| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| VANNINEE GHOOGHYSSAGH, AS OOILLEY SHIUISH YOAREEYN FEUDAGH, TA CUMMAL AYNS THALLOO VANNIN. | TO NATIVE MANX, AND ALL YOU COMELY FOREIGNERS THAT LIVE IN THE ISLE OF MAN. | |
| “Liorish moyrn ta anvea brishey magh: agh ta creenaght maroosyn ta goaill coyrl.[1]” | “By pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom” | |
|
[1] coryl—coyrle
| ||
| Lesh laane taitnys ta me goaill orrym—pene dy oaltaghey shiu, er graih yn shee, as fea, ta nish ayns yn cheer ain. | I am taking upon myself, with much pleasure, to welcome you, for the sake of the peace, and calm, that is now in our land. | |
| Ta mee goaill boggey meriu[2] veih grunt my chree, ayns dy vel yn boiraneys va mast yn theay blein y thouree, chaie, choud shoh er gholl dy bollagh lesh yn kione-my-liegh; s’feer e, “Nagh vel mooaralys ny drogh-yeantee agh giare.” | I am rejoicing with you from the bottom of my heart, that the trouble that was amongst the people last summer is past, whilst this has gone completely towards the lower end (run it’s course); It is true, “the haughtiness of sinners is only short-lasting.” | |
|
[2] meriu—merriu
| ||
| My Chaarjyn.—Quoi va ny screbblagyn[3] shen, ren liorish raaghyn[4] molteyragh, shlawin, as sleetçhagh, cleanney[5] whillin[6] jeh ny Manninee (paart ayns ônid nyn gree, as paart trooid molvaneys,) dy chur nyn laue gys Aghinyn geearree son tourt-mow[7] yn Chiar-as-feed, mârish ooilley ny oardaghyn, as vondeishyn, va cha kiaralagh chymnit dooinyn, as da nyn gloan, liorish nyn shenn—Ayraghyn? | My friends, —Who were those scoundrels, tha, by means of deceitful, sneaky and slippery phrases, persuaded so many of the Manx (some in the innocence of their hearts, and some through stupidity,) to put their hands to Petitions asking for the abolition of the Keys, together with the arrangements, and advantages, that were so carefully bequeathed to us, and to our children, by our forefathers? | |
|
[3] screbblagyn—seems to be a perjorative derived from either screb—‘a scab’, or screblagh—‘scraping’.
[4] raahyn—raaghyn
[5] cleanney—cleayney
[6] whillin—whilleen
[7] tourt-mow—toyrt-mow
| ||
| Camma[8] my caarjyn,—Ny traitooryn shen nagh goghe fea jeh’n Ard-whail, er- derry hooar ad leigh noa dy caghlaa towshan yn argid-ruy, (as ta nish, as rieau er-dy-henney dy croutagh geam dy vel yn labree, as y dooinney boght, currit gys coayl liorish yn eer leigh cheddin,) as nagh der veg smoo son ping hostynagh nish, ny v’ad coyrt roie son ping Vanninagh,—adsyn ren liorish myngyraght, as saaseyn meelowal elley, jannoo cooid as cowrin jeh Lhuingys-vrisht, &c, —bouranyn ta commessey mârish drogh vraane. —fir-tammag nagh vel fys quoi va nyn Ayraghyn;—as adshen-enne[9], ren liorish saaseyn molteyraght goaill feeaghyn orroo-hene, as nagh jean geek nyn lhiastynys, ga dy vel palchey fort ayns nyn laue,—mârish lheid as ta mie er-dolchin nyn gleayshyn ve phollit[10], son nyn immeeaght-bea bleeantyn er-dy-henney ; | Why! my friends— those traitors who would not desist from the High-Court until they got a new law to change the measurment of copper coinage, (and who are now, and ever since, craftily shouting that the labourer and the poor man are disadvantaged by means of the very same law,) and who won’t give any more for a British penny now than they were giving before for a Manx penny,— those who by pilfering and other illegal methods made a fortune from Shipwrecks, &c, —idiots that copulate with harlots. — bastards who don’t know who their fathers were; — and they are the very ones who, by deceptive methods, got themselves in arrears and won’t pay their debts, although they have means aplenty to hand, — as well as such as have well deserved for their ears to be cropped for their conduct years ago; | |
|
[8] camma—cammah
[9] adshen-enne—ad shen hene
[10] phollit—‘cropped—From pollal / phollal —‘pruning’, ‘cropping’.
