Laa ruggyree sonney dhyt, Mona Douglas

Recordings from seventies released

Today marks the birth of Mona Douglas, widely considered to be a stalwart of the Manx language revival.

She was born on 18 September 1898.

But why is Mona Douglas considered so important to Manx culture?

Dr Chloe Woolley is from Culture Vannin:

To mark the birthday of Mona Douglas, Culture Vannin has released an hour's-worth of previously unheard recordings from 1974.

The audio is available to stream on the organisation's website.

When Dutch journalist, Wieky Beens, visited the Island that year, she met the 75-year-old.

At the end of her visit, Wieky was invited to an evening of Manx music, song and dance at Douglas’ home in the hills above Laxey.

The newly-released recordings are of musical parties and gatherings recorded by Barone Nikolai Giovannelli at Mona Douglas’ house at Ballaragh, which were then sent to Wieky via a cassette tape in the post.

You can hear Dr Woolley speak more about the release here, beginning with an explanation of the link with the Netherlands:

Earlier this year, Wieky Beens returned to the Isle of Man for the first time since the 1970s.