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

Kirk Maiujhold. 177more than three acres in extent, contains memorials of manypersons of local reputation , as one authority says, A '' largenumber of eminent Manx men and Avomen.'' The vicarageadjoins the church : and one of the peculiarities of the parishis, that the pai'ish clerk, whose oilico is very v/ell paid, is electedby the parisliioners, by the exercise of a right known as" putting out smoke ;'' that is, every parishioner who has achimney in Jiis house has a right to vote. We are remindedby this of the ante-Reform Bill— " pot- wallopers "—nearerhomo. In old times, the churchyard was a sanctuary forcriminals. On the village green is a sun-dial, inscribed Aviththe name and date, "Edward Christian, 16G6;" and near itare a large slab of whiustone, with giotesque figures carvedon it, and a stone trough, removed from the churchyard, andsupposed to have been a sarcophagus, or, as some venture tothink, notwithstandmg its unusual shape for such a purpose,a baptismal font.There are many legends referring to Kirk Maughold ; butvre may well limit ourselves to the quotation of one, whichis preserved in the antique chronicles of the island :" Si,'meiled, Jarl of Argyle, Lad taken uj) arms against Godied Olayeson. Asea battle was fought between them on the eve of Epiphany, in 115(5, with siiclidoubtful success to either, that the next morning they came to a compromiseto divide between them the sovereignty of the isles. Under this compromise,Somerled acquired aU the isles, excepting Man, south of the Point of Ardamurchan.From that period the sovere-gnty of the isles ceased to be vestedin one iiei-son. Somerled, however, was not content with this ; and two yearsafter, that is, in 115S, Somerled again, with a fleet of fifty-tluee ships, came toMan, where, encountering Godred, he defeated that prince, who then fled tothe covu-t of NoiTvay to crave assistance. On the approacli of Somerled to theisland on the second occasion, the Manx people conveyed their money andvaluables to the sanctuary of St. Maughold's Church, in tlie hopes, says thechronicler, that the veneration due to St. Macliutus, added to the sanctity ofthe place, would secure everything within its precincts. After the battle, inwhich he was victorious, the fleet of Somerled lay at Ramsey, and one of hiscaptains, Gil Colum, made a proposal to suiijrise the Church of St. Maughold,and at le.ast drive oif the cuttle which were grazing around the churcjiyaid.Somerled, with much reluctance, consented to this proposal, pronouncing at thesame time these wortls, ' Let the affau- rest between thee and St. Macliutus ; letme and my tioops bo innocent ; we claim no share m thy sacrilegious booty."Gil Colum laid his plans accordingly, anauguig with his three sons to efl'ect thesurprise at daybreak the following morning ; but as he Jay asleep in his tent atdead of night, St. MachutuE appeared to him arrayed in white linen, and holdinga pastoral staff in his hand, with which he twice stnick him in the lieart.Awaking in great tenor of mmd, GU Colum sent for the priests of the Churchto receive his confession, but they had no words of comfort for the dying wretch.One of them even proceeded to pray that St. Macliutus would never withdrawhis hand tiU he had made an end of the impious man, and immediately he wasattacked by a swaim of filthy, monstrous flies, and about six in the monung heexjjtred in great misery and torture. Somerled and Ids whole host were struckwith such dismay upon the death of this man, that, as soon as the tide floatedtheir ships, they weighed anchor, and with precipitancy returned home.'We may make our way across a field—lying on the north-12