Mannin (journal)

Mannin: Journal of Matters Past and Present relating to Mann was an academic journal for the promotion of Manx culture, published biannually between 1913 and 1917 by the Manx Society, Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh. It was edited by Sophia Morrison, with the assistance of William Cubbon.

Mannin was the society journal of the Manx Language Society, Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh, (which changed its name to "The Manx Society" in 1913, to distance themselves from the apparent concern with language only). The journal took forward the aims of the Society laid out by Arthur William Moore at its establishment in 1899:

"Though called the Manx Language Society, it should, I think, by no means confine its energies to the promotion of an interest in the language, but extend them to the study of Manx history, the collection of Manx music, ballads, carols, folklore, proverbs, place-names, including the old field names which are rapidly dying out. In a word, to the preservation of everything that is distinctively Manx, and, above all, to the cultivation of a national spirit".

The Manx Society was created very much within the Pan-Celtic wave of revivals of Celtic national identities during the 19th and early 20th centuries. "Manx Nationalism" was expressed by Morrison as a key aim of both the society and of Mannin in particular. However, unlike the Celtic developments in Ireland and elsewhere at that time, the society and Mannin displayed the Manx ease with a dual identity, as both Manx and British, which was borne out in the content of the journal, such as in the articles in support of The Great War.

Mannin was published by The Manx Society, by L. G. Meyer in Douglas. Its first issue was released in May 1913. The expenses of the publication were met by Morrison, who had inherited wealth from her parents, her father having been a successful merchant in Peel.

In order that the journal and its cause of Manx Nationalism should be taken seriously, great care was taken with the publication, including printing on good quality yellow paper ("yellow is supposed to be the Celtic colour", commented Morrison), and a leading artist commissioned to do the illustrations. The artist selected eventually was Archibald Knox, although this was only due to the fact that Morrison's first choice, Frank Graves, had turned the commission down. Morrison was unhappy with Knox's illustration of the first issue's front cover as he illustrated it with birds rather than the Viking ship suggested by Morrison.

...
Wikipedia