Vestigia insulae manniae antiquiora, or, A dissertation on the armorial bearings of the Isle of Man : the regalities and prerogatives of its ancient kings, and the original usages, customs, privileges, laws, and constitutional government of the Manx people / by H.R. Oswald.
- Oswald, H. R.
- Date:
- 1860
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Vestigia insulae manniae antiquiora, or, A dissertation on the armorial bearings of the Isle of Man : the regalities and prerogatives of its ancient kings, and the original usages, customs, privileges, laws, and constitutional government of the Manx people / by H.R. Oswald. Source: Wellcome Collection.
53/270 (page 23)
![which was the reputed sanctuary for criminals in olden time. The pillar is without date, and its era is not recognized by tradition in any way. Maughold Church itself is allowed to be one of the most ancient kirks in the Island,—some say not less than seven centuries old,—and in all probability stands near the spot where Maughold was cast ashore in a small basket of wicker work.* This beautiful old pillar is much weather worn, and is usually attributed to tlie Danes, whose banner was the ship, and the Key. Mr. Gumming, without adducing any evidence, ascribes it to the Scots, who he says may have introduced the present arms (those on the pillar) on their acquiring the sovereignty; more of which I will trouble the reader with hereafter. But as Kirk Maughold was the acknowledged sanctuary, antecedent to the Reformation, tempore Henry VIII., and the cross has stood from time immemorial, there can be no doubt of its great antiquity. The Rev. William Kermode, of Ramsey, is in possession of a manuscript, dated 1775, wherein is given—speaking of the 24 Keys—the following distich inscribed below the jManx arms in the old Parliament House :— “ Three Legs armed; Armed in self defence : Centrally united; Security from thence.” This inscription was not renewed when the present House of Keys was erected, I believe, on the site of the ancient brick buildmg*. James Gell, Esq., High-Bailiff of Castletowa, has now in his possession a representation of the trie ca,e,n on panes of coloured glass, which were long m the possession of the late Bishop Clau- dius Crigan of Sodor and Man, to whom the Bishop of Drontheim late JohnM Hntehin, Esq., Clerk of the Ro]h.~,mte 8 1 They are said to be a relic of the great tvindow of the Cathedral](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24870055_0053.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