Refers to the punishment of being put in a pillory (one such was situated in Castletown Square) with ears nailed to the structure, and being released by the ‘cropping’ (cutting off) of the ears.
| ||
| caghlaaghyn jeh my Fragymyn[11] cheddin ta ceau fainaghyn airhey, ny prashey, cooatyn doo, bussalyn bâney, as minnic[12] markiaghey ayns fainee : ny-yeih, my yeannagh dooinney ôna er-bee[13] treishteil boa, ny cabbyl, er fer jeu, fegooish yn argid laue, ny, feanish fondagh, veagh eh bunnys shikyr jeh surranse coayl. | there are many of these same wrong’uns wearing rings of gold, or brass, black coats, white scarves, and often riding in carriages; nevertheless, if any honest man entrusts a cow, or a horse to one of them, without the cash-in-hand, or, a reliable witness, he’d be almost certain of suffering a loss. | |
|
[11] Fragymyn—from Fragym—'out of the way of duty, awry. A low word.’ (Cregeen).
[12] minnic—mennick
[13] my yeannagh dooinney ôna er-bee—my yinnagh dooinney ôney erbee
| ||
| Cha vel mish graa[14] nagh vel focklyn dy ynsagh-lioaragh ec paart jeu, son ta mee er chlashtyn dy vel un dooinney ny-vud oc oddys, er oyryn vondeishagh da-hene, caghla keadyn[15] gys thousaneyn, lesh un chyndaa jeh’n edjag-screeuee. | I’m not saying some of them don’t have words of a literary education, for I’ve heard that one man amongst them can, for reasons advantageous to himself, change hundreds into thousands, with one ammendment of the pen. | |
|
[14] graa—gra
[15] caghla keadyn—caghlaa keeadyn—‘change hundreds’
| ||
| Ny-sodjey ny[16] shoh, ta Ferynsee bentyn gys yn Aglish[17] er ghoaill laue mâroo; gynoayltagh quoi t’er chionneaght croit hallooin, as t’er-y-fa-shen, smooinaght dy lhisagh yn theay lessoon ghoaill voishyn, as dy neign daue credjal as jannoo, myr ver eh roue. | Furthermore, a teacher belonging to the Church has taken sides with them, a foreigner who has purchased a country cottage and is therefore thinking that the public should take a lesson from him, and that they have to believe and do as he instructs them. | |
|
[16] ny—na
[17] Aglish—Agglish
| ||
| Ta’n Jeeoilagh shoh loyrt[18] dy lajer, as dy lhunagh[19], noi’n Chiar-as-feed. Ard-ooasle as Rahoil. “Teh dhanney[20] as creoie-wannallagh[21], cha vel aggyl er dy loayrt olk jeh ny pooaraghyn syrjey.” | This theologian speaks strongly and rudely against the Noble and Majestic Keys. “He is bold and stubborn, unafraid to speak badly of the highest powers.” | |
|
[18] loyrt—loayrt
[19] lhunagh—lunagh
[20] dhanney—daney / daaney
[21] creoie-wannallagh—creoi-wannallagh
| ||
| Ta me clasytyn[22] neesht dy vel eh mennic goail yn veshtallys, loo as gweeaghan, brishey Dooneeyn y Chairn, as ceabbey[23] ny jeirkee ta cheet raad y[24] ynnyd-veaghee. | I hear too that he often partakes of alcohol, swears and curses, breaks the Lord’s Sabbath Days, and throws lumps of earth at the beggars that come by his dwelling place. | |
|
[22] clastyn—clashtyn
[23] ceabbey—not attested elsewhere, perhaps ‘throwing clods, or lumps of earh at’, from ceab—'a clod, or lump of earth’ (Cregeen).
[24] y—e—‘his’
| ||
| She ny lheid oc shoh son yn chooid-smoo, ayns commeeys rish straane[25] jeh ny joareeyn comleayrtagh[26]—stroialtee ta jiuleanys ’sy n’ellan, (caghlaaghyn jeu ren dy neuyesh chea gys Mannin veih nyn growaltee, ec yn imbagh shen tra nagh voddagh slattysyn y cheer oc heene[27], goaill greim orroo ayns y cheer shoh,) hug toshiaght da oiilley[28] yn boirey, as va dy slaane[29] kiarit dy hilgey shin bun-ry-skyn ; as ta mee clashtyn fou dy vel ny dhonnanyn mee-viallagh cheddin, mysh coyrt breh elley. | It is these sorts that mostly, in league with a column of the shady foreigners—vain individuals who sojourn in the Island, (many of whom fled dishonourably to the Isle of Man from their claimants, at that time when the acts of their own country could not apprehend them in this country,) that began all the trouble, and who were fully intending to confound us; and I hear a rumour that the same rebellious dunces are in the act of commiting another betrayal. | |
|
[25] straane—strane—‘class’, ‘column’, ‘file’, etc.
