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168 Gaelic Society of Inuerness
Douglas, a liaiHlsome town at the head of a picturesque bay, may
be said to live iij)on visitors. So also may Peel —that is to say,
Port-na-hinsey—the place on the shore which has usuri)eil the
name of the old rock-islet acropolis. The farming jtopulation is
just what it ought to be, neither too sparse nor too crowded. The
farms in general are of fair size and well cultivated. Those thai
live by the land stick to the land, those th&t live by mining stick
to mining, and those that live by the sea stick to the sea. The
Manxmen have a large fleet of superior fishing smacks, which
covers the Irish Sea from side to side when its fishing is good,
and goes out far when the shoals are elsewhere. They have capital,
organisation, and the great advantage of large markets for fish at
their doors. But most of these hardy, cheerful, industrious Manx
fishermen go to the ends of the earth as sailors once or oftener in
their lives. Both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy profit
by their services. Fully half the Manx population dwell
in the towns and large villages. Douglas has 14,500, Castleton,
or Balla Chastal,
mis-named Peel—3500,
3000, Port-na-hinsey or Holmtown
and Ramsay 400. Port Erin, Port
Mary, the mining village of Laxey, and other villages depending
solely on mining, fishing, and lodging-house and shopping business
contain the remainder of the urban population. The island is
lovely in summer, and mild, but somewhat wet and foggy in
winter. Fuschias, myrtles, and other exotics are not killed by
winter frosts. Douglas, with its fine bay, sea-wall, terraces, concrete
and moulded houses, tree-like fuschias, and l)eautiful landscape,
is more like a southern continental than a British town.
The people, both urban and rural, make a pleasing impression
upon visitoi-s. They are energetically industrious, orderly, genial
—with a flash of hastiness —and generally prosperous. The Norsemen
have scarcely left a trace behind them, except in a few names
of places and the evil memory of tyrannical institutions. In the
Manx peoiile of the present day the black-eyed, black-haired,
round faced, Celtic ty])e is not only predominant, but it almost
excludes all other types. They are heavier and stronger people
than the Welsh, yet althougli their language is not British, but
Gaelic, they are wonderfully like the Welsh in set, features, and
characteristics.
Mannan, or INlanninan, is said to have been the first ruler, if
not the flr.st planter of Man. In tlie old Statute Book of the
island he is thus described :-— " Maiiiiinan-beg-n)ac-y-Lear, the
first man who held IMan, was ruler thereof, and after whom the
land was named, reigned many years, and was a paynini (heathen).
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