Episodes
David Robertson tells us about the herring fishery and the process of preparing both white herrings and red herrings. We hear of the trade and way of life associated with them in the 1790s.
Jonathan Harker has resumed his journal, and so we hear that Professor Van Helsing finds him in surprisingly good health. However, as they part Van Helsing learns of problems in store. Dr John Seward also resumes his diary, thinking that he'd finished it only a week before.
As y kiaull ain -
DERVISH - The ploughman
JOHN BOLITHO - Maggie May
THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS - The geese in the bog/The jig of Slurs...
Having arrived back in Douglas from a tour of the Island with two friends, David Robertson surveys the town from Douglas Head and reflects on the herring fishery as it was in 1791.
Professor Van Helsing has visited Mina Harker in Exeter. Having found out all about poor Lucy Westenra, his attention turns to Mina's husband, Jonathan, and he, too, reads Jonathan's journal of his travails in Castle Dracula.
As y kiaull ain -
ANDREA AR GOUILH & ALAN COCHEVELOU - Marzin en he gavel
OSSIAN - 'S gann gunn dirich mi chaoidh
ST STITHIANS SILVER BAND - Poldice
MACDARA - Beidh aonach amarach
CATE LE ...
David Robertson surveys the scene from the summit of Snaefell and falls to philosophising. After heading straight down the valley to Laxey, he and his two friends then complete their tour of the Island by returning to Douglas via Onchan.
In our Manx translation of Dracula, Professor Van Helsing explains to Mina Harker how it is that, although meeting her for the first time, he feels that he already knows her.
As y kiaull ain -
ANOUK PETTIT & AALISH KILGALLON - Dagh laa as oie
YR HWNTWS - Hannar cnap
REEL TIME CEILIDH BAND - The Congress Reel/Fleshmarket Close/Andy Renwick's Ferret
FRANCIS...
After concluding an overview of the Island's ecclesiastical history, David Robertson continues his 1791 tour of the Island, from Bishop's Court to Ramsey, then out to Maughold, before ascending Snaefell.
In our Manx translation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Professor Van Helsing has arranged to come to Exeter to see Mina Harker. So striking is their meeting that Mina decides to give a verbatim report in her journal.
As y kiaull ain -
MARI MATHIAS - Annwn
EOGHAINN O CEANABHAINN - Mo Sheamoisin
AR BLEIZI RUZ - Polka de Haute-Bretagne
CHRISTINE TEARE - Aislyn y cheayn
THE CHANGING ROOM - Yntredh...
David Robertson gives a pen portrait of Bishop Thomas Wilson and talks of his successor, Mark Hildesley, as being in the same mould. He then deals with several other incumbents up to Claudius Crigan in 1791, before looking at a range of suggestions for the name of the see as Sodor and Man.
There are disturbing developments on and around Hampstead Heath, not far from where Lucy Westenra was buried. Professor Van Helsing arranges to visit Lucy's friend, Mina Harker, in Exeter. Mina hopes it will shed light on what she has just read of the tribulations of her husband Jonathan on visiting Coun...
According to David Robertson's 1791 view of history, after the suppression of the Druids of the Ancient Britons in one Mona, Anglesey, they came to another Mona, the Isle of Man, where they continued their benevolent rule and ministry until the coming of Christianity.
Following the burial of Lucy Westenra near Hampstead Heath, Professor Van Helsing tries to explain to Dr John Seward how it is that King Laughter comes at the most inappropriate times. Meanwhile, families in the Hampstead area are concerned that children are going missing for some lengthy periods and their excuse is that they...
Having explored Peel Castle, David Robertson and friends set out for Kirk Michael, and there we explore the background to one of the Scandinavian runic monuments they examined, as well as other ancient monuments. David Robertson seems to know a surprising lot about Druids!
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', we hear of Jonathan Harker's startling sighting in London's Piccadilly of a link to his past of which his wife, Mina, still knows nothing - but decides to discover. From Dr Seward we hear of Professor Van Helsing's odd behaviour, and his explanation for ...
David Robertson quotes from the work of George Waldron, describing a piece of history associated with Peel Castle in the 1440s. This has given rise to some fanciful additions to the history of Eleanor Cobham, the former wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, thanks in part to William Shakespeare and to A P Graves in 'Manx National Songs'.