[26] comleayrtagh— ‘hard to see, difficult to discern because of darkness coming on.’ (Cregeen)
[27] heene—hene
[28] oiilley—ooilley
[29] slaane—slane
| ||
| Nish heshey Ellanee, as shiuish youreeyn reajagh,[30] ooilley ry-cheilley myr ta shiu, ta mee guee erriu gow-jee fockle dy choyrl veih shen vanninagh, as shass-jee magh dy dunnal noie ny roideryn, as ny casseydee. Nagh cur-jee wheesh as coonrey nyn eddin da ny flaieyn fergagh ta shegin er olk; agh lhig dooin, lesh unchree, as un aigney, lheid y quaaltys chur daue, as ver yn deanys veehushtagh oc er slatt e ghrommey dy choyrt yn kred s’jerree. | Now fellow Islanders, and you orderly foreigners, all to each other as you are, I beg of you, take a word of advice from an old Manxman, and boldly resist the runners[31], and the acccusers. Don’t give them as much as an exchange of looks to the ferocious fiends who devise evil; but let us, with a united consent, and a united will, meet them in such a way as will put their ignorant rudeness on the rod of its back[32] to give the final grunt. | |
|
[30] reajagh—'orderly, correct, discreet.’ (Cregeen), might be taken here to mean ‘well-behaved’.
[31] Perhaps ‘absconders’ here?
[32] Er er slatt e ghrommey—An idiom equivalent to ‘flat on his back’.
| ||
| Mannagh jean mayd er yn naght shoh, as my viow ny cowagee veecheaylagh, as my cho-vollaghtee,[33] nyn meean[34], bee e ny smessey dooinyn, as da nyn gloan, ny[35] dy darragh yn craght dyn cheer[36]—bee main dy-bollagh astyrit ass ny fraueyn;—as bee “Mannin veg veen” ayns pooyll-sluggee dy vondiagh.[37] | If we don’t act in this way, and if the stupid loudmouths, and my conspirators, get what they desire, it will be worse for us, and for our progeny, or than were destruction to come to our country we will be completely extirpated by the roots; — and “Dear little Mannin” will be in a whirlpool of bondage. | |
|
[33] cho-vollaghtee—‘conspirators’—from co-vollaght—‘a conspiracy’
[34] meean—mian
[35] ny—na
[36] yn craght dyn çheer—use of the article with abstracts nouns is rare.
Dyn—‘to our’ is usually confined to usage before verb nouns, here is could be da’n—‘to the’, with substantively changing the meaning of the sentence.
[37] vondiagh—vondiaght
| ||
| Cre dooyrt yn Ferynsee Bowring[38] tra loayr Eh rish yn theay ec Thie oast-vonæ ? Doshill Eh e veal as ren Eh fockley magh er n’aght shoh. | What did Bowring the Teacher say when he spoke to the public at the Castle Mona? He opened his mouth he declared (something) like this; | |
|
[38] John Bowring (1792-1872) was a free-trade political economist, a progressive Whig MP (Kilmarnock 1835-37, Bolton 1845-1849) diplomat, Governor of Hong Kong (1854-59), polyglot and writer.
Reports mention crowds of up to 10,000 turning up in Douglas to cheer his visits, in appreciation of his support for political reform and universal suffrage for the House of Keys and his efforts to liberalise trade between the Isle of Man and the UK. Bowring Road (Bayr Gheinnee), Ramsey, was re-named after him, and there are adverts for collections of his poetry and hymns, as well for portraits of him, in papers of the time.
| ||
| “Myr va mee cheet er y raad, cheayll mee coraa geamagh ‘sheese lesh ny Ogheryn.’ My chaarjyn, cha vel mish er-jeet ayns shoh dy yannoo shen. Ta ny Ogheryn jeh scansh erskyn-towse mooar da Ellan Vannin. Foddee dy vel ad er naase mergagh ; ta beggan ymmyd er veh jeant jeu, as she my choyrl’s e[39], shiu dy ghlenney seose ad ayns lheid yn aght as ver orroo fosley ny dorrysyn.” | “As I was coming on the way (here), I heard a voice shouting ‘down with the Keys.’ My friends, I have not come here to do that. The Keys are exceedingly important to the Isle of Man. Maybe they have grown rusty; hardly any use has been made of them, and it is my advice for you to clean them up in such a way as make them open the doors.” | |
|
[39] my choyrl’s e—my choyrle’s eh
| ||
| Choud shoh t’ayn[40] Dooinney-seyr shen er gheddyn e yeearree cooilleenit, ayns wheesh as dy vel dorrysyn Thie yn Chaiar-as-feed[41] nish ceauit feayn foshlit, myr-shen dy vod dy-chooilley ’nane clashtyn, as cur-my-ner, er e hon-heene, cre t’ayn[42] Whaiyl gra, as jannoo, er cheu stie[43]. | Thus far that Gentleman has had his desire fufilled, in so much as that the doors of the Keys are now thrown wide open, so that everyone can hear, and observe for himself, what the Court says, and does, inside. | |
|
[40] t’ayn—ta’n
[41] yn chaiar-as-feed—yn chiare-as-feed
[42] t’ayn—ta’n
[43] stie—sthie
| ||
| My vees caghaa sodjey ymmyrchagh, lhig da ve, (myr dooyrt Rabt. y Karragher,) ayns yn chied ynnyd dy chur-lesh er-ash, as dy hannaght dooin, Quaiylyn myr v’ec nyn Ayraghyn jeh’n chenn Earish ; ta shen dy ghra, lheid as v’er ny chummal ec Cashtal Rushen eddyr ny gaittyn[44], kiongoyrt rish Harry Vyron, kiannoort vannin, Anno Domini, 1430. | If further change is necessary, let it be, (as Robert Faragher[45] said,) in the first instance, to bring back, and to preserve for us, Courts as our ancestors of old had; that is to say, such as were held at Castle Rushen between the gates, presided over by Harry Byron, governor of Mann, Anno Domini 1430[46]. | |
|
[44] gaittyn—giattyn
[45] Robert Faragher—editor of Mona’s Herald and radical reform campaigner.
[46] Henry Byron governor circa. 1430.
| ||
| As reesht ayns yn vlein, 1643, ec Balley-ny-Peele, kingoyrt rish Jamys Earley Gherby ; raad va aigney ooilley cummaltee Vannin er ny hoiggal, liorish yn Ard-Fer-Reill, y Chonseille[47], as yn Chiar-as-feed, ec jannoo ny leighyn; trood deiney v’er ny reih liorish yn theay son yn oyr shen : as lhig da dy chooilley nhee v’er ny yannoo (cha nee er vullagh ching, ny liorish Kirkinyn baanrit, agh) lesh-traa feudagh, as liorish deiney fastagh, firrinagh, as creeney. | And again in the year 1643, at Peel, presided over by James, the Earl of Derby; where the will of all the inhabitants of Mann was known, by the Chief Ruler, the Council, and the Keys, whilst making the laws, through men that had been chosen by the people for that purpose; and allowed everything to be done (not rashly, or by insane unsteady individuals, but) with appropriate time, and by serious, faithful and wise men. | |
|
[47] y Chonseille —y Choonseil / y Choonceil
| ||
| My chaarjyn, ny bee veg eau dy yannoo mârish ny condaigee roonagh shen ta slieuit er anvea. “Ny bee-jee mollit; ta drogh heshaght cur mow ellyn mie!” Lhig dooinyn er-y-fa-shen, ve sniemmit dy-cheilley, ayns arrym, as ammys, gys yn Ven Rein smoo graysoil ain Victoria— bialiagh dauesyn t’ayns pooar fo-ee— cheh gys coads[48] Oardaghyn mie nyn jeerey— as bioyr gys freayll seose cairys nyn sheshaghyn cummaltee. | My friends, have nothing to do with those malicious malcontents who are honed (keen) for discord. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners!” Let us therefore, be united together, in respect and allegience to the most gracious Queen Victoria— obedient to those in power beneath her— hot (fierce) to the protection of the good orders of our country— and swift to uphold the rights of our fellow residents. | |
|
[48] coads—coadys?
| ||
| Cha vel aym nish dy ghra, agh, myr dooyrt Juan Jamys y Donan, erreish da ve brisht, “Ta mee gennaghtyn dy vel mee ayns towse ennagh er chooilleeney my churrym hym-pene, as gys my cheer;” as shoh my phadjer gys my Er-croo, “Soilshee dt’obbyr da dty harvaantyn, as da nyn gloan dty ghloyr.” | I have nothing to say now, but, as John James the Wretch[49] said, after he’d been broken, “I feel that I have in some measure fufilled my duty to myself and to my country,” and this is my prayer to my Creator, “Shew thy servants thy work: and to their children thy Glory.” | |
|
[49] Donan—meaning obscure; Kneen, J.J. gives ‘a wretch’, could be a proper name, or perhaps be related to donnag—'a small brown animal, insect or bird'.
| ||
| Dec. 1845. EUBONIA. | Dec. 1845. EUBONIA. | |