Edward Faragher (1831–1908), also known in Manx as Ned Beg Hom Ruy, was a
Manx language
Manx ( or , pronounced or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx pe ...
poet, folklorist and cultural guardian. He is considered to be the last important native writer of Manx and perhaps the most important guardian of
Manx culture
The culture of the Isle of Man is influenced by its Celtic and, to a lesser extent, its Norse origins, though its close proximity to the United Kingdom, popularity as a UK tourist destination, and recent mass immigration by British migrant worker ...
during a time when it was most under threat. The folklorist, Charles Roeder, wrote that Faragher had "done great services to Manx folklore, and it is due to him that at this late period an immense amount of valuable Manx legends have been preserved, for which indeed the Isle of Man must ever be under gratitude to him."
['Edward Faragher' (obituary notice)](_blank)
by Charles Roeder in ''The Manx Quarterly'', No. 5, 1908 – available on www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/ (accessed 4 October 2013)
Youth (1831–1876)
Faragher was born into a large family of twelve children in Cregneash, a fishing village at the south of the Isle of Man. At this time
Manx
Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man:
* Manx people
**Manx surnames
* Isle of Man
It may also refer to:
Languages
* Manx language, also known as Manx ...
was the only language spoken in Cregneash, and so his mother stood out as "the only person who could converse with strangers"
due to her grasp of English. His father was one of the few people in the village who could write, and so he was called upon to write letters on behalf of other villagers. It was from his father, known as Ned Hom Ruy in Manx, that Faragher's familiar Manx name derives – with the Manx word for "little" being added, making it Ned Beg Hom Ruy ('Little Ned with the Red Beard').
['Note on Edward Faragher' by Basil Megaw in ''Skeealyn 'sy Ghailck'', Isle of Man: Printagraphics Ltd., 1991]
Faragher attended infants' school in
Port St Mary followed by the parish school of Kirk Christ Rushen, but his family could not afford for him to attend any longer than two years.
['I have written a little scitch of my life': Edward Faragher's 'A Sketch of Cregneish'](_blank)
''Manx Notes'' 33 (2004), edited by Stephen Miller The rest of his education came from his parents, or else was self-taught.
At a young age he began earning his living as a fisherman in his father's boat. He was a fisherman for the next seven years; then he moved to