| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| WHERE HAVE ALL THE MANXMEN GONE ? | ||
| EC Y TRAA t’ayn jiu, my loayrys oo rish poleen (Meoir shee) aeg erbee, er lheh ayns Doolish, nee oo goaill yindys dy chlashtyn yn blass echey! Yinnagh oo smooinaghtyn dy vel oo geaishtagh rish Z-Cars[1] er y chellveeish! Keayrt dy row va bunnys dagh ooilley pholeen ny Manninagh dooie as blass feer Vanninagh echey, agh nish er lhiam dy vel ooilley ny poleenee aegey cheet voish Sostyn. Cre’n aght ta shoh er jeet dy ve? Vel ny Manninee aegey gobbal gentreil stiagh ’sy chirveish shen, ny vel eh polasee oikoil dyn Manninee y ghreinnaghey dy ve nyn veoirynshee? | At the present time, if you speak to any young police officer, especially in Douglas, you will be amazed to hear his accent! You would think that you are listening to Z-Cars on the television! Once upon a time almost every police officer was a native Manx person and had a very Manx accent, but now I that that all the young police come from England. How has this come to be? Are the young Manx refusing to enter into that service, or is it official policy not to encourage Manx people to be police officers? | |
|
[1] Z-Cars] — a TV police drama set in a fictional area of Merseyside.
| ||
| Er lhiam dy vel shoh cowrey elley jeh'n aght ta reddyn caghlaa ayns Mannin as jeh’n aght ta shin cheet dy ve ny smoo as ny smoo Sostnagh! Foddee dy vel eh ny share da ny poleenee dyn ve nyn Vanninee er y fa dy vel ny Manninee ooilley mooinjer rish y cheilley! Ayns ny shenn laghyn va my henn ayr hene as ooilley e vraaraghyn stiurey ny poleenee 'syn ellan shoh as v’ad jannoo yn staartey dy mie neesht, marish ooilley ny co-obbree Manninagh oc. | I think that this another sign of the way things are changing in the isle of Man and of the way we are coming to be more and more English! Maybe it is better for the police not to be Manx because the Manx are all related to each other! In the old days even my own grandfather and all his brothers were directing the police in this isalnd, and they were doing the job well too, with all their Manx coworkers. | |
| There is a Gaelic proverb which runs, “If you put a Manxman on a spit over an open fire you will always find another Manxman willing to turn him until he’s done.”[2] | ||
|
[2] This sentence appears in the original piece, but in English only.
| ||
| Cre’n fa eisht, ta shin goaill stiagh ooilley nyn boleenee aegey voish Sostyn? | Why then, are we taking in all young police from England? | |
| FOOO ? HALLOOO ? | ||
| Screeu Arthur Moore ’sy cholloo echey ayns “Yn Emshir Hiaghtinoil”, Jemayrt shoh chaie, dy row eh lesh shilley er ny Shamyryn Slattyssagh ayns Doolish, tra ren dooinney va leeideil ad ny hrooid[3] ny shamyryn gimraa “Fo-Halloo”. Rere Mnr Moore, va Yernagh kionefenish as cha doig eh ny focklyn shen er chor erbee! Cha nyrrys edyr! | Arthur Moore wrote in his column in ‘The Weekly Times” , last Tuesday, that he was visiting the ‘Acts Chambers’ in Douglas, when a man who was leading them through the chambers mentioned ‘Fo-Halloo’. According to Mr Moore, there was an Irishman present and he didn’t understand those words at all! No wonder at all! | |
|
[3] ny hrooid] ‘through it’ —
[trooid] ‘through’ would be expected
| ||
| Geayll shiu rieau Manninagh baarlagh erbee oddys ny focklyn “fo-halloo” y ’ockley magh dy chiart? She “foo Halloo-oo” t'ad gra, er yn oyr nagh vel ad toiggal Gaelg. Gyn ourys nagh doiggagh y Yernagh boght ny focklyn “faoi-thalamb” myr t’ad goll y ’ockley magh[4] ec baarleyr Manninagh! | Did you ever hear any English-speaking Manxman who can pronounce the words ‘fo-halloo’ correctly? ‘Foo Halloo-oo’ they say, because they don’t understand Manx. No wonder the poor Irishman wouldn’t understand the words ‘faoi-thalamb’ as they are pronounced by an English-speaking Manx person! | |
|
[4] goll y ’ockley magh] goll er fockley magh
| ||
| EAIRY VANE | EAIRY VANE | |
