days used a great deal of it; every house used to have an old crock somewhere outside the house where they kept the "ruooin gort," as it was styled in Manx. At that time they manufactured their own cloth and flannel, and the women spun the woollen yarn, and there was always some oil mixed with the wool before it was carded and spun. The women knitted the stockings with oily thread, and the "chimer-lye" with some warm water was the thing for taking the oil out of the long flanncl webs and stockings manufactured at home.
I remember when we made our own herring nets, we had shuttles made of the wood of older[illegible] trees or "trammon," and they were white when new, but we steeped them in the "chimer-lye" pot, which turned them as red as if they were painted.
The "foaddan" were the long chips of fir tipped with brimstone, which served as a match to light the fire. On the Mull and in Bradda, as well as in many other places over the Island, the people had their kiln, which was fired for drying the corn and grain.
The nearest school was at the Parish Church, and over two miles from Cregneish. I mean the school where the children were learning writing and ciphering. There was an old woman at Port St. Mary who kept a school for infants. We knew very little English at Cregneish in those days. The fishermen were all very fond of the Manx ale or "Jough,"
