Tynwald Day Special: Maughold of Man
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Our sixth Celtic Month piece celebrates Tynwald Day, the national day of the Isle of Man, which is on July 5th. Remember to pet a Manx cat.
Before you read what the piece means to me, share what it means to _you_. I’m just the artist; you’re the beholder.
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The Isle of Man, also sometimes spelled Mann, is a little Gaelic nation in the Irish Sea; the Manx language is closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The language became extinct with the death of its last native speaker in 1974; but revival is in progress, and many people have learned the language since that time with the help of the materials he left behind.
I know of no better Manx story than the origin of Man’s patron saint, St. Maughold of Man; called, in Latin, Maccaldus.
According to the tale, Maughold was a young Irish prince and leader of a gang of ne’er-do-wells during the time when St. Patrick was teaching Christianity in Ireland. One time, he and his companions tried to make a fool of St. Patrick by putting a live man under a shroud and begging St. Patrick to revive him. St. Patrick came and placed his hand on the man, but nothing happened; and after he went away, they discovered that the man under the shroud was dead.
They caught up to St. Patrick, apologized to him, and begged him to come back and revive the man for real; which St. Patrick did, and the man was risen back to life.
After that, the youths all asked to be baptized as Christians; and after baptizing them, St. Patrick admonished Maughold for leading his followers into ill deeds. To make things right, St. Patrick told him he must set to sea in a tiny wicker-boat (a coracle, scarcely larger than its occupant), without any oars, and abandon himself to the will of God.
Maughold did so; and he was conducted safely to the shores of Man; they say, at the place that became known as Maughold Head. He lived in a cave for many years, and went on to become the successor to Romuil and Conindri (in Latin, Romulus and Conindrus), the disciples Patrick had previously sent to teach Christianity to the Manx people.