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

Kirk Maughold. 175past the last-named hamlet, there is a cross by the roadside,which most tourists will recognize as oneof the Eunic remains so abundant on theisland ; but it is, or was until recently, devoutlybeheved by the iiusophisticatedManxmen in the neighbourhood that thisstone cross was originally an old woman,who, staggering under a load of wool againsta boisterous wind, began to think that, likethe old woman in the nursery rhyme, " shewouldn't get home that night," and, in thetrouble of her spirit, cursed the wind ; forwhich wicked action bIic was immediatelyturned into stone. The cross is considerablydilapidated by the wear and tear of time,but some of its carving may yet be traced.A couple of miles farther, and we reachKirk Maughold,,'hich was a famous j)lace when Eamsey, ifexisted at all, was only a little fishing village ;its Church is especially interesting. It is oneof the most ancient in the island ; in fact, it issupposed that a church was in existence in thislocality in the fifth century. In a previous page,we have sketched the career of the famoussaint, Maughold, who began what may becalled his public life as a pirate, leader of a gangof Irish adventurers, but ended it in the fullodour of sanctity, as the convert and i^upil ofSt. Patrick and the sphitual friend of the saintlyBridget. After his death, in 553, troops of pilgrimsvisited his shrine, and Kirk Maugholdbecame then one of the most sacred spots in theisland. The church is long and unusually narrow,its dimensions lieing seventy-two feet inlength and only seventeen in breadth. Overthe liuM of the door are the effigies of an ecclesiastic,holding a pastoral staff, andvarious animals. The walls are ofgreat thickness, and in the chancelwindows are some specimens oftracery, the only specimens of thatstyle of architectural ornamentationto be found on the island. Near theit