dipper population has declined due to the pollution of some rivers by mining, but the good news is that the fish are returning, so perhaps the dippers will follow.
The coast provides two very different kinds of habitat. Where there are high cliffs the rocky ledges are occupied by colonies of seabirds. The dominant seabird is the herring gull, as the footpath waymark verifies, but there are other gulls and auks. Fulmar, kittiwake, guillemot, cormorant and shag all have their favourite ledges. Razorbill and puffin like to be close to the water, but the black-headed gull turns up everywhere.
The strip of land between the field edge and the cliff not only holds the footpath but is the territory of dunnock, robin, wren and stonechat. I had never seen the stonechat before I camped on Raad ny Foillan. I heard a call, ‘Tea, Jack, Jack’, and on a gorse bush not a metre away was this lovely little bird. It has a black head, a white collar and a chestnut breast.
The sandy heaths of the Ayres are the nesting place of the little tern, the common tern, oystercatcher, ringed plover and curlew.
The greatest gathering of birds is on the intertidal mud flats, where each tide invites the waders to a banquet – oystercatchers, curlew, lapwing, golden plover, ringed plover, dunlin, sanderling, redshank – and the choughs, ducks and gulls join in too. Summer visitors can be seen resting and feeding. Sandwich terns, the red-breasted merganser and the Arctic skua have been recorded breeding on the island recently.
As you enjoy watching the birds, just appreciate that it is their habitat we are visiting and it has been our pleasure.
Grey Atlantic seal
Mammals
The Isle of Man has few native wild mammals, yet they well represent the different habitats to be found on or around the island.
Common and grey seals frequent the rocky inlets of the coast. The grey seal is often to be seen basking on the rocks. It is an inquisitive creature and is likely to follow you along the coast. I have been under its scrutiny many times as I walked Raad ny Foillan. Basking sharks, huge but gentle, plankton-eating creatures, often play in the clear waters off Port Erin and the surrounding coast.
The pygmy shrew frequents the fields and hedgerows. Its Manx name, Thollog Faiyr, literally translated means ‘the grass louse’. The stoat is common both in number and legend. If anyone kills a stoat it is said that revenge will soon follow.
There are three kinds of bat native to the island – the long eared, the natterers and the pipistrelle.
On the moors and mountains brown and mountain hares are often seen. The Manx name for the hare is mwaagh.
The largest native wild mammal was the Irish ‘elk’, a giant deer now extinct. It was a formidable creature standing 6 feet high with a 12-foot span of antlers. Skeletons of the elk found on the island are on exhibition in the Manx and Leeds museums. It is said that the animal’s ghost can still be seen roaming the eastern glens.
The other animals on the island have been introduced, some so long ago that they have earned the right to be called Manx. The Loaghtan sheep was introduced from Scandinavia, its wool producing warm clothing in the times of the Vikings. The word loaghtan is a combination of two Manx words – lugh, meaning ‘mouse’ or ‘sheep’, and dhone, meaning ‘brown’. It is a small, agile breed, and a flock owned by the Manx National Heritage roam free on the clifftop pastures of Maughold Head. The Manx cat possesses only a tuft of hair where other cats have a tail. It was probably introduced from the mainland of Europe, where other tailless cats are known to occur.
The four-horned Loaghtan sheep
The rabbit was introduced, but hedgehogs, mice and rats arrived by accident.
Of passing interest are the mainland animals which did not arrive. There are no badgers, foxes, moles or water rats. There are no snakes. Only the common and sand lizards represent the reptiles. No toads or newts are to be found, and it is only recently that frogs have become established.
The Isle of Man sadly has no squirrels, but perhaps, as the red squirrel is being so hard-pressed in the UK, a sanctuary may be offered one day.
History
Today the lives of the Islanders are closely tied to the influence of their forefathers. Their way of life makes the Isle of Man unique, and its people justly proud of their rich heritage.
As I walked Raad ny Foillan I was very much aware that I was walking hand in glove with history – seeing the same scenes Celtic eyes had seen, treading the same paths Pictish hunters had trod, resting on the same stones where Palaeolithic man once sat, and gazing out to sea as they had gazed. Raad ny Foillan continually passes sites where much of Manx history occurred. There are remains of dwellings, magnificent castles, places of worship and graves of Manx forefathers. Many excellent books and booklets, written by notable authorities (see Appendix B for the Select Bibliography), recount the history of the island in detail. Below is a brief historical summary to enable the walker to recognise and appreciate the features along the coastline in the context of the island’s history.
Neolithic stone circle, Mull Hill
The earliest archaeological remains are of Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) peoples dating from 2000BC. They were hunters and gatherers using flint tools. Although many such tools have been found in Britain, only one has been found on Man, discovered in the soil of Rushen Abbey.
The next arrivals were the Neolithic Picts. They were a small, swarthy-skinned people, bold seafarers whose dwellings have been found on most coasts of Western Europe. Some settled in the Isle of Man, where they followed a prosperous lifestyle as herdsmen and farmers, exercising their bold spirits by raiding Roman Britain and earning the title of the dreaded ‘Painted Men’.
The Picts lived in pit dwellings. A circular hole was dug in the ground and the earth from the pit piled around it. Suitable poles were anchored in the earth wall and sloped inwards to form a roof. Branches were woven between the poles and covered with a thatch of reeds, leaving a smoke hole in the centre.
During the construction of Ronaldsway Airport a fine Pictish dwelling was discovered. Many artefacts, now in the Manx museum, led to the opinion that the family were ‘farmers, happy, prosperous and well settled’. A stone axe found in the Ronaldsway dwelling was made at the Pike o’ Stickle axe ‘factory’ in Langdale, in the English Lake District. Five stone plaques were also found at Ronaldsway, the like of which have not been discovered elsewhere in the British Isles. The largest one is oval, 3 inches long, as thin as a penny, and contains chevron and diamond patterns. Its use remains a mystery.
The Picts lived in groups or clans, the bala being the clan or family territory. The many place names beginning with Balla merely mean ‘the farm of’, followed by the owner’s name or the name descriptive of the territory. As time passed the island became divided into a north and south territory – the north comprising the sheadings of Glenfaba, Michael and Ayre; the south those of Garff, Middle and Rushen. These Pictish names are still in use today.
The arrival of the Celts around 200BC was a most important event in the island’s history. The Celts arrived in Britain during the
