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William Kinrade

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William Kinrade (1769-1854) was a writer of Manx carols who lived at Ballachrink, Maughold, in the Isle of Man.

Kinrade is one of the most significant writers of Manx carols (or ‘carvels’), in an era when these are now considered to be the only surviving source of literature in Manx. To him have been attributed a number of carvels, including the following:

  • Lhig da’n slane seihll cur clashtyn / Let the whole world harken
  • O uss vriw bioee as merriu / Thou judge of living and dead
  • The Question-and-Answer carol.
  • The Carol of Warning and Example to Young Men
  • She corrym rish yn earish shoh
  • Cre'n stayd va dooinney hoshiaght
  • Carval Noah / Noah's Carol
  • Carval Susannah / Susannah's Carol

The majority of these carvels were most notably published in Carvalyn Gailkagh (Manx Carols) by A. W. Moore in 1891. However, ‘Lhig da’n slane seihll cur clashtyn‘ (‘Let the whole world harken’) had been published earlier, in 1870. It is believed that this carvel was sung to the tune of ‘Mish ta’n Billey Roauyr,’ as the tune's title appears to be a corruption of the first line of the second verse: ‘T’eh mysh ny biljyn reurey‘ (‘He is digging about the trees’).

A translation of Kinrade's poetry has most recently appeared in Manannan’s Cloak: An Anthology of Manx Literature by Robert Corteen Carswell:

Kirk Maughold, where it is likely that Kinrade's carvels were first sung
Lhig da’n slane seihll cur clashtyn / Let the whole world give hearing
Shiuish king lheeah, chyndaa-Jee
Bee’n traa eu leah ec kione
Ny kirp eu ta gaase appee
Dy hyndaa reesht gys joan
Nagh bee shiu lhiggey shaghey
Ta’n tra dy siragh roie
Yn noid ta still er arrey
As kiarit shiu y stroie.
 You grey-headed ones, turn
Your time will soon be at an end
Your bodies are growing ripe
To turn again to dust
Don’t be procrastinating
Time is running hurriedly
The enemy is still on watch
And intent on destroying you.

Notes

  1. 'Manx Carvals and Carval Books, with Notes and some of the MSS' by Cryil I. Paton, in Proceedings of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Vol. II No. 4, 1926
  2. Mannanan’s Cloak: An Anthology of Manx Literature by Robert Corteen Carswell, London: Francis Boutle Publishers, 2010, pp.101-106. (translation by Robert Corteen Carswell)

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