The National tribune., 1894-10-11
THE ISLE OF MAN.
ITS Ancient Customs. It's Government, and
Its TaiIess, Cats.
lRfchmond Dispatchl

lRfchmond Dispatehl
The Isle of Man isIoniy 33 miles long and
II wide, so that it issnot great labor to get
over it, and, as two railroads run-one
north to south, and the other east to west
you can see how convenient it is to the Wis
itor. Douglas, Port Erin, Peel, and Ramsey
are the chief towns. IN d
The Isle of Man, while belonging to the
British Crown, is neither English, Scotch,
Irish, nor Welsh, but is separate country,
with home-rule Government, and Ian
guage of it's own; but yet with great 10y
atty to the Imperial Government, aud deyO-
tion to Queen Victoria, for everywhere you
60 you see pictures of the royal family.
The Government is known as the House OF
Keys" and consists of "a members, elected
every seven years but no person has a vote
unless he possesses real estate of the value OF
$50, OF occupation of the value of $50 per
year, and women are also entitled 10 vote.
fhe Court of Tynwald, presided over by
the Lieutenant-GOveTnor, Is composed OF the
Council, which embraces the Bishop, Attor-
ney-General, two Judges, the Clerk of the
Rolls, Water Bailiff, and Vicar General.
This Council and the House of Keys are the
active Government of the great Isle or Man.
There IS one feature of special interest
in reference to the laws, and that is that all
laws passed by the House of Keys are sent
for the royal assent, and when that has
been secured then the law must be formally
read in the English and Manx languages on
Tynwald Hill in the open air, where the
Council and the Keys united form Tyn-
wald court, before they become laws. This
form of reading the law at Tynwald is the
Oldest style on record; was old in 1417 and
hos hna 4 l.
day of July in each year is the day of pub
lie proclamation of the laws passed by the
House of Keys.
of a man in a circle The motto translated,
reads: WhitheISoeyer thrown, l shall
stand" The Manxmen apparently rather
enjoy the three-legged crest. for everywhere
you turn your face, whether at stemn boat,
a railroad, a coach, a flag, or on the win
dows Of the stores, there you see the three
legs.
l had read of the Manx cats without
tails, and thought it joke; but, sure
enough, the cats here are without tails, and
l saw several without that graceful mem
Der. Some ladies of our party who had
not seen the Maux cat, were rather doubt
ful OF the truth of our report, and we had
to accompany them to the house where the
cat lived, and after close examination
came away believers in the tailless cat.
don't think pussy is improved by the abb
sence of the tail. Some people say this
strange act of nature extends to the dogs
also.
The Manx language, like the ancient Ian
guage of Ireland, is fast passing away, and
in a generation it will he one of the dead
languages, enjoyed only by scholars. / met
an old woman on the side of a mountain
selling milk, cakes, and ginger ale, and after
asking some questions about the locality, |
learned from her thai the children were not
learning the Manx language, and that only
the middle-aged and old people spoke it.
She said her children spoke only the Eng
lish. l was anxious to get book in Msnx,
but could not find onefin the stores. The
old woman referred to- showed me an old
Bible in Manx, whichq tried to buy, but
she said no money could buy her Bible.
1t had belonged to her father. I was sorry,
but / also admired the old woman's love
for her old Bible, and / was glad to see that
money could not tempt her, though she was
quite poor, and few shillings would have
been large sum for her purse.