From Belfast we finally leave Ireland, taking the ferry over to Douglas on The Isle of Man. The Isle of Man is a funny old place. It is located in the middle of the Irish Sea, between Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland, yet it is not part of any of these countries. It's not even part of the UK or even the EU, but is classed as a self-governing British Crown dependency. It very much prides itself of its own culture, albeit heavily influenced by the surrounding countries, and has it's own language, Manx, which is closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Alas Manx is no longer spoken widely, but there is a bit of a revival, including songs sung in that language.
Oddly enough I have never been to the Isle of Man, even though I can see it from the beach a mile from my house on a clear day. It is of course also famous for its annual TT motorbike race, attracting 10's of thousands of visitors.
I only recently stumbled across Manx music in the form of Ruth Keggin, who has released 2 Manx language albums. This is the opening track from her 2016 album Turrys, called Irree ny greiney, meaning sunrise. Looking at the scenes in the accompanying video and listening to the sounds, you wouldn't know you've left Ireland.
...and here is the second song on the same album, which livens up some.
Having found her I dug for some more Manx music and found that the pioneers of the Manx folk revival are a group called King Chiaullee, who were formed in the mid-90's and blend various Celtic styles. This is a set of tunes called Continental Stomp from their 2006 album Nish!
So much for our brief sojourn to the Isle of Man, off to Scotland next. As usual you can follow my virtual trip on this link.
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