Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-04
ON THE ISLE OF MAN.
1t Is an Ancient Land Where Liberty
has Never Lost Its Sway.
INTERESTING AND H0sPITABLE.
Patriarchal Laws and 0lden CeremoniaIs
Still In Vogue. '-
A THOUSAND YEARS OF HONE RULE
rcoRRrsPoNDENcE OF THE prspAroH,

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH,
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN, Nov. 10
''Dear Little Isle of Man. is the fond title
by its natives of one of the most diminutive
and interesting island countries to be found
in the civilized world.
It is q sturdy little bit of sea-girt land,
set in the turbulent Irish Sea almost equi-
distant from England, Ireland and Scotland,
forever withstanding the fercest of ocean
currents and the widest of ocean storms
The hardy little nation inhabiting it has as
ceaselessly bid defiance to the maelstroms
of conflicting interests of men and govern
ments seeking its thrall, and from almost
prehistoric time has preserved SO remark
able national independence, that to this
day it comprises practically the only folk
on British soil who enjoy the full benefits
of selfgovernment
Briefly told, the little Manx nation has
had three periods OF history-a period of
Celtic rule, one of Morse supremacy, and
of British dominion. In the tenth century
the Vikings came. They had just over
come Iceland and established their Morse
kingdom there. When they found the
Dear Little Isle of Man, they made short
work of taking complete possession. The
women were dark haired, fair skinned and
blue-eyed. The Vikings were treckled and
bleached as to, hair and eyes. The Manx
nation of to-day sprang from the union of
these handsome Celtic women and these
huge treckled men.
An Ancient Form OF Government
The latter were led by one Orry. He is
called King Orry now. Whether he vas
sea-rover or the son of Danish or Nor
Eegian monarch, does not matter. But he
became King of Man and the Isles He
was great without the title. He gave the
Manxmen their first constitution. 1t was
quite like that which had just been given
to Iceland. It was good one, too, and the
proof OF it is that with little change it has
existed to this day.
King Orry divided the island into six
ship-shires. They are the Manx "shead-
ings" or representative divisions of the
present time Each sheading elected four
men by q popular vote to law-making
house called the House of Keys, probably
from the Morse Keise or chosen men. They
were the peoples delegates, just as they
are to-day. Then King Orry gave the
church share in the government, but pre-
Tynwald Court where church and
State sat together Orry then had
built, after the manner of the lava law
rock of Thingvellir, an artificial Mount of
Laws. The House of KEYS sent up laws
to the Tynwald Court, or the latter sent
them down. Assent in joint session, and
the Kings sanction concluded the making
of law. But laws were never operative
until the King, the Court and the House of
Keys had convened on Tynwald Hill and
promulgated them by reading them first in
the language in which they were written,
and second in the language of the people
Every essential feature of this patriarchal
and representative government established
early in the tenth century exists in its orig
inal simplicity to-day. The Manx are the
only Morse nation left that can show so
close and strong a binding to the days of
the Ssgas through an unchanged governing
system. And the folk of this little island
are the only people acknowledging COM
plete British dominion who are in 10 way
interfered with from Westminster, and who
enjoy the actual practical blessings of home
rule.
Bravery and Bloodshed.
A brave and bloody history has the little
island had from King Orry's time down to
its upreseryed cession by its then reigning
Duke to the Crown, for q consideration of
e416, 900, in 1925. The system of govern
ment il interesting from its simplicity.
Electors must have property qualification