William Kinrade

William Kinrade (1769-1854) was a renowned writer of Manx carols who lived at Ballachrink, Maughold, in the Isle of Man.

Kinrade is one of the most significant writers of Manx carols (or ‘carvels’), in an era when these are now considered to be the only surviving source of literature in Manx. To him have been attributed a number of carvels, including the following:

The majority of these carvels were most notably published in Carvalyn Gailkagh (Manx Carols) by A. W. Moore in 1891. However, ‘Lhig da’n slane seihll cur clashtyn‘ (‘Let the whole world harken’) had been published earlier, in 1870. It is believed that this carvel was sung to the tune of ‘Mish ta’n Billey Roauyr,’ as the tune’s title appears to be a corruption of the first line of the second verse: ‘T’eh mysh ny biljyn reurey‘ (‘He is digging about the trees’).

A translation of Kinrade’s poetry has most recently appeared in Manannan’s Cloak: An Anthology of Manx Literature by Robert Corteen Carswell: