May 11 - The Isle of Man

Our port today was Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea. I didn’t know until I came here today that the Isle of Man is not a part of the United Kingdom.  It's a crown dependency but it is self-governing and even has its own currency. Britain is responsible for Man’s defense, but the Isle of Man has its own parliament and makes its own laws. The parliament is called the Tynwald and according to the Manx people is the oldest continuous parliament in the world. Manx people are entitled to British passports but on the front of their passport it has the Isle of Man listed.  It’s truly a unique status.

The island has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC.  Over the millennia it has been settled by Gaelic people followed by Norsemen, Scots, and English.  The Norseman had a large influence on the island and the name of the parliament is derived from a Norse word. The island is pretty large, about 220 sq. miles, and has a population of close to 90,000 people.  The flag of the Isle of Man features a triskelion, an ancient symbol of three armored legs with golden spurs.  The triskelion dates back to ancient Greek times and depending on the culture can mean many different things but most commonly the celestial, physical and spiritual world.  It has been used on Man since the 13th century at least.

The Isle of Man flag

Man has no capital gains, wealth, inheritance or stamp taxes and a top income tax rate of 20% so it is no surprise that it’s a tax haven. It’s kind of a mini-Monaco. As a result of the tax advantages, the island is the home of many shell corporations and a large part of the economy is based on financial services and online gaming and things like movie production.  In the past agriculture and fishing were the principal economic activities along with tourism.  In the summer there still are many tourists because the island is very beautiful with lots of nice hiking paths and also because it’s the venue for one of the oldest and biggest motorbike races in the world, the Isle of Man TT.

My tour took me to the town of Peel which is the principal fishing village on the island and the home of a museum called the House of Manannan which tells the story of the settling of the island.  I like legends and of course this island has one, so here it is. Mannanan was a warrior and sea god according to local lore.  He and another character, a giant in Ireland called Finn McCool, got into an argument and Finn picked up a rock and threw it at Mannanan. When the rock landed in the sea the sea god turned it into the Isle of Man.  Legend has it that in Ireland there’s a lake that is the exact shape of Man and that’s the place that Finn plucked the rock from.  I’ve encountered this guy Finn years ago when Katie and I visited the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.  He was responsible for that too the story goes, so he was a busy giant.

The museum was interesting but I thought the ride across the island was better.  Along the way we passed a farm with a special kind of sheep only found here. They’re called Loaghtan sheep and they have brown coats and four, and  as many as six horns.  Even the ewes have horns.  I didn’t get a photo of them as we zoomed by but I’ll put one here from the internet.  The countryside was lush and green with lots of hedgerows of hawthorn bushes which were covered with white blossoms.

This is a two thirds of actual size Viking longboat and it was sailed from Trondheim in Norway to Peel in Isle of Man. This puts a whole new light on cruising.

Look at those horns

We made a stop at Tynwald  which is where  each year on July 5th Parliament Day is celebrated. There’s a mound there that supposedly was where meetings were held in ancient times and nearby is a church where a service is held first and then a ceremonial procession marches across to the mound.  There are bands playing and the entire population turns out to mark the occasion.

That's the mound which has been terraced

The church from they process on July 5th to the nearby mound

This was a  tender port and the sea was a little rough when we went back to the ship.  There were some people grumbling about the fact there wasn’t a lot to see, but I thought for a little place the residents tried to give us a nice experience. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Isle of Man is the home of Manx cats, the ones with no tails.  Our guide told us there are more Manx cats now in the US than here and that it’s rare to see one.

It was a pleasant, not particularly exciting, day which ended with dinner with a lovely British lady I met a few days ago.  We went to the show which was one I saw on my last cruise on the Quest.  I’m finding it hard not to compare things because everything on that cruise was so good.  These entertainers did a nice job, but I have a special place in my heart for the other group.  And then I went dancing for a little while.

Tomorrow we’ll be in Ireland.  Until then….