Episodes
After seeing Rev Robert Brown conducting a service at St Matthew's, Dorothy Wordsworth now goes to call on him and his family. As well as her account of their home, we also hear from a famous son of the family, Hugh Stowell Brown, as he recalls the house in New Bond Street in Douglas.
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Dracula, Jonathan Harker returns to Purfleet. He finds his wife, Mina, rather pale. She is now to be kept out of the matter, but all try to make act normally before Jonathan explains what he has found out. Dr John Seward is perplexed about his patient, Renfield again...
Dorothy Wordsworth has come to the Island in 1828 and is staying on the South Quay. She goes to church services on Sunday morning and enjoys walks and socialising, including going to visit the family of the Rev Robert Brown. Robert Brown had sent a volume of his poetry to Dorothy's brother, the poet William Wordsworth.
Jonathan Harker is on the trail of boxes of Transylvanian earth, consigned by Count Dracula to a house in Picadilly. He finds the house from the description and tries to find out who has recently sold it to the Count, in hope of getting access to it.
As nyn giaull -
BENDITH...
Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of the poet, William, kept a diary of her visit to the Island in 1828, when she stayed with Henry and Joanna Hutchinson on the South Quay in Douglas. They were brother and sister to William Wordsworth's wife, Mary. The Wordsworths also had friends in the Island, including Rev Robert Brown, father of Manx poet, T E Brown.
Jonathan Harker is trying to track down boxes of Transylvanian soil that Count Dracula has had taken from his house in Purfleet, Essex, to addresses in London. Meanwhile he notes that his wife, Mina, is looking pale.
As y kiaull ain -
SEAN O SE ...
J J Kneen's chapter on nicknames in his 1937 'Personal Names of the Isle of Man' reprinted almost verbatim what A W Moore had written in his 1890 'Surnames and Place-Names of the Isle of Man', but with some additions and alternatives. We look at those additions and alternatives.
We hear that Mina Harker had a disturbed time whilst the search party was next door searching the house, Carfax, for Count Dracula's boxes of Transylvanian earth. Subsequently, she feels strangely tired and unsure about sleep and what she seems to see in her dreams.
As y kiaull ain -
JIM WEARNE - This isn't Engl...
Having started with J B Keig's nicknames in Ballaugh, we've moved on to A W Moore's thoughts on nicknames throughout the Island. As we find out, that work from 1890 was the framework for what J J Kneen had to say about nicknames in his book from 1937.
In our translation of Bram Stoker's Dracula into the Manx Gaelic, Professor Van Helsing has been given short shrift by the patient, Mr Renfield, and so goes instead to talk to Mina Harker. However, we hear from her diary that she's putting on a brave face whilst strangely affected in some way.
As y kiaull ain 'sy chlaare shoh -
RUTH KEGGIN &...
A W Moore is perhaps getting a bit enthusiastic in researching the parish registers for nicknames, as he seems to want to include descriptions that have been added to give a little extra information about people mentioned. However, we do come on to ways of naming people as well at a time when surnames and forenames were quite often similar.
In our episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula in a Manx translation, Jonathan Harker returns to the room where he and his wife Mina are sleeping, determined not to mention the work to combat Count Dracula. Mina seems strangely pale and sleepy. Meanwhile, Pr...
We've started looking at A W Moore's 1890 publication, 'The Surnames and Place-Names of the Isle of Man' for its section on nicknames, taking up where we left off with our survey of the nicknames used in Ballaugh collected by J B Keig.
In our episode from the translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's Dracula, we're hearing from Jonathan Harker's journal about the expedition to search Carfax, the house bought by Count Dracula in Essex, and where 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil arrived - one of them bearing the Count himself! But how many are left in the house?
As y kiaull ain -
GRAH...
After looking at a collection of nicknames used in the parish of Ballaugh from about 1860 to 1900, collected by Mr J B Keig in 1933, we go back to the work of A W Moore, printed in 1890, and first dealing generally with the theme of nicknames, but then coming on to examples from the Island.
