SODOR AND MAN. Prthus BY W. MOORE, M.A., TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AUTHOR OF MANX SURNAMES AND PLACE NAMES," THe FOLKLORE OF PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT, COMMITTEE. LONDON: SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE NEW YORK: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO. 1893. APR 8 1913 Inv.no. 359 DDASS6 ·782 PREFACE. IN endeavouring to write a history of the Manx Church, I have encountered various difficulties. Before the twelfth century, there is an almost total absence of trustworthy sources of information. Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, the monkish chronicles, the charters and papal bulls, which are the staple materials available for my purpose, afford, as regards a portion of the chronicles at least, a somewhat unreliable basis for the construction of a credible and continuous history. Whilst, during the last three centuries, I have found it by no means easy to make a judicious selection from the copious materials in the insular records, both ecclesiastical and civil, and in the writings of authors contemporary with the events they relate. 1 Want of space has, unfortunately, prevented the publication of the canons of Bishops Simon, Mark, and Russell, but the most important of the spiritual laws, and the whole of Bishop Wilson's canons, will be found in the text. 1 For these canons, see Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, or vol. ix. pp. 176—-210 of the Manx Society's Publications. |