Isle of Man Folklore: Upcoming Publication

My upcoming novel in the Myths Endure on Mars series takes my sainthood investigators from Bamburgh Castle to the Faroe Islands and then to the Isle of Man. 

Ancestors on my mother's side came from the Isle of Man, and I looked forward to delving into the Island's folklore. I confess, however, that I assumed I would discover a mixture of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English lore. The Isle of Man sits in the Irish Sea, and I assumed that overtime, it had become a hodge-podge of the cultures around it. 

I was sort of right. However, I was pleased and surprised to find that I was also wrong. The Isle of Man existed in relative isolation for a number of years. Even now, it has its own government and parliament although it falls under the United Kingdom's protection regarding defense. 

From the point of view of folklore, the Isle of Man has produced distinct stories. I used three:

• The Buggane
• The Phynodderee
• The Child Without a Name

The Buggane, a troll/goblin-like creature, is responsible, so goes the tale, for the lack of a roof at St. Trinian's. The Buggane blew off the roof several times, most specifically after losing a dare from a human tailor. Originally, I gave the human tailor one of my ancestor's names: Kelly. But the tailor has a name: Timothy Clucas. 

The Phynodderee is a hairy sprite. In one tale, a fairy knight is cursed to become a Phynodderee for falling in love with a human young woman. In general, phynodderee are like brownies and other imps: they can be mischievous but they can also help humans with tasks.

The Child Without a Name is a story of a ghost child who was born and died without being christened. It haunted fishing grounds on the west of the Island until a retired fisherman, Illiam Quirk, went out in his boat, saw the child and gave it a name. 

In the tale, the child is buried at a keeill. Keeills are one of the most fascinating aspects of the Island. They were often earth churches on consecrated ground, but  they did not necessarily involve buildings. In fact, sometimes, a small building, just large enough to hold the priest, would be constructed. The congregation would stand in the leveled keeill. I suppose folks who worked in wet, windy weather didn't mind a bit of weather during their services! There are hundreds of these ancient sites all over the island.  

There are numerous versions of all these tales, of course. My investigators are strangers to the area and get the most basic versions. They have to winnow out the possible history and the possible connection to the Servant of God up for canonization. Since she, Lady Margaret, was half-human half-mermaid, a connection to an island seemed entirely appropriate.