Interview with Mr and Mrs Kennish of Maughold about their reminiscences and the 'old songs'
Audio Player:
Date(s): 1958
Scope & Content: [Starts with whistling as a test for the tape.]
Mr Kennish talks to Walter Clarke about where he went to 'cooish in Manx'; walking towards Laxey with his grandmother to see Kelly the Mill who made fine flour; going to Hibernia; limpet broth; flitters (limpets) soup boiled and sold for a penny a pint in the market; how people ate limpets with a pin; going to Cornaa beach to gather dullish (seaweed) off the rocks to eat raw; story of a woman ‘longing for a good feed of dullish’; mother advising him to ‘buy a good suit and get all the clothes you can before you marry for you’ll get none after’; wedding suit likely also to be the burial suit.
Walter asks about the 'old songs' and Mrs Kennish talks about how she first heard ballads from Roger Looney (or Lowney), a wealthy farmer who was ‘very old and blind when he came down to us to pass the time’; she sings the songs she learnt from him: ‘Here’s to the birds of the air’, ‘In yonder bush there dwells a thrush’ and ‘The labouring man’.
Walter says that if people in the fields created the carvels they might they have written ballads too. Mrs Kennish sings ‘A song for when the Queen came’ and she recites a poem in praise of the Isle of Man and Mannanan.
Administration / Biographical History: Walter Clarke, Manx speaker, translator and Manx Museum technician (1928-2007).
Language: English
Extent: 18 min. 0 sec.
Item name: magnetic recording tape
Collection: Sound Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: SA 0152
Access conditions: All reasonable attempt has been made by Manx National Heritage to trace and request permission (where needed) from the copyright holder(s) in this sound recording. If however you think you are a rights holder then please contact Manx National Heritage.
Subject tags : #UOSH, #UOSHArts