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are many of the walls. In the roof is some very large timber, said to have been brought from the Isle of Anglesea. The interior of the castle is without flooring, and in a very ruinous condition. It was formerly the mansion of the king or lord of the island; and as the stranger rambles about the ruins, he has pointed out to him the kitchen, known by its fire-place, the banquetting-hall, and various other apartments. He may plainly see where floors have been, by timbers projecting from the walls. The stairs being of stone and not much used are still in a state of some preservation.

In this castle were deposited the archives of the island. James the Seventh, Earl of Derby, was beheaded for his attachment to his royal master, and his countess, having been taken prisoner by the republican army, was here confined. On her release she carried with her these archives, and what afterwards became of them is not known. To inquire into the motives of her conduct at this remote period is vain: we can only regret the loss of much authentic document. The statute-book of Man is preserved in Castle Rushen.

From the top of the tower is a view of the

surrounding country, interspersed with gentlemens' seats and villages; of Castletown and Pool-Vash bays, with rocks here and there projecting through the water; of the rocks of the Chickens, and also of the Eye or Borough, having a considerable aperture at the lower part, plainly discernible from the spot by its transmission of light. At the distance of two or three hundred yards is the gallows. It has not been used since the year 1745.

A mile and a half off, across the sands and the isthmus which joins the peninsula of Lange ness to the land is Derby haven, formerly called Rannesway or Rainsway, having on its southern termination St. Michael's Island, joined to the main land by a wall, twelve feet thick, and about one hundred yards long, and at low water by the sandy beach. It contains a round tower, the outer wall of which is still entire. On a square stone, over the entrance, are the ducal coronet and the figures 16). The third figure appears to have been 6; but as Chaloner, who wrote in 1653, informs us, that the late Earl of Derby' built a fort here, we must give it the interpretation of 0 or 3. The fourth figure is obliterated. In the area are four iron cannons

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without carriages, one about eleven feet long, the others eight. The tower may be about eighteen feet high, and as many yards in diameter its walls are eight feet thick.

Not far off are a few ruinous walls of a church, apparently not very old, but supposed by some to be the cathedral in which the bishops were formerly consecrated or enthroned. If such was ever its use, it must have been before the building of St. Germain's in Peel Isle in 1245, The authority of Camden does not, in this instance, seem sufficient to confirm the supposition his relation of the circumstance is very far from clear: and I cannot learn, that this small territory was ever called Sodor or Sodorensis. He 66 says, By Castletown, in the Isle of Man, there is a little island, wherein Pope Gregory the Fourth instituted a sce, the bishop whereof was named Sodorensis, and had, in times past, jurisdiction over all the western islands; but exerciseth it now only upon that island. * Near the eastern wall is a solitary tombstone erected to the memory of a mariner who died in 1782.

*Gibson's Camden's Britannia.

In a retired spot near the Peel road is Kirk Malew. Upon the tombstones are several attempts at poetry, but none worthy of insertion. It is remarkable, that the parish of Malew, which includes the metropolis, and the largest village, should afford no parsonage-house for its minister.

139

CHAPTER XI.

From Castletown to the Calf of Man and to Peel.

PORT-LE-MARY is a mile and a half from Castletown; and Port-Erin two miles further, along a circuitous road. Of these small villages the last mentioned is the most considerable, on account of its good harbour and the herring fishery. Between them, on the right-hand side of the road, are the "Giant's Quoiting Stones," two pieces of unhewn clay-slate standing on end, about ten feet high, between four and five feet wide, and nearly two feet thick. Half a mile further is Fairy-hill, a large mound, said by some to be erected and inhabited by fairies; by others, to be a barrow, raised by the Danes in commemoration of Ivar, who was killed on this spot, fighting in single combat with Reginald.

While waiting at Port-Erin for the departure of a herring-boat, which was to convey me to the Calf, a fisherman introduced himself by

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