| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghoolish Veen, | Dear Douglas, | |
| ER HOH skeeal veg mychione Will Wade jeant ec Chalse Mooar Juan Robin as mee hene. | Here is a little story about Will Wade Big made by Chalse Juan Robin and myself. | |
| Ta shin jerkal nagh vel eh ro anmagh. | We expect (hope) it isn’t too late. | |
| Ta shin er lhaih ayns dty cholloo nagh vel dty lhaihderyn laccal ram skeealyn bentyn rish yn shenn sleih, ny skeealyn voish cheeraghyn Gaelgagh elley. | We have read in your column that your readers don’t want many stories concerning the old people, or stories from other Gaelic countries. | |
| Ta shoh oyr trimshey dooin as t’eh cur yindys orrin. | This is a cause of sadness to us and it puzzles us. | |
| Cre erbee t’ad laccal eisht? | What on earth do they want then? | |
| Er my hon hene ‘laik lhiam fakin imraa jeant ayns “Noon as Noal” jeh Bnr. Kneale, Balley Garret as Caesar Cashin — dy enmys agh jees— yn jees feeu smoo toilchinagh — as quoi ny share na Illiam y Radlagh as Leslie y Quirk dy screeu mychione ny treanee shoh?— Markys Braide. | For myself, I would like to see mention made in “Noon as Noal’ of Mrs. Kneale, Balley Garret and Casear Cashin — to name but two — the two most worthy and deserving — and who better than Bill Radcliffe and Lelslie Quirk to write about these valiant people? — Mark Braide. | |
| Ta shen screeuyn hooar mee er y chiaghtin voish Markys Braide as Chalse Mooar. | That is a letter I got in the week from Mark Braide and Big Chalse. | |
| Ta mee ayns slane coardailys roo as ta treisht orrym dy jean Illiam as Leslie screeu ny cooinaghtyn oc jeh Caesar Cashin as Bnr. Kneale, Balley Garret. | I am in complete agreement with them and I hope that Bill and Leslie will write their memories of Caesar Cashin and Mrs. Kneale, Balley Garret. | |
| Brie jeh olloo erbee ny Gaelgey as inshee eh dhyt nagh vel y Ghaelg noa (Neo-Manx t’ad enmys ee) ta goll er loayrt ainyn nish cocheintagh (homogeneous). | Ask any professor of Gaelic and he will tell you that the new (modern) Manx (Neo-Manx they call it) that is spoken by us now is homogenous. | |
| Ta shoh er y fa dy dooar shin ee voish shenn sleih ayns shoh as ayns shen mygeayrt yn Ellan as rere shen ta shin loayrt Gaelg lesh blass meshtit, paart veih’n Twoaie as paart veih’n Jiass. | This is because we got it from old people here and there around the Island and accordingly we speak Manx with a mixed accent, some from the North and some from the South. | |
| Gyn ourys ta ny ollooyn kiart, agh ta un dooinney ayn jeh’n sheeloghe aym pene hooar ooilley e Ghaelg (ny “Gailck” myr yiarragh eh) voish un shenn dooinney ny lomarcan, ta shen Illiam y Teare voish Giat Geinnee. | No doubt the professors are correct, but there is one man of my own generation who got all his Manx (or ‘Gailck’ as he would say) from one old man alone, that is William Teare from Sandygate. | |
| Foddee dy vel shiu er chlashtyn eh preacheil ec ny shirveishyn ain. | Maybe you have heard him preaching at our services. | |
| Hooar Illiam y Teare ooilley e Ghaelg voish Will Wade, yn loayreyder dooghyssagh mychionesyn[1] ta’n skeeal beg heese er ny screeu liorish Markys as Chalse Mooar. | William Teare got all his Manx from Will Wade, the native speaker about whom the little story below is written, by Mark and Big Chalse. | |
|
[1] mychionesyn]
[mychione echeysyn] /
[my-e-chione’s]
| ||
