A very beautiful mermaid became so much enamoured of a young man who used to tend his sheep upon the rocks, that she would frequently sit down by him, bring him pieces of coral, fine pearls, and what were yet greater curiosities, and of infinitely more value, had they fallen into the hands of a person who knew their worth, shells of various forms and figures, and so glorious in their colour and shine, that they even dazzled the eye that looked upon them. Her presents were accompanied with smiles, pattings of the cheek, and all the marks of a most sincere and tender passion. One day throwing her arms more than ordinarily eagerly about him, he began to be frightened that she had a design to draw him into the sea, and struggled till he disengaged himself, and then ran a good many paces from her; which behaviour she resented so highly, it seems, that she took up a stone, and after throwing it at him, glided into her more proper element, and was never seen on land again. But the poor youth, though but slightly hit with the stone, felt from that moment so excessive a pain in his bowels, that the cry was never out of his mouth for seven days, at the end of which he died.—Waldron.
There is a tradition that a mermaid becoming enamoured of a young man of extraordinary beauty, took an opportunity of meeting him one day as he walked on the shore, and opened her passion to him, but was received with coldness occasioned by his horror and surprise at her appearance. This, however, was so misconstrued by the sea lady, that, in revenge for his treatment of her, she punished the whole Island, by covering it with mist; so that all who attempted to carry on any commerce with it, either never arrived at it, but wandered up and down the sea, or were on a sudden wrecked upon its cliffs, till the incantatory spell or pishag, as the Manxs say, was broken by the fishermen stranded there, by whom notice was given to the people of their country, who sent ships in order to make a further discovery. On their landing, they had a fierce encounter with the little people, and having got the better of them, possessed themselves of Castle Rushen, and by degrees of the whole Island.—(Collins in a note to his “Ode to Liberty.”)
Of the dwellings of these creatures under the sea, and of the treasure they have accumulated there, many tales are told. The notion of a land under the waves is very widely spread, and common to many nations. Manxmen formerly asserted that a splendid city, with many towers and gilded minarets, once stood near Langness, on a spot now covered by the sea, which, in peculiar states of the atmosphere, might have been occasionally seen in all its former magnificence.
Waldron gives the following marvellous account of dwellings under the sea, stocked with treasure, which he was assured had been attested by a whole ship’s crew, and happened in the memory of some then living, but at which, nevertheless, “he was exceedingly surprised”:—
There was, about some forty or fifty years since (1676), a project set on foot for searching for treasures in the sea. Vessels were got ready, and machines made of glass, and cased with a thick, tough leather, to let the person down who was to dive for the wealth. One of these ships happening to sail near to the Isle of Man, and having heard that great persons had formerly taken refuge there, imagined there could not be a more likely part of the ocean to afford the gain they were in search of, than this. They, therefore, let down the machine, and in it the person who had undertaken to go on this expedition; they let him down by a vast length of rope, but he still plucking it, which was the sign for those above to increase the quantity, they continued to do so, till they knew he must be descended an infinite number of fathoms. In fine, he gave the signal so long, that at last they found themselves out of cord, their whole stock being too little for his capacious inquisition. A very skilful mathematician being on board, said that he knew by the proportion of the line which was let down, he must have descended from the surface of the waters more than twice the number of leagues that the moon is computed to be distant from the earth. But having, as I said, no more cord, they were obliged to turn the wheel, which, by degrees, brought him up again; at their opening the machine, and taking him out, he appeared very much troubled, that his journey had so soon been stopped, at a period, telling them, that could he have gone a little further he should have brought discoveries well worth the search. It is not to be supposed but everybody was impatient to be informed of what kind they were, and being all gathered about him on the main deck, as soon as he had recruited himself with a hearty swill of brandy, he began to relate in this manner:—
After I had passed the region of fishes, I descended into a pure element—clear as the air in the serenest and most unclouded day, through which, as I passed, I saw the bottom of the watery world, paved with coral and a shining kind of pebbles, which glittered like the sunbeams reflected on a glass. I longed to tread the delightful paths, and never felt more exquisite delight, than when the machine I was enclosed in grazed upon it. On looking through the little windows of my prison, I saw large streets and squares on every side, ornamented with huge pyramids of crystal, not inferior in brightness to the finest diamonds; and the most beautiful buildings—not of stone, nor brick, but of mother of pearl, and embossed in various figures with shells of all colours. The passage which led to one of these magnificent apartments being open, I endeavoured with my whole strength to move my enclosure towards it, which I did, though with great difficulty, and very slowly. At last, however, I got entrance into a very spacious room, in the midst of which stood a large amber table, with several chairs round the same. The floor of it was composed of rough diamonds, topazes, emeralds, rubies, and pearls. Here I doubted not but to make my voyage as profitable as it was pleasant, for could I have brought with me but a few of these, they would have been of more value than all we could hope for in a thousand wrecks; but they were so closely wedged in, and so strongly cemented by time, that they were not to be unfastened. I saw several chains, carcanets, and rings, of all manner of precious stones, finely cut, and set after our manner, which, I suppose, had been the prize of the winds and waves. These were hanging loosely on the jasper walls, by strings made of rushes, which I might easily have taken down; but as I had edged myself within half a foot of them, I was unfortunately drawn back, through your want of line. In my return I met several comely mermen and beautiful mermaids, the inhabitants of this blissful realm, swiftly descending towards it, but they seemed frighted at my appearance, and glided at a distance from me, taking me, no doubt, for some monstrous and new created species.
