''The Deemster'' is a novel by
Hall Caine
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during ...
published in 1887, considered to be the first 'Manx novel'. It was Caine's third novel, the second to be set in the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
and it was his first great success. The plot revolves around the reckless actions of Dan Mylrea and the exile and atonement that follow.
Background
Early in his career, Hall Caine was acting as literary secretary to
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
, and it was he who suggested that he write a novel set on the Isle of Man. However, it was not for another five years that Caine began to work on ''The Deemster''. Having conceived of the plot outline, Caine wrote to Hugh Stowell Brown and then his brother,
T. E. Brown, to get their opinions. On 3 October 1886 Caine wrote to the Manx poet:
I remember that your brother Hugh did something to dissuade me from tackling Manxland in any sort of work. He did not think the readers of novels would find the island at all interesting, and he was sure that the local atmosphere was not such as would attract them. I thought over this a good deal, and decided, I must say, against your brother's judgment. ..In the first place, the island has excellent atmosphere. It has the sea, a fine coast on the west, fine moorland above; it has traditions, folk-talk, folk-lore, a ballad literature, and no end of superstition – and all these are very much its own.
Brown's response on 14 October was blunt on the question of the novel's setting:
It could not possibly be placed in the Isle of Man, ..the stage is inadequate for your romance; ..our story
Our or OUR may refer to:
* The possessive form of " we"
* Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
* Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium
* Our, Jura, a commune in France
* Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...
is strong and vital; but the Isle of Man sinks beneath it. ..And as for an epic – just write the words, 'A Manx Epic' and behold the totally impossible at once![Kenyon]
Caine ignored their advice but did adapt the plot and characters to some of T.E. Brown's suggestions. He also sought the advice of two other Manxmen,
A.W. Moore and Sir James Gell, particularly on the legal background of the novel.
[Allen, p. 187] Having assembled his materials, Caine wrote the novel at his house in
Bexley
Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...
in the space of only seven months,
a feat made possible by his recycling material from his 1885 novella, ''
She's All The World To Me'', in particular the central scene of Ewan's body floating back to shore.
[Allen, p. 188] Caine visited the Isle of Man for a week in August to check the locations of some scenes in the novel and by September the novel was ready to go to the publisher. In financial need, Caine sold the copyright to
Chatto & Windus
Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...
for £150, signing the contract on 27 September 1887.
Unfortunately for Caine, the terms of the contract meant that he did not gain the wealth of royalties when the book became a best-seller upon its release in November. Indeed, in 1921 when Caine wanted to release his Collected Works through a different publisher, he would have to pay £350 to Chatto & Windus for the rights to ''The Deemster''.
Plot
Childhood and youth (I to XVI)
The novel is set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Thorkell Mylrea buys himself into becoming a
Deemster
A Deemster ( gv, briw) is a judge in the Isle of Man. The High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man is presided over by a deemster or, in the case of the appeal division of that court, a deemster and the Judge of Appeal. The deemsters also promu ...
(or judge) on the Isle of Man. He then uses his influence to have his brother, Gilcrist, appointed
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, but Gilcrist disappoints him in being good, pious and beyond bribery. In contrast to their father, the Deemster's children, Ewan and Mona, grow up to become a conscientious and diligent priest and a good, caring woman. In contrast, without a strong hand to admonish him, the Bishop's son, Dan, grows up to become "thoughtless, brave, stubborn", likeable but unreliable. The cousins, Mona and Dan, come to fall in love.
Dan becomes a fisherman, his father funding the purchase of the boat. However, after only one season Dan is in debt due to the amount of time and money he has spent in the pub with his fishermen friends. Dan forges Ewan's name as surety on a loan. When he inevitably defaults on the payments, the Bishop comes to learn of the loan and, although Ewan tries to claim the signature is his, the Bishop casts his son Dan out. Ewan determines that he can no longer accept Dan as a friend, and he asks him to not see his sister, Mona, any more. To cover his shame and to try and hide from his failings, Dan again descends to his boisterous ways.
Crime (XVII to XX)
Dejected and depressed, Dan confounds the ban and goes to see Mona. The Deemster's maid, Kerry, has a vision of Dan in Mona's room, which the Deemster passes on to his son, saying that Dan is having an affair with Mona. Ewan confronts Mona but, through a failure of communication, she "admits" that she has feelings for Dan. Understanding that Mona has been "compromised", Ewan seeks out Dan to revenge her lost honour.
Ewan confronts Dan and they ascend Orris Head, a cliff top over the sea. On the summit, they ensure that neither can get away by tying their two belts buckled together around their waists. They fight with knives until Dan eventually cuts the belt and Ewan falls backwards over the cliff. Ewan dies on the rocks below.
