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Genesis
Regardless when our Alexander or his descendants came to live on Man, we have roots on the island going back beyond the time of Christ. It's a small island, only 30 miles long and 2 miles wide at it's widest, and any family who lived there for hundreds of years as our family did intermarried and mixed blood lines dozens of times with families who have lived there since the stone age and the vikings who came to plunder and then settle in the 8th and 9th centuries. Located in the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man is roughly equidistant from England, Scotland, and Ireland. On a clear day from the top of it's highest hills in the cnter of the island you can see all tohree costs. As might be expected, the influence of all three of Man's larger neighbors on the island's history has been considerable. The grassy, wind-swept heights of Man are adorned with heather not forests. There are no towering mountain peacks, large rivers, or thick forestsm but there are sweeping vistas where green hills flow down to meet the lowlands, spectacular coastal vistas, and brooks that wind through wooded glens. "Follow up the winding devious course of any small river" writes Agnes Herbert,"...and before you know it you will find yourself deep in an enchanted fairy glade...The air is laden with sweet perfuomes and the scent of soft deciduous grasses, and dowsy with the hum of myriad bees. A trout rises in the stream..splash! The summer sun glints on the boles of the silver birch, and over all the song of the river..dwells and enraptures." How the Island got it's name is not clear. Kinvig says the earliest form of Man is Manu of Mana, of which is genitive is Mannan, whence is derived Mannin and also Ellan Vannin, the common Manx form of the name. (Ellan means Island). Kinvig thinks the name is of pre-Celtic origin, and may represent a tribal name. Caesar called the island Mona, and in Icelandic sagas the name is Mon. On the Island itself the first written form occurs on a 10th century cross where it is written in Scandanavian runes as Maun. The evidence suggests the island was first inhabited during the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age. The glaciers that covered much of England had receded by then, but land bridges still connected Man to England, and England to the Continent. As the tundra gave war to forest, nomadic hunter-fishermen in search of game arrived "well before 5000 BC, according to Kinvig. They built temporary settlements and stayed in one location for a season or two until the food supply was exhausted. Another group of hunter-fishers reached the island later from Ireland, apparently by primitive dug-out boats. Several thousand years passed with little change in their savage lifestyle, and then explorers and settlers arrived by sea from the Mediterrean area. With them they brought the Neolithic Age, introducing polished stone instruments and revolutionary ideas such as cultivating the land, domesticating animals, and pottery making. The people no longer had to wander in search of food. The climate at that time was much milder than today, and sea-trade from the Mediterranean around the coats of Spain, Portugal, and France and into the Irish Sea was on-going for thousands of years, bringing also waves of settlers. Remnants of huge stone monuments marking burial sites from the period are still to be found on the island. Megalitic monuments reminiscent of Stonehenge were erected all along the Atlantic seaboard from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. The warm climate that stimulated sea travel and trading had an equally invigorating effect on the movement of people who lived along Europe's river banks. From their home in the Valley of the Volga River east of the Casucus and north of the Caspian Sea, a tribe known today as the Indo-Europeans slowly wandered west across central and southern Europe. The nations born of the Ur people, as they were also called, would eventually extend throughout Europe. The Celts would dominate central Europe and then the British Isles before the dawn of recorded history. Southern branches of the tribe established civilizations that became Spain, Italy, and Greece. Another branch followed the melting ice all the way to the rich forests around the Baltic, and spawned the Scandanavian and Germanic tribes that would control Europe after the Romans. The Indo-Europeans domesticated the horse, and learned to turn ores into metal, and spread the Bronze Age through the mediterranean. across the continent. It reached Britain by sea about 2000 BC, as traders introduced metal tools, weapons, and cooking utinsels. The first wave of Celtic speaking tribes arrived in Western Britain between 2000 and 1200 BC, perhaps from Spain. The Manx language, according to Kinvig, "is a branch of the Celtic group of languages, one of the oldest of the great Indo-European family." The Goidelic Gaelic of Ireland, Scotland, and Man originally came from Central Europe. Life in the Western Isles of Britain at that time was more vigorous than in England. There was gold on Ireland and rich deposits of copper which was combined with tin from Wales to