Here he ended his account, but grew so melancholy, and so much enamoured of those regions he had visited, that he quite lost all relish for earthly pleasures, till continual pinings deprived him of his life; having no hope of ever descending there again, all design of prosecuting the diving project being soon after laid aside.
Stories of Apparitions and Spirits are common, as would naturally be expected, among such an imaginative people as the Manx. The following will suffice as specimens:—
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn’d!—Shakspeare.
A mighty bustle they make of an apparition which, they say, haunts Castle Rushen, in the form of a woman, who was some years ago executed for the murder of her child. I have heard, not only persons who have been confined there for debt, but also the soldiers of the garrison, affirm they have seen it various times; but what I took most notice of, was the report of a gentleman, of whose good understanding, as well as veracity, I have a very great opinion. He told me, that happening to be abroad late one night, and caught in an excessive storm of wind and rain, he saw a woman stand before the Castle Gate, where being not the least shelter, it something surprised him, that anybody, much less one of that sex, should not rather run to some little porch, or shed, of which there are several in Castletown, than choose to stand still exposed and alone, in such a dreadful tempest. His curiosity exciting him to draw nearer, that he might discover who it was that seemed so little to regard the fury of the elements, he perceived she retreated on his approach, and at last, he thought, went into the Castle, though the gates were shut; this obliging him to think he had seen a spirit, sent him home very much terrified; but the next day, relating his adventure to some people who lived in the Castle, and describing as near as he could the garb and stature of the apparition, they told him it was that of the woman above mentioned, who had been frequently seen, by the soldiers on guard, to pass in and out of the gates, as well as to walk through the rooms, though there was no visible means to enter. Though so familiar to the eye, no person has yet, however, had the courage to speak to it, and as they say, a spirit has no power to reveal its mind without being conjured to do so in a proper manner, the reason of its being permitted to wander is unknown.—Waldron.
A clergyman, accustomed to pass some hours every evening in a field near his house, indulging in meditation and calling himself to an account for the transactions of the past day, was in this place one night, more than ordinarily wrapt in contemplation, he wandered, without thinking where he was, a considerable distance farther than it was usual for him to do; and, as he told me, he knew not how far the deep musing he was in might have carried him, if it had not suddenly been interrupted by a noise, which, at first, he took to be the distant bellowing of a bull, but, as he listened more heedfully to it, found there was something more terrible in the sound than could proceed from that creature. He confessed to me that he was no less affrighted than surprised, especially when the noise coming still nearer, he imagined whatever it was that it proceeded from, it must pass him; he had, however, presence enough of mind, to place himself with his back to a hedge, where he fell on his knees, and began to pray to God, with all the vehemence so dreadful an occasion required. He had not been long in that position, before he beheld something in the form of a bull, but infinitely larger than ever he had seen in England, much less in Man, where the cattle are very small in general. The eyes, he said, seemed to shoot forth flames, and the running of it was with such force, that the ground shook under it, as in an earthquake. It made directly towards a little cottage, and there, after most horribly roaring, disappeared. The moon being then at the full, and shining in her utmost splendour, all these passages were perfectly visible to our amazed divine, who having finished his ejaculation, and given thanks to God for his preservation, went to the cottage, the owner of which, they told him, was that moment dead. The good old gentleman was loth to pass a censure which might be judged an uncharitable one; but the deceased having the character of a very ill liver, most people, who heard the story, were apt to imagine this terrible apparition came to attend his last moments.—Waldron.