Conviction (XXI to XXXVI)
After collecting Ewan's body and taking it to his fisherman's hut, Dan goes to confess to Mona. She cannot hold the murder of her brother against him, because she loves him. She tells Dan that he must hand himself in to atone for his crime. However, upon returning to the hut, he finds that the crew of his fishing boat have found the body there. In shock he allows himself to be taken with them as they take the body out to sea to dispose of it. However, when they throw the body into the sea, it miraculously escapes its weighted sheet and floats back to shore. This Dan takes as a sign of God's will, and so he steers the ship back to shore. But, once on land and taking a shortcut to the Deemster's house to hand himself in, Dan falls down a mineshaft, from which he is unable to escape until the next morning.
![Kirk Michael IOM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Kirk_Michael_IOM.jpg)
Ewan's body comes ashore and is buried within hours at the Deemster's superstitious bidding. The Bishop is brought various pieces of evidence that show for certain that his son is the perpetrator. The fishermen have meanwhile returned home but, under the suspicion of the coroner, they flee into the mountains.
Having climbed out of the mineshaft, Dan hands himself in to the Deemster in the
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
courthouse, from where he is taken to
Peel Castle
Peel Castle (''Cashtal Phurt ny h-Inshey'' in Manx Gaelic) is a castle in Peel, Isle of Man, Peel on the Isle of Man, originally constructed by Vikings. The castle stands on St Patrick's Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway. It is ...
to await trial. Imprisoned in the castle, Dan refuses his father's offer of escape. However, while sleeping, Dan is abducted by the fishermen, who fear that he will give evidence against their part in the disposal of Ewan's body. They take Dan to a deserted mine in the mountains, where they try Dan and find him guilty of endangering their lives. They sentence Dan to death.
Meanwhile, the Deemster's maid, Kerry, has another vision, of Dan in danger on the mountain. The vision is transferred to Mona and she then sets off with the Deemster's men to the site of the vision. They arrive just in time to save Dan from being shot by the fishermen.
At the trial which follows, the fishermen are set free, as there is not enough evidence against them. As a resident of the Bishop's Barony, Dan is then tried by his own father. The sentence is for Dan to be "cut off from the land of the living", i.e. condemned to exile within the island:
“Henceforth let him have no name among us, nor family, nor kin. When his death shall come, let no man bury him. Alone let him live, alone let him die, and among the beasts of the field let him hide his unburied bones.”
Exile (XXXVII to XLIII)
![The Chasms and the Sugarloaf - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/The_Chasms_and_the_Sugarloaf_-_geograph.org.uk_-_25497.jpg)
Dan travels to the very south of the island, where he takes up a solitary life of hunting, fishing and farming. He progresses through stages of bitterness and loneliness, trying and failing to flee from the sentence through activity and even an attempt to emigrate to Ireland. He makes his home in a hut near
Cregneash
Cregneash or Cregneish ( gv, Creneash) is a small village and tourist destination in the extreme south-west of the Isle of Man, about from Port Erin. Most of the village is now part of a living museum run by Manx National Heritage. There are ...
, and comes to be thought dead by the rest of the island, as two men mistake a homeless person's dead body for his own. Dan becomes increasingly close to nature; and to retain his humanity he takes up speaking again, in the only way that would not endanger his sanity: by repeating the one prayer he remembers, at sunrise and sunset each day on the hill overlooking the village of Cregneash.
Shortly after a period of heavy rain followed by strong sun, there are signs of distress on the island: fishing boats do not put out to sea, carts do not go to market, people are ascending to the mountains. Then a storm causes a shipwreck, and a survivor seeks refuge in Dan's hut. As he comes in and out of consciousness, the man tells Dan that he is a priest from Ireland come to help stop the
sweating sickness
Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning ...
which grips the island. Before the priest dies, Dan promises that he will take the priest's place and go to the Bishop to instruct the people how to halt the sickness.
Atonement (XLIV to XLV)
Dan, taken for the Irish priest, directs the people of the west and north of the island how to drive out the dampness that causes the sickness. Dan is called to his dying uncle's bedside, where the former Deemster admits his sin of having driven Ewan to the confrontation with Dan; only after this he realises Dan's true identity. He goes to meet his father and they are reconciled. With the sickness defeated, Dan returns to his hut near Cregneash without having seen Mona, preferring solitude to the new-found adulation of the Manx people. However, by this time he has fallen ill and is close to death when Mona arrives, having followed him south with the official invitation to become Deemster. At last they are reunited, and she spends his last few minutes with him as he says his prayer once more, with her help, ending by asking God to "deliver us from evil, Amen."
