| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Ta GENNID agglagh ayn jeh skeealyn ayns Gaelg Vanninagh, ga dy vel y lioar noa “Skeealaght” nish ry chionnaghey[1] as ga dy vel ram stoo elley ry lhaih ayns “Coraa” as lioaranyn elley ta cheet magh voish traa dy hraa. | There is an awful scarcity of stories in Manx Gaelic, although the new book “Skeealaght” is now on sale and although there is a lot of other material to be read in “Coraa” and other booklets that come out from time to time. | |
|
[1] ry chionnaghey] evidently intended to mean ‘available for purchase’. The usual idiom for ‘on sale’ or ‘available for purchase’ is
[ry chreck].
| ||
| Ta Shorus Mac Rurie jannoo obbyr feer vie er skeeallyn Neddy Beg agh bee eh tammylt foast derrey hig adsyn magh. | George Broderick is doing a very good job on the stories of Neddy Beg, but it will be a while yet until they come out. | |
| Ta daa lioar er nyn screeu liorish Juan y Gell as hig adsyn magh dy gerrid. | There are two books written by John Gell and they will come out soon. | |
| Fy yerrey, son shen as ooilley s’goan ta ny skeeallyn dooie ain t’ayns clou. | Finally, despite all that, our native stories are rare in print. | |
| Shen y fa ta mee kiarail dy chlou ayns “Noon as Noal” ooilley’n stoo noa t’ayms. | Therefore I am planning to print in “Noon as Noal” all my new material. | |
| Er hoh diu, reesht, skeeal elley liorish Juan y Comish, er ny ghoaill ass ny cooinaghyn echey ’sy lioaran “Teangadoir”. | Here for you, again, is another story by John Comish, taken from his memories in the booklet “Teangadòir”. | |
| Y NAH HILLEY | THE “SECOND SIGHT” | |
| Laa souree dy row, sy vlein 1906 va’n lhong ghaal “Tabor” er e raad dy valley dys Lerphull, Sostyn ass Poti, Georgia sy Vooir Ghoo, lughtit lesh manganese. | One Sunmer day, in the year 1906 the steam ship “Tabor” was on its way home to Liverpool, England, from Poti, Georgia in the Black Sea, loaded with manganese. | |
| Er y laa ta mee gimraa v’ee mastey ny h-Ellanyn Greagagh, as mish aynjee, my ghuilley-stuirt. Va mee nuy bleeany jeig d’eash ec y traa shen. | On the day I am mentioning it was amongst the Greek Islands, with me onboard, a steward boy. I was nineteen years old at that time. | |
| Mysh tree cluig lurg munlaa, ta shen dy ghra, lieh oor lurg ’nane er y chlag, ghow mee yn ushtey va ny jystyn er ve strullit ayn as cheau mee eh harrish cheu ny lhuingey, fakin, myr ren mee shen, dy row shin goll shaghey ellan ennagh. | At about three bells after noon, that means, half past one, I took the water the dishes had been rinsed (washed) in and I threw it over the side of the ship, seeing, as I did that, that we were going past some island. | |
| Cha lheah as honnick mee dy kiart yn ellan shid, ghow mee yindys, as dooyrt mee rhym pene, | As soon as I saw that island clearly, I was amazed, and I said to myself, | |
| “Ta enney aym er yn ellan shid! Ta mee er ve ayns shoh roie!” | “I know that island! I have been here before!” | |
| Agh chelleeragh dreggyr mee rhym pene as dooyrt mee, “Cha row uss rieau ayns shoh roie! | But I immediately answeredd myself and I said, “You were never here before! | |
| Cre’n boghtynid ta shoh! Ersooyl lhiat! | What nonsense is this! Away with you! | |
| Ta shoh yn kied cheayrt t’ou rieau er ve mygeayrt yn cheayn shoh! | This is the first time you have ever been around this sea! | |
| Cha nel shoh agh dty nah hurrys er yn cheayn ... ooilley cooidjagh!” | This is only your second trip on the sea ... all together!” | |
| “Ta fys aym er shen,” dooyrt mee rhym pene, “Agh son shickyrys ta fys aym dy vel mee er n’akin yn ellan veg shid roie.” | “I know that,” I said to myself, “But ,for sure, I know that I have seen that island before.” | |
| As yeeagh mee dy jeean er yn ellan reesht. “Gowym loo er shen!” | And I looked earnestly at the island again. “I’ll swear on that!” | |
| “Nar[2] jean ommidan jeed hene.” dreggyr mee rhym pene. “Cre’n aght t’ou er n’akin ee as shoh yn kied hraa t’ou er ve fud ny h-ellanyn Greagagh!” | “Don’t make a fool of yourself.” I answered myself. “How have you seen it — and this is the first time you have been among the Greek islands!” | |
|
[2] Nar]
[Ny] ‘Don’t’
| ||
| Shen myr v’eh, eisht rish tammylt ny s’odjey. Mish arganey rhym pene, as s’beggan ta ry gheddyn ass y lheid! | That is how it was, then for a while longer. Me arguing with myself, and how little is to be gained from such a thing! | |
| Agh fy yerrey, dy hickyraghey mee hene, dooyrt mee, | But at last, to assure myself, I said | |
|
[4] A compass ‘point’ i.e. 11.25 degrees.
