Folklore & legend

The Fynoderee of Tholt-y-Will

Also known as: Phynnodderee; The Fynoderee and the white stone

Tholt-y-Will Glen, head of Sulby Glen, below Snaefell

A gentleman, the story goes, set about building a large house near Tholt-e-Will, at the foot of Snaefell, and had the stone quarried down on the beach. Among the stones was an enormous white stone that no number of men could move. The Fynoderee took the job on. In one night he carried every stone up from the shore to the building site, the great white stone included, more than a hundred cartloads' worth.

The gentleman was grateful and wanted to reward him. Knowing the creature went naked, he had a set of clothes made and left them where the Fynoderee would find them. It was the wrong thing to do. The Fynoderee picked up each piece in turn, grieving over it. Moore gives his lament in verse, beginning "Cap for the head, alas! poor head", and going through coat, breeches and the rest, each one a sign that his free life was over. Then he left the district and was not seen there again.

Moore says the white stone was still pointed out as evidence of the story. The glen today is a wooded National Glen in the upper reaches of Sulby Glen, and local writing still calls it the place where the Fynoderee roamed.

Tholt-y-Will is a Manx National Glen off the Sulby Glen road; check for closures, as parts have been shut after storm damage.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
54.275, -4.492 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: A.W. Moore, "The Folk-Lore of the Isle of Man" (1891), ch. IV Hobgoblins, Monsters, Giants, Mermaids, Apparitions (Manx Note Book transcription) [public-domain]; Visit Isle of Man, "Tholt-y-Will Glen" [other]

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