Ellan Vannin (poem)

Ellan Vannin (the Manx-language name of the Isle of Man) is a poem and song, often referred to as "the alternative Manx national anthem", the words of which were written by Eliza Craven Green in 1854 and later set to music by someone called either J. Townsend or F. H. Townend (sources vary).

The Manx-language name Ellan Vannin is commonly mispronounced in renditions of the song, including in the Bee Gees version, since written Manx uses an orthography based on Welsh rather than Irish/Scots gaelic, which does not accurately transcribe the "ʲə" sound found in the word for "island" in spoken Manx Gaelic. The correct pronunciation is [ˈɛlʲan ˈvanɪnʲ].

Poem

English-language version

When the summer day is over

And its busy cares have flown,

I sit beneath the starlight

With a weary heart, alone,

Then rises like a vision,

Sparkling bright in nature's glee,

My own dear Ellan Vannin

With its green hills by the sea.

Then I hear the wavelets murmur

As they kiss the fairy shore,

Then beneath the em'rald waters

Sings the mermaid as of yore,

And the fair Isle shines with beauty

As in youth it dawned on me,

My own dear Ellan Vannin

With its green hills by the sea.

Then mem'ries sweet and tender

Come like music's plaintive flow,

Of the hearts in Ellan Vannin

That lov'd me long ago,

And I give with tears and blessings,

My own fondest thoughts to thee,

My own dear Ellan Vannin

With its green hills by the sea.

Manx Gaelic (Gaelg) version

Source:

Tra ta'n laa souree ec jerrey

As imneaghyn lhie ersooyl

mish my hoie fo ny rollageyn,

slane my lomarcan as skee

Eisht ta girree gollrish ashlish,

Loandyr gial as dooghyssagh

she oo hene o Ellan Vannin,

Lesh croink glassey rish y cheayn.

Ta mee clashtyn tharmane tonnyn

Myr t'ad nish paagey yn traie ;

As heese dowin fo'n ushtey geayney

Kiaulleeagh foast ta'n ven-varrey ;

As ta'n Ellan soilshean aalin

Myr ve ayns my aegid hene ;

My heer deyr, shenn Ellan Vannin

Lesh croink glassey rish y cheayn.

Nish ta smooinaght millish meiyghagh

Cheet myr kiaulleeaght gys my chree ;

Jeh ny cree'ghyn va ayns Mannin

Foddey roie hug graih da mee ;

Ta mee coyrt lesh jeir as bannaght

Nish my smooinaght share dhyt hene ;

My heer deyr, shenn Ellan Vannin,

Lesh croink glassey rish y cheayn.

The Bee Gees version

The Bee Gees recorded a version for Isle of Man charities. They also included the song in their world-tour as a show of pride in the place of their birth. It was recorded in 1997, and released and re-released as a single, 1998–1999.

See also

• Isle of Man
• Music of the Isle of Man

External links

• Manx Notebook - Music and Lyrics for Ellan Vannin by Eliza Craven Green.