06.11.08
Peel Castle
Before I get side tracked again, I want to share some pics from the Peel Castle, which is actually on St. Patrick’s Isle right next to Peel. The castle is believed to have been originally built around the 11th Century by the Vikings under the rule of King Magnus Barelegs. Ah, why is he called “barelegs?” Your guess is as good as mine, but there are a couple speculations. . . Here’s a picture with me at Peel Castle:
The background is the view looking northerly. Here’s a pic with Brian with the Peel Harbor in view behind him. That would be a view looking easterly.
The stone structure off to the left of the picture is the guard tower and houses a sculpture of the “Black Dog of Peel.” There’s a story about that dog, which was relayed on the audio tour of the Peel Castle. For ease, I’ve copied the story of it from this webpage and pasted it below. If interested, that page also has a pic of the sculpture.
LEGEND OF THE MODDEY DHOO (BLACK DOG)
In the reign of King Charles II (1660-1685) Peel Castle was occupied by soldiers. According to legend there was, within the castle, a large black dog that appeared mysteriously at night and would sit by the fire within the guardroom or keep. No one owned this huge hound but all treated it with great respect.
Each night, when the castle gates had been secured, two guardsmen would carry the key through the ancient chapel to the Captain’s quarters where he would take charge of it overnight. For fear of the the Moddey Dhoo (black dog) no soldier would walk that way alone in darkness. Until one night a young and slightly inebriated soldier threw down a challenge to his fellow guardsmen that he would walk the dark passages alone to see if the Moddey Dhoo was really a dog or the devil himself.
Legend has it that this foolhardy young soldier took the key of the castle and walked alone down the darkened passageways to the Captain’s room but never made it. For as he left to deliver the key the Moddey Dhoo stood up from its place by the fire and followed him. Moments later the castle rang with the terrified screams of the young soldier. No one knows what he saw that night for though he returned alive to the keep he never spoke a word. Within three days the guardsman was dead. Some say he died of fear having seen the Moddey Dhoo change into the fiend incarnate. We will never truly know for from that day on no soldier in Peel Castle ever saw the Moddey Dhoo again.
Here’s a view from inside St. German’s Cathedral. Supposedly there are mysterious sightings of the moddey dhoo there:
In case you’re wondering, that little white post in the grass with the #37 on it is one of the many markers around the castle to indicate what number on the audio to press to hear a narrative of that location. I actually prefer that kind of tour since we can move at our own pace. As you can see, the day was gorgeous, so it was nice to stop and enjoy just being there and taking in the sights.
Here’s a pic looking just the opposite direction from the pic above. It was difficult for me to read the inscriptions on the grave stones:
Below is a pic of one of the other structures in the upper area of the castle. If memory serves me correctly, this is St. Patrick’s Church and round tower, the chapel just beyond peeking out at the right. This area was supposedly once occupied by monks. I think it was a Celtic monastery. Apparently there was quite a bit of religious influence with the kings/rulers during those days. It is believed that this area (St. Patrick’s Isle) is where Christianity first came to the Isle of Man. The little red flag in the background displays the three legs of man, but is too far to make out in this shot.
As can be seen in these pictures, much of the castle is now in ruins although there is still the outer wall which seems to still encircle the whole castle. The sea can be seen on three sides of the castle. Here’s a view looking over the wall in the southerly direction.
They don’t show up here, but there were actually some kayakers down below in the water, and if you squint hard enough, you might be able to make out the sheep grazing on the grass.
Okay, there, I was able to get in some shots of the Peel Castle without letting too much of my narrative get in the way, ha! Since this castle is right on the sea, there is also a life station right next to it that houses the Peel Lifeboat. It’s manned by local volunteers and is run on charity donations. The castle can be seen in the background in the pic below. The stone building with the four windows is the Lifeguard Station. The ramp on the left ends right in the water.
Here’s a pic of their lifeboat while it is waiting for any sea emergency:
Okay, so it’s not the greatest shot, ha ha! But truth be known, there was not much room in there to stand back far enough to take a picture of the whole boat. And since it was hooked up to a tractor, which is ready to tow it down to the water at any given notice, when I stood back far enough, all I could see was tractor, and no boat, ha ha! There were steps that allowed for us to get a close up look, but again all the shots I took were very close up.
After visiting the Peel Castle we headed out to Glen Maye. We did come back to Peel another day to visit the House of Mananin and the Moore’s Kipper House, so will share pics on those later along with a couple more shots of Peel since I only got in one in the post I originally intended to share pics of Peel but instead went off on a tangent on money and cars, ha ha! Until next post, toodles!
Marlakins 
