Ellan Vannin (the Manx-language name of the Isle of Man) is a poem and song, often referred to as "the alternative Manx national anthem", the words of which were written by Eliza Craven Green in 1854 and later set to music by someone called either J. Townsend or F. H. Townend (sources vary).
The Manx-language name Ellan Vannin is commonly mispronounced in renditions of the song, including in the Bee Gees version, since written Manx uses an orthography based on Welsh rather than Irish/Scots gaelic, which does not accurately transcribe the "ʲə" sound found in the word for "island" in spoken Manx Gaelic. The correct pronunciation is [ˈɛlʲanˈvanɪnʲ] .
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The Bee Gees recorded a version for Isle of Man charities. They also included the song in their world-tour as a show of pride in the place of their birth. It was recorded in 1997, and released and re-released as a single, 1998–1999.
The Isle of Man or Mann, is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Manx people, a Celtic ethnic group. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The government of the United Kingdom is responsible for the Isle of Man's military defence and represents it abroad, but the Isle of Man still has a separate international identity.
Manx, also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people.
The culture of the Isle of Man is influenced by its Celtic and, to a lesser extent, its Norse origins, though its close proximity to the United Kingdom, popularity as a UK tourist destination, and recent mass immigration by British migrant workers has meant that British influence has been dominant since the Revestment period. Recent revival campaigns have attempted to preserve the surviving vestiges of Manx culture after a long period of Anglicisation, and significant interest in the Manx language, history and musical tradition has been the result.
Literature in the Manx language, which shares common roots with the Gaelic literature and Pre-Christian mythology of Ireland and Scotland, is known from at least the early 16th century, when the majority of the population still belonged to the Catholic Church in the Isle of Man.
Manx English, or Anglo-Manx, is the historic dialect of English spoken on the Isle of Man, though today in decline. It has many borrowings from Manx, a Goidelic language, and it differs widely from any other variety of English, including dialects from other areas in which Celtic languages are or were spoken, such as Welsh English and Hiberno-English.
Cregneash or Cregneish is a small village and tourist destination in the extreme south-west of the Isle of Man, about 1 mi (2 km) from Port Erin. Most of the village is now part of a living museum run by Manx National Heritage. There are also a number of private homes in the village, but their external appearance is controlled to maintain an older look. The village was also home to prominent Manx language speakers, Edward Faragher and Ned Maddrell.
Thomas Brian Stowell, also known as Brian Mac Stoyll, was a Manx radio personality, linguist, physicist, and author. He was formerly Yn Lhaihder to the Parliament of the Isle of Man, Tynwald. He is considered one of the primary people behind the revival of the Manx language.
Mark Hiddesley or Hildesley was an Anglican churchman. He served as vicar of Hitchin in Hertfordshire and later as Bishop of Sodor and Man between 1755 and 1772, where he encouraged Bible translations into Manx.
Eliza S. Craven Green was an English poet, writer, and actress.
The Bible was translated into the Manx language, a Gaelic language related to Irish and Scots Gaelic, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Mona Douglas was a Manx cultural activist, folklorist, poet, novelist and journalist. She is recognised as the main driving force behind the modern revival of Manx culture and is acknowledged as the most influential Manx poet of the 20th century, but she is best known for her often controversial work to preserve and revive traditional Manx folk music and dance. She was involved in a great number of initiatives to revive interest and activity in Manx culture, including societies, classes, publications and youth groups. The most notable and successful of these was Yn Chruinnaght.
Josephine Kermode (1852–1937) was a Manx poet and playwright better known by the pen name "Cushag".
Aeglagh Vannin was a youth group in the Isle of Man whose purpose was the engagement with and revitalisation of Manx language, history and culture. It was established by Mona Douglas in 1931, went through a number of mutations, and faded out in the 1970s. It is best remembered for its central role in the revival of Manx folk dancing.
Kathleen Faragher (1904–1974) was the most significant and prolific Manx dialect writer of the mid twentieth century. She is best known for her poems first published in the Ramsey Courier and collected into five books published between 1955 and 1967. She was also a prolific short story writer and playwright. Her work is renowned for its humour born of a keen observation of Manx characters, and for its evocative portrayal of the Isle of Man and its people.
Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh, also known as the Manx Language Society and formerly known as Manx Gaelic Society, was founded in 1899 in the Isle of Man to promote the Manx language. The group's motto is Gyn çhengey, gyn çheer.
Ruth Keggin is a Manx Gaelic singer-songwriter. She holds degrees from the University of York and the University of Cambridge.
Rinkaghyn Vannin is an important book of 28 Manx dances, mostly collected by Mona Douglas, which was published in 1983 by Sleih gyn Thie.
The Flitter Dance is a traditional dance from the Isle of Man associated with Good Friday. It was collected by Mona Douglas in the 1940s or 50s and is popular among younger Manx dancers today.
Edmund Evans Greaves Goodwin was a Manx language scholar, linguist, and teacher. He is best known for his work First Lessons in Manx that he wrote to accompany the classes he taught in Peel.
The grammar of the Manx language has much in common with related Indo-European languages, such as nouns that display gender, number and case and verbs that take endings or employ auxiliaries to show tense, person or number. Other morphological features are typical of Insular Celtic languages but atypical of other Indo-European languages. These include initial consonant mutation, inflected prepositions and verb–subject–object word order.