Thomas Grindle's historical essay on the 1765 Revestment, reprinted from The Isle of Man Times. Argues the Revestment resulted from deliberate English imperial policy rather than smuggling concerns, and traces Manx trade negotiations 1709-1714 with detailed analysis of Acts of Tynwald. Contends the English Government refused reasonable trade concessions, forcing the Manx to resume smuggling and ultimately lose independence.

L.B. Namier's foundational 1929 scholarly work analyzing the British House of Commons and electoral system circa 1760-1761. Examines why men entered Parliament, the electoral structure, the 1761 general election, and secret service money under the Duke of Newcastle. Essential context for understanding the political and constitutional dynamics preceding the American Revolution and relevant to the 1765 Revestment.

The Swearing Stone was a hollowed stone found in a now lost cairn or mound. It is composed of igneous rock and has a hollow in the shape of a human foot.  The stone was said to have been a "Celtic swearing stone".  It was kept at Castleward house in 1915 and donated to the museum in 1929-30 by Kaneen.

The water bull of Manx folklore. Part of a classified supernatural taxonomy recorded by Moore. Every body of water had its spirits, every landscape feature its associations. The Manx supernatural world was not random or chaotic. It was a mapped landscape of named beings with known territories and known behaviours.

An old Castletown merchant family intertwined with the Moores, Christians, and Quayles. John Taubman was George Moore's political lieutenant and successor as Speaker of the Keys. His commercial interests were as extensive as Moore's own. It was Taubman who accused John Quayle of deception — complaining that merchants had been 'amused and even assured' the Duke would not sell, the word 'amused' carrying its older meaning: deceived. Taubman held pre-Revestment stock and profited from shortages after the trade collapsed. Three years after the Revestment, he was writing operational orders routing a captain to Barcelona for brandy, approaching the Island 'in the dark of the Evening or night.' His son Major John Taubman married Dorothy Christian of Milntown — connecting the family to the Christians who had been providing Deemsters since 1408. As Speaker, Major Taubman was directly related to twelve of the other twenty-four Keys members. Captain Taubman recommended Fletcher Christian to Bligh in 1784.

The triskelion — three armoured legs joined at the thigh and spurred at the heel — is the national symbol of the Isle of Man. Its earliest known appearance on the Island is on Cross 92 at Onchan, dated to the ninth century, where it takes the form of a fylfot, a three-legged variant of the rotating symbols common in Norse and Celtic art. Llewellyn Jewitt documented this carving in 1885, connecting it to a wider tradition found across northern Europe. The symbol entered formal heraldry around 1280, appearing on the Roll of Arms attributed to the period of Alexander III of Scotland’s rule over Mann. Dr John Newton traced its origins from Greek coins through Sicily, where the three legs represented the island’s three headlands, to its adoption as the arms of Mann. The Sicilian connection is not coincidental: the triskelion appears on Sicilian coinage from the third century BC, and the route by which it reached Mann likely followed Mediterranean-to-Atlantic cultural networks. The direction of the legs has never been formally settled. The medieval Roll of Arms, most stone carvings, and the Laxey Wheel’s stone plinth all show them running clockwise. The modern flag has them running anticlockwise. No record of a decision to reverse the direction has been found. The 1958 Manx postage stamps adopted the leftward version, and Government Circular No. 41/68 (1968) described “the Three Legs armoured and spurred, in the centre of a red field” without specifying direction. The symbol is inseparable from Manannán mac Lir in Manx tradition. O’Donovan recorded that Manannán “rolled on three legs like a wheel through the mist.” Morrison tells how Saint Patrick drove Manannán and his men from the Island “in the form of three-legged creatures” which “whirled round and round like wheels before the swift wind.” Whether the symbol came from the god, or both from something older, the Manx people who carved three legs on their crosses and their coins knew the story.

The Island's commercial flowering. The trade — always 'the trade,' never 'smuggling' in Manx usage — operated as a legitimate system under Manx law. The Book of Rates governed imports and exports. Customs entries recorded transactions openly. The harbours of Douglas, Peel, Ramsey, and Castletown connected the Island to a network stretching from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. Wilson's mature episcopate shaped parish life. Waldron recorded the spirit traditions. The moral dimension of the trade — whether it was commerce or crime — depended entirely on which side of the water you stood.