In our translation of Dracula into the Manx Gaelic, the party of friends are about to go to search Carfax, the house bought by Count Dracula in Essex, and we hear about it through the journal of Jonathan Harker, who was involved in selling the house to the Count, including travelling to Transylvania and...
We come to the end of the booklet by Mr J B Keig with his collection of nicknames used in Ballaugh parish in the period 1860 to 1900. It concludes with a postscript by Mr Keig, giving us a fascinating glimpse of the personalities of some of the people he mentions.
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dr John Seward's patient, Renfield, emotively pleads his case for immediate release because he's now perfectly sane and completely in earnest. The rest of the party are bemused and confused, and even Dr Seward isn't sure.
As shoh dooin y kiaull ta shin dy chlashty...
In 1933 Mr J B Keig published a booklet of nicknames used in Ballaugh to distinguish between so many people who had similar surnames (though probably unrelated) and forenames. It provides an interesting social history of the parish in the period from 1860 to 1900.
In our Manx translation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dr John Seward has been summoned by an urgent need for his patient, Renfield, to talk to him. Having read the transcript of Dr Seward's diary, three of his companions accompany him to talk to Renfield - Professor Van Helsing, Arthur Holmwood (Lord Godalming) and Quincey Morris.
A...
J B Keig published a booklet in 1933 of nicknames used by the inhabitants of Ballaugh between 1860 and 1900, when there were unrelated families with the same surname and forenames were often of a small range, so people were identified individually, often in relation to their father and grandfathers.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Professor Van Helsing is explaining the history of Count Dracula to the friends who have come together to try to hunt him out and, if possible, to destroy him. But who might be listening in?
As y kiaull ain -
FRANCIS AR MOAL & GEORGES SELLERS - An deiz all o pourmen e...
We've looked at a Forward that was added by Charles Craine and Mark Braide to a booklet that was republished in 1940 about Nick Names of Ballaugh, and we've also looked at the original Preface by J B Keig when the booklet was published in 1933. We now move on to the text, though it's not really a text as such.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Professor Van Helsing has returned from Amsterdam, intending to stay now whilst he and his friend, Dr John Seward, are joined by Mina and Jonathan Harker and Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris in hunting down and destroying Count Dracula.
As y kiaull ain (r...
We hear the Forward added to a small booklet in 1940 by two fine Manx speakers, Chalse y Craine and Markys y Braide, and then we hear the Preface by Mr J B Keig to his original 1933 publication of 'Ballaugh Nick Names', but the nick names take us back to the 1860s.
Professor Van Helsing has returned from Amsterdam and now intends to devote time to tracking down and destroying Count Dracula. However, he thinks this is no work for a woman - although Mina Harker has been at the centre of things and has helped enormously in collating all their information. Another episode from Bram Stoker's 'D...
We come to the final part of David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History', and he goes out with a bang - rather as he went in with a bang when a cell door closed behind him after his closing, heartfelt words were adjudged to be dangerous republican sedition by the nervous, late eighteenth century British monarchy.
In the latest developments in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Mina Harker has gone with Dr John Seward to talk to his patient, Mr Renfield, whose violent outbursts, they now realize, coincide with times when Count Dracula is nearby, having been delivered in a consignment of boxes o...
We're coming towards the end of David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History', published in 1794, but his footnotes are getting longer, so he's still got plenty to tell us before we reach his closing remarks.
In this week's episode from Dracula, Mina Harker has just been comforting Arthur Holmwood in his distress, and warns Quincey Morris that he, too, may need to find some comfort after he has read the typescripts she has made of various journals and letters. She also persuades Dr John Seward to let her talk to his patient, Renfield.
As y kiaull ain -
HERGEST - O'n hamgylch
CHRISTINE...
