Ahead of the times
FEW people know the Isle of Man is a cradle of democracy that puts much bigger nations to shame. Its parliament, the High Court of Tynwald, is thought to be the oldest continuous parliamentary assembly in the world.
‘After the Battle of Hastings, in 1079, a Norse mercenary set up a new kingdom, called Mann and the Isles, which lasted till 1268,’ says Edmund Southworth, director at Manx National Heritage. ‘Many of the island’s property arrangements and legal systems were established in this period.’
Most Vikings and Scandinavians, he continues, had meeting places called Tings. ‘When the Derby family was given the Isle of Man in 1405, they accepted that Tynwald had been in operation on the Isle for several centuries and they did not change it. The Althing (parliament) in Iceland was established earlier, but it ceased to operate in 1800 for 44 years. Tynwald, by contrast, has operated continuously in some form for about 1,000 years.’
Traditionally, parliament members used to meet on Tynwald Hill at St John’s and they still gather there once a year on July 5, Tynwald Day, in an open-air meeting. During the ceremony, the two parliamentary chambers (the House of Keys and the Legislative Council) hear petitions and proclaim new laws—no Tynwald act is valid unless it’s promulgated at St John’s within 18 months of its approval.
Denne historien er fra August 19, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 19, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
