THE ARCHIVE ROOM - 5 JANUARY 2023

X The Archive Room

Thursday, 5 January 2023 - 25 minutes

In past times on the Island, the Christmas period was known as The Foolish Fortnight and ran from Black Thomas' Eve - 21st December - and ended on Old Christmas Day - 6th January. Much like today, it was a time for socialising, eating, music and dancing! It was also a time for traditional Manx customs, and who better to talk about them than MONA DOUGLAS ...... myrrh flowering, cattle kneeling, the gift of fire, and a unique way of weather forecasting are just some of the customs Mona will explain to David Callister.
Fortunately, we don't often get really serious amounts of snow on the Island - which is why, when we do, they are memorable - and in years gone by, they could have very serious consequences.
CYRIL JONES was born in 1918 and vividly remembers the severe snow of 1929 when he was a schoolboy in St Johns
ALEC QUIRK KARRAN lived all his life in Glen Maye, and recalls when snow, drifting as high as the hedges, stopped all but the most essential farm work
and HARVEY BRIGGS - warmly remembered as 'the undisputed voice of farming in the Isle of Man' shares his memories of the winter of 1947 at Ballakilmartin in Onchan

THE ARCHIVE ROOM - 5 JANUARY 2023

X The Archive Room

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