Arthur Holmwood has come for the funeral of his fiance, Lucy Westenra. Whilst at first a little reserved, he comes to embrace Professor Van Helsing as a good friend, though the Professor still doesn't explain his actions to him, dragging him forcefully awa...
We've arrived in Peel in our tour of the Island in 1791 in the company of David Robertson, who gives a brief account of Peel and its bay and then draws on the work of Captain Francis Grose (a visitor to the Island in 1774) to describe Peel Castle.
Arthur Holmwood has just had to attend to the funeral of his father before coming for the funeral of his fiance, Lucy Westenra. His comfort is in his friendship with Dr John Seward, and now with John Seward's friend and mentor, Professor Van Helsing.
As y kiaull ain y cheayrt shoh -
GRAHAM HART - Goin' up Camborne Hill
EMMA CHRISTIAN - Arrane sa...
Our 1791 tour guide, David Robertson, takes us over the mountains from Ballafesson to Foxdale, and then we go down the valley into St John's, before going back out along the Patrick Road towards Peel.
Professor Van Helsing's drastic measures for dealing with Lucy Westenra after her death are thwarted. However, Mrs. Westenra's unusual will has, to the surprise of her solicitor, settled matters in a way which he could scarcely have forseen.
As y kiaull 'sy chlaare y cheayrt shoh -
MYNEDIAD AM DDIM - Torth o fara
BARBARA GLASSEY & HARRY BARLOW - Ellan my chree
BAGAD CAP CAVAL - St Brieg set ...
David Robertson tells us how the Manx people in the late eighteenth century experienced the beings that he refers to as "fairies" and the second sight - not that these were necessarily dismissed by leading figures of the day such as Joseph Addison.
Our episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula follows the death of Lucy Westenra - or does it? Professor Van Helsing proposes a startling course of action to Dr John Seward!
As y kiaull ain -
SHENN SCOILL - Tayrn mee thie
PLETHYN - Y ddafad gorniog
THE GLENCRAIG SCOTTISH DANCE BAND - The walrus
MIKE JAMES & YVES LEBLANCE - Avant-deux de la Meziere
EMM...
David Robertson leads us from Kirk Malew to Kirk Christ Rushen, and on the way we pass some standing stones - but where? We then hear some romantic tales associated with Cronk Howe Mooar - the Fairy Hill at Ballafesson.
Despite the ministrations of Professor Van Helsing and Dr John Seward, Arthur Holmwood's bride-to-be, Lucy Westenra, is failing. She's grateful to Professor Van Helsing for his understanding of her condition. Another episode from a Manx translation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
As y kiaull ain -
EMMET SPICELAND - Nora bheag
MARIE-ALINE LAGADIC - Ma labousig ar c'hoad
ELIZABET...
As David Robertson is visiting Castletown, then the seat of Government, he looks at the roles of what were then called the Governor-in-Chief, Edward Smith, and the Governor, Alexander Shaw, and also at peculiarities of Manx law - but is he right?
We turn once again to Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' in translation into the Manx Gaelic, and hear more about poor Lucy Westenra who becomes restless as there is a fluttering and tapping at the window - by moonlight, Dr John Seward sees that there is a large bat there.
As nyn giaull :
ELIANE PRONOST - Alc'houez an eurusted
DAOIRI FARRELL - A pint of pla...
Although David Robertson is describing his tour through the Island in 1791, he looks back 140 years to events of the 1650s, and we use this as a springboard to the history of the Stanley family.
In this week's excerpt from our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Mina Harker unwittingly writes cheerfully to Lucy Westenra, and Dr John Seward's assistant writes to tell him of another incident with the patient, Renfield.
As y kiaull ain -
SIAN - Bha mo leannan ann
PLETHYN - 'Fuoch chi 'rioed yn morio?
ALBERT HEALY - Melodies from four provinces
MADELYN ANN - Chom enn...
Our tour through the Island in 1791 led by David Robertson has brought us to the Calf, where he refers to a 'woe-worn hermit' living in Elizabethan times. This was a legend used as the basis of a poem by Esther Nelson (1810-1843). We look at Esther Nelson and her poem, 'The Island Penitent : A Legend of the Calf'.
