06.24.08
Cregneash Part 1
After breakfast, Brian and I headed out as planned to a place called Cregneash. It is located quite close to Port St. Mary where we were staying, so it only took about 10 minutes to get there. Cregneash is currently one of the Story of Mann sites, which consists of actual Manx cottages of a village of Manx farmers and crofters from the 19th century. The cottages have been preserved and restored to their original state. For anyone who has seen the movie, Waking Ned Divine, this was the town featured in the movie. Here’s the footpath not far from the car lot.
These are the kinds of views to which I previously referred to that reminded me of story books and fairy tales. There were many lush green rolling hills. The pastures were divided by stone walls covered in foligage. The picture below shows the horses in one pasture with the sheep in another.
One of the things that Brian and I noticed was that even though there were so many animals so close to footpaths and roads, there was virtually no offensive odor, which is so associated with fed lots. For anyone familiar with California and the I-5 freeway, Harris Ranch has no doubt offended your nostrils. The fed lot is packed with cattle on what looks like dirt. The stench can be smelled for what seems like miles depending upon the wind conditions. The contrast of Harris Ranch to what we experienced on the Isle of Man was quite revealing to us. It confirmed that with proper animal management(which definitely includes minding not to overcrowd the poor animals so that they have enough pasture space and aren’t wallowing in their own filth), they don’t have to smell so horrid.
After a short distance along the foot path and pastures, we came upon the village of Cregneash.
That’s me walking down towards the Turner’s cottage reading the site guide booklet. We had just come out of the museum entrance and exhibits. After purchasing tickets, a short video is shown to help explain the history of Cregneash. Then upstairs is a small museum with articles used in the farming and crofting village such as cauldrons, skillets, ropes, lanterns, etc. along with descriptions of what life was like there when the farmers and crofters lived there. By this time, there appeared to be Christian influence and among the rural life articles exhibited was one of their Bibles.
This is a 1819 edition of “Yn Vible Cashenick,” the Manx Bible. I believe there are 4 types of Gaelic spoken in the British Isles, and one form is from the Isle of Man known as Manx Gaelic. Here’s a close up of a portion of the page on the right.
Okay, I need to get to my daily chores, so I’m gonna cut this short for now, and try to continue it later.
Marlakins
