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

16 Guide to the Isle of Man.—swear that he never called evil spirits to his assistance; atthe same time saying, " I know that by probing the secretsprings of nature you can accelerate, return, or turn aside,at pleasure, the natural course of events.''So much by way of introduction to the island and itstraditions, but what about the people ? We are nearing[tort ; the mountain ridge is definite in outline ; the headlandsAvhich mark the limits of Douglas harbour stand outagainst the sky ;Douglas itself is becoming visible. TheAvaves are less boisterous;passengers are coming on deck,pale, but convalescent, and looking wistfully towards theland. The English are descendants of the sea-kings, andour country is mistress of the sea ;but it is astonishing howsoon the ordinary " Britisher " finds he has had enough of it.In the brief time that remains to us before reachingDouglas pier, let us inquire what manner of men the Manxmenarc. We give fair warning that we shall be verybusiness-like indeed in succeeding sections of this book,allowing, of course, for just a little wayside gossip. Aboutthe end of the last century, there were residents there (notManxmen, but visitors), who brought the place into evilrepute. The island, affording immunity from arrest for debt,was a favourite haunt of broken-down gamblers, worn outroui's, and generally of those who had lived " not wisely, buttoo Avell ;" and who had much less fear of the fairies, mermaids,or even of the supernatural monsters which Waldronbelieved in, than of English bailiffs and Bow-street runners.Perhaps the presence of so ornamental, if disreputable abrigade occasioned a spiteful epigram, often repeated, representingthe devil as claiming to retain possession of the island,though willing to give up his dominion elsewhere :" Though hare it is, and scarce a span,By mortals called the Isle of Man,That little spot I cannot spare,For all my choicest friends are there."True Manxmen, however, are of a very different stamp.William Camden, the historian and antiquary, wrote concerningthem, more than two centuries and a half ago, " Theyare orderly civilized people, very courteous to strangers, andif they have been otherwise repi-esentcd it has been by thosewho laiew them not ; or perhaps it is because they havesense to see when strangers, who are apt to have a meanopinion of them, would go about to impose on them. Thericher sort and those that have estates imitate the gentry ofLancashire in splendid living and integrity. The people arevery religious and zealously conformable to the Church of