Publication and reception
Between May and November 1887 the novel was serialised weekly in the ''Dundee Evening Telegraph'' as ''The Doomster or Cut off from the people'' and in the ''Sheffield Weekly Telegraph'' as ''The Deemster: A Romance of the Purple Island''. The novel became an enormous success upon its release in November 1887, so much so that
Punch Magazine
''Punch, or The London Charivari'' was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin ...
was soon to dub it "The Boomster".
There were to be more than 50 editions of the book in English, as well as translations into French, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Spanish, Finnish and Czech.
The book was well received in the press, being praised for attributes such as its "childlike purity, in its passionate simplicity".
Upon Caine's first visit to America in 1895, the American press commented on the novel that "By its setting in the Isle of Man it opened up a new domain in literature as surely as
Scott,
Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
and
Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
had in their day."
After an initial period of apparent ignorance of the novel, the Manx audience became aware of it and was in "uproar".
The tone of this is perhaps shown by the former Bishop of the island noting that, with regard to this and Caine's next novel, ''
The Manxman
''The Manxman'' is a 1929 British silent romance film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, Carl Brisson and Malcolm Keen. The film is based on a popular 1894 romantic novel '' The Manxman'' by Hall Caine, which had previousl ...
'', "my soul revolts from such a travesty of Island life.” In contrast, T. E. Brown, having previously advised Caine against setting the novel on the island, came to refer to the book as "little short of a masterpiece".
Your story fits the Isle of Man like a lid to a box. ..I have but to lift the alabaster box of precious ointment, and up leaps the genuine Manx perfume, so that the house is filled with the savour thereof. ..Whether it's the blood in you, or the poet and diviner, you know all about it, you need not that any should tell you concerning Man. for you know what is Man, and that in two senses.
..'The Deemster' will live in the literature of the English nation, their own descendants abashed and wondering, and asking what their fathers meant by an indifference so stupid and so unaccountable. Of course I can see that the year 1887 must always be an epoch in Manx history, the year 'The Deemster’ was published.
The novel also brought adoration and endorsement from the leading writers and public figures of the day.
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
, for instance, wrote an introduction to a later edition of the novel.
Caine's fellow contemporary novelist,
George Gissing
George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include ''The Nether World'' (1889), ''New Grub ...
read the novel in February 1888 and called it "better than I anticipated...some really strong romantic writing in it...feeble characterization". In August 1902
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
made an unannounced visit to the Isle of Man to have Hall Caine show him the locations of the novel, such as Bishopscourt.
Critical concerns about the novel, when expressed, tended to concentrate on the perceived negativity or dark side of the novel.
This is shown in a letter written to Caine by
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
on 15 March 1888:
For a long time past, I have read nothing in contemporary fiction that approaches what you have done here. ..When you next take up your pen, will you consider a little whether your tendency to dwell on what is grotesque and violent in human character does not require some discipline? ..your power as a writer sometimes misleads you, as I think, into forgetting the value of contrast. The grand picture which your story presents of terror and grief wants relief. Individually and collectively, there is variety in the human lot. We are no more continuously wretched than we are continuously happy. Next time, I want more humour, ..More breaks of sunshine in your splendid cloudy sky will be a truer picture of nature-and will certainly enlarge the number of your admiring readers.
Locations
![Kirk Michael beach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Kirk_Michael_beach._Isle_of_Man._-_geograph.org.uk_-_39789.jpg)
*
Bishop's Court, Michael: The home of the Bishop, Gilcrist Mylrea, and Dan's childhood home.
* Ballamona Farm: The sites of the two Mylrea family homes. This may be based upon the farm Ballamona Mooar, located 6 km NE of Kirk Michael, a short distance from The Cronk on the edge of the
Curraghs
The Curraghs or Ballaugh Curraghs are a wetland in Ballaugh parish in the north-west of the Isle of Man. The area has a rich and varied biodiversity and is also the location of the Curraghs Wildlife Park, a zoo and nature reserve that incorpora ...
and near the sea. It is a short distance from Ballamona Beg, coinciding with Caine's narrative. Ballamona was the name of a treen (historical subdivision of a parish) in that area, and is derived from ''balley ny moaney'' ("farm by the turf").
* The Three Legs of Man pub: Where Dan is found "roistering" with his fishermen friends. This is almost certainly the Mitre pub in Kirk Michael, as is made clear when he passes the pub immediately upon leaving Ewan's funeral in the churchyard nearby.
