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Edward Faragher (1831–1908) was a Manx language 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 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) ) by Charles Roeder in ''The Manx Quarterly'', No. 5, 1908 – available on www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/ (accessed 4 October 2013)〕 Faragher is also familiarly known in Manx as Ned Beg Hom Ruy. ==Youth (1831–1876)== Faragher was born into a large family of twelve children in Cregneash, a remote fishing village at the south of the Isle of Man. At this time 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 who could write in the village and so he was called upon to write letters on behalf of others in the community. 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' ), ''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 on his father's boat. He was a fisherman for the next seven years, at which point he moved to Liverpool to work in a safe-making factory. Faragher enjoyed himself in England, finding that his natural talent at composing verse proved to be popular with young women. In 1899 he would write of this time that:〔''Mannanan's Cloak: An Anthology of Manx Literature'' by Robert Corteen Carswell, London: Francis Boutle Publishers, 2010, pp.151–155. (translation by Robert Corteen Carswell)〕
It was whilst in Liverpool, aged around 26, that Faragher began to write down his verse for the first time, having previously retained it only in his head.〔 Although he enjoyed himself at first in Liverpool, after some years in the city he eventually came to want to return to the Isle of Man. He expressed his feelings in a poem he composed at that time, ''A poem about things I have seen in Liverpool'':〔''Skeealyn Aesop'' by Edward Faragher, Douglas: S.K. Broadbent, 1901〕 :Farewell to phantasy and art :That never can fill up my heart, :And those fair maids, with witching smile, :No more can my sad heart beguile; :For still my fancy lingers where :The youthful Kitty blooms so fair, :And father tills my native soil :Among the hills of Mona's Isle. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edward Faragher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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