We've come to the final chapter of 'A Review of the Manks History', David Robertson's addendum to his 1794 publication in which he describes the Island as he saw it when he revisited it - having been based in Douglas as a revenue officer of the Crown - in the summer of 1791. Robertson's gives an overview and draws some conclusions.
As we're reading through the translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's Dracula, we've heard of Jonathan Harker's visits to Whitby and London to trace Count Dracula's cargo of boxes, delivered to an empty house in Carfax, next door to Dr John Seward's as...
Despite the loyalty of the Stanley family to the Royalist cause, Charles II treated them rather poorly on the Restoration. However, they did come into the Lordship of Man again, and David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History' then takes us through to the advent of the Murrays, Dukes of Atholl, and the sale of the Island's regalities to the British Crown.
Mina and Jonathan Harker are staying with Dr John Seward, and through analysing dates and occurrences, have seen that Dr Seward's patient, Renfield, seems to have outbreaks when Count Dracula is in the vicinity. Dr Seward goes to see...
In his 1794 'A Review of the Manks History', David Robertson has given quick overviews of the various members of the Stanley family who were Kings, and later styled themselves Lords, of Man. However, he has a lot more to say about Yn Stanlagh Mooar, James Stanley, the Seventh Earl of Derby.
In the latest episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula in translation into Manx, Mina Harker has said that no-one ought to hear the heartfelt anguish in Dr John Seward's voice as he describes the death of Lucy Westenra in a recording on his phonograph diary. John Seward agrees - but then is surprised by Mina ...
We fairly rattle through the members of the Stanley family who had been given the Kingship of Man, which became known as a Lordship to protect the neck of Thomas Stanley in the court of Henry VIII. David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History' has now come to Yn Stanlagh Mooar, James Stanley, the tenth Stanley king/lord of Man and Seventh Earl of Derby.
Professor Van Helsing has to return to Amsterdam overnight, so Dr John Seward goes to meet Mina Harker at the station. Each finds out more about the grisly happenings by swapping their personal diaries of events.
As y kiaull 'sy chlaa...
David Robertson picked his way through the 1300s in his 'A Review of the Manks History', associating events from both early and late in a rather disjointed narrative. We've now reached the advent of the Stanley family in 1405.
Arthur Holmwood has done the deed of driving a stake through Lucy Westenra's heart. Professor Van Helsing and Dr John Seward have a little more to do, and then they make vows for the future - and the hunt for Count Dracula himself.
Shoh ta'n kiaull ain -
MALINKY - Pad the road wi' me
SIMONE ALVES & YANN GOURVIL - Tri martolod An Oriant
SHEILA CORKILL & CHARLES ALWAY...
Whatever texts David Robertson was using to compile his 'A Review of the Manks History' in 1794, he seems to have got his timelines in a muddle for the period he's writing about, racing through the 1300s. His references to people and incidents seem to concertina back and forth through the century.
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Professor Van Helsing takes various objects from his long, leather bag, including a sharpened stake and a hammer. He explains what is necessary to bring rest to Lucy Westenra and her betrothed, Arthur Holmwood, undertakes to do t...
David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History' was added to his description of a return visit he made to the Island where he had worked as a British revenue officer some years previously. His combined volumes were published in 1794, and he's reached the reign of Magnus, the last of the dynasty of Godred Crovan.
Professor Van Helsing has brought the three men who each proposed to Lucy Westenra to her grave, and shows to them that she is indeed one of the Undead. She throws aside a young child she's been sucking the blood of, and turns her attention to her former fiance, Arthur Holmwood.
...
Is there something about the name, Reginald? Every time we hear of one in Manx history, he seems to have been something of a bad lot. We start and finish our dip into David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History' with two such flawed characters.
Professor Van Helsing has brought Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris and Dr John Seward to the graveyard at Kingstead, and the empty tomb of Lucy Westenra. Here they keep watch. And oh! what a sickening spectacle awaits them.