| Ta Gaelg vie ec Illiam y Teare dy jarroo as dy mennick va mee hene cliaghtey “cur stiagh”, myr yiarragh Ned Maddrell, er Gelling’s Foundry ayns Doolish raad va Illiam gobbraghey keayrt dy row, dy loayrt rishyn. | William Teare has very good Manx indeed and I myself used to “put in” (drop in), and Ned Maddrell would say, to Gelling’s Foundry in Douglas where William was working at one time, to talk to him. | |
| Er lhiam dy vel Illiam goaill eash nish ayns y Ghiat Geinnee son cha nel shin fakin monney jeh. | I think that William is resting now in Sandygate because we don’t see much of him. | |
| “BREAGAGH”. | “BREAGAGH”. | |
| Choud’s ta shin smooinaghtyn er loayreyderyn dooghyssagh, ny lhig dooin jarrood Will Wade, va baghey ec Sandygate ayns Skeerey Yurby. | Whilst we are thinking about native speakers, let’s not forget Will Wade, who was living at Sandygate in Jurby Parish. | |
| Dys e cheird v’eh ny seyir as queeylleyder, goll mygeayrt y cheer sy Twoaie Wooar as ayns e lhing va ymmodee lhiatteeyn da’n cheird echey. | To his trade, he was a joiner and wheeler, going around the countryside in the ‘Great North’ and in his lifetime there were many sides to his trade. | |
| Va dy chooilley red — greeishyn, aaraghyn, uinnagyn, dorryssyn, queeyllyn as cairtyn jeh dy chooilley cheint jeant ec y teyir as cha row ad kionnit voish ny marchanyn myr t’ad jiu. | Everything,— stairs, ladders, windows, doors, wheels and carts of every kind were made by the carpenter and they weren’t bought from merchants as they are now. | |
| Veeit shin rish Will ayns ny bleeantyn roish y chaggey, erreish da v’er scuirr voish obbyr. | We met Will in the years before the war, after he had stopped work. | |
| V’eh loayrt Gaelg ooilley laghyn e vea as v’eh feer vooiagh as arryltagh dy chur dooin vondeish yn tushtey echey as cha row eh rieau ny s’maynrey na dy ve lhaih yn Vible Ghaelgagh marin (son v’eh ny ghooinney crauee), goaill arrane, er-lheh arraneyn moyllee as carvallyn, as ginsh dooin skeealyn ayns chengey ny mayrey. | He was speaking Manx all the days of his life and he was very pleased and willing to give us the benefit of his learning and he was never happier than to be reading the Manx Bible with us, especially songs of praise and carvals, and telling us stories in the native tongue. | |
| Shimmey keayrt va shin nyn soie ayns e hie lhaih ass y Vible as ny cassyn as meir ain bunnys riojit. | Many times we were seated in his house reading out of the Bible and our feet and fingers almost frozen. | |
| Va laare chloaie ayns e hie as va’n dorrys da’n raad dy kinjagh freaylt foshlit, eer ayns y gheurey as ga dy row aile ayns e chiollagh veg cha row ee cur magh monney chiass. | There was a stone floor in his house and the door to the road was always kept open, even in the winter and although there was a fire in the little fireplace it didn’t put out much heat. | |
| V’eh red quaagh agh cha dennee rieau Will as e ven nyn neesht y feayragh gollrish shenn sleih elley, ga dy row ad nyn neesht mysh kiare feed blein d’eash. | It was a strange thing, but Will and his wife never felt the cold like other old people, although they were both about eighty years of age. | |
| Foddee dy row ad cliaghtit rish. | Maybe they were used to it. | |
| Cha row Bnr. Wade taggloo Gaelg agh v’ee toiggal dy chooilley ’ockle v’er ny loayrt. | Mrs Wade didn’t speak Manx but she understood evey word that was spoken. | |
| V’ad beaghey ayns thie noa jesh as v’ad feer vaynrey ayns shen. | They were living in a nice new house and they were very happy there. | |
