| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Yarrood mee dy chur ennym Yuan y Geill fo’n skeeal beg mychione Bnr. Cubbon Jesarn shoh chaie. | I forgot to put John Gell’s name under the little story about Mrs Cubbon last Saturday. | |
| B’leshyn y skeeal as er hoh tooilley fys diu er yn shenn sleih yn shiaghtin shoh voish nyn garrey Juan reesht. | The story was by him and here is more information for you about the old people this week from our friend John again. | |
| Ta mee er chlashtyn sleih gra nagh vel ad laccal rour dy skeeallyn mychione y shenn sleih as myrgeddin nagh vel ad laccal monney skeeallyn ass ny cheeraghyn Gaelgagh elley dy ve ry-akin ayns “Noon as Noal” agh myr screeu mee roie, nish yn caa oc shid dy screeu red ennagh ad hene as beeym feer wooiagh dy chur magh ayns clou yn screeuyn oc! | I have heard people say that they don’t want too many stories about the old people and also that they don’t want stories from the other Celtic countries to appear in “Noon as Noal”, but as I wrote before, now is their chance to write something themselves and I will be very pleased to publish their letters in print! | |
| Er my hon hene ta lettyraght (literature) ny cheeraghyn Gaelgagh elley yn lettyraght ain hene myrgeddin. Nagh vel shin ooilley jeh’n un chynney as mooinjerys eddyr ain as y ghlare cheddin ain? | In my opinion, literature of the other Celtic countries is our literature too. Aren’t we all from the same kin with a relationship between us and our common language? | |
| Johnnie Cubbon | Johnnie Cubbon | |
| Foddee dy vaik shiu caslys ayns y colloo “Noon as Noal” jeh Ned Maddrell marish “An Taoiseach” Eamon De Valera ec thie Harry Kelly ec Creneash? | Maybe you saw a picture in the column “Noon as Noal” of Ned Maddrell with “An Taoiseach” Eamon De Valera at Harry Kelly’s house at Cregneash? | |
| B’leayr da De Valera dy row y Ghailck ghooghyssagh Vannin geddyn baase, as lhisagh red ennagh ve jeant ’sy chooish. | It was clear to De Valera that the native Manx of the Isle of Man was dying, and that something ought to be done in the matter. | |
| Eisht ’sy nah vlein 1948, haink Sean O’Sullivan as Kevin Danahar veih’n “Irish Folklore Commission” ayns Divlin, marish van-motor as ooilley ny greienyn aynsyn da yannoo recortyssyn jeh ooilley ny shenn Vanninee ’syn Ellan as Gailck vie oc. | Then in the next year, 1948, Sean O’Sullivan and Kevin Danahar came from the “Irish Folklore Commission” in Dublin, with a van and all the equipment in it to make recordings of the old Manx people in the Island with good Manx. | |
| Va Sean as Kevin goaill aaght ec y thie ain ec Port le Moirrey as lurg va’n obbyr jeant, dooyrt ad rhym, “Vel oo shickyr nish nagh vel peiagh erbee elley?” | Sean and Kevin were lodging at our house at Port St Mary and after the work was done, they said to me, “Are you sure now that there isn’t anyone else?” | |
| Dreggyr mee, “Well, ta dooinney ayns Balley Beg as Gailck dy liooar echey, agh cha jean eh loayrt ee. | I answered, “Well, there’s a man in Balley Beg and he knows plenty of Manx, but he won’t speak it. | |
| Shimmey keayrt ta mee er n’gholl dys e hie, agh cha jean eh loayrt Gailck er chor erbee, agh keayrt ny ghaa ta mee er hroailt er y barroose marish Johnnie oie Jesarn as eshyn lieh-scoorit. | Many a time I’ve gone to his house, but he won't speak Manx at all, but once or twice I have travelled on the bus with Johnnie on a Saturday night while he was half-drunk. | |
| Eisht yinnagh eh loayrt Gailck marym veih Balley Chashtal gys y keirdee ec Balley Beg, gyn fockle dy Vaarle.” | Then he would speak Manx with me from Castletown to the smithy at Balley Beg, without a word of English.” | |