* 'Orris Head': The location of the fight between Dan and Ewan, where Ewan falls to his death upon the rocks below. This is Orrisdale Head, although the reality is some way from Caine's description: the "head" is on a straight stretch of coastline, and the "summit" is an indistinct rise above the rest of the sandy cliffs along the coastline.
*
Peel Castle
Peel Castle (''Cashtal Phurt ny h-Inshey'' in Manx Gaelic) is a castle in Peel, Isle of Man, Peel on the Isle of Man, originally constructed by Vikings. The castle stands on St Patrick's Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway. It is ...
: The location of Dan's first imprisonment, from where the fishermen abduct him.
* Disused mining hut: The site of the final showdown between Dan and the fishermen, where his life is saved at the last by Mona and the authorities. This disused mine exists and is clearly described in the novel to be where, today, the
Millennium Way
The Millennium Way is a long distance footpath on the Isle of Man. The path is approximately in length, stretching between Castletown and Ramsey.
The footpath was opened in 1979 to mark the thousandth year of the parliament of the Island, Tynwa ...
crosses
Sulby River (near its source), to the south-west of
Snaefell
Snaefell ( on, snjœ-fjall/snjó-fall – snow mountain) – ( gv, Sniaull) is the highest mountain and the only summit higher than on the Isle of Man, at above sea level. The summit is crowned by a railway station, cafe and several communic ...
.
*
Castle Rushen
Castle Rushen ( gv, Cashtal Rosien) is a medieval castle located in the Isle of Man's historic capital, Castletown, in the south of the island. It towers over the Market Square to the south-east and the harbour to the north-east. The castle is ...
,
Castletown: The location of Dan's and the fishermen's second imprisonment, and of Dan's trial.
*
Tynwald Hill
Tynwald Day ( gv, Laa Tinvaal) is the National Day of the Isle of Man, usually observed on 5 July (if this is a Saturday or Sunday, then on the following Monday).
On this day, the Island's legislature, Tynwald, meets at St John's, Isle of Man, ...
: The place where the sentencing of Dan Mylrea is announced.
* A hut near
Cregneash
Cregneash or Cregneish ( gv, Creneash) is a small village and tourist destination in the extreme south-west of the Isle of Man, about from Port Erin. Most of the village is now part of a living museum run by Manx National Heritage. There are ...
: The eventual home of Dan during his exile. This is identified as being near the Chasms, overlooking the sea near the cliffs, and backing onto a hill, from the top of which Cregneash can be seen. This hill is almost certainly to be identified with that where a radio mast stands today.
Quotes
* And together these shipwrecked voyagers on the waters of life sat and wept, and wondered what evil could be in hell itself if man in his blindness could find the world so full of it.
hapter XXI* "Strange it is, and very pitiful,” he said, "that what we think in our weakness to be the holiest of our human affections may be a snare and a stumbling-block. Strange enough, surely, and very sad, that even as the hardest of soul among us all may be free from blame where his children stand for judgement, so the tenderest of heart may, like Eli of old, be swept from the face of the living God for the iniquity of his children, which he has not restrained.
hapter XXVI* I thought that I was leaving for ever the fair island of my home, with all that had made it dear in dearer days. Though it had turned its back on me since, and knew me no more, but had blotted out my name from its remembrance, yet it was mine, and the only spot of earth on all this planet – go whither I would – that I could call my own.
hapter XXXIX* For what was it to me though the world was wide if the little place I lived in was but my own narrow soul?
hapter XXXIX* The blind leading the blind that is seen here of passion by accident is seen everywhere that great tragedies are done. It is not the evil in man's heart more than the deep perfidy of circumstance that brings him to crime.
hapter XX
Adaptations
Hall Caine adapted the novel for the stage with
Wilson Barrett
Wilson Barrett (born William Henry Barrett; 18 February 1846 – 22 July 1904) was an English manager, actor, and playwright. With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English theatregoers ever because of his suc ...
, who was to play the lead role of Dan. The play was entitled Ben-my-Chree (“Girl of my heart" in
Manx language, Manx), the name of Dan's boat in the novel, and it was Caine's first foray into writing for the stage. It opened at the Princess's Theatre on Oxford Street, London, on 17 May 1888, and despite initially dubious reviews it proved to be a great success.
[Allen, p. 189] The adaptation made substantial changes to the novel, particularly at the ending, which many concessions for the sake of melodrama:
The play ends with Mona protesting her innocence on a charge of immoral conduct when Dan appears unbidden. He corroborates the maiden's oath but by speaking, he sacrifices his own life, having been sentenced to life-long silence on pain of death if he breaks it. Mona dies of shock, the Governor is handed over to the police for laying false evidence and Dan throws himself across his sweetheart's body while waiting for the hangman.