The oldest surviving piece of Manx historical verse, copied down between 1504 and 1522 during the time of Thomas, second Earl of Derby. The ballad is composed in Manx Gaelic and was first translated into English by Joseph Train in 1845. Its full title in Manx is Mannanan Beg Mac y Leirr; ny, Slane Coontey jeh Ellan Vannin — "Little Mannanan Son of Leirr; or, A Full Account of the Isle of Man." The ballad opens with Manannán as first ruler of the Island and moves through the coming of Saint Patrick, the establishment of Christianity, the succession of kings and lords, and the arrival of the Stanley family. It is a people’s history, passed from voice to voice across the centuries, preserving memories that no written record kept. The Manannán verses are the earliest Manx-language source for the cloak of mist, the rush tribute, and South Barrule as Manannán’s stronghold. Verse 3 states it plainly: Manannan beg va Mac y Leirr, / Shen yn chied er ec row rieau ee — "Little Mannanan was son of Leirr; he was the first that ever had it." Verse 4 describes the mist: "It was not with his sword he kept it, neither with arrows or bow, but when he would see ships sailing, he would cover it round with a fog." Verse 5 adds the illusion of numbers: he would make a single man standing on a hill appear as if there were a hundred. Verse 6 records the rent: a bundle of coarse meadow grass from every landholder, paid yearly. Verse 7 names the destinations: some rushes went up to the great mountain above Barrule, and some to Mannanan above Keamool — South Barrule and Cronk y Voddy. The ballad also records the ecclesiastical settlement of the Island: "for each four quarterlands he made a chapel, for people of them to meet in prayer." It is at once a political history, a record of tribute, and a statement of identity — the Island’s oldest surviving account of itself.

Tynwald has met every year for over a thousand years — the oldest continuous parliament on earth. But what would it have looked like at different points in history? This activity gives you five dates: 1100 (when representatives sailed from the Hebrides), 1405 (the Stanleys take over), 1700 (Bishop Wilson’s time), 1765 (the year everything changed), and today. For each date, research who would have been there, what they wore, what language they spoke, and what they were deciding. Draw or write a scene for each. When you line them all up, you’ve got a thousand years of democracy on one wall.

A corn mill is shown at this location on the 1869 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map.

The findspot of a flint scatter which includes a scraper measuring 47mm in length. Historically there were several farms on the Vaaish, a quarterland centred around two slight summits on a ridge between the Staarvey Road and Creg Willey's Hill: the grid reference is located at the approximate centre for indicative purposes only.

A persistent tradition holds that William and Jonathan Christian left the Isle of Man for Virginia around 1655, accompanied by the Cottier family of Lezayre. A.W. Moore published the tradition in Manx Worthies, drawing on correspondence from Judge Joseph Christian of Virginia in the 1880s. The Christian surname does appear in the Virginia colonial records from the 1640s onward — a Richard Christian as a headright on the Rappahannock in 1643, a Thomas Christian patenting land on the Chickahominy in 1657, an Anne Christian and a “Jno. Codier” together in a 1658 Potomac patent (the name traditionally read as Cottier). But the specific brothers the tradition names — William and Jonathan — do not appear in the Virginia land patents at all. No ship record, no departure record, and no Manx parish register entry connects any of the colonial Virginia Christians to the Isle of Man. The tradition may preserve a genuine memory. The evidence that would prove it has not been found.

After Waterloo, the war stores of the island were sold by auction. Among the material at Peel were two eighteen-pounders and fifty rounds of shot. The island's defences, such as they were, were being sold off as surplus. The men who had fought at Quatre-Bras and Trafalgar came home to a country that was disposing of its own protection.

A large monolith which is built into the wall surrounding Onchan parish graveyard which has been interpreted as a possible Bronze Age standing stone.

The Wishing Stones at the Dhoon are two smooth slate slabs, approximately ten feet high and standing eighteen inches apart, on the broogh above Dhoon Bay in the parish of Maughold. Known in Manx as Meir ny Foawyr ("Fingers of the Giant"), the custom is to stand squeezed between them facing seaward, with a palm placed flat against each stone, and wish.