| “Och,” dooyrt Ny Yernee, “My vees bine dy lhune feaysley e hengey, cre yinnagh boteil dy ushtey-bea? | “Och,” said the Irishmen, “If a drop of ale will loosen his tongue, what would a bottle of whisky do? | |
| Ta boteil jeh’n stoo creoie Yernagh marin. Lhig dooin goll as cur shilley er y vitchoor as miolagh eh lesh.” | We have a bottle of the Irish hard-stuff with us. Let’s go and see the rogue and tempt him with it.” | |
| Hie shin gys y Valley Beg as va Johnnie ec y thie agh cho leah as honnick eh mish dyllee eh magh ’sy Vaarle, “Ta shiu jummal nyn draa, gheiney seyrey, cha nel Gailck erbee ayms agh trooid shiu stiagh ayns y thie.” | We went to the Little Town and Johnny was at the house but as soon he saw me, he shouted out in English, “You’re wasting your time, gentlemen, I don’t know any Manx but come into the house.” | |
| Va mee gyndys cre’n oyr v’eh cho wooiagh dy veeiteil rish joarreeyn, as eisht smooinee mee, foddee dy vel eh er nakin y voteil ec Sean! | I was wondering why he was so pleased to meet strangers, and then I thought, maybe he has seen Sean’s bottle! | |
| Va shin taggloo ayns Baarle rish tammylt, eisht loayr mee rish ’sy Ghailck, agh cha dug eh geill dou, eisht hirr mee reesht ayns Gailck agh foast dreggyr eh ’sy Vaarle, “Cha nel Gailck erbee aym.” | We were talking in English for a while, then I spoke to him in Manx, but he didn’t pay any heed, I asked again in Manx but still he answered in English, “I don’t know any Manx.” | |
| Ec y traa shoh va mee gaase corree as dooyrt mee ’sy Ghailck, “Ta breag ayns dty veeal Yuan, ta palchey Gailck ayd oie Jesarn tra vees bine dy yough aynyd cheet thie voish Balley Chashtal. | At this point I was growing angry and I said in Manx, “There’s a lie in your mouth John, you know plenty of Manx on Saturday night when there’s a drop of drink in you, coming home from Castletown. | |
| Ta ny deiney shoh er jeet veih Nherin dy chlashtyn rish y Ghailck as er chur lhieu bine dy ushtey-bea Yernagh. | These men have come from Ireland to hear Manx and have brought a drop of Irish whiskey. | |
| Nagh Jean oo loayrt marym ’sy Ghailck son jough y lheid shen?” | Won’t you speak with them in Manx for a such drink as that?” | |
| Hoig Johnnie dy chooilley ’ockle va mee er ghra as honnick shin eh jeeaghyn dy skeetagh as jollysagh er y voteil va nish er y voayrd. | Johnny understood every word I had said and we saw him looking sneakily and greedily at the bottle that was now on the table. | |
| Cha dooyrt eh veg, agh hayrn eh y voteil huggey lesh daa laue, as chum eh urree! | He didn’t say anything, but he drew the bottle to himself with two hands, and he held it! | |
| Y chenn chimmagh croutagh! | The old crafty rogue! | |
| Fy-yerrey b’leayr dooin dy row shin dy firrinagh jummal nyn draa as haink shin ersooyl gyn fockle dy Ghailck voish, agh hooar Johnnie y voteil dy ushtey-bea! | At last it was clear to us that we were truly wasting our time and we came away without a word of Manx from him, but Johnny got the bottle of whisky! | |
| Row rieau dooinney cho sturneishagh as kialgagh? | Was there ever a man so stubborn and tricky! | |
| Ta mee cra’al[1] dy row Jamys Karran, Creneash, ny Vanninagh dooie as Gailck dy liooar echey, agh gollrish Johnnie Cubbon cha jinnagh eh loayrt ee. | I believe that James Karran of Cregneash was a true Manxman who had plenty of Manx, but like Johnny Cubbon he wouldn’t speak it. | |
|
[1] cra’al] evidently
[credjal] ‘believing’ with spelling indicative of pronunciation.
