Folklore & legend

The Nikkesen's Pool

Also known as: Nikkesen; The bottomless pool of Glen Roy

Awin Ruy near its junction with the Glen Roy river, Lonan

The Nikkesen's Pool lies in the Awin Ruy, the red river, close to where it joins the Glen Roy river in Lonan. People said it had no bottom, and that however hard or little it rained, the water in it stayed at the same level.

It belonged to the Nikkesen. Sometimes he took the form of a horse or pony, like the glashtin, and sometimes he was a handsome young man. Either way, what he wanted was human company, chiefly young women, and he drew them down to his home under the water. On nights of full moon he was said to bring them up again and lead them in a procession round the meadow beside the pool, singing, and then dance with them in a ring. People would gather on the bank above to watch Nikkesen and his ghostly company go round.

One story names a victim. A girl from Ballaquine went out after some calves that had strayed. She heard voices calling to her from the direction of the pool and went towards them, and she was never seen again. The people of the glen believed she had been pulled in. A short distance away is another pool, linked to the phynnodderee, where the Isle of Man Today notes that a local man drowned in the 1950s.

The pool is in a steep wooded glen above Laxey; access on foot may cross private land.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Access unrecorded
Location
54.230, -4.414 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: James Campbell, "The 'haunted' pools that are home to some of the island's most disturbing legends", Isle of Man Today, 30 October 2025 [other]; As Manx as the Hills, "The Nikkesen's Pool, Lonan, Isle of Man" [other]; W. Walter Gill, "A Manx Scrapbook" (1929), ch. 4 Lonan (Manx Note Book transcription) [other]

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