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

;48 Guide to the Isle of Man.the old country, his approval of Kirk Braddan is rathernoteworthy.The first monument which attracts the eye on entering thechurchyard, and that on account of its size rather than fromany other reason, is a tall obelisk, erected to the memory ofLieutenant-Colonel Lord Henry Murray, by the officers ofhis regiment, the Royal Manx Fenciblcs. Lord Murray,fifth son of the Duke of Athol, died in December, 1805.Near this obehsk is the grave of Henry Hutchinson, thebrother-in-law and cousin of the poet Wordsworth, a sailor,who, according to the inscription on the headstone (writtenby Wordsworth), "being of a thoughtful mind, obtained greatskill and knowledge of his profession, and endured, in allclimates, severe hardships with exemplary courage and fortitude."One inscription on a grave (near the eastern door ofthe church), that of the Eev. Patrick Thomson, vicar of thechurch, will attract attention, from the recorded fact thatit was set up eleven years before the death (in 1680) of thegood vicar, who seems to have had a fancy for having his graveand epitaph ready. He left to the parish a legacy of threepounds— not much certainly, but perhaps all he had to leaveand, fearful that the donation might lead to extravagance,desired that two pounds of the same should be banked, andthe interest only received " from time to time during time."In what way the eighteenpence or two shillings annuallyreceived by the churchwardens is applied to the good of theparish we are unable to say. Another vicar, the Rev. RobertBrown, a man of poetic taste, and author of a poem, "KirkBraddan by Moonlight"—a pretty subject—is also buried inthe churchyard.There are in the churchyard some interesting Runic relicscommemorating Scandinavian nobilities once prominent inthe island. Visitors may have been prepared, by photographsingeniously taken, and by published views, to find some Runiccrosses of great size, probably from fifteen to twenty feethigh. What he will see are three crosses, or rather brok »pillars of black stone, the tallest about five feet high andnine inches wide, erected on a mound about a yard high.They are very interesting, but certainly not big. They bearrude sculptures of fish-like animals, or, it may be, dragoi s,scroll and knot-work. The inscriptions, very much defaced,have been deciphered by Professor Munch, of Copenhagen,and other scholars versed in the old Scandinavian dialects'That on the larger cross may be translated, "Thorlaf Neakaerected this cross to Fjak, his son, brother's son to J r..