In our Manx translation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Quincey Morris astutely notes that Lucy Westenra has received blood from four people now, and poses the question, 'What took it out?' He joins Dr John Seward and Professor Van Helsing in keeping watch on her. Meanwhile, Mina Har...
After looking at the history and a legend of Keeill Vaayl, the chapel of St Michael that gives its name to the isle in Derbyhaven, we return to David Robertson's tour of 1791 as he takes us further south to the Calf and its avian inhabitants.
An unlucky suitor of Lucy Westenra, Quincey Morris, has just given his blood to save Lucy. He is astute in realizing that another unlucky suitor, Dr John Seward, and the lucky suitor, Arthur Holmwood, as well as Professor Van Helsing, have also given blood previously - and he asks the hard question.
Y kiaull ain y cheayrt shoh -
NA SIARAICH - Roinn a...
William Harrison retells The Legend of the Ruined Chapel in St Michael's Isle in a volume of material he collected and edited for The Manx Society in 1873, so we hear about the fate of Father Kelly and the chapel, to which we were steered originally by David Robertson's 1791 tour through the Island.
Dr John Seward and Professor Van Helsing have broken into Lucy Westenra's house, finding four female servants lying drugged in the dining room and Lucy and her mother lying on the bed in Lucy's room. Lucy's mother is dead. What of Lucy? Another episode from a translation into the Manx Gaelic of...
Although David Robertson's 1791 tour through the Isle of Man has brought us to Derbyhaven, his reference to Keeill Vaayl, St Michael's Chapel, has already taken us to the Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles, and now we've embarked on a lengthy legend, retold in 1873 by William Harrison, in which St Michael appears to a much-revered priest in the area.
In our Manx translation of Dracula, the late arrival of a telegram has sent Dr John Seward hastening to the home of Lucy Westenra. Meanwhile, Lucy's own account provides a chilling picture of events, so we are warned in advance what ...
David Robertson has brought us to Derbyhaven where we look at the Derby Fort on St Michael's Isle, and then at the chapel itself which gives its name to the isle, Keeill Vaayl, St Michael's Chapel. There's an early reference to it in the Chronicles of Man and the Isles, and then we turn to a legend that appeared in 1873 in a volume for the Manx Society, collected and edited by William Harrison.
Dr John Seward is thankful that he hasn't been summoned by Professor Van Helsing, giving him an opportunity to recover from a knife-attach by his patient, Renshaw. Unfortunately, Van Helsing's tele...
David Robertson tells us the exciting tale of Ivar and Matilda, and the dastardly King Reginald, though the death of Reginald at Ivar's hand is not quite as told in the Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles, which we dip into in a translation by Professor P A Munch.
In this episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula, translated into the Manx Gaelic, we hear more about the wolf, Bersicker, as told to animal keeper, Thomas Bilder, to the reporter from the Pall Mall Gazette. The story is far tamer than the one revealed in Dr John Seward's diary, as his patient, Renshaw, comes into his study.
...
Our tour through the Isle of Man in 1791 with David Robertson brings us to Rushen Abbey, where we also admire the Crossag bridge and hear something of the history and the start of an ancient tale associated with it.
A wolf has escaped from a zoological gardens in London, and keeper Thomas Bilder is questioned about it by a reporter for the Pall Mall Gazette, in another episode from Bram Stoker's Dracula.
As y kiaull ain -
FIONA McARDLE - Ny strooanyn Nancy aalin
NEEAR NESAN - Ushtey millish 'sy gharee/La violette
CALAN - Dawns y pelau/Welsh processional morris
SELKIE - Rantin' rovin' Rob...
The Manx people of 1791 were notable for instigating court cases, and David Robertson gives us a fairly unedifying picture of how they proceeded.
In our version in the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's Dracula, once again Professor Van Helsing and Dr John Seward have to save the life of Lucy Westenra. With the Professor keeping watch over her, Lucy enjoys several nights of good sleep, and she quite enjoys the smell of garlic now!
Y kiaull ain y cheayrt shoh -
EMMA CHRISTIAN - Invocation to St Bridget
MERA ROYLE - Moirrey ny gainle
LORS LANDAT & THOMAS MOISSON - Me n'ouzon ket
SHOOGLENIFTY - No...
