jagh mee thie reesht er y vaatey ec kiare er y clag, cha jagh! | I got the job right enough, but I didn’t go home again on the boat at four o’clock, I didn’t! (No way!) | |
| Va’n nah laa y Thingval, as begin dou goll dys y vargey er chor erbee! (Chaill mee faill son y laa truggan shen). | The next day was Tynwald Day, and I had to go to the fair by all means! (I lost wages for that day of truancy). | |
| Va Ned as mee-hene er chairail dy gholl er y traen, as choud’s va shin troailtagh va shin loayrt ’sy Ghailck. | Ned and myself had planned to go on the train, and whilst we were travelling we were speaking in Manx. | |
| Va feallagh elley ’sy fainagh as dooyrt fer jeu, Sostnagh mooaralagh, loayrt ‘sy Vaarle, “Nagh vod shiu loayrt y Vaarle? Cre’n boghtynid ta shen ansherbee?” | There were others in the coach and one of them, an uppity Englishman speaking in English said “Can’t you speak English? What nonsense is that anyway?” | |
| Chelleeragh lheim Ned seose as jiarg chorree er as dooyrt eh ’sy Vaarle da’n Sostnagh, “Boghtynid vel ee? Lhig dou ginsh dhyt, ta shin nyn Vanninee as ta shin loayrt ass chengey ny mayrey Ellan Vannin, as ta shin goaill moyrn j’ee. | Straight away Ned jumped up with rage and he said in English to the Englishman, “Nonsense is it? Let me tell you, we are Manx and we speak and are speaking the mother tongue of the Isle of Man, and we are proud of it. | |
| S'cummey lhien c’red t’ou uss coontey j’ee. | We don’t care what you reckon of it. | |
| Mannagh liak lhiat ee, gyn dooyt ta palchey reamys er dty hon ayns carriadge elley!” | If you don’t like it, no doubt there’s plenty of room for you in another carriage!” | |
| Va mish gearey as smooinaghtyn rhym-pene, nish ta fys aym cre’n fa va’n far-ennym “Plucky Ned” currit da. | I was smiling and thinking to myself, now I know why the nickname “Plucky Ned” was given to him. | |
| Er-lhiams dy row Ned mitchooragh neesht tra v’eh ny ghuilley. | I think that Ned was mischievous too when he was a boy. | |
| Dinsh eh dou un cheayrt dy row shenn dooinney granganagh ayns Creneash as yinnagh Ned cloie cluigyn ersyn derrey veagh ferg er y dooinney boght, as dy jinnagh eh geamagh dy ard “My yioym’s holt jeed Neddie Maddrell, nee’m sheeyney dty chleaysh cha liauyr as cleaysh assyl.” | He told me once that there was an ugly man in Cregneash and Ned would play tricks on him until he would be shouting loudly “If I get hold of you Neddie Maddrell, I’ll stretch your ear as long a donkey’s ear.” | |
| Dy mennick va Ned as mee-hene rouail mygeayrt ny cassanyn as bayryn eddyr Creneash as y Cheyllys as yinnagh Ned aa-loayrt kuse dy raaneyn veih’n bardoon “Brig Lily”. | Often Ned and myself were wandering around the footpaths and roads between Cregneagh and the Sound and Ned would recite a few of the verses from the lament “Brig Lily”. | |
| Ta mee credjal dy row y shennayr echey caillt ayns y pholt mooar ’sy vlein 1852. | I believe that his grandfather was lost in the big explosion in the year 1852. | |
| Hug Ned enn dou er Neddy Crebbin as Benr. Eleanor Karran ayns Creneash as va Gailck vie ocksyn neesht, agh ta shen skeeal elley. | Ned introduced me to Neddy Crebbin and Mrs. Eleanor Karran in Cregneash and they had good Manx too, but that is another story. | |
| Ren shiu rieau fakin y scannane enmyssit “Trophy Island”? | Did you ever see the film called “Trophy Island”? | |
| V’eh jeant ass lieh y Voayrd Thurryssagh. | It was made on behalf of the Tourist Board. | |
| Va ayrn beg aynjee as Ned as mish loayrt ry-cheilley ayns y Ghailck ec dorrys thie Harry Kelly, as va Juan Kinley er mullagh y thie lhiggey er dy ve karraghey yn thoo. | There was a small part in it with Ned and I talking to eachother in Manx at the door of Harry Kelly’s house, and Juan Kinley was on the roof of the house pretending to be mending the thatch. | |
| Tammylt beg lurg shen hie my ’neen er-sooyl gys “Training College” as vrie ’neen elley j’ee cre voish t’ee er jeet, as tra dreggyr my ’neen “Ellan Vannin” | I little while after that my daughter went away to a “Training College” and another girl asked what her where she had come from and when my daughter answered “The Isle of Man”, | |