| Jesarn shoh chaie haink Adrian Mac y Phirgrin lesh shilley orrin ayns Glion Vane as ny s’anmee er yn astyr hooyl Adrian as mee hene seose er ny sleityn cooyl y thie ain choud’s yn chenn voayl-eirinagh “Eairy Vane”, thie ta nish bunnys ny tholtan as yn ollagh beaghey ayn, yn mullagh bunnys lhieggit as ayns boayl feer fadanagh erskyn Boaldyn Sheear ayns Skeerey Braddan. Dy dooghyssagh she ass Gaelg va shin loayrt ooilley’n traa. Fastyr braew grianagh, cheh, aalin v'ayn as cha dod mee agh smooinaghtyn er yn shenn sleih va cliaghtey cummal ec Eairy Vane bleeantyn er' dy henney. Veagh ooilley nyn mea laaoil er ny veaghey ny hrooid Gaelg ny lomarcan, gyn fockle dy Vaarle erbee. S’bastagh eh dy jarroo nagh vel boayl erbee faagit ayns Mannin nish raad oddagh sleih ta foast gynsaghey yn chengey goll lesh shilley er loayreyderyn dooghyssagh raad veagh y blass kiart ry chlashtyn as focklyn ry chlashtyn nagh beagh enney oc er. Ta aigh vie dy jarrro ec ny Yernee as ny Albinee er y fa dy vel lhied ny thieyn ayn ayns ny cheeraghyn ocsyn as Gaelgeyryn dooghyssagh foast cummal ayndoo! | Last Saturday Adrian Pilgrim came to visit us in Glen Vane, and later in the afternoon Adrian and myself walked up on the mountians behind our house as far as the old farming place “Eairy Vane”, a house that is now almost a ruin with the cattle living in it, the roof almost fallen in and in a very lonely place above West Baldwin in Braddan parish. Naturally, we were talking in Manx all the time. It was a fine sunny, hot, beautiful afternoon, and I couldn’t but think about the old people who used to live at Eairy Vane years ago. All their daily lives would be have been lived through Manx alone, without a word of English at all. What a pity it is indeed that there isn’t any place left in the Isle of Man now where people who are yet learning the tongue could visit native speakers where the right accent would be able to be heard and words to be heard that they wouldn’t recognise. The Irish and the Scottish have good luck indeed because there are such houses in their countries and native Gaelic speakers still living in them! | |
| SKEEAL HARRY BODDAGH | HARRY BOYDE’S STORY | |
| “‘Gow dys yn Chenn Cheeill,’ dooyrt yn dooinney, ‘cur clagh er y fer ren shiu geddyn yn argid voish.’” | “‘Go to the Old Church,’ said the man, ‘put a stone on the one you got the money from.’” | |
| Dinsh Harry Boddagh (Harry Boyde) voish Bailey ny Loghey skeeal dooin keayrt dy row tra va mee aeg, mychione ben hreoghe va faagit ny ben feer verchagh liorish yn dooinney eck erreish da’n baase echey. Hie yn dooinney er oanluckey ’sy rhullick ec y chenn cheeill. Tammylt ny lurg, aaphoose y ven rish fer elley as fy yerrey hooar eshyn baase neesht as hie eh er oanluckey ’sy rhullick ec y cheeill noa, er gerrey da Balley Ny Loghey hene. Un laa hie yn ven lesh shilley er yn oaye[5] echey ’sy rhullick noa as tra v’ee ayns shen veeit ee rish shenn dooinney as Gaelg echey as va enney mie ec yn chenn dooinney urree as fys echey dy dooar ee ooilley’n argid eck voish y chied dooinney, agh dy row oaye[6] yn chied ’er ny lhie treigit as jarroodit er gerrey da’n chenn cheeill. “Cre'n fa ta shiu shassoo ayns shen jeeaghyn er oaye[7] yn nah ghooinney ayd?” as the chenn dooinney, “Gow shiu dys y chenn cheeill as cur clagh er oaye[8] yn dooinney ren shiu geddyn ooilley yn argid voish.” | Harry Boyde from Ballaugh us a story once when I was young, about a widow who was left a very rich woman by her husband after his death. The man was buried in the graveyard at the old church. A while after, the woman remarried another man and eventually he died too and he was buried in the graveyard at the new church, close to Ballaugh itself. One day the woman went to visit his grave in the new graveyard and when she was there she met an old Man who knew Manx and the old man new her well and knew that she got all the money she had from the first man, but that the grave of the first man was left abandoned and forgotten close to the old church. “Why are you standing there looking at the grave of your second husband?” said the old man, “Go to the old church and put a stone on the grave of the man you got all the money from.” | |
|
aa
| ||
| Cha nel monney Gaelgeyryn ayn jiu as cooinaghtyn oc er Harry Boddagh. Er my hon hene cha jeanym dy bragh jarrood yn shenn dooinney coar. Ga nagh row berchys y theihll shoh echey v’eh ny s’berchee na ymmoddee Manninee “berchagh” t’ayn nish, er y fa dy row Chengey ny mayrey echey as maynrys 'sy chree echey. Hie mee da’n oanluckey echey as she ass y Gaelg dy bollagh v’eh ’sy cheeill noa ec Bailey Ny Loghey, lesh yn Arrymagh Illiam y Keylley as Yn Arrymagh Canonagh C. A. Cannan goaill yn shirveish. Hie ymmoddee Manninee thie yn laa shen as creeaghyn trome oc, smooinaghtyn er nyn garrey veen nagh vaikagh ad rieau ’sy theihll shoh wass. | There aren’t many Manx speakers today who have memories of Harry Boyde. As for myself, I won’t every forget the nice old man. Although he didn’t have this world’s wealth he was wealthier than many ‘rich’ Manx people that there are now, because he had the Mother Tongue (Manx) and happiness in his heart. I went to his burial and it was completely in Manx, in the new church at Ballaugh, with Reverend William Kelly and the Reverend Canon C. A. Cannan taking the service. Many Manx people went home that day with heavy hearts, thinking about their dear friend who they would never see again in this world. | |
