# Bill Radcliffe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bill_Radcliffe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bill_Radcliffe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Radcliffe > Source revision: 1352692188 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **John William Radcliffe** (16 August 1917 – 28 January 1984), more commonly known as **Bill Radcliffe**, or also **Illiam y Radlagh**, was a [Manx language](/source/Manx_language) activist, author, and teacher who was involved with the revival of the [Manx language](/source/Manx_language) on the [Isle of Man](/source/Isle_of_Man) in the 20th century. His work recording the last native speakers of the language with the [Irish Folklore Commission](/source/Irish_Folklore_Commission) helped to ensure that a spoken record of the Manx language survived. ## Manx language Bill Radcliffe was one of the several active Manx speakers who learned the language from the diminishing number of elderly native speakers on the [Isle of Man](/source/Isle_of_Man) in the first half of the 20th century. Along with several other Manx speakers such as [Doug Fargher](/source/Doug_Fargher), [Charles Craine](/source/Charles_Craine), and [Leslie Quirk](/source/Leslie_Quirk), Radcliffe learned Manx by travelling around the Manx countryside, visiting the elderly native Manx speakers and learning directly from them.[1] These learners were part of a small tight-knit group of high level speakers who would go on to be vital members of [Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh](/source/Yn_%C3%87heshaght_Ghailckagh), but also the language revival movement. The group would be a crucial link between the last generation of native speakers, and those who learned Manx after the death of [Ned Maddrell](/source/Ned_Maddrell) in 1974. Like many of his generation, Radcliffe spent many years teaching Manx to learners particularly in the north of the Island.[2][3] He was still actively teaching students Manx just a few days before his death. ## Irish Folklore Commission recordings In the summer of 1947 Irish [Taoiseach](/source/Taoiseach) [