| dooyrt ee, “Honnick mee scannane mychione yn Ellan as va daa ghooinney loayrt ry-cheilley ayns Gailck.” | she said, “I saw a film about the Island and there were two men speaking to eachother in Manx.” | |
| Eisht dooyrt my ’neen-hene, “Ta’n fer ny saa my Yishag,” as laa ny vairagh va’n fockle goll er insh mygeayrt y scoill dy row ayr Dorothy Cell ny “film star”. | Then my own daughter said, “The younger one is my Dad,” and the next day the word was being told around the school that Dorothy Gell’s father was a “film star”. | |
| Choud’s va’n scannane jeant, begin dooin jannoo eh ass-y-noa mysh shiaght keayrtyn, kyndagh rish kellagh-chiark gerrym, ny thunnag geamagh, ny moddey gounsternee, ny paitchyn cloie as gyllagh er y cheilley! | Whilst the film was made, we would have to redo it about seven times, because of a rooster crowing, the ducks calling, the dogs barking, the children playing and shouting at eachother. | |
| Va Ned as mish skee jeh’n chooish as er-chee goll thie, as myr dooyrt Ned-hene “v’eh ooilley boghtynid ansherbee”. | Ned and I were tired of the matter and looking to go home, and as Ned himself said, it was all nonsense anyawy.” | |
| Ny keayrtyn ta mee er hooyl marish Ned er y raad gys ny Skortyn, agh ayns ynnyd jeh goll seose y Bayr Claghagh gys ny Skortyn ragh shin dy-jeeragh tessyn ny magheryn gys yn eaynin, eisht gys boayl fastee ayns eddin yn eaynnee, raad va soieag ayn myr dy beagh ee er ny ghiarrey ass y chreg, | Sometimes I have walked with Ned on the way the Chasms, but instead of going up the Stony Road to the Chasms we would go straight across the fields to the cliffs, then a place of shelter in the face of the cliff, where there was a seat as is it had been cut out of the rock, | |
| va Ned genmys eh “Seat y Chiarn”. | Ned called it “The Seat of the Lord”. | |
| Cheau shin ooryn ayns shen loayrt ry cheilley as jeeaghyn er ny eeanlee er y chreg ta enmyssit "Yn Staggey" (The Sugar Loaf) foddey fo nyn gassyn. | We spent hours there speaking to eachother and looking at the birds on the rock called “Yn Staggey” (The Sugar Loaf) far under our feet. | |
| COOINAGHTYN ELLEY MY AEGID | MORE MEMORIES OF MY YOUTH | |
| Liorish Colin y Jerree | By Colin Jerry | |
| TA MEE shickyr dy vel fys eu dy row mee ruggit ayns balley beg cheerey ayns Sostyn Yiass. | I’m sure that you know that I was born in a village in the South of England. | |
| V’eh three bleeaney roish my vrish[2] y nah chaggey magh dy row mee ayns Petworth raad va m’ayr freayll shapp thalleyragh. | It was three years before the second war broke out that I was in Petworth where my father was keeping a tailor’s shop. | |
|
[2] vrish] text gives
[brish]
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| Mysh daa vlein lurg shen hie shin dys balley feer veg enmyssit Byworth, as lurg shen dys Lodsworth, as tra va shin baghey ayns shen, vrish yn caggey magh. | About two years after that we went to a very small town called Byworth, and after that to Lodsworth, and when we were living there, the war broke out. | |
| Ta cooinnaghtyn mie ayms fakin ny hetlanyn caggey er nyn skyn. | I have good memories of (I remember well???) seeing the aeroplanes fighting above us. | |
| Va m’ayr er n’gholl dys cheer joarree (Ellan Vannin) as hie shin fy-yerrey dy vaghey faggys da my warree ayns balley beg mysh feed meilley cheu-sthie jeh Lunnin. | My father had gone to a foreign country (the Isle of man) and we went eventually to live near to my grandmaother in a small town about twenty miles inside London. | |
| Hannee shin ayns shen derrey’n traa va mee poost. | We stayed there until the time I was married. | |
| Tra haink my ayr er ash voish y chaggey, cha by vie lesh baghey ayns Essex as v’eh g’eabbey goll er-ash dys Sussex. | When my father came back from the war, he didn’t want to live in Essex and he was attempting to go back to Sussex. | |