| ||
| Dooyrt “Breagagh” ayns y colloo “Noon as Noal”, 15/1/77, “ga dy row Gaelg yindyssagh echey, cha jinnagh eh loayrt assjee edyr. | “Breagagh” said in the column “Noon as Noal”, 15/1/77, “although he had wonderful Manx, he wouldn’t speak in it at all. | |
| Tra loayragh shin ayns Gaelg rishyn, yinnagh eh freggyrt ass y Vaarle.” | When we would speak Manx to him, he would answer in English.” | |
| Eleanor Karran. | Eleanor Karran. | |
| Tra va mee gynsaghey Gaelg ren mee goll un laa dys Creneash marish my charrey Chalse y Chleeree (sollys Yee er yn annym ooasle echey) lesh shilley er shenn ven as chengey ny mayrey eck va cummal ayns thie er y cheu hoshtal jeh’n raad[2] ec mullagh y chronk tra t’ou drappal seose erskyn Yn Howe as t’ou bunnys ayns Creneash hene. | When I was learning Manx I went one day to Cregneash with my friend Charles Clarke (God’s light upon his noble soul) to see an old woman who knew Manx that was living in a house on the left side of the road at the top of the hill where you climb up above The Howe and you are almost in Cregneash itself. | |
|
[2] raad] the most common translation of this word is ‘way’, but is it is also used for ‘highway’ or ‘main road’.
| ||
| Va mee er chlashtyn mychione eck dy mennick er y fa dy row ee ben-vooinjerey da my Yishag Mooar (Evan Crebbin) as Ned Maddrell as Tom Karran, ooilley clein “Yn Chenn Pheiagh” voish Yn Howe. | I had heard about her often because she was a relative of my Grandfather (Evan Crebbin) and Ned Maddrell and Tom Karran, all descendents of “The Old Person” from The Howe. | |
| Cha row monney Gaelg aym ec y traa shen agh dy-liooar aym dy hoiggal yn chooid smoo jeh shen v’ee loayrt. | I didn’t know much Manx at that time but I knew enough to understand most of what she was saying. | |
| Hie shin stiagh ’sy thie eck as hooar mee ben-seyr ooasle, caarjoil kenjal as giastyllagh as Gaelg yindyssagh mie eck. | We went into her house and I found a noble lady, friendly, kind, and charitable and she had wonderful Manx. | |
| Cha jeanym dy bragh jarrood ny chied focklyn dooyrt ee rhym, “Ta cooinaghtyn aym ort as dty Yishag as dty Vummig goll sheese ayns ‘motor-bike as sidecar’ dys y Cheyllys tra v’ou guilley feer veg.” | I will never forget the first words she said to me, “I remember you and your dad and your mum going down in a ‘motor-bike and sidecar’ to the Sound when you were a very small boy.” | |
| Ren mee toiggal ooilley shoh as va mee slane jeant magh! | I understood all this and I was very satisfied! | |
| Agh cha dod mee gra monney er ash r’eeish! | But I couldn’t say much back to her! | |
| Erreish da’n laa shen cha vaik mee monney j’ee er y fa dy row ee ny lhie ching as ny martar rish traa foddey as cha row shin laccal dy voirey urree. | After that day I didn't see much of her because she was lying sick and a cripple for a long time and we weren’t wanting to bother her. | |
| Ta’n coraa eck recortit ain as ta cooinaghtyn aym dy row ee loayrt rish Ned (Maddrell) er un recortys as dy dooyrt ee, “Ta cooinaghtyn aym er dty Yishag as dty Vummig geddyn poost,” as ta shoh rish Ned hene, fer smooinee shin dy row eh cha shenn as Methuselah! | We have her voice recorded and I remember that she was speaking to Ned (Maddrell) on one recording and she said, “I remember your Dad and Mum getting married,” and this was to Ned himself, a fellow we thought was as old as Methuselah! | |