| ||
| “Kiart dy lioar! Yn ellan shoh, ta ellan elley eck, beggan ny share na creg, ny lhie cooyl yn gheaylin eck, as ta ellan elley ny lhie cheu elley ny lhong, as ta ellan veg eckish neesht, beggan ny smoo[3] na creg neesht, ny lhie ‘point’ jeh’n chione j’ee. | “Right enough! This island, it has another island, hardly more than a rock, lying behind its shoulder (promontory), and there’s another island lying on the other side of the ship, and it has another island too, hardly more than rock too, lying a point[4] off the end of it. | |
|
[3] beggan ny smoo] ‘hardly more than’, or, in later Manx ‘a little more than’.
[4] A compass ‘point’ i.e. 11.25 degrees.
| ||
| As hannah honnick mee ny hellanyn shen myr dy beagh ad kiongoyrt rhym. | And already I saw those islands as if they were before me. | |
| Nish, derrey yn traa shoh, cha row mee er n’akin cheu elley ny lhong, agh, shoh loayrit aym, hie mee roym gys yn cheu elley as yeeagh mee magh, as cur my-ner, shee bannee mee! Va shin er jeet soese rish cass ellan elley. | Now, until this time, I hadn’t seen the other side of the ship but, this said, I went to the other side and I looked out, and behold, my word! We had come up to the foot of another island. | |
| Vong mee er aght fea, as dooyrt mee rhym pene “Cum dty hengey Eoineen, fuirree ort rish tammylt as hee oo red ennagh!” | I smiled in a quiet way, and I said to myself, “Hold you tongue, Johnny, wait a while and you’ll see something!” | |
| Aynshen, ny lhie cooyl yn ellan elley, va eer ellan elley ayn, beggan ny smoo na creg myr va mee er ghra dy row! | There, lying behind the other island, there was another island, hardly more than a rock as I had said there was! | |
| Eisht roie mee gys cheu elley ny lhing, as son shickyrys, ny lhie ‘point’ jee va’n trass ellan ayn, kiart myr dooyrt mee! | Then I ran to the other side of the ship and for sure, lying a point off it there was the third island, just as I said! | |
| Ymmoddee keayrtyn neayr’s yn traa shen ta ny hellanyn ad shen er ve roish my hooillyn, as ta mee foast goaill yindys kys haink eh lhiam dy akin ad roish my row mee er cheau my hooillyn orroo! | Many times since that time those islands have been before my eyes, and I am still wondering how I managed to see them before I had cast my eyes upon them! | |
| Ta sleih gra, er lheh ny shenn Vanninee as ny Gaeljee ooilley, dy vel reddyn ta ry heet ceau caslyssyn jeu hene roalue. | People say, especially the old Manx and all the Gaels, that things to come (in the future) cast images of themselves beforehand. | |
| Ta shin fakin reddyn quaagh ayns ashlishyn ny hoie as ny s’anmey t’ad cheet ayns rieughid, as foddee dy vel red ennagh ayns ny raaghyn shen as y chredjal shen, agh ta mee kiart shickyr nagh vaik mee rieau ny hellanyn shen ayns ashlish erbee rolaue. | We see strange things in night visions (dreams) and later they come in reality, and maybe there is something in those sayings and that belief, but I am quite sure that I never saw those islands in any vision (dream) beforehand. | |
| Foddee dy vaik mee ad ayns bioys[5] elley? Quoi ec ta fys? | Maybe I saw them in another life? Who knows? | |
|
[5] bioys] ‘life’ as in life force. For ‘life’ as in ‘a lifetime’
[bea] would be expected.
| ||
| Cha nel fer erbee ayn dy chur freggyrt da ny keishtyn shen, agh my ta shin er ve ayns shoh roie, cre’n fa nagh vel cooinaghtyn ain jeh? | There is no one who can answer to those questions, but if we have been here before, why don’t we have memories of it? | |
| Tra ennagh screeuym skeeal bentyn rish y chooish shen, agh cha nel foast jerrey er yn skeeal t’ayn[6] my aigney dy screeu. | Sometime I will write a story touching on that subject, but there isn’t yet an ending for the present story that I have in mind to write. | |
|
[6] ayn] ‘in’.
