February 1, Laa'l Breeshey "Bridget's Feast-day," when the festival of this famous Irish saint was celebrated. A parish church, a nunnery, and no less than seven of the ancient keeills or cells are named after her in the Isle of Man, where she seems to have been a great favourite. An old custom on this day was to gather rushes, and standing with them on the threshold, to invite St. Bridget to come and lodge there that night, saying "Brede, Brede, tar gys my thie, tar dys thie ayms noght. Foshil jee yn dorrys da Brede, as lhig da Brede cheet stiagh."
"Bridget, Bridget, come to my house, come to my house to-night, open the door to Bridget, and let Bridget come in." After these words were repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of a carpet or bed for her. It is said also that straw was sometimes used, instead of rushes.
A similar custom is practised in some of the other Sodor Isles," The mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats and dress it up in woman's apparel, put it in a large basket and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Briid's bed, and then the mistress and servants cry three times, 'Briid is come, Briid is welcome.'
This they do just before going to bed, and when they rise in the morning, they look among the ashes expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there, which, if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and a prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen."
There were various weather sayings with regard to this day, thus:
Laa'l Breeshey bane,
Dy chooilley yeeig lane.
Bridget's Feast-day white, every ditch full.
i.e., If snowy on St. Bridget's day, there will be a wet mild spring.
Choud as hig y shell ny-gah-ghreinney stiagh Laa'l Breeshey, hig y sniaghtey roish Laa Boayldyn. "As long as the sunbeam comes in on Bridget's Feast-day, the snow comes before May Day."
i.e., If mild on St. Bridget's day, there will be a cold spring.
February 2nd - The festival of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Candlemas-day, called in Manx Laa'l Moore ny Gawne, "Mary's Feast-day of the Candle," seems, since St. Bridget has been forgotten, to have taken the place of the festival of the Irish saint, as the prognostics founded on the state of the weather on this day are practically identical with those derived from St. Bridget's festival. There is a universal superstition throughout Christendom that good weather on this day indicates a long continuance of winter and a bad crop, and that its being foul is, on the contrary, a good omen. Sir Thomas Gawne, in his Vulgar Errors, quotes a Latin distich expressive of this idea:
Si sol splendescat Maria purificante,
Major erit glacies past festum quam fuit aute,
Of which the Scotch version is:
If Candlemass day be dry and fair,
The half o winter's to come and mair;
If Candlemass day be wet and foul,
The half o' winter's gane at Yule.
The Manx proverb corresponding with this conveys a caution to the farmers:
Laa'l Moirrey ny gianle,
Lieh foddyr as lieh traagh.
"Candlemas-day (or Mary's Feast-day of the Candle), half straw and half hay." i.e., In the probable event of a mild Candlemas, half the stock of fodder should still be unconsumed, as much wintry weather will probably follow. Shrove Tuesday, in Manx Oie Ynnyd, "Eve of the Fast," seems to have been observed in the Isle of Man in much the same way as in England. It was formerly the custom to have sollaghan, which is made of oatmeal and gravy, for dinner on this day instead of at breakfast as usual, while the supper consisted of meat and pancakes. The following Manx saying is, we suppose, a warning against relying on the continuance of such sumptuous fare:
Ec shibber Oie Ynnyd my vees dty volg lane;
My jig Laa Caisht yiow traisht son sken.
"At Shrove-Tuesday supper if thy belly be full;
Before Easter-day thou mayest fast (hunger) for that."
Chapter 6 - Folklore of the Isle of Man, A.W.Moore 1891[From Folklore of the Isle of Man, A.W.Moore, 1891]
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