The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 large scale mapping of 1867 shows a windmill tower at the grid reference provided, together with the annotation 'Windmill (Ruins)'.  The tower currently extends from a half-basement to five storeys, but it is not clear if this was its full working height, as it was for many years roofless.  The lower part of the tower is built from limestone, but the three uppermost floors are substantially but irregularly rendered: it is not immediately clear if this reflects a reconstruction following the 1860s when the OS described it as ruinous. The mill complex is extensive and, as well as immediately contiguous buildings to NW and SE, includes a separate range of structures reaching along the NW side of the curtilage as far as the highway.  The roadside structure has the proportions and appearence of a storage building and is today known as the granary, presumably reflecting its former purpose.   The mill dates from at least the 1820s.  The entire complex has been converted to residential use. The tower and immediately adjacent buildings to NW and SE have been inscribed in the Protected Buildings Register (No. 76)

Hugh Bainbridge was twenty-four. He lost his right arm. David Christian lost his left arm below the elbow. Edward Crow lost his right leg. John Cockrane was a Boy Third Class — twelve years old — wounded at Trafalgar. John Taggant was forty-one, killed in action. John Cawle lost his right arm serving on HMS Temeraire and came home to Kirk Bride, where he became a schoolteacher. He taught children to read with one arm, because the Navy that took his arm paid him nothing. The veterans who came home came back to an island that could not support them. The wages were still sixpence a day. The harbours were still in ruins. A man who had served the Crown at Trafalgar returned to find himself in the same condition as a man who had never left — and in some respects worse, because the man who had never left still had two arms.

The song sung during the Hunt the Wren procession on St Stephen's Day, 26 December. Carried from house to house by the wren boys as they process with the wren on a decorated pole. One of the oldest surviving folk songs in the British Isles, connected to the midwinter ritual of hunting the king of the birds.

A double-fronted cottage. The building has the appearance of being a single-storey dwelling, but a single spectacle window in each gable provides natural light to two rooms in the roofspace.  The property was acquired by the Manx Museum and National Trust in 1958 because of the survival of its thatched roof, and its Manx name translates as 'the little thatched house'.

Double-fronted cottage. Originally constructed before 1868 (present on Ordnance Survey 1:2500 1st edition map of that date). Although the building has the appearance of being a single-storey dwelling, a single spectacle window in each gable provides natural light to two rooms in the roofspace. The property was acquired by the Manx Museum and National Trust in 1958 because of the survival of its thatched roof, and its Manx name translates as 'the little thatched house'.

Prehistoric flint scatter. A very large quantity of worked prehistoric flint was recovered from the 'Thistle Field' by CH Cowley. This would appear to relate to OS Field no. 0867, which is centred at the grid reference provided. Additional finds are described as coming from 'Ballagyr Thistle Field' (see PRN 3102). The antiquary Charles Harry Cowley was an avid collector of worked flint and coarse stone artefacts revealed by agricultural activity, mainly on farms located around Peel, and occasionally from further afield. He was active from 1900 until 1943. His entire collection of artefacts, together with a daybook cataloguing his discoveries, was later donated to Manx National Heritage.

A very large quantity of worked prehistoric flint was recovered from the 'Thistle Field' by C.H. Cowley.  No further details concerning the circumstances of the discovery were recorded and the grid reference relates to the farmstead for indicative purposes only. The antiquary Charles Harry Cowley was an avid collector of worked flint and coarse stone artefacts revealed by agricultural activity, mainly on farms located around Peel, and occasionally from further afield.  He was active from 1900 until 1943.  His entire collection of artefacts, together with a daybook cataloguing his discoveries, was later donated to Manx National Heritage.

A very large quantity of worked prehistoric flint, including many scrapers, was recovered from the 'Thistle Field' by C.H. Cowley.  No further details concerning the circumstances of the discovery were recorded and the exact location of the 'Thistle Field' is uncertain. The antiquary Charles Harry Cowley was an avid collector of worked flint and coarse stone artefacts revealed by agricultural activity, mainly on farms located around Peel, and occasionally from further afield.  He was active from 1900 until 1943.  His entire collection of artefacts, together with a daybook cataloguing his discoveries, was later donated to Manx National Heritage.

A very large quantity of worked prehistoric flint, including many scrapers and some spearheads, was recovered from the 'Thistle Field' by C.H. Cowley.  No further details concerning the circumstances of the discovery were recorded and the exact location of the 'Thistle Field' is uncertain. The antiquary Charles Harry Cowley was an avid collector of worked flint and coarse stone artefacts revealed by agricultural activity, mainly on farms located around Peel, and occasionally from further afield.  He was active from 1900 until 1943.  His entire collection of artefacts, together with a daybook cataloguing his discoveries, was later donated to Manx National Heritage.