The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-03-16
THE ISLE OF MAN.

ItE ISLE Of MhNs
There is a patch of land in the stormy
Irish Sea called the Isle of Man, about
which many travelled and untraveled
Americans know scarcely more than its
name, On sunny day the highlands of
Ulster, in ireland. and of Galloway, in
Scotland, arc visible from its western
shore, and from the summit Of Snaelel
Mountain busy little England is seen
frctting in the golden haze far across the
sea. 1t is not much greater than Staten
Island in area, and an ambitious Califor.
nian might look upon it as fair-sized
ranch. But small as it is-a mere speck
on the map Of Great Britain-it has a
government Of its own, with House of
Parliament, a people infused with noble
blood, and a thrilling and eventful his
tory. Hawthorne found 1t out while he
was consul at Liverpool, and has praised
it in the delicious prose Of his English
Note Books; Scott gathered material for
Peveril Of the Peak from its romantic
scenery and legends, and Wardsworth
commemoratcd visit to it in sonnet.
But it is not in these few literary asso.
Citations that its chief interest lies. The
history of its various fortunes and the
ancestry Of its superstitious people
have peculiar interest, dating as
they do from the from the thrilling age
when the Norsemen we're mighty in the
West.
In its greatest length the island meas
ures about thirty.threc miles, and in its
greatest breadth about thirteen. Its cir.
cumfercnce its seventy.6ve miles, exclud-
ing the snuosities of the bays; and it
contains q superficial area Of about one
hundred and thirty thousand acres, or two
hundred and three square miles. En-
joying the benefits Of the Gulf Stream.
the climate is singuarly mild and genial,
and there are few other places in the
world where the difference between sum-
mer and winter is SO slight. The mean
temperature of summer is usually about
56'17'; of autumn, 46'977; Of winter
40'907; of spriug, 44'707. There is
plenty of rain, but very little snow or
frost Fuchsias grow to the height oi
ten or twelve feet out of doors, and are
found, mass Of crimson blossoms, in the
poorest gardens. AS to the healthiulness
Of the climate, you should see the native
girls, rosy.cheeked, plump, active, and
gleeful, and the men, who are as stalwart
muscular, and handsome a race as evel
breathed sca.air.
For the most part the east is rocky
and wild, hoar with the foam Of the tur
bulent sea that surrounds it, and indentet
with capacious harbors, and innumerablt
creeks but in the north the land sink,
into low pasturage, and meets tho watel
on the glistening pebbles of smooth
beach. The interior includes nearly every
kind of natural scenery-heather-clac
balsamic hills, plains as richly cultivated
as the downs Of Surrey, wide reaches O
. prickly gorse as drear as Yorkshire
f moors, and the prettiest of cascades The
enchaniment Of Northern land dwells il
its subdued light and on lis mi,t.crowne'
heights.
, The vikings are fishermen now, and al
the great treasure steamers from Liver
, pool sail into the West without though
? or wish Of evil toward them. Sleep,
villages are perched on the cliffs wher
once the beacon fires of the wreckers al
lured many a goodly ship to her doom
In the bays where the pirates hid them
selves fly the white sails of pleasure boat:
: So great are the changes wrought b.
time that even the spell of mist worke,
|, by the wizard king has been broken, anC
the summer has its share Of cloudles
days. The invaders are not Romans
Picts, Scots, or Scandioavians, but ag
gressive tourists bearing knapsacks in
stead Of eagles, and walking. sticks instea
Of javelns. These confront you in nearl
: every part Of the island, and the prim
tive character of the natives is fast chang
ing under the influence Of the town mar
i ners which the visitors bring with then
:, Many of the superstitions have bee
laughed away and hospitality has a
>, quired a fair money value. | do n,
mean to say that there are no more gel
y erous hearts and simple minds in Mon
An old fshcrman's wife entertained n
J. with -four bread, salt fish, and tea. in b.
D. hut at Creg.y-ncesh, and indignant
'h thrust me out of the only door in Il
house when the meal was ended becau
III | offered her shilling. There are not
few honest folks, too. who yet have
ir steadiast faith in mermaids and fairies
10 Harper's Magazine.