[ayns] is the usual word for ‘in’, but
[ayn], although it usually means ‘in it’, is sometimes found for
[in] in twentieth century Manx.
| ||
| Tra va shinyn aeg ayns Balley Chastal cheayll shin ram skeealyn quaagh voish yn shenn sleih as Gaelg oc, skeeallyn mychione bugganeyn, terriu-ushtey, glashtinyn as y lheid, as cha ren shin agh garaghtee tra v’ad er ny insh dooin liorish yn shenn sleih! | When we were young in Castletown we heard a lot of strange stories from old people who had Manx, stories about bugganes, water-bulls, galshtins, and such, and we only laughed when they were told to us by the old people! | |
| Ta cooinaghtyn aym er un shenn dooinney ny Saasilagh v’eh, dooinney slane obbaltagh noi’n jough, dooinney nagh inshagh breag son ooilley’n tey ayns China. | I have a memory of one old man, a methodist he was, a total abtainer from drink, a man who wouldn’t tell a lie for all the tea in China. | |
| Er e lhiabbee vaaish dinsh eh da’n Jishag aym pene dy row eh shooyl un oie faggys da Kintraagh ayns Skeerey Chreest Rushen, raad ta’n lught-thie Gaauin cummal, as honnick eh, ’sy lheeannee faggys da’n awin veg ayns shen, ferrishyn daunsey mygeayrt as bayrnyn jiargey as cooatyn geayney orroo! | On his death bed he told my own Dad that he was walking one night near to Kentraugh in Rushen Parish, where the Gawne family live, and he saw, in the meadow near to the little river there, fairies dancing around with red caps and blue coats on them! | |
| Myr dooyrt mee, cha jinnagh yn dooinney shoh ginsh skeealyn er chor erbee. Cre, eisht, honnick eh? | As I said, this man wouldn’t tell lies at all. What, then, did he see? | |
| Cre’n fa va ny shenn Vanninee ooilley credjal dy bollagh ayns y vooinjer veggey? | Why were the old Manx all believing completely in the ‘Little People’? | |
| Cha row ny shenn Vanninee ooilley ass nyn geeayl! | The old Manx weren’t all out of their minds! | |
| Ta shenn raa ’sy Ghaelg, as foast cooinaghtyn aym er. “Ta reddyn ayn, as ta reddyn goaill,” ta shen dy ghra, dy vel reddyn quaagh ayn as dy vel ny reddyn quaagh shen jannoo reddyn neughooghyssagh, neu-heiltagh. | There’s an old saying in Manx, that I still remember. “There are things, and things take,” which means, that there are strange things and that those strange things make things unnatural and unearthly. | |
| Cheayll mee keayrt dy row, mychione inneen aeg voish Colby as ish shooyl er ny sleityn faggys da’n Boayrd Runt er gerrey da Baarool. | I heard once upon a time, about a young girl from Colby and she was walking on the mountians near to the Round Table near (South) Barrule. | |
| V’ee ny lomarcan derrey haink dooinney er gerrey j’ee as eshyn markiagh er cabbyl mooar bane. | She was alone until a man came close to her and he was riding on a big white horse. | |
| Loayr eh r’ee as smooinee ish dy row eh ny ghooinney seyr voish Doolish ny boayl ennagh, ga dy row Gaelg feer vie echey, as cha row lhied ny deiney as eshyn jannoo monney ymmyd jeh chengey ny mayrey ec y traa shen tra va’n chengey goll mow. | He spoke to her and she thought that he was a gentleman from Douglas or somewhere, although he had very good Manx, and not many such men as he used the mother tongue (Manx) at that time, when the tongue was dying. | |
| Doaltattym skell eh roish! Eshyn as y cabbyl echey neesht. | He suddenly disappeared! He and his horse too. | |
| Roie y ven aeg dy valley as aggle mooar urree as rosh ee yn thie eck ass ennal as ooilley er creau. | The young woman ran home greatly afraid and she arrived at the house out of breath and shaking all over. | |
| Lurg tammylt dinsh ee da’n vummig eck yn clane skeeal, kys va’n dooinney seyr coamrit, cre’n sorch dy chabbyl v’echey, ny cowraghyn er y chabbyl, cre’n eaddagh v’eh coamrit ayn as eer mychione yn ainey airh as “daiman” ayn, v’er y vair echey. | After a while she told her mum the whole story, how the gentleman was dressed, what sort of horse he had, the marks of the horse, what clothing he was dressed in and even about the gold ring with a diamond in it, that was on his finger. | |
| Cha lheah’s cheayll yn chenn ven ooilley shoh hie ee neealloo as huitt ee er laare y chott v’ad cummal ayn. | As soon as the old woman heard all this she fainted and fell on the floor of the cottage they were living in. | |