Once upon a time there was a poor woman of very diminutive stature, who lived in the neighbourhood of Maughold Head. She earned her livelihood with her spinning wheel, “going upon the houses” to work with it. From her cheerful disposition and readiness to do a good turn at all times, she was always welcome. She received in payment her board and lodgings, and the “bit of pence.” In this way she travelled and lived for a considerable length of time, and it became notorious that she had made “a purse.” Whether it was on this account or not that she was made away with, has never to this day been known; but certain it is she has been many times seen sitting on the side of Carraghan mountain with her wheel on her shoulder, and putting her head on her arm as if in great trouble. Well it is for those who have occasion to pass over this mountain that they do not come upon the apparition of this poor woman, for fear some dire calamity might befall them. A few years ago a person was returning to his home in the West Baldwin valley, about two o’clock in the afternoon, when he saw “the little woman” sitting on her favourite spot. As soon as he came in sight she rose and endeavoured to go away, but he, being determined to solve the mystery, started in pursuit with his dogs, and sent three other persons, one on each side, and one to the top of the mountain. The little woman, being thus surrounded, made many ineffectual attempts to escape, and at last came close to one of the men and the dogs. The latter could not be persuaded to touch her, but seemed in great trouble and shed tears. It had previously been noticed that, on reaching a small gill, she immediately vanished: and now, on reaching that spot, she disappeared, and has never been seen since. A man on the Northside afterwards affirmed that, on the same day, he had observed her hastening over North Barrule, in the direction of Maughold Head. The man who had been with the dogs and close to the woman, at once fell ill, and was not able to do any work for more than six months afterwards.—Jenkinson.
Not far from the Sound there is a sea cave, into which one may penetrate by boat when the weather is fine. It is called Ghaw kione doo, “Black Head Creek.” It is remarkable from a weird story being attached to it, and also from the fact (?) of an inscription of some sort being sculptured above its entrance. My informant could not point out this inscription, but said he “had heard it was somewhere about.” “Once upon a time” the cave was used by a pirate as a store-place for the spoils taken in his expeditions. When he last sailed away on an expedition, from which he never returned, he left one of his crew in charge of the cave and of the treasure therein. Whether he and his crew were overwhelmed by a storm, or were suspended from a gallows, the chronicler knew not; but he proceeded to relate that, after many years of waiting, the lonely guardian of the treasure cave disappeared also. “No doubt”, continued my informant, “having been taken sick in the cave he died there.” At any rate he was never seen again. “An old fisherman told me”, said he, “that once while he was engaged in ‘laying a bolk,’ close to the cave, he was surprised to see a boat, manned by six sailors in red caps, come towards land, and rowing to the mouth of the cave disappear therein. Curious to know who they were and from whence they came, he followed them into the cave, which has only one entrance, but found it quite empty.”—F. Swinnerton.
A respectable landholder and his servant, in the neighbourhood of Spanish Head, were one day gathering their sheep, somewhere about forty years ago, when one of the best of them, to escape from a dog by which it was pursued, bounded into the mouth of that dark pit, he said, at the brink of which you were so lately standing with listless temerity. Being then young, and not easily daunted, I determined to descend for the purpose of recovering my loughtyn pet, notwithstanding the most urgent remonstrance on the part of my father, who was aware of many strange incidents that happened there to former adventurers. I caused myself to be let down, however, into the dark aperture in a basket attached to a rope, and every rope in the village was knotted, one to the end of another, and all used in lowering me into the pit, but just as I reached the bottom of it, I was mortified to hear the last bleat of my poor sheep, evidently struggling under the knife of the butcher. As I advanced through a spacious cavern, to a place whence the sound proceeded, I distinctly heard, in a neighbouring apartment, human voices in quick conversation, which, with the rattling of knives and forks, the drawing of corks, the decanting of liquor, and the uproarious noise which followed, tended to convince me that I was proceeding towards a company of bacchanalians, for whose gratification my poor sheep had probably been despatched. Lest, therefore, I should share the same fate, I made with all possible speed for the mouth of the cavern; but just as I had set my foot on the sward, as many angry sounds issued from the pit as if a pack of harriers had been uncoupled at my heels. My descent and retreat had evidently been discovered by the gentry below, but not till, thanks to Providence, I was out of their reach.—Train.
The disturbed spirit of a person shipwrecked on a rock adjacent to this coast, wanders about it still, and sometimes makes so terrible a yelling, that it is heard at an incredible distance. They tell you that houses even shake with it; and that, not only mankind, but all the brute creation within hearing, tremble at the sound. But what serves very much to increase the shock is, that whenever it makes this extraordinary noise, it is a sure prediction of an approaching storm; nor does it ever happen, say they, but some ship or other splits, and its crew thrown up by the waves. At other times, the spirit cries out only, “Hoa! hoa! hoa!” with a voice little, if anything, louder than a human one.—Waldron.