make bronze. Ireland attracted merchants from many countries, and exported gold ornaments to France, Germany, and Denmark as well as to England and Scotland. The small island was lacking in natural resources, but as an appendage to Ireland for thousands of years it shared in the trade and cultural development. The Manxmen were known as fishermen and sailors, and the island was home to at least one legendary navigator. There were a number of fairly permanent settlements on the Island by this time, located in the fertile lowlands and on coastal plateaus. The higher elevations were probably used for grazing and hunting. Kinvig says life appears to have stagnated or even deteriorated on the Island towards the end of the Bronze Age, probably because of a change in the weather conditions. Cold, blustery weather would have led to a decline in trading and a period of relative poverty. But it was followed by another wave of Celtic traders, soldiers, and craftsmen from the continent, who established a presence in the British Isles during the centuries just before the birth of Christ, introducing iron tools and weapons and new art forms. The Celts controlled huge deposits of salt and metal ores in Central Europe which made them wealthy, and contributed to the their spread of their influence. Cultural peaks in 850 BC and again in 100 BC are suggested by artifacts found in ruins in Austria and Switzerland. The Celts were fierce warriors, who put lime in their hair and worked themselves into a frenzy before battle, and sometimes attacked naked to unnerve their opponents. They collected and displayed the heads of their enemies, and the sacred rites performed by their priests, the Druids, in sacred groves sometimes included human sacrifices. Because their occupation overlaps the beginning of recorded history, they are often considered to be the original inhabitants of the British Isles Their language survived there long after it was extinguished elsewhere, and still exists today in one form or another in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Man. But the Celts were a group of fiercely independent tribes who never had a central government, and as their influence spread it probably became more accurate to speak of a Celtic language and culture than a Celtic race. Caine suggests that there was an armed invasion of the Island at some point. But the people who already lived on Man were not driven out by the Celts, but assimilated the newcomers and adopted their ways. Thus the Encyclopedia of World History describes the Celts in Britain as "a fusion of Mediterranean, Alpine, and Nordic strains, which included a dark Iberian and a light-haired stock." The mediterranean influence was strongest in the Western Isles, including Man, where many of the inhabitants were small and dark, resembling the Basques of Spain and France. Recorded history in Man doesn not really begin until abut the 5th century AD, but we do know something about life in the Celtic Iron Age. The Island's ties to Ireland continued to be very strong. Most of England hqd fallenot ot he Romans, who occasionally raided Ireland, and no doubt visited Man, but apparently took little interest in the Island. Archaeologists have uncoovered sites that give us a glimpse of what life was like. At one site are the remains of two large circular houses, each of which housed a local chieftan and his family. Because the climate was quite extrmeme for several centuries the people had adapted to the cold, and built large enclosures banked with dirt, with oak pillars and sod roofs. The larger building was nearly 90 feet in diameter. The family lived next to the limestone hearth in the heart of the dwelling, wile the largest part of the building was used for storage, and a home for their lifestock, which included horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. The heat from the animals also helped keep the structure warm, and the animals were protected and accessible, providing them with a steady supply of meat and milk and wool for their clothing. It also made the chores easier. There was of course the problem of barnyard odors. But deoderant hadn't yet been invented either. They also had spinning and weaving instruments, and were totally sufficient. There was a large paved entance hall at one end, and a smaller opening opposite. A nearby river provided fresh water, and marshy surroundings provided some protection. A lack of fortifications suggests that life was relatively peaceful however. Several generations occupied the dwelling between 100 and 300 AD. Caine says the Celtic men and woomen on Man dressed much alike. A man of status wore the Lenn, a loose-fitting kind of old-fashioned nightshirt made of coarse, wollen cloth, which extended to the knees. Over the lenn he wore a tunic or bolero bound at the waist by a cryss, a richly colored girdle. His legs were normally bare; his feet covered with tanned hide. The woman wore her lenn down nearly to her feet. She had rings for her fingers, and necklets, sometimes made of gold. In the excavation were found glass beads and bracelets worn as ornaments. Caine ways there were kings and nobles, and freemen and bond-servants, and that taxes were heavy. Land was owned by the clan or tribe (?) and was sometimes re-distributed(?). Pastures were shared by all. Land holders paid rent to the kind in the form or war service,cattle, or goods. Food. Giant Iron Pot. The relgious life was under the direction of the Druids, Celtic priests who ranked at the top of the tribal hierarchy. 