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The folk-lore of the Isle of Man

Chapter 3: PREFACE.
By A. W. Moore
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About This Book

A compilation of the island's traditional myths, legends, superstitions, customs, proverbs, and ballads, assembled from diverse sources and accompanied by an introductory essay and explanatory notes. It records popular beliefs about fairies, goblins, ghosts, charms, the Evil Eye, and local healing practices, alongside proverbs and ballad texts, and situates them within historical changes that have diminished the native language and rural traditions. The work surveys earlier collectors and surviving oral material, and provides cultural and social description to help readers understand the origins and decline of these folk beliefs.

PREFACE.

The wonders of the Isle of Man, according to Nennius, are “a strand without a sea ... a ford which is far from the sea, and which fills when the tide flows, and decreases when the tide ebbs”; and “a stone which moves at night in Glen Cinden, and though it should be cast into the sea, yet at morning’s dawn it would be found in the same valley.” I cannot display such wonders as these in this little Compilation, yet I think there will be found in it many quaint and curious “things not generally known”; and I trust that it may not only interest Manx Folk and Visitor Folk, but that it may be accepted as a contribution—though an insignificant one—to the science of Folk-Lore.

Thanks are due to the many kind friends[9] who have contributed scraps of Folk-Lore, and to Professor Rhys and Mr. Alfred Nutt, for assistance in Chapter I.

A. W. MOORE.

Cronkbourne, June, 1891.

Footnote

[9] In some cases the name of the contributor has been attached; but in others, as similar information has been given by so many different persons, this has not been practicable. Stories told to the writer, which have not been committed to writing by the teller, are marked Oral.