|
[5] oaye] oaie
[6] oaye] oaie
[7] oaye] oaie
[8] oaye] oaie
| ||
| LEGALITY OF MANX | LEGALITY OF MANX | |
| Dinsh ushag veg dou er y chiaghtyn dy row Aspick Sodor as Mannin boirit red beg mychione leighoilid ny Gaelgey tra vees ymmyd goll y jannoo[9] j’ee ayns kialteenyn Vannin! Shee bannee mee! Nagh dinsh peiagh erbee da’n dooinney boght dy vel Daa hengey oikoil ayns Mannin as dy vel Lioar Phadjer as Bible ain ayns chengey ny mayrey? Nagh vel fys ec yn aspick dy vel Baarle ny chengey yoarree ayns kialteenyn Vannin, cha nee Gaelg! Ta ny Sostynee smooinaghtyn dy vel yn chengey ocsyn yn un[10] chengey ‘sy Theihll. Quoi v’ayn, keayrt dy row, dooyrt “Ta Jee ny Sostynagh?” Sostynagh, gyn ourys! Cha nel mee noi dagh ooilley Hostynagh, agh, myr dooyrt shenn loayreyder dooghyssagh keayrt dy row, “Ta Sostynee ayn as t’ad mie, agh ta Sostynee elley ayn as cha nel ad chammah!” | A little bird told me in the week that the Bishop of Sodor and Man was a little bothered about the legality of Manx when a use is made of it in Mann’s churches! Bless me! Didn’t anyone tell the poor man that there are two official tongues in the Isle of Man and that we have a Prayer Book and Bible in the mother tongue (Manx)? Doesn’t the bishop know that English is a foreign tongue in Mann’s churches, not Manx! The English think that their tongue is the only tongue in the World. Who was it, once upon a time, who said “God is an Englishman?” An Englishman, no doubt! I’m not against everything English, but as an old native speaker said once, “There are English people and they are good, but there are other English people and they are not as good!” | |
|
[9] goll y jannoo] goll er jannoo
[10] yn un chengey] ‘the same tongue’ — evidently this is an error. The expected translation of ‘the only language’ would be ‘yn ynrican glare’.
| ||
| STERRYM AYNS CAPPAN TEY | A STORM IN A TEACUP | |
| Screeu Shorus y Creayrie dou screeuyn oikoil voish Boayrd ny Geesh 'sy Ghaelg tammylt er dy henney as dy dooghyssagh, dreggyr mee eh ’syn un chengey, my hengey dooghyssagh as yn chengey share lhiams, yn chengey elley oikoil jeh’n Ellan shoh. Ta mee er chlashtyn voish ymmoddee sleih ta gobbragh ’syn un voayl as Shorus dy row Gaelg cur yindys as farg orroosyn t’eh gobbragh da! V’eh gollrish dooinney broddey edd sniengan! “She’n Vaarle ta shin jannoo ymmyd j’ee ’syn oik shoh,” as adsyn! Hug ad er Shorus dy yannoo caghlaa jeh ooilley ny va scruit ain as ren yn dooinney boght shen y yannoo. Keayrt dy row ayns Tinvall loayr oltey ennagh paart dy Ghaelg as dreggyr Mnr. Hugh MacLeod ass Gaelg Albinagh as v'eh currit "out of order"! Ta Baarle yn ghlare oikoil ayns Tinvaal neesht, er lhiams! | George Broderick wrote to me an official letter from the Board of Taxes in Manx a while ago and naturally I answered it in the same tongue, my natural tongue and the tongue I prefer, the other official language of this Island. I have heard from many people that work in the same place as George that Manx amazes and enrages those he works for! He was like a man prodding an ant nest! “It is English that we use in this office,” they said. They made George make a translation of all that we had written and the poor man did that. Once upon a time in Tynwald a certain member spoke some Manx and Mr Hugh MacLeod answered in Scottish Gaelic and it was put “out of order”! English is the official language in Tynwald too, I think! | |
| Those who seek to revive Manx must never forget that the revival of the language is a political matter, not a cultural one and only directives from a nationally-minded Manx Government will ensure any sort of aid or assistance for the language. The Civil Service carries out the instructions of the government of the day. | ||
| Er lhieuish dy jig caghlaa ayns Mee Houney? She orrin ooilley dy chur stiagh Manninee dooie. | Do you think that a change will come in November? All of us have to put in true Manx people. | |