SODOR, a name always conjoined with Man, in mentioning the bishop of Man’s diocese. Concerning the origin and application of this word, very different opinions have been formed by the learned. Buchanan (lib. i. cap. 34.) says, that before his time the name of Sailor was given to a town in the isle of Man. In Gough’s edition of Camden’s Britannia (vol. iii p. 701.) it is said, that after the isle of Man was annexed to the crown of England, this appellation was given to a small island within musket-shot of Man, in which the cathedral stands, called by the Norwegians the Holm, and by the inhabitants the Peel. In support of this opinion, a charter is quoted a.d. 1505, in which Tho mas earl of Derby and lord of Man, confirms to Huan Hesketh, bishop of Sodor, all the lands, &c. anciently belonging to the bishops of Man. “Ecclesiam cathedralem sancti Germani in Holm Sodor vel Pele vocatam, ecclesiam Sancti Patricii ibidem, et locum praefatum in quo ecclesiae praefatae sitae sunt.” The truth of either, or perhaps of both, these accounts might be allowed; but neither of them is sufficient to account for the constant conjunction of Sodor and Man, in charters, registers, and histories. If Sodor was a small town or island belonging to Man, it cannot be conceived why it is always mentioned before it, or rather why it should be mentioned at all in speaking of a bishop’s diocese. To speak of the bishopric of Sodor and Man in this case, would be as improper as it would be to call the bishopric of Durham the bishopric of Holy Island and Durham, or the bishopric of Darlington and Durham; the former being a small island, and the latter a town belonging to the county and diocese of Durham. Neither of these accounts, therefore, gives a satisfactory explanation of the original conjunction of Sodor and Man.

The island of Iona was the place where the bishop of the Isles resided, the cathedral church of which, it is said, was dedicated to our Saviour, in Greek Sorer, hence Sotorenses, which might be corrupted into Sodorenses, a name frequently given by Danish writers to the western isles of Scotland. That we may be the more disposed to accede to this Grecian etymology, the advocates for this opinion tell us, that the name Icolumkill, which is often applied to this island, is also of Greek extraction, being derived from columba, “a pigeon,” a meaning that exactly corresponds to the Celtic word colum, and the Hebrew word iona. We must confess, however, that we have very little faith in the conjectures of etymologists, and think, that upon no[7:20:471] occasion they alone can establish any fact, though, when concurring with facts, they certainly tend to confirm and explain them. It is only from historical facts that we can know to what the name of Sodor was applied.

It appears from the history of the Orkneys compiled by an old Islandic writer, translated and enlarged by Torfaeus, that the Aebudae, or Western isles of Scotland, were divided into two clusters, Nordureys and Sudereys. The Nor-dureys, which were separated from the Sudereys by the point of Ardnamurchan, a promontory in Argyleshire, consisted of Muck, Egg, Rum, Canna, Skye, Rasay, Barra, South Uist, North Uist, Benbecula, and Lewis, including Harris, with a great number of small isles. The Sudereys were, Man, Arran, Bute, Cumra, Avon, Gid, Isla, Colonsay, Jura, Scarba, Mull, Iona, Tiree, Coll, Ulva, and other small islands. All these, when joined together, and subject to the same prince, made up the kingdom of Man and the Isles. In the Norwegian language, Suder and Norder signify southern and northern, and ey or ay an island. When the Hebrides were under one monarch, the seat of empire was fixed in the Sudereys, and the Nordureys were governed by deputies: hence the former are much oftener mentioned in history than the latter; hence, too, the Su-dereys often comprehend the Nordureys, as in our days Scotland is sometimes comprehended under England. Su-dereys, or Suder, when Anglicised, became Sodor; and all the Western isles of Scotland being included in one diocese under the Norwegian princes, the bishop appointed to superintend them was called the bishop of Man and the Isles, or the bishop of Sodor and Man. Since Man was conquered by Edward III. it has been separated from the other isles, and its bishops have exercised no jurisdiction over them. Should it now be asked, why then is the bishop of Man still called the bishop of Sodor and Man? we reply, that we have been able to discover no reason; but suppose the appellation to be continued in the same way, as the title king of France was retained by the kings of Great Britain, for several centuries after the English were entirely expelled from France.