Ward & Lock's descriptive and pictorial guide to the Isle of Man ...

Castle RusJien. 91of the dungeon beneath the cathedral in Peel Castle with'•the sea running under it through the hollows of the rockwith a continual roar," as applicable to Castle Rushen.The view from the summit of the southern tower, accessil)leto visitors, is striking, extending to Port Erin and theCalf of Man. On clear day.-j, with the help of a telescope,the Irish and "Welsh mountains may be seen ; and inlandare the slopes of Mount Barrule and the beautiful valleythrough which the Silver Burn makes iti way to the sea.It would be derogatory to the dignity of so venerable afortress as Castle Rushen not to have a ghost of its own.A very interesting spectre, tradition assures us, haunts thecastle, but it is not shown to visitors, wlio are also unable tomeet with a guide to " the great number of apartmentsunderground," which it was formerly an article of faith tobelieve in, and in one of wliich there was a select companyof spell-bound giants. AValdron had, perhaps, a little doubtabout their existence, but nevertheless records a tradition tothe effect that at various times stout-hearted persons hadattemi)ted to explore the subterranean regions, but, exceptingone, had never returned from the quest. The adventurerwho did get back, having provided himself with a clueof packthread, had a wonderful story to tell. He had traversedavenues brilliantly lighted, and found a magnificentIiouse, in one of the chambers in which he saw, extended atfull length, and apparently asleep, a giant at least fourteenfeet in length, with a sword of proportionate size Avithinreach of liis hand. The sight of this prodigious slumbereramply satisfied the inquisitiveness of the adventurer, whoseems to have thought that, taking all the circumstances intoconsideration, he had better return to the upper regions. Hestated that he had fortified his courage Avith brandy—andperhaps he had, without committing what Mr. Bob Sawyerdescribed as " the vulgar error of not taking enough of it."As to the ghost, Waldron says ": A miglity bustle theyalso make of an apparition, which, they say, haunts CastleiUishen, in the form of a woman who was some years sinceexecuted for the murder of her child. I have heard not onlypersons who have been confined there for debt, but also thesoldiers of the garrison, afiirm they have seen it at varioustimes. Though so familiar to the eye, no person as yet, however,had the courage to speak to it ;and as they say a spirithas no power to reveal its mind without being conjured todo so in a proper manner, the rea -on of its being permittedto wander is unkoown."