MANX LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. Manx is the Celtic speech of the Isle of Man (q.v.). The earliest ver nacular material is contained in the version of the Book of Common Prayer made in 1610 by Bishop Phillips. The mode of spelling used was not that used in Ireland, but was as phonetic as a language system based on Anglo-Scottish orthography could be. It is therefore very difficult to discover the real sound values attached to the various symbols. Manx is more closely related to Scottish Gaelic than the Irish. A dialectical difference between North and South shows it has not the treatment of short accented vowels before ll, nn, and m and vocalic s or sh tends to become voiced to d. (See J. Rhys, The Outlines of the Phonology of Manx Gaelic [1895], H. Jenner, Transactions of the London Philological Society [1875].) Literature.—The literary remains written in the Manx lan guage are considerably slighter than those of any other Celtic dialect. With one small exception nothing pertaining to the saga literature of Ireland has been preserved. The little we possess falls under two heads—original compositions and trans lations. With regard to the first we must give the place of honour to an Ossianic poem contained in a ms. in the British Museum (written in 1789), which relates how Orree. Finn's enemy, was tormented by the women of Finn's household when the latter was away hunting, how he in revenge set fire to the house, and how Finn had him torn in pieces by wild horses. Most of the literature of native origin consists of ballads and carols, locally called carvels. These used to be sung on Christmas eve in the churches, the members of the congregation each bringing a candle. Any one who pleased could get up and sing one. These carvels deal largely with the end of the world, the judgment-day and the horrors of hell. About 8o of them were published under the title of Carvalyn Gailckagh (Douglas, 1891). An attempt has been made in the present century by Yn Cheshaght Gailckagh to revive the Oiel Voirrey (=Irish Oidhche Fheile Mhuire), "the feast of Mary," as the festival used to be called, and gatherings in the old style have been held in Peel. Apart from the carvels there are other
ballads in existence. The earliest is an 18th-century song of Manannan Mac y Lheir, traditionally supposed to have been written in the 16th century, which tells of the conversion of the island by St. Patrick. Then comes Baaseliam Dhone (The Death of Brown William), dealing with the death of William Christian. who was shot as a traitor in 1662. The best-known Manx song is Mylecharaine (=Irish Maolcliardn). It is directed against a man of this name who was the first to give a dowry to his daughter, the custom having previously been for the bride groom to pay money to the father of the bride. Others are Ny Kirree fo Sniaghtey (The Sheep under the Snow), a song about the loss of the Douglas herring fleet in 1787 (reprinted at Douglas, 1872), and 0 Vannin Veg Veen (Dear little Mona). In 1760 Joseph Bridson wrote a "Short Account of the Isle of Man" in Manx (Coontey Ghiare jeh Ellan i'annin ayes Gailck). The translated literature is almost entirely of a religious character. Jenner prints a list of 23 volumes in his article referred to below. The first is the translation of the English Prayer-Book by Bishop Phillips, 1610 (published by A. W. Moore, Oxford, 1895). The Sermons of Bishop Wilson (1783). intended to be in 3 vols., of which only one was ever printed, is a very rare work, highly im portant for our knowledge of Manx prose. A later translation of the Church of England Prayer-Book was printed in 1765, but by far the most important of all is the translation of the Bible. The energetic Bishop Wilson managed to get parts of the Scriptures translated and the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed in Wilson's successor. Bishop Hildesley. completed the work, and in 1775 the whole Bible appeared. As a curiosity it may be mentioned that Aesop's Fables have been translated into the ver nacular (Douglas, 19o1).
See H. Jenner, "The Manx Language: its Grammar, Literature and Present State," Transactions of the London Philological Society (1875), pp. 172 ff.; Publications of the Manx Society, volt. xvi., XX, xxi. ; L. C. Stern, Die Kultur d. Gegenuart, i. xi. 1, pp. ixo-11.