| Foddee nagh row monney argid ny cooid-heihlt oc agh cha row ad lhiastyn ping da pyagh erbee. | Maybe they didn’t have much money or worldly goods, but they didn't owe a penny to anyone at all. | |
| Va Will ny Vanninagh Dooie, fer jeh’n shenn horch: dooinney sheelt, ynrick, coar as erreeishagh as hie eh er e raad ayns aght feer chiune gyn veg jannoo er. | Will was a native Manxman, one of the old sort, a sober, honest, pleasant and sympathetic man, and he went on his way in a very calm way without anything bothering him. | |
| V’eh lane dy chiaulleeaght as dy kinjagh va meek ayns e hooillyn tra v’eh ginsh skeeal dooin, son bynney lesh red erbee aitt. | He was full of music and there was always a wink in his eyes when he was telling a story to us, because he loved anything funny. | |
| “Hooar Will e ynsagh-lioaragh voish fer enmyssit Abner Kerruish. | “Will got his book education from a fellow called Abner Kerruish. | |
| V’eshyn freayll scoill jeh sorch ennagh as she ooilley Gaelg va goll er loayrt, as dooyrt Will dy row Abner fer-ynsee mie er bashtal. | He was keeping a school of some sort and it was all Manx that was being spoken, and Will said that Abner was an excellent teacher. | |
| Ayns goan Will “Oddagh eh gynsaghey cooish erbee — towshan hallooin (mensuration), ynsagh cheayin (navigation), red erbee sailliu.” | In Will’s words “He could teach any subject — mensuration, navifation, anything you like.” | |
| Va Abner ny baccagh as cass graney attit echey — as er coontey shoh — v’eh jannoo ymmyd jeh kip dy smaghtaghey ny cooyl-skyrraghtee ec cheu chooylloo y vrastyl. | Abner was a cripple and had an ugly swollen leg — and on account of this — he used a whip to chastise the back-sliders at the back of the class. | |
| Tra veagh guilley geddyn scuitch jeh’n chip veagh mooidjeen elley gyllagh magh “Graih Yee Abner, cur da, cur da!” | When a boy would get a lash of the whip another miscreant would shout out “For the love of God Abner, give it to him, give it to him!” | |
| Va guilley enmyssit Kissack oayllagh dy ve ny guilley glick ec ny cheayrtyn shoh as yiarragh Abner lesh trimshey mooar | There was a boy called Kissack who was in the habit of being a sharp-witted boy at these times and Abner would say with great sadness | |
| “Kissag, Kissag, ta dy chooilley sheeloghe geddyn ny smessey!” | “Kissack, Kissack, every generation gets worse!” | |
| Dinsh Will jeh drane blebbinagh ny ghaa ec scollagyn sy traa shen:— | Will told of a stupid song or two that the children had at that time:— | |
| “Eaisht shiu as clasht shiu as cur shiu my ner. Ta’n thie shoh reiht dy ve troggit cheu elley y bayr,” | “Listen and hear and behold. This house is chosen to be built the other side of the road,” | |
| as, “Shenn ven cooyl y hob. Kiart cha doo as slouree,” | as, “An old woman behind the hob. Just as black as a cooking pot chain,” | |
| as hug eh dooin brooillagh jeh arrane goll myr shoh:— “Keayrt dy row va daa sweet-heart ayms as nish cha nel ’nane, Jeeagh er my laue kys t’ee craa.” | and he gave us crumbs of a song going like this: — “Once upin a time I had two sweet-hearts and now I don’t have one, Look at my hand, how it shakes.” | |
| Vel fys ec pyagh erbee er yn arrane shoh? | Does anyone know about this song? | |
| By vie lhien geddyn yn ayrn elley ta caillt. | We would like to find the other part that is lost. | |
