Folklore & legend

Ooig-ny-Seyir, the Cave of the Carpenter

Also known as: The fairy coopers' cave

Coast below Cronk ny Arrey Laa, Rushen

Below Cronk ny Arrey Laa, the "hill of the day watch" on the south-west coast, there is a cave in the cliffs that fishermen called Ooig-ny-Seyir, the cave of the carpenter. Cashen says the fishermen often heard the fairies inside it, busy making barrels.

The sound was welcome. Coopering in the cave meant the fairies were getting ready to pack fish, and when the hammering was heard the boats could count on a good catch in the Big Bay. The fairies, it seems, did their own fishing and needed barrels for it just as the Manx fleet did.

The cave is in sea cliffs; the hill above is open land with a car park on the Sloc road.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
No public access
Location
54.136, -4.728 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: William Cashen, "Manx Folk-Lore" (1912), Fairies, Bugganes, Giants and Ghosts (Manx Note Book transcription) [public-domain]

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