Brian Stowell
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Thomas Brian Stowell (6 September 193618 January 2019), also known as Brian Mac Stoyll, was a Manx radio personality,
Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history ...
, physicist, and author. He was formerly ("The Reader") to the Parliament of the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
,
Tynwald Tynwald (), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald () or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Leg ...
. He is considered one of the primary people behind the revival of the
Manx language Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...
.


Early years and the Manx language

Stowell was born in Douglas, Isle of Man on 6 September 1936 to Caroline (''née'' Stothard) and Tommy Stowell. His mother's maternal grandparents were native Manx speakers, although they did not pass the language on to their children. He attended Murray's Road Junior School before attending Douglas High School for Boys, where he excelled academically. Stowell was inspired to start learning Manx after he read an article written by Doug Fargher passionately defending the Manx language in 1953.Stowell, Brian (May 2011).
Manx Gaelic and Physics, a Personal Journey
(PDF). ''Journal of Celtic Language Learning''. 15-16: 111–126.
Stowell described himself as being "only dimly aware" before reading this article that there was a language other than English spoken on the Isle of Man. While still a student of Douglas High School for Boys he began attending lessons taught by Leslie Quirk, who introduced Stowell to Fargher, and in turn to other members of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh such as Walter Clarke and Bill Radcliffe. During this period he accompanied Fargher and other members of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh as they recorded the remaining elderly native speakers. He spent his weekends, meeting in Fargher's office in Douglas and conversing only in Manx. After about nine months he became fluent. Although Stowell did have regular access to proficient speakers through Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh, he found it difficult to access resources to learn the language, as well as hostile attitudes from non-Manx speaking members of the community:
A deterrent at that time (and for a very long time after that) would have been the aggressive attitude of most other people: ‘What do you want to waste your time with that old nonsense for? That was never a real language!’ This was like some sort of fixed mantra.
Manx disappeared as a community language on most of the Isle of Man in the late 19th century. It was a low prestige language and negative attitudes by much of the Island's population towards Manx posed significant difficulty for learners and established speakers alike:
"In the 1860s there were thousands of Manx people who couldn't speak English," says Stowell. "But barely a century later it was considered to be so backwards to speak the language that there were stories of Manx speakers getting stones thrown at them in the towns.


Life in Liverpool

In 1955 Stowell moved to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to study physics at the
University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
. He met Pat Price, who became his first wife and mother to his two eldest children. After graduation Stowell worked as a physics teacher in a secondary school in Liverpool which he hated. He later worked at the
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). T ...
. During this time, Stowell kept some of his sensitive research notes in Manx, knowing that he was the only person in the world who could understand them fully, often creating new scientific terms. While living in Liverpool he attended
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
classes arranged by
Conradh na Gaeilge (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...
, as he felt that they were "the next best thing to Manx." Stowell ultimately became fluent in Irish and taught classes in the language in Liverpool, although not without difficulty during
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
:
And when the troubles came in
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it was a bit difficult because people threatened the office in Liverpool about the class in Irish and it was….well they had to laugh in the end because I said, ‘Change the name to
Celtic Studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celts, Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art h ...
,’ and they did that and they made other threats because they thought that was the football club
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
in
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.
Stowell eventually used his experience learning and teaching Irish to translate the Irish language course '' Buntús Cainte'' into Manx, which became ''Bunneydys'' for the Manx language learning community''.'' He gained a PhD in applied physics while lecturing at
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
and became head of department. While lecturing in Liverpool, he taught Manx to Phil Gawne and Adrian Cain, who would both later hold the position of Manx Language Officer after Stowell was appointed in 1991. In 1990, Stowell published ''Contoyrtyssyn Ealish ayns Çheer ny Yindyssyn'', his translation into Manx of ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
''. Stowell's first marriage broke down in the mid-1970s and he married his second wife Julia Berney in 1982, with whom he had two girls.


Return to Mann

Stowell was appointed Manx Language Officer in 1991 and returned to the Isle of Man permanently with his family the same year. The allocation of increased funding for the Manx language and the passing of the 2001 Education Act that allowed for the
Manx language Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...
, it's literature, and Manx history to be taught on the island's schools which in turn caused a drastic shift in attitudes towards the language:
There has been a big change for you wouldn't, well I couldn't believe it, without doubt 50 years ago, 40 years ago, even 20 years ago, that a great change would come and for the most part that is on account of money from the Government. That's the main thing.
He made weekly broadcasts about history and current events on long-running, bilingual
Manx Radio Manx Radio (legally Radio Manx Ltd.) () is the national commercial radio station for the Isle of Man. It began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, almost ten years before legal commercial radio was licensed in the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man, hav ...
programme ''Moghrey Jedoonee'' for over 20 years. In March 2006 Stowell's ''Dunveryssyn yn Tooder-Folley'' ("The Vampire Murders"), the first recorded full-length novel in Manx, was published despite the small numbers who could read fluently in Manx:
The potential readership is very low indeed – only about 200 people can read it without much difficulty. You could rationalise why I went ahead by saying, “oh, it will be used for studying Manx.” But I never had that in mind at all. I just thought it'd be a great laugh to write a novel in Manx.
Stowell died on 18 January 2019 after a period of ill health.


Legacy

In 2008, Stowell was awarded
Culture Vannin Culture Vannin is the trading name for the Manx Heritage Foundation, established in 1982 by the Isle of Man Government to promote Manx culture, heritage and language. It was rebranded in February 2014, having previously been known as the "Manx He ...
's '' Reih Bleeaney Vanannan'' ("Manannan's Choice of the Year") award for outstanding contributions to Manx culture. On Tynwald Day 2010, he was awarded the Tynwald Honour, the highest honour that
Tynwald Tynwald (), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald () or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Leg ...
can award a citizen. The ("The Brian Stowell Award") was created in memory of Stowell's achievements. It is awarded by the Manx language group, Pobble, for any piece of creative work produced in Manx. His autobiography ("Manx and Physics: The Story of my Life") was published posthumously in 2019.


List of works

* 1968: ''Gaelg Trooid Jallooghyn: Manx Through Pictures'' * 1973: ''Chronicle of The Kings of Mann and The Isles / Recortys Reeaghyn Vannin as ny hEllanyn'' with George Broderick * 1974: ''Bunneydys: A Course in Spoken Manx'' (based on '' Buntús Cainte'') * 1986: ''Abbyr Shen!'' * 1990: ''Contoyrtyssyn Ealish ayns Çheer ny Yindyssyn'' * 1996: ''Bun-Choorse Gaelgagh'' * 1996: ''A Short History of the Manx Language'' * 1998: ''Y Coorse Mooar'' * 2005: ''Dunveryssyn yn Tooder-Folley'' (a serial story) * 2006: ''Ealish ayns Çheer ny Yindyssyn'' * 2020: ''Gaelg as Fishig - Skeeal my Vea''


References


External links


Bunneydys: A Course in Spoken Manx online with audiofiles


* ttps://soundcloud.com/culture-vannin/mannin-veg-veen Mannin Veg Veen- Traditional Manx song sang by Brian Stowell
Audio recordings
of Brian Stowell's autobiography .

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stowell, Brian 1936 births 2019 deaths Manx poets Manx language activists Manx nationalists Manx-language poets 20th-century Manx writers 21st-century Manx writers Place of death missing