| Va Bnr. Karran ny ben-seyr yindyssagh. | Mrs Karran was a wonderful lady. | |
| Hooar ee baase Jerdein yn 8 Jerrey Fouyir, 1953, as v’ee oanluckit ’sy chenn rullick ec Skylley Chreest Rosien Jedoonee er giyn kionefenish ymmodee kynney, caarjyn as naboonyn v’er jeet veih dagh ayrn jeh’n Ellan. | She died on Thursday the 8th of January, 1953, and she was buried in the old graveyard at Kirk Christ Rushen the following Sunday, in the presence of many kin, friends and neighours that had come from every part of the Island. | |
| Ta Juan y Geill ginsh dou dy dooar ee baase er yn kerroo laa ruggyree jeig as daeed echey hene. | Juan Gell tells me that she died on his own fiftieth birthday. | |
| Ta mee dy kinjagh feer hrimshagh tra ta mee smooinaghtyn er yn sleih aegey t’ayn nish as graih oc er chengey ny mayrey as nagh row rieau caa oc dy loayrt rish loayreyder dooghyssagh ny Gaelgey, agh bwooise da Jee ta ny recortyssyn oc ayn as ta shen ny share na veg. | I am always very sad when I think about the young people now who love the mother tongue and who never had the opportunity to speak to a native speaker of Manx, but thank God there are their recordings and that is better than nothing. | |
| Breagagh | Breagagh | |
| Jack Maddrell (Braa ny saa da Ned)[3] | Jack Maddrell (Younger Brother to Ned) | |
|
[3] Braa ny saa da Ned] ‘Younger brother to Ned’. As the phrase is not accompanied by the verb
[ve] ‘to be’ the expected phrase for ‘younger brother’ would be
[braar saa]. The use of
[da] in this context usually used for non-family relationships, such as
[carrey da] ‘a friend of’. The expected phrase here would be
[Braa saa Ned] ‘Ned’s younger brother’ / ‘a young brother of Ned’.
| ||
| Va Gailck vie ec Jack Maddrell, co-chorrym rish e vraar Ned, agh gollrish ymmodee Manninee jeh'n sheeloghe echey, cha ren eh soiaghey mooar jeh chengey ny mayrey. | Jack Maddrell knew Manx well, equal to his brother ned, but like many Manx people of his generation, he never thought much of the mother tongue. | |
| Ny yeih, v’eh dy kinjagh kenjal dooys as choud's loayr mish ’sy Ghailck rish, yinnagh Jack taggloo rhyms ’sy Ghailck neesht, agh er-lhiams nagh row jeeanid ec Jack er e son, as cha geayll mee rieau Jack gra, gollrish e vraar Ned, “T’eh jannoo foays da my chree clashtyn ee.” | Nevertheless, he was always kind to me and whilst I spoke in Manx to him, Jack would talk to me in Manx too, but I think he didn't have zeal for it, and I never heard Jack say, like his brother Ned, “It lifts my spirits hearing it.” | |
| Car ny bleeantyn Caggee va Jack as Ned ayns yn “Auxiliary Coast Guard” as va cabbane fuygh er nyn son er bun challoo Phurt Noo Moirrey. | During the war years Jack and Ned were in the Auxiliary Coast Guard, and there was a wooden cabin for them on the bottom of Port St Mary breakwater. | |
| Ny keayrtyn raghin dys shen oie gheuree dy gheddyn y Ghailck veue, as dy mennick veagh deiney elley maroo jannoo gannidys as gamman er y Ghailck gra nagh row Jack as Ned loayrt ee dy kiart! | Sometimes I would go there on a winter night to get Manx from them, and there would often be other men with them mocking and making fun of Manx saying that Jack and Ned didn't speak it correctly! | |
| Eisht veagh focklyn ard as arganeys ayn, agh v’eh ooilley jeant ayns gien mie as dy cadjin yiarragh Ned red ennagh gollrish shoh, | Then there would be loud words and argument, but it was all done in good humour and often Ned would say something like this; | |
