Isle of Man

Here's a great cover with nice, large stamps from the Isle of Man!


This cover has a bit of a war theme to it as the stamps were issued to commemorate wars, battles, and those lost in the line of duty.

The first, leftmost stamp shows a depiction of the rescue of the Lusitania by the wanderer, a fishing boat. The RMS Lusitania was an ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line and built by John Brown and Company on 7 May 1915 and sank in eighteen minutes, eight miles off the of Clydebank, Scotland. She was torpedoed by German U-boat U-20Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and was instrumental in bringing the United States into World War I. The sinking of the Lusitania was a coup for anti-German sentiment and caused great controversy.

More information on the Lusitania and its terrible fate here and here.

The next two stamps to the right are from a 4v set issued in 1981 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Royal British Legion.

The upper stamp pays homage to Major Robert Henry Cain VC (2 January 1909 – 2 May 1974), a Manx recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Cain grew up on the Isle of Man and joined the Territorial Army in 1928. After working overseas he was given an emergency commission into the Army in 1940. He saw action during the Invasion of Sicily in 1943 and again during the Battle of Arnhem the following year. During the battle Major Cain's company was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. Cain continually exposed himself to danger while leading his men and personally dispatched as much enemy armour as possible. Despite sustaining several injuries he refused medical attention and for his gallantry he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The lower stamp shows the Festival of Remembrance. This annual Festival, held at the Royal Albert Hall, commemorates and honours all those who have lost their lives in conflicts, and is both a moving and enjoyable evening. There is a matinee (2pm) and an evening performance - both are exactly the same except that the Royal Family attend only the evening performance.

The stamp on the far right shows one of six stamps issued to to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the end of World War 1 and the personal contributions of a selection of local soldiers.

This particular stamps features Pte Joseph Killey was born in Ramsey, the son of a carpenter. In 1915 he enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion and was soon serving with them in Belgium. He was killed in action on July 8, 1915 during the Battle of Boesinghe where British troops had taken over a stretch of front line from the French.

See the entire set here.

Ellan Vannin

The Isle of Man, or Mann, is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical center of the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom, but foreign relations, defense, and ultimate good-governance of the Isle of Man are the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom.

The island became a Celtic-Norse community in 979. This has left a legacy ranging from the Tynwald parliament to many local place names. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of England and Scotland, the Manx came under the feudal over-lordship of the English Crown. The lordship revested to the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing jurisdiction.

Tynwald, the island's parliament, was nominally founded in AD 979. It is arguably the oldest continuous parliament in the world. The annual ceremonial meeting in July on Tynwald Day, the island's national day, continues to be held at Tynwald Hill, where titles are announced and a brief description of the new laws enacted by Tynwald during the previous year is given.

The origin of the name Isle of Man is unclear. In the Manx Gaelic language the Isle of Man is known as Ellan Vannin, where ellan is a Gaelic word meaning 'island'. The earliest form of 'Man' is Manu or Mana giving the genitive name Manann leading to the word Mannin, to which a 'h' is added when used after the feminine word Ellan, giving Mhannin. As 'mh' is pronounced like a 'v' in Goidelic languages, in modern Manx the name becomes Ellan Vannin. Mannin is the genitive of Mannan, an alternate form of the name of the mythical Manannán mac Lir.

During the period of Julius Caesar as proconsul and his visit to Britain during 55 and 54 BC Caesar referred to the Isle of Man in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico to 'an island called Mona which lies midway across the sea separating Britain from Ireland.'

For centuries, the island's symbol has been its ancient triskelion, a device similar to Sicily's Trinacria: three bent legs, each with a spur, joined at the thigh. The Manx triskelion does not appear to have an official definition; government publications, currency, flags, the tourist authority and others all use different variants. Most, but not all, preserve rotational symmetry, some running clockwise, others anti-clockwise. Some have the uppermost thigh at 12:00, others at 11:30 or 10:00, etc. Some have the knee bent at 90°, some at 60°, some at closer to 120°. Also the degree of ornamentation of the leg wear and spur vary considerably.

The three legs relate directly to the island's motto (adopted late in the symbol's history): Quocunque Jeceris Stabit, traditionally translated from Latin as 'Whithersoever you throw it, it will stand', or 'Whichever way you throw it, it will stand'.

The origin of the 'Three Legs of Man' (as they are usually called) is explained in the Manx legend that Manannan repelled an invasion by transforming into the three legs and rolling down the hill and defeating the invaders.