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

Introduction.for thorn ;consequently, wlien a kitten has arrived at anage when it would like, after the manner of little cats generally,to run after its own tail, but cannot do so for obviousreasons, it is sold by its owner (not unfrequently, it is unkindlysaid, by somebody else, who has not asked the owner'sleave) to an enthusiastic collector of such curiosities.Whether starting from Liverpool or Barrow, we shall beriding on the waves of the Irish Channel for two or threehours before we see the long line of hills against the westernsky which lets us know that we are neariug the island.Sometimes, in crossing, a veritable channel passage isencountered. The noble steamer rises and falls on the broadbillows of the Irish Sea, the steward is in demand, and manymost estimible and attractive persons, but bad sailors, becomefor a time despondent, if not personally disagreeable. Incalm weather the passage is delightful ; we might almostfancy ourselves afloat on the Atlantic, so grand is the effectof the rise and fall of the huge waves which meet us, andnow and again break over the bows of the steamer. Verysoon land is lost to our view, and there is the waste of waters,with an unbroken horizon melting, as it were, into the calmof the sky on all sides far away. Sitting under the awning,let us give a little attention to the history, the legends, thepeople of the Isle of Man. We shall find enough to talkabout to fill up the time before we see Douglas Head standinggrandly out above the busy piers, and the handsome houseson the Loch Parade, and the uoble semicircular sweep of theb.iy with its background of wooded hills, and in the bay thelittle castellated Tower of Refuge, for fishermen in dangerand for shipwrecked mariners, which we may accept as .-[^symbol of the kindliness and hospitality of the Manxmen.One of the first questions that suggests itself is, how camethe island to be named ]\Ian ? Surely there could havo beenno period in its history when it was not an isle of womanalso. The island, we are told by all visitors, abounds inbeauty ; the harmoniousness of nature demands that lovelywoman should be among the native attractions. AVe mustrefer, it would seem, to etymologists and archseologists forthe information we seek ;and we have ample variety fromwhich we can select according to our taste. Manxmen, intheir own language, name the place Mannin (3Ieadhon-iri),or middle island, which, considering its position, enclosed asit were by England, Scotland, and Ireland, appears at firstto be satisfactory; but Bishop Wilson (a celebrity of theisland, respecting whom we shall have much to say farther