Our 1791 tour guide, David Robertson, takes us out of Douglas and through Santon to Ballasalla. It gives us an opportunity to explore something of the history of Newtown (now Mount Murray) and an early industrial enterprise in Ballasalla, using the power of the Silverburn to drive a cotton mill.
Dr John Seward can't understand what Professor Van Helsing's reason is for his elaborate precautions involving garlic flowers all round Lucy Westenra's bedroom and even in a wreath round her neck. However, the Professor is satisfied that this will give Lucy an undisturbed night. Our version in the...
We learn a little more about Captain John Taubman of The Nunnery, before David Robertson points out other fine houses for hospitality in the neighbourhood of Douglas - Captain Southcote's Ballaughton, Lord Henry Murray's Atholl-lodge on Port-e-Chee and The Hague in Onchan, formerly the home of the late Richard Betham. We return to Captain Taubman for his work in agriculture.
Professor Van Helsing has arranged for some flowers to be sent for Lucy Westenra from his friend's glasshouse in Haarlem. Lucy is rather nonplussed to find that they're garlic, but the Professor assures her it's no jok...
David Robertson takes us on further from Captain Taubman's residence, The Nunnery, to Kirk Braddan. He introduces us to 'Graveyard Poetry', and also to a story told by another visitor, Colonel Richard Townley - to whom it sounds as though Robertson had something of an aversion.
In the excerpt from our Manx translation of 'Dracula', Lucy Westenra arranges for Dr John Seward to sleep on a sofa in a room adjoining her bedroom, with both doors open so she can call for him if necessary. The following morning, Professor Van Helsing wakes John Seward and they go through to Lucy's room.
As nyn gi...
David Robertson has returned to Douglas in 1791, and gives us a description of the town and its inhabitants, before taking us a little further afield. However, there are tensions and difficulties as well as beauties and pleasure.
In an episode from our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Arthur Holmwood has given blood to save the life of his fiance, Lucy Westenra. As he is about to leave, Professor Van Helsing has another thought to share with him. The Professor sets Dr John Seward to keep close watch while Lucy sleeps.
As y kiaull ain y keayrt shoh -
GERARD JAFF...
David Robertson gives us a view of society in Douglas as it was in 1791, where some indulged in luxuries whilst others suffered destitution. We meet some characters whom we've encountered in other descriptions of the Island in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
In our translation of Dracula into the Manx Gaelic, Professor Van Helsing and Dr John Seward agree that Lucy Westenra's life depends on a blood transfusion. John Seward offers his, but just then Lucy's fiance, Arthur Holmwood, arrives and is only too glad to give his blood to save Lucy.
As y kiaull ain -
RUTH KEGGI...
David Robertson guides us round some of the sights of Douglas as it was in 1791, and we look into the background of them with the help of later historians and more modern research.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Professor Van Helsing has returned to examine Lucy Westenra, whose rapid deterioration since the previous day shocks Dr John Seward. Urgent action is required.
As y kiaull ain 'sy chlaare shoh -
CLARE KILGALLON & MONA'S ISLE - The garden
MEREDYDD EVANS - Trip i Aberystwyth
IRRSEEBLASER - Salzkammergut
MICHAEL HANLY & MICHEAL O'DONNELL - An bothan a bha' ig Fhionnghuala
AHANAN - Henn yw...
David Robertson was an English customs officer who had been based in Douglas in the late 1780s. He returned to tour the Island in the summer of 1791, and subsequently published a book about it. From it, we get a view of the Island about 230 years ago.
In our translation into the Manx Gaelic of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dr John Seward has a patient called Renfield in his care whose case interests him, though he doesn't understand it. He also now has another patient in Lucy Westenra, and he has called in his old friend and mentor, Professor Van Helsing, to examine her.
As nyn giaull -
MANNIN F...
We recently heard of a visit to the Island in 1795. The previous year, a book was published of a tour of the Island made in 1791 by David Robertson, who had previously been based in Douglas as a customs officer. We look at the opening chapter of his book.
In our extract from the Manx Gaelic translation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Professor Abraham Van Helsing has come from Amsterdam at the request of his friend and former student, Dr John Seward, to examine Lucy Westenra, about whose health her fiance, the Hon Arthur Holmwood, is very concerned.
As y kiaull ain -
RUNRIG - Meadhan oidche air...