| Foddee nagh vel monney feeudys ayn agh v’eh er mayrn keayrt dy row as lhisagh eh ve freaylt myr paart, eer paart jeh beggan scansh, jeh’n eiraght ain. | Maybe there isn’t much merit in it but it was surviving at a certain time and it should be kept as a part, even a part of little importance, of our inheritence. | |
| Shegin d’er ve arraneyn gyn earroo gollrish shoh ry-chlashtyn er y cheer, agh aless, nish t’ad ooilley ersooyl. | There must have been inumerable songs like this to be heard in the countryside, but unfortunately, now they are all gone. | |
| Cha row ad coontit feeu dy ve currit ayns lioaryn. | They weren’t considered worthy to be put in books. | |
| Fy-yerrey, er hoh raa inshit da Will ec e warree (v’ee kiare feed as daa vlein jeig d’eash) tra v’ee ec lhiabbee vaaish shenn ven Vanninagh, as ren ish gra rish y warree: — | Finally, here is a phrase taught to Will by his grandmother (she was ninety-two) when she was at the deathbed of an old Manx woman, and she said to the grandmother:— | |
| “Keayrt va mee ayns America, as haink mee back reesht. Hie mee dys America reesht as haink mee back reesht. Nish ta mee goll er y cheayn dy ghraih as cha jigym back arragh.” | “Once I was in America, and I came back again. I went to America again and I came back again. Now I am going on the sea of love and I won’t come back no more.” | |
| S’joarree eh kys va ny focklyn shoh, loayrit, foddee keead blein dy lieh er dy henney freaylt ayns cooinaghtyn liorish y mwarree as e oe, Will. | How stange it is how these words that were spoken, maybe a hundred and fifty years ago, were kept in mind by the grandmother and her grandson, Will. | |
| As s’joarree neesht dy haghyr er yn fockle Baarlagh “back” ayns shen, ec y traa tra va palchey Gaelg goll. | And how strange too to come across the English word ‘back’ there, at the time when there was plenty of Manx around. | |
| Ta fer goaill yindys mannagh row foddeeaght ny yei e h-ellan hene jannoo er y chenn ven, cur urree dy heet er ash dys e cheer hene dy cheau e laghyn s’jerree ayns shen. | One wonders if there wasn’t longing for her own island effecting the old woman, making her come back to her own land to spend her last days there. | |
| Quoi ec ta fys? | Who knows? | |
| ’Sy vlein roish hooar eh baase, va Will recortyssit ec dooinney enmyssit Gelling voish Lerphoyll. | In the year before he died, Will was recorded by a man called Gelling, from Liverpool. | |
| Haink Gelling dys Rhumsaa as greie echey dy yannoo recortyssyn er claareeyn gollrish Kevin Danahar (eshyn ren jannoo recortyssyn jeh’n Ghaaue Dhoo Juan y Creen). | Gelling came to Ramsey with a machine to make recordings on discs like Kevin Danaher (he who made recordings of the Blacksmith John Kneen). | |
| Cre erbee er daghyrt rish ny claareeyn shoh? | What on earth happened to those discs? | |
| Va Will dy kinjagh arryltagh dy haggloo rooin traa erbee, as ta shin lane kianglt booise da son e chenjallys. | Will was always willing to talk to us anytime, and we are obliged to him for his kindness. | |
| Hooar eh baase ’sy vlein nuy keead jeig, shiaght as daeed (1947) as v’eh er ny oanluckey ayns Rhullick Skylley Chreest Ny Hayrey. | He died in the year 1947 and was buried in the graveyard of Kirk Christ Lezayre. | |
| My ta Niau ayn as t’ad goaill arraneyn moyllee ayns shen — ayns shen vees Will, gyn dooyrt erbee. | If heaven exists and they sing hymns there ‚ there Will will be, no doubt at all. | |
| Nyn mannaght ort henn charrey! | Our blessings on you old friend! | |
| MARKYS BRAIDE: CHALSE MOOAR JUAN ROBIN | MARK BRAIDE: BIG CHALSE JUAN ROBIN | |