| Hie eh ny lomarcan dys e obbyr ayns mwyllin Petworth, v’eh baghey marish caarjyn as v’eh shirrey thie er nyn son. | He went alone to his work in Petworth Mill, he was living with friends and he was looking for a house for them. | |
| Cha dooar eh thie erbee as fy-yerrey v’eh eginit startey y ghoaill ayns Essex, agh er lhiams dy row e chree foast ayns Sostyn Yiass. | He didn't find any house and finally he was forced to take a job in Essex, but I think that his heart was still in the South of England. | |
| Hie shin lesh shilley er lught-thie er shen dagh Caisht[3] as er ymmodee king-hiaghtin 'sy tourey. | We went to visit family there every Easter and on many weekends in the Summer. | |
|
[3] dagh Caisht] text gives
[dagh Chaisht]
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| Va Joe Williams ayr jeh’n lught-thie shoh as v’eshyn ny fer leoie (plumber), va m\ayr er ve carrey da er dyn traa v’ad nyn ghuillyn. | Joe Williams was the father of this family and he was a ‘lead man’ (plumber), my father had been his friend since they were boys. | |
| Va’n thie faggys da keyll vooar as ’syn Arragh veagh kiaull vooar ny eeanlee dagh vadran cha ard nagh beagh red erbee elley ry-clashtyn. | The house was near to a large forest and in the Spring there would be a great music of the birds evey dawn so loud that there wouldn’t be anything else audible. | |
| Va kellaghyn-keylley ry-gheddyn ’sy cheyll as ny keayrtyn veagh fer jeu er ny ghaddaghey liorish Joe, lhiegg eh ad lesh yeeal orraghey as bulladyn leoie. | There were woodcocks to be had in the woods and sometimes one of them would (poached???) by Joe, he shot them with a slingshot and lead bullets. | |
| Veagh conning ain, as brick ghial voish yn awin, oohyn guiy as dy-chooilley red mie elley va ry-gheddyn er y cheer feayn. | We would have a rabbit, and salmon trout from the river, goose eggs and every other good thing that was to be had in the wide countryside. | |
| Harragh my ayr as my vummig, Joe as Ruby e ven, dys y thie lhionney ’syn ’astyr, she “Yn Ollay” yn ennym v’er, as daag ad mish as my huyr fo arrey Barbara va ny inneen da Joe. | My father and my mother would come, Joe and Ruby his wife, to the pub in the afternoon, “The Swan” was it’s name, and they left me and my sister under the watch of Barbara who was a daughter of Joe. | |
| (ry-hannaghtyn) | (to continue) | |
| Uss my Graih | You (Are) My Love | |
| Uss my ghraih, tar hym as ceauee-mayd yn oie liauyr cooidjagh, | You are my love, come to me and we will spend a long night together, | |
| S’feayr yn oie t’ayn as share dooin ve nyn lhie rish y cheilley. | This night is so cold night and it is better to be lying by each other. | |
| Ren Jee nyn girp Chrooiney.[4] | God created our bodies | |
|
[4] chrooiney] seems to be error for
[y chroo], perhaps confused with
[crooinney] ‘creation’.
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| Shegin dooin goaill taitnys s’diuney. | We must enjoy deeper pleasure. | |
| Ver- Uss my ghraih, vel uss dty chadley, as dty chione er my chleeau? | We will give our bodies for a love offering. | |
| mayd ny kirp ain son oural graihagh. | You my love, are you asleep, with your head on my chest? | |
| Nish ta’n oie foddey ceaut, as y laa noa er-gerrey. | Now the long night is spent, and the new day near. | |
| Neemayd shooyl magh ’sy voghrey, | We will walk out in the morning, | |
| Laue ry laue, goaill boggey; | Hand in hand, rejoycing; | |
| S’aaley yn Ellan, s’aaley nyn graih hene. | How beautiful is the Island, How beautiful is our own love. | |
| Uss my ghraih, jeeagh er yn Ellan cho aalin mygeayrt y mooin, | You are my love, look at the Island so beautiful around about us, | |
| I am sorry to go away, but believe it, | ||
| S’treih lhiam goll ersooyl, agh creid eh higgym er-ash dhyt, my veen; | I will reappear to you, my dear, | |
| Lurg da’n Gheurey ve ersooyl, | After the Winter, being gone, | |
| As da’n Arragh ve nyn gooyl, | And the Spring being behind us, | |
| Higgym ’sy Tourey reagh as lajer. | I will come in the Summer, merry and strong. | |