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CASTLE-TOWN, to the south (called also Castle-Rushen, from a very ancient but yet entire beautiful castle, in the centre of the town, built of a coarse but very durable marble), is the first town of the island. The old Aristocracy of the Isle of Man lived in and near Castletown. Now the Law Courts are removed to Douglas. The Governor no longer resides at Castletown. Shortly after the introduction of Christianity into England, a band of monks built a monastery on the Isle of Man, pursuing their daily life and training youths, who would spread the new beliefs throughout the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Castletown is part of Malew parish. The Island of Man is one of the nearest and greatest of all those islands, those Irish in those times were called Scots, and Ireland itself was called Scotia major, 3 ye greater Scotland, and it was these Scots yt did inhabit Man. In ye reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, Cambden saith, truly, but presently after these Scots were driven out of all Bnittagh countries and islands by Cuneda, ye grandfather of Maglocunus, whom Guildas, for ye havock he made in those islands, termeth him the Dragon of the Isles; after this came our King Arthur, and after him Edwin, king of Northumbers.
CASTLETOWN, or Balla-Chastal, the capital of the Isle of Man, obtains its name from its clustering round an ancient fortress, standing at the mouth of the Silverburn, on the western side of a deep bay, in the south of the island. St. Russin, from whom the fortress, the neighbouring abbey, and the surrounding sheading, or district, derive their name, was one of the twelve missionary fathers who, along with Saint Columba, settled in Iona, A.D. 563. It possesses two harbours, one in Castletown Bay, the other in Derby-Haven, distant only a mile. Derby-Haven, the best natural harbour in the Isle of Man, is almost land-locked, open only to the north-east winds, to which Castletown Bay is completely closed; thus a landing at, or near to, Castletown, in still water, can be always effected. Presuming that the visitor lands at Castletown itself, on approaching the bay, this is the view.
The Crofts derives from an ancient era when Castletown was a collection of small thatched cottages, huddled on the seaward side of the Castle, and to the north were a number of small crofts and "Hazelcroft" more than probably the oldest house in the .town, dating back many, many, hundreds of years, was a Farm well outside what is now Castletown.
The name of MAN is supposed to refer to its situation to the surrounding kingdoms, from the Saxon word MANG, signifying among. Its ancient heraldic bearing was a Ship; but it is at present, and has been for centuries, Three Legs. It is now said of the Three Legs, that with the toe of the one they spurn at Ireland, with the spur of the other they kick at Scotland, and with the third they bow to England. It is supposed the first inhabitants were British, and that they were succeeded by the Druids till the fourth century, when Christianity was introduced into the Island.
Those who believe in the personality of Odin or Woden, the great warrior and deified hero of the Northern nations, from whom we derive the name of the fourth day of the week, say that he led a tribe of Asiatic Goths from the shores of the Caspian into the north of Europe, driving before him the aboriginal inhabitants of Northern Germany and Scandinavia. This occurred a few years before the Christian era. With regard to the origin of the characters of the Runic alphabet, they have been derived from the Roman, the Celtiberian, the Etruscan, and the Greek. Schiegel expresses his belief that they were introduced amongst the inhabitants of the shores of the Baltic by Phoenician merchants- their introduction into the North overland, and to derive them from Asia Minor.
In clearing the ground for the erection of the church, there are said to have been found coins of Germanicus and Agrippina. The ancient castle of Rushen, occupies a commanding position. The best near view of it is perhaps from the stone bridge at the northern extremity of the harbour. Its resemblance to the Danish castle of Elsinore has been often noted; and of its great antiquity there is no doubt, even should the date 947, fixed upon for its commencement, be incorrect. This date was found on an old oak beam, along with some apparently MæsoGothic characters, in making some repairs in the Governor’s house a few years ago. Anciently at the castle gate were placed three stone sedilia, one for the Governor, and the other two for the Deemsters. In the yeare 1430, Henry Byron, the Lieutenant-Governor, held a court of all the Commons, between the gates, on the Tuesday next after the twentieth day of Christmas.
Here the Governor resides, as do most of the lord's officers; here the Chancery Court is kept every first Thursday of the month; and here also is held the head court, or gaol-delivery, twice a year. This castle is said to have been built by Guttred, king of Man, about the yeare 960; and it is very probable, for about that time the Norwegians began to be troublesome to all places by their piracies. The commanding position of the castle gives to the town a very interesting appearance and antique character, from whatever direction it is approached, but particularly so to the voyager who arrives at it by steamer from Liverpool on a calm summer's eve, when the sunlight streams down upon it through the gorges of the mountains which form the background, at a distance from it westward of from four to six miles, and which rise to a height of from one thousand to nearly sixteen hundred feet above the level of the sea.
The peninsula of Langness (Norse, Lang neese) forms the eastern side of the bay. At the northern extremity of this peninsula, and forming the eastern shore of Derby-Haven, is the Islet of St. Michael, with a small ruined church on it, and a small fort. Near the southern extremity of Langness is a round tower, highly picturesque, and useful as a landmark. On passing Dreswick Point, (another Norse name,) and rounding the Skerranes, the bay of Castletown bursts full upon our view. At its northeastern extremity we just catch sight of the hamlet of Derby-Haven, contiguous to which is the ancient battle-field of Ronaldsway (Norse, Rognvaldsvagr).
The finest of all the Manks historic monuments is Castle Rushen. According to the Chronicle, Robert the Bruce laid siege to it in 1313, when Duncan Macdougall held it against him for more than three weeks. The oldest portions of the existing walls are doubtless the underground chambers of the tower at the entrance. The Keep is of the Edwardian type of concentric castles, as distinguished from the solid square keep of earlier ages; some architectural details point to the middle of the 14th century, but so far neither the exact period nor the builder has been determined. Its height at the entrance is 74 feet, the flag-tower 80 feet from the present surface, which has been filled in to a considerable depth. The thickness of the walls is from 7 to 12 feet. At its northern extremity is a lofty portcullis, passing which one comes to an open quadrangular court, with a well in the centre. Outside, at a short distance is an embattled wall 25 feet in height and 9 feet thick, with several square towers at irregular intervals. Exterior to this was a fosse or moat, now filled up, outside of which is the glacis said to have been added by Cardinal Wolsey, when guardian to Edward, third Earl of Derby. On this were three low round towers or redoubts, of which one remains on the north-west side near the harbour. It is extremely important to mark this point in Manx history, as giving a clue to the real position of the Isle of Man with respect to the crown and constitution of Great Britain. The Isle of Man was plainly at this period not held by the crown of England in right of conquest, nor has it ever since been. It belonged by right of descent from the ancient Norwegian kings to a subject of the King of England.
In the yeare 1164, Somerled assembled a fleet of 160 ships and put in at Renfrew, with the intention of subduing the whole of Scotland. In the yeare 1171, Richard, Earl of Pembroke, sailed to Ireland, and subdued Dublin, with a great part of Ireland. The Scotch, during their tenure of the Island, appear to have been regarded by the Manx with intense feelings of hatred, and these feelings continued long after their expulsion.