Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: 'Mann' or 'Man'. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![r> 1^ TT ■^'etoria-straet, April 30th, 1888. Dear Dr Haylland,—Tlio passage in the Anglo- baxon Chroniclo, which you asked me to examine, reters oxchisiyely to tho subjugation of Brytland (the land of the Britons, Wales) by William tho Conqueror. Tho passage reads thus :— ' Brytland him waes on gevvealde, and ho tha,ermno casteles gowrohtc, and thet manncynn mid calle gewealde, i.e , The la nd of the BHtons ■was in his power, and he therein wroiight castles, and withal ruled over that race of men. Dr Oliver (Monumenta, vol 1, p. 14), improperly renders manncynn Isle of Man, and island of Mann. Its true signification is tho race of men. See any Anglo-Saxon Dictionary; or Skeat's E^mological Dictionary, under mankind. The Isle of Man is undoubtedly mentioned in another part of tho Chronicle (in connection with king jEthelred), in tho following words :— •' Tha gehereKodon hi Monige, i.e., They then ravaged the Isle of Man. Another manuscript [Bodl. Laud., 636] reads Maenige.—lam, faithfully yours, Wm. Kneale. Dr Haviland. I have made some notes from Dr. Oliver, and those I shall refer to in my reply after the dis- cussion. I thought that a most important point, as it is spoken of as the earliest instance ; but it will be seen from what Mr Kneale says of the true translation that they had no reference whatever to the Isle of Man. What Dr. Oliver has written is really a copy of a copy, and that a bad copy. (Laughter.) Deemster Gill has also sent me the following:— Mr Jeffcott states :— The fact, however, that the double ' N was used 470 years ago in the Insular Records is of .some consequence. In the oldest of those, dated 1417, the name is given with the two ' n's '—' Mann.' Is it ? The spelling in this document is MannE. In the same docamenS the following spoiling occurs :— Playne for Plain. ^LoyaLL for Loyal. Ordeyne ,, Ordain. I WiTTncss,, Witness. Examj'ne ,, Examine. < SeaLL ,, Seal. Mynestres,, Miaisters. StabuLL „ Stable. Ccrtayne ,, Certain. ^GeneraLL „ General. Saudiours ,, Soldiers. As to the records named, between 1417-16G7 (taken from the Statute Boek), the fact is that only a copy of these are in the Rolls Office. In 16G7, Charles, 8th Earl of Derby, and tlie Tyu- vrakl (Statute Book, p. 134) ordered that such of the Statutes and customs as are necessary for the government of the Isle and worthy to be translated into laws should bo wrote faire into a book, &c. This appears to have been done. The first original Statute, 1673, follows iu the same book, which also contains several other original subse- quent Statutes. But even in the copy 1122-1667 iiMan is frequently spelt with one N. 1577, p. 52, 53. 1610, p. 76. 1593, p. 62. 1645, p. 100. 1594, p. 65, 66. &c., &c. In the copy of the sajne early Statutes, 1417-1430, in the Sloaue collection, British Museum (IMac- kenzie, p. 71-79), Man is spelt with one n. I will not detain you further, except just to show you my proposition is not a new one, for in the Manx Note Book, vol. 1, p. 74, the follow ing occurs :— Mann and Man :— I shall be glad to know what authority you liave for the spelling](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22280431_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