20 years of oral training prepared them to chant the ancient teachings and officiate at sacrificial rites. They were artibrators, seers, teachers and historians. The oldest written records on the Island date from the 4th or 5th century. These are the "ogham stones", which were memorials to the dead In addition to the name of the deceased they often included his father's name, or his tribe. The Ogham script included 20 letters, formed by a variety of straight cuts above, below, or across a central line. (See figure. ) The script originated in sourth-western Ireland, where the stones are numerous, but the custom spread to Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Man, again showing the extent of Irish influence.With the coming of Christianity crosses and latin inscriptions were added to the stones. One of the earliest stones found on Man commemorates a member of the tribe whose name would become Cannell, a family that intermarried with ours at least twice. (Figure) Christianity first arrived on the Island around 500 AD The Romans had brought the church to England, where St. Patrick was born into the faith. He was kidnapped by Irish raiders from Ulster at the age of 16, but eventually escaped. As a grown man he returned to Ireland as a missionary, where his efforts were richly rewarded. Adapting Christianity to the tribal society of the Celts, he and his fellow monks established missions or monastaries and spred the religion throughout the Western Isles. the church recognized Halloween, and moved Easter to the spring to coincide with a Celtic celebration. St. Brigit replaced the Celtic goddess of fire. St. Columba, who established a monaastery on the island of Iona was related to Kings in Ireland and Scotland, which contributed to his success.. As the Roman empire disintegrated pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded England and the Church there lost it's influence. Ireland became the Celtic-Christian center of Britain. It was Ireland's Golden Age, and Man was part of it. Irish monks filled monastery libraries with hand-written and painted books, created distinctive new architechtural forms, and traveled as far as Iceland and Russia to establish monasteries and promulgate the faith. The church became the dominant force on the Isle of Man. The monks established a monastery at Maughod, and tiny sod chapels known as keeills and holy wells on every treen--some 200 in all-- at locations previously dedicated to ancestor worship and Celtic dieties such as Lugh, the sun god, and Ler, the god of the ocean. The more important keeills became churches or Kirks and settlements such as Kirk Michael sprang up around the church or were identified by it's name. But this period of relative peace and prosperity was soon shattered by the arrival of the Vikings. The Fjjyords or Viks that gave them their name made the Teutonic tribes of Norway masterful seaman, and their boat designs gave them the freedom to wander the far seas as traders and fishermen, and then pirates. Says Kinvig," The Norsemen were strong and fearless on sea and land. The thrill of battle gave them immense joy, and they believed that open plundering was honorable, although to steal secretly was shameful." They raided the North Sea, the Orkneys and Shetland, and down through the Herbrides, the Islays and the Lewis group to Man and Ireland. They sought out the monasteries, where they knew they would find riches, and destroyed much of the literature. The first raids in the Irish Sea wre in 798 AD. They would continue for another 100 years. during which the Norsemen established colonies throughout the Irish Sea. The most important one was at Dublin. Man was used as a base for the raiders, and many of them settled on the Island. Tall and fair and robust the Viking sailors married Celtic women and added another dimension to the racial makeup of the Island. Back in Norway towards the end of the 9th century Harold Harfagen declared himself king of all Norway, and demanded that all the other chieftans be his vassals. Many collected their families and possessions and took to the seas to escape his tyranny, and established new domains in the Islands. A series of Viking chiefs fought over the dominion of Man and the other Islands until Godred Crovan won the Islands and established a kingdom that would last for twelve generations. Known as the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, Godred's kingdom included all the Herbrides from Islay to Lewis, but his son Olaf lost Islay,_________, and all the other Islands except Lewis and ___________to his brother-in-law Somerled. Godred's family ruled Man and the "outer Islands of Lewsis and Skye until 1260 when they fell into the hands of the Scottish King, Alexander III. Life under the Vikings, and how they assimialated and eventually became Christians again. They established Tynwald. Dress Customs (?) Loss to Scotland. |