| “Aw, jeigh dty ghob mooar, cha row rieau fockle kiart dy Ghailck ass y veeal ayd hene ansherbee,” as veagh Jackie garraghtee dy ard. | “Oh, shut your big beak, there has never been a correct word of Manx out of your own mouth anyway,” and Jackie would laugh out loud. | |
| Dooyrt Mark Braide dy row eh screeu sheese y Ghailck cheayll eh voish Harry kiart myr v'eh clashtyn ee, as ny s’anmee kiartagh ee voish y Focklioar. | Mark Braide said that he wrote down the Manx he heard from Harry just as he was hearing it, and later corrected it from the dictionary. | |
| O, dy beigns er n’yannoo yn lheid cheddin, ta my chooinaghtyn failleil nish as ta mooarane ny Ghailck cheayll mee bleeantyn er dy henney jarroodit aym. | Oh, if I had only done the same thing, my memory is failing now and there is a lot of Manx that I heard years ago that I have forgotten. | |
| Va Jack Maddrell poost rish ben voish Kinsale, as tra va mish as my chied ven as inneen troailt ayns Nherin 'sy vlein 1951, hug shin shilley er Benainster Newman, shuyr-sy-leigh da Jack. Hug ee keead milley failt roin as by vie lhee geddyn naight jeh Elian Vannin. | Jack Maddrell was married to a woman from Kinsale, and when I and my first wife and daughter were travelling in Ireland in the year 1951, we visited Mrs Newman, sister-in-law to Jack, She gave us a ‘céad míle fáilte’ and she liked getting news from the Isle of Man. | |
| By gooin lh’ee ymmodee jeh ny Manninee aegey boayllagh cheet gys Kinsale dy eeastagh brick-varrey ayns laghyn e h-aegid, as dimraa ee kuse jeu er ennym. | She would remember many of the young Manxmen that used to come to Kinsale to fish mackerel in the days of her youth, and she mentioned some of them by name. | |
| Eisht ghow mee aittys vooar tra vrie ee orrym lesh gearey as lieh-sannish, “Crenaght ta Plucky Ned?” as eisht v'ee garraghtee dy ard! | Then I ‘took great fun’ (thought it very funny) when she asked me with a smile and a half-whisper, “How is Plucky Ned?” and then she was laughing out loud! | |
| Va daa ’neen eck, as ’syn astyr yeeagh ad dooin y valley as y Phurt Kinsale. | She had two daughters, and in the afternoon they would show us the town and Port of Kinsale. | |
| Ec y traa va Kinsale gollrish Port le Moirrey jeih bleeaney as feed er dy henney — follym! | At the time Kinsale was like Port St Mary fifty years ago — empty! | |
| Nish, foddee dy vel Kinsale myr Purt le Moirrey reesht, lane dy vaatyn veggey, lhuingys-eunys son ny cummaltee noa berchagh, as ghaa ny tree baatyn eeastee roagan. | Now, maybe Kinsale is like Port St Mary again, full of little boats, a pleasure fleet for the rich new residents, and two or three scallop fishing boats. | |
| Honnick mee ny lhie er y cheiy ec Kinsale skarrag feer vooar, ceaut ersooyl ec eeasteyr ennagh, foddee dy row palchey eeast elley ny share echey? | I saw, lying on the quay at Kinsale, a very large skate, thrown away by some fisherman, maybe he had plenty of other better fish? | |
| Aghterbee, ta mee shickyr nagh beagh skarrag y lheid shen er ny yummal jiu edyr. | Anyway, I am sure there wouldn’t be such a skate wasted today, at all. | |
| Kinsale — Kione y Taailley (End of the Salt Water). | Kinsale — End of the Salt Water. | |
| JUAN Y GEILL | JOHN GELL | |
| 1977 | 1977 | |