the type of a national collection, and they possess the further merit that the list is not so long as to be unwieldy, as is the case with those of most countries. The question of their originality will be noticed later on.
The earliest printed proverbs are to be found in the Manx Dictionary of Archibald Cregeen, published in the year 1835. They are interspersed throughout the text, but only the Manx is given, not the English translation. This forms the most important collection extant, and appears to be the basis of all subsequent ones. Cregeen was himself a Manxman, and was in the habit of visiting the homes of the islanders for the purpose of acquiring information as to the Manx language, and in this way no doubt the proverbs were chiefly obtained by him.
The next account in order of date appears in an interesting lecture given by the Rev. T. E. Brown, M.A., when Vice-Principal of King William's College, Isle of Man. Mr. Brown is also a Manxman, and is well known as the author of the spirited poems of "Betsy Lee", "The Doctor", and others in the Anglo-Manx dialect, now made familiar to English readers. The lecture is printed in Mona Miscellany, forming vol. xvi of the Manx Society's publications, published in 1849. In this account only a selection is given of the more interesting of the proverbs, with a description of their meaning and national characteristics.
The third collection is in Mona Miscellany (second series), issued by the same Society in 1873 (vol. xxi). In this both the Manx and English versions are given. Some of the proverbs found in Cregeen are omitted in this work, several probably on account of their indelicacy.
The fourth and most recent collection of Manx proverbs is to be found in Folk-lore of the Isle of Man, by Mr. A. W. Moore, M.A. (1891). The author of this work has supplied a more literal, and therefore better, translation of the proverbs, but has not attempted more than a very general classification.
