Keys and Cuffs

Keys and Cuffs
The Inside Stories
The History of the Isle of Man / Manx Prisons
1417 – 2008

This is the first comprehensive history of the Manx Penal System covering the 500 year period of the use of the Islands two castles as prisons, prior to the building of a purpose built prison in Douglas, the Island’s New Capital in 1891. This prison was closed in 2008 and prisoners moved to a new £40 Million prison at Jurby in the North of the Island.

The book, written by N. D. Quilliam – a former Manx prison officer, gives a detailed account of social history and daily routines. The 16 chapters and appendix cover all aspects including a detailed article on the last execution in 1872. It has 45 photographs, maps and letters, including one from the Hang Man.

Crime has been with us since man was first created, and unfortunately will continue, but the prison system helps to reduce crime. This book gives you the insights to a life behind bars!

Ellan Vannin

Have you ever heard the poem entitled Ellan Vannin by Eliza Craven Green? It’s a lovely poem written in the 1800s that embodies the beauty of the Island and has sometimes been referred to as the alternative Manx national anthem.

When the summer day is over
And the busy cares have flown,
Then I sit beneath the starlight
With a weary heart. alone,
And there rises like a vision,
Sparkling bright in nature’s glee,
My own dear Ellan Vannin
With its green hills by the sea.

Then I hear the wavelets murmur
As they kiss the fairy shore,
Then beneath the em’rald waters
Sings the mermaid as of yore,
And the fair Isle shines with beauty
As in youth it dawned on me,
My own dear Ellan Vannin
With its green hills by the sea.

Then mem’ries sweet and tender
Come like music’s plaintive flow,
Of someone in Ellan Vannin
That lov’d me long ago,
So I give with tears and blessings,
And my fondest thoughts to thee,
My own dear Ellan Vannin
With its green hills by the sea.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. If you’re musically inclined you can find the words of Ellan Vannin set to music by J. Townsend on the Manx Notebook.

Kind thanks to Peter Killey from ManxScenes for the lovely photos of the Isle of Man shown alongside the poem.