And he had to acknowledge that he could not, so the Deemster told him to he thankful for what he had got. I heard of Harry Karran, who was much bigger than the common, run of men in the Island, and very powerful, but a very quiet man that would not harm anyone. There was another big man in the parish called "Thommy Howlym Whither" (that was either his real name or nickname), and he was very quarrelsome, and a great bully. Once Howlym quarrelled with Harry on meeting him in a public house, but Karran would not fight with anyone, and the others would not allow Howlym to hit him, so he had to content himself until it got late, and near shutting up time. Then Howlym went before Karran, and lay by the hedge up Fistard road to tackle Karran when there would be no one to defend him. Karran was no boxer, though very strong, so when Howlym got up and ran at him, taking him by surprise, he caught hold of Howlym and squeezed him that he fainted, and left him on the road. He came to himself after a while, but he never got over the squeeze, and did not live many years afterwards. He had a very little wife for such a big man, but I heard a little woman say once that "a very little crab could lie under a big stone." All the big Karrans are gone. The trade of the old Karrans was quarrying lintels at Spanish Head. They had a rope ladder going to the bottom of the cliff. There was an old woman living in the village called Etty and "Black-
Page:Skeealyn Aesop a Selection of Aesops Fables Translated Into Manx-Gaelic Together with a Few Poems.djvu/99
Appearance