| Va’n ’neen eck er ve loayrt mychione fer aeg va sooree er y chenn ven tra v’ish aeg as va’n dooinney baiht er marrinys gys America tra hie yn lhong v’eh ny troailtagh aynjee fo ayns sterrym mooar faggys da Boston. | Her daughter had been talking about a young fellow who was courting the old woman when she was young and the man was drowned on a voyage to America when the ship he was sailing in went down in a big storm near Boston. | |
| V’eh yn chied er ny ruggyr jeh lught thie mooar, berchagh voish Skeerey Braddan. | He was the first-born of a big, wealthy family from Braddan. | |
| Tra hooar e yishag fys dy row eh sooree er ben aeg voght voish y jiass, hug yn jishag echey eshyn ersooyl ayns eebyrtys dys sleih mooinjer oc ayns Cleveland, Ohio. | When his father learnt that he was courting a poor young woman from the South, his father sent him away in exile to relatives thay had in Cleveland, Ohio. | |
| Agh son shen as ooilley, hooyl[7] eh, dy jarroo, vark eh, ny sleityn yn oie shen as loayr eh rish ’neen y caillin v’eh er ve sooree urree ooilley ny bleeantyn shen er ash! | For for all that, he walked, indeed, he rode, the mountains that night and he spoke to the daughter of the lass he had courted all those years back! | |
|
[7] hooyl]
[huill]
| ||
| Dy jarroo, ta ny smoo reddyn ayn ’sy theihll shoh wass na ta enney ny fys ain er! | Indeed, there are more things in this world than people recognise or know! | |
| Cheeayll mee shenn dooinney ginsh skeeal un oie ayns Balley Chastal. Dooyrt eh dy row eh shooyl un oie ghorraghey faggys da’n Smelt ec Purt Le Moirrey. | I heard an old man telling a story one night in Casteltown. He said that he was walking one dark night near to The Smelt[8] at Port St Mary. | |
|
[8] The Smelt] the part of Gansey ajoining Port St Mary. Named after lead smelting works.
| ||
| Honnick eh red mooar doo ayns magher er gerrey da’n wyllin as ghow eh aggle atchimagh. | He saw a big black thing in a field near to the mill and he was terribly afraid. | |
| “Quoi oo hene?” dooyrt yn dooinney ayns Gaelg, agh cha dooar eh ansoor erbee, agh haink yn red mooar doo eer ny sniessey da. | “Who are you?” the man said in Manx, but he didn’t get any answer, but the big black thing came even closer to him. | |
| Ghow eh eer ny smoo aggle agh cha row eh son roie ersooyl edyr, er agggle dy jinnagh yn red quaagh cheet geiyrt er! | He became even more afraid but he couldn’t run away at all, for fear that the strange thing would come following him! | |
| Fy yerrey, ren eh giarrey cowrey ny croshey ersyn hene as dooyrt eh ayns Gaelg, “Nar jean boirey orryms as cha jeanym boirey orts, ayns ennym yn Ayr as y Vac as y Spyrrys Noo” | Finally, he cut the sign of the cross upon himself and he said in Manx, “Don’t bother me and I won’t bother you, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost”, | |
| chelleeragh skell yn red mooar doo roish as cha vaik eh arragh eh, ga dy row eh dy mennick lurg shen shooyl ’sy dorraghys ’syn un voayl. | right away, the big black thing disappeared and he didn’t see it any more, although he was oftern after that walking in the dark in the same place. | |
| Er my hon hene, cha nel mee rieau er n’akin scaa, ny ferrish, ny red erbee neuheiltagh agh son ny hellanyn shid honnick mee ooilley ny bleeantyn shen er dy henney ’sy Cheayn Ghreagagh tra va mee nuy bleeaney jeig d’eash. | As for myself, I have never seen a ghost, or fairy, or anything unearthly (supernatural) except for those islands I saw all those years ago in the Greek Sea when I was nineteen years of age. | |
| Ayns shoh ’sy Chanadey raad ta mee beaghey nish, cha nel sleih credjal ayns lheid ny reddyn va ny shenn ayraghyn ain ayns Mannin credjal ayndoo as shen y fa nagh vel mee gimraa ad dys peiagh erbee ayns shoh. | Here in Canada where I live now, people don’t believe in such things as our ancestors in the Isle of Man believed in, and therefore I don’t mention them to anyone here. | |
| Juan y Comish, | John Comish, | |
| Kirkland Lake, | Kirkland Lake, | |
| Ontario, | Ontario, | |
| Yn Chaisht 1958.[9] | Easter 1958. | |
|
[9] 1958] text gives 1958.
| ||