After falling out with Barrett, eventually leading to legal action, Caine came to rewrite another version of the novel for the stage, now entitled, ''The Bishop's Son''. It was taken on tour in 1910, including a performance in
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
, the capital of the Isle of Man, on 15 August, at which Caine delivered a rapturously-received pre-performance speech. The play eventually opened in London at the
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...
on 28 September 1910, with
Bransby Williams
Bransby Williams (born Bransby William Pharez; 14 August 1870 – 3 December 1961) was a British actor, comedian and monologist. He became known as "The Irving of the music halls".
Early years
Born in Hackney, London, the son of William Me ...
in the lead role.
The novel was made into a silent film by the
Arrow Film Corporation
Arrow Film Corporation was an American film production and distribution company during the silent era from 1915 to 1926. An independent company it operated alongside the established studios. Originally formed to supply films for Pathé Exchang ...
in America in 1917. Hall Caine's son,
Derwent Hall Caine
Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet (12 September 18912 December 1971) was a British actor, publisher and Labour politician.
Biography
Caine was the son of British novelist Hall Caine and his wife Mary Chandler. He was born at Keswick in Cumb ...
, and
Marian Swayne were cast in the lead roles. The film was released in England in March 1918, when Hall Caine organised "a stellar first night audience" for the screening in aid of
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
charities.
[Allen, p. 369] Caine had invited the Prime Minister,
Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
, but he politely declined the invitation.
Trivia
* In Manx history there were two Daniel Mylreas (or Daniel McYlreas) from
Ballaugh
Ballaugh ( ; , ) is a small village on the Isle of Man in the parish of Ballaugh (parish), the same name, in the sheading of Michael (parish), Michael. It is the only village in the parish.
The parish adjoins Jurby to the north, Lezayre to the e ...
, the parish of the family home in ''The Deemster''. The father was Deemster, 1734–57, and he used his influence to have his youngest son, William, appointed Archdeacon in 1760. Both Daniel and William were in opposition to the island's Bishop at the time, Bishop Wilson. Daniel's older son and namesake followed him in becoming Deemster, from 1758 to 1775.
*
Bishop Wilson is clearly the model for Bishop Mylrea, with Caine using many of the stories attached to Wilson in the novel. Bishop Wilson was suggested to Caine as an "epoch-making personage" by T. E. Brown in their correspondence.
* Hommy-beg ("little Tommy" in
Manx language, Manx, an example of
lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonority hierarchy, sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronic analysis, s ...
, a type of initial consonant mutation), the name of the Deemster's servant, was also the nickname used for Caine by his Manx grandmother.
[Notes to The Deemster](_blank)
/ref>
* Gilcrist Mylrea's lowly position at the University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
as a sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...
is similar to what T. E. Brown had experienced as a servitor
In certain universities (including some colleges of University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh), a servitor was an undergraduate student who received free accommodation (and some free meals), and was exempted from paying fees for lecture ...
at Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
* The wedding of Thorkell Mylrea is heavily based on Chapter 17, "Manners and Customs", of Joseph Train Joseph Train (6 November 1779 – 7 December 1852) was a Scottish excise officer, antiquarian, writer and poet. He corresponded with Sir Walter Scott, and his local knowledge provided Scott with ideas for his novels.
Life
Train was born in 1779 at ...
's history of the Isle of Man.
* Gilcrist's departure on the regular sailing of the ''King Orry'' to Liverpool is anachronistic, as most sailings from the island went to Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
at the time, and the name King Orry reflects that of a 19th-century Steam Packet, whereas 17th and 18th century packets were usually given names like the ''Duke of Athol''.
* The name of Dan's boat, and later the title of the first stage production of the novel, ''Ben-my-Chree'', was and is a regular name for passenger boats of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms.
Isle may refer to:
Geography
* Is ...
, the first of which was launched in 1845.
* Shortly after the novel's publication, Caine received a letter from a man on the Isle of Man who told him that he had known the fictional main character, Dan Mylrea, from childhood and had always warned him of his ways. The correspondent even said that he still had the knife with which Dan had fought with Ewan Mylrea.[Caine]
''My Story''
pp. 319–320
References
External links
available from www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook.
available from www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook.
by Hall Caine, wherein Caine describes the era in which ''The Deemster'' was set, and some of the characters used as bases for the novel.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deemster
1887 British novels
British novels adapted into films
Novels by Hall Caine
Novels set in the Isle of Man
Chatto & Windus books
Novels first published in serial form