derives his, in its attested forms of Manawyᵭan and Manannán, which would seem to mark an epoch when he had become famous in connection with the Isle of Man. The name Manaw or Manann, however, was not confined to the island, as it is found fixed also in the neighbourhood of the Forth, where it survives in Clackmannan on the north and in Slamannan Moor on the south of that river.[1] As to Manannán's attributes, no story is known to associate him with the deluge; but he was regarded as a god of the sea, and we read of him in Cormac's Glossary,[2] as follows: "Manannan mac Lir, a celebrated merchant who was in the Isle of Mann. He was the best pilot that was in the west of Europe. He used to know by studying the heavens [i. e. using the sky], the period which would be the fine weather and the bad weather, and when each of these two times would change. Inde Scoti et Brittones eum deum vocaverunt maris, et inde filium maris esse dixerunt, i.e. mac lir, 'son of sea.' Et de nomine Manannan the Isle of Mann dictus est." To this euhemeristic account of the god, O'Donovan has added the following note: "He was son of Allot, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann chieftains. He was otherwise called Orbsen, whence Loch Orbsen now Lough Corrib. He is still vividly rememberd in the mountainous district of Derry and Donegal, and is said to have an enchanted castle in Lough Foyle. According to the traditions in the Isle of Man and the Eastern counties of Leinster this first man of Man rolled on three legs like a wheel
- ↑ Celtic Britain, p. 154.
- ↑ The Stokes-O'Donovan ed. p. 114.
Manavja; and Manawyᵭan testifies to a longer one, Manawyᵭ, for an early Manavija.
