Myths, Legends and.. Rat-birds?

I always seem to fill out a blog on the days that we can't hook up the camera. Too bad, too, cause we have some awesome pics right now. So, my task is to tell you a bit about the history of the Isle of Man (or I Love Mann, as I call it), and to talk about the new bane of my existence... PIGEONS :( So, I'll start with the fun stuff.

I LOVE MANN!!!
The isle of Man is so beautiful! It is one of my new favorite places on earth. When we got there, I was so seasick and tired that I couldn't really appreciate it. We took the ferry over on Monday morning. It was a beautiful ferry ride, which we slept most of the way through. After seeing Cathy and Eileen (her sister) we went to church for a bit, met some people, used to toilets, then went to our three day home. It was lovely! There was a family there, ad that made it one of the best places we could be. The kids were excited to meet us, and came in and talked to us, which made me feel right at home. We talked about movies and books, two of my favorite subjects. And there were bookshelves in the room. I had been literarily (not really a word is it?) starving, and it was like a feast! I looked through and found an old copy of a book of fairy tales from Mann, YAY! I read the first one, and it was the mythological history of the Isle of Man, or Mann for short. It spoke of a magician who looked after the land and it's inhabitants. His name was Manannan mac Lir. He liked looking after the Manx because they weren't too bright and worshipped him. Whenever explorers or invaders would get to close to the Isle, Manannan would draw mist around the island, called Manannan's Veil, so thick they couldn't see. If that didn't work, he would set a villager up on the mountainside, and use his sorcery to make him look like a hundred soldiers prepared for battle. If that, too, failed, Manannan would then form himself into a fiery boomerang, fashioned of three armoured legs, and hurl himself at the intruders. Needless to say, they lived in peace for many years. Until St. Patrick came, bringing with him knowledge such as the villagers had never before had, and a new and strange religion called Christianity. The villagers were slow to release their hold on the ancient ways, but eventually forgot Manannan as they used St. Patrick's gift of knowledge to till fields and fashion clothing. Manannan would have none of it. He couldn't very well draw his cloak, as it was too late to hide the isle from St. Patrick. And the monk knew the villagers each by name, so setting false ones to scare him off would not work. Manannan used his final weapon. Fashioning the boomerang, he threw himself down the mountainside at St. Patrick. But St Patrick, too, had a weapon. Though to call it such is to name it wrong. It was half prayer, half song. It was called St. Patrick's breastplate, and as he and his monks chanted the prayer, it drew the protection across the group, and deflected Manannan and his powers. Angry and defeated, Manannan exiled himself to a place far from the village, and if he is not dead he lives there still. The boomerang that Manannan formed became the symbol for Mann, and also inspired the islands motto: Quocunque Jeceris Stabit (Latin)
Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand.

I found the tale fascinating, and slowly learned more and more about Mann and it's history. The island was founded by Celts, and it is even said that Finn MacCool, the greatest of the mystical Fianna warriors, created it by tearing the soil from Ireland and throwing it at the giant he was fighting. The Celts lived there then and now, but have fought to keep their land as it was overtaken by Vikings, Scottish and finally Britain. It is counted as part of Britain, however keeps apart from England and stands as it's own country.

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Now onto the completely unrelated topic of pigeons.
I never thought I would find a bird I didn't like. That was before Liverpool and it's pigeons. We landed in Liverpool on Thursday, and walked towards the coach station to catch our ride to London (not a good ride as it turned out. Six hours on a stuffy coach, no ta). We stopped in a lovely little park to rest, and Casey and I went to one of my new favorite places, the Liverpool Library (so many books!) When we came back, there was a group of school kids feeding pigeons to draw them near and then chasing them off. The kids chased them directly into mine and C's faces. I inhaled a mouthful of feather dust and dirt. I have been sick ever since. Not my favorite birds, pigeons. They now make me think of dirt and sickness and all manner of disease. Eeeeeeeewwwwwwww! I will be glad to get back to a time when they don't for I know the little rats populate the Earth just as much as seagulls do. They just scare me more.

Anyway, we are in London for the next few days, and then off to Edinburgh for our last real leg of the trip. I can't believe we have been out for 19 days and change. This is so great!