As y kiaull 'sy chlaare -
BWNCATH & MEINIR GWILYM - Gyrru ni 'mlaen
MONROE - Am bothan a bh'aig Fhionnghuala
KOUERIEN - Su...
The rule of the dynasty of Godred Crovan was interrupted as King of Man and the Isles by the arrival of the exiled but powerful King Magnus of Norway. On his death, as David Robertson's 'A Review of the Manks History' outlines it, the former line was invited back, in the form of Olave. Unfortunately, he had three troublesome nephews who took advantage of his absence to foment trouble. His return didn't go well.
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of 'Dracula', Professor Van Helsing is broaching the difficult subject of the state of Lucy Westenra and what he wants to do to resolve the s...
In his 1794 publication, 'A Tour Through the Isle of Man', David Robertson has added 'A Review of the Manks History', and we've reached events detailed in the Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles with the arrival of Godred Crovan.
Professor Van Helsing has written a farewell note for Dr John Seward, just in case Count Dracula should come looking for Lucy Westenra whilst the Professor is keeping watch on her burial place during the night. The following day Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris begin to hear of what the Professor intends to do.
As y kiaull ain -
CALUM KENNEDY - Mary of...
As it was written in the 1790s, David Robertson's 'Review of the Manks History' doesn't have the advantage of modern academic research with input from a wide range of disciplines, but still makes entertaining reading, and we can tease out some of the storylines from our own perspective.
The coffin of Lucy Westenra was empty in the dead of night, but Lucy is again lying in it the next day. But she's as beautiful as she ever was, despite lying here in a tomb, but her teeth seem longer and sharper now!
As nyn giaull -
SOWENA - Sprig of thyme
SKEEAL - She 'neen aeg mish as aalin
CARREG LAFAR ...
David Robertson's walking tour of the Island actually was completed several chapters ago, but he had a further four chapters of observations. However, after that, although he finishes Chapter XVIII with END OF THE TOUR, the book continues with REVIEW OF THE MANKS HISTORY, which is also interesting as he views history as understood or surmised in the 1790s.
During the night, Professor Van Helsing has bored and sawed his way into Lucy Westenra's lead coffin to reveal that it's empty. However, he returns with Dr John Seward to open the coffin again during the day - and there's is Lucy, but as...
David Robertson made a walking tour of the Island on his return visit to it in 1791. His circuit began and ended in Douglas, but he added on three more chapters of his general observations, many of which are rather less than flattering, as we hear.
After visiting a hospital to look at a child who had been lost on Hampstead Heath, Professor Van Helsing and Dr John Seward have another mission, this time in the graveyard - in the very vault - where Lucy Westenra was buried recently. It was just before children started being lost on Hampstead Heath. Another extract in our translation into the ...
As a British revenue officer, David Robinson was in favour of the British Crown buying the sovereign rights of the Island from the Lord of Mann, the Duke of Atholl, in 1765 in order to suppress 'the trade' - or 'smuggling' as the British Government considered it.
Professor Van Helsing is trying to persuade Dr John Seward to open his mind to strange possibilities outside of accepted science. And he has a proposal regarding the burial place of Lucy Westenra.
Y kiaull ain y cheayrt shoh -
TRIP - Turning tides
PLETHYN - Ar ben waun Tredegar
THE SCOTTISH FIDDLE ORCHESTRA - Medley for the Gay G...
As a British revenue officer, David Robertson writes approvingly of the way the British Crown bought the Lord of Mann's rights in 1765 in order to suppress 'the running trade' in a move that the Manx people referred to as 'y chialg vooar' - 'the big swindle'.
Professor Van Helsing returns from Exeter and starts questioning Dr John Seward about his views on things that science disapproves of, such as astral bodies and mind reading. He points out that Dr Seward is happy to accept hypnotism, even though he has no idea how or why it works. So why not other phenomena?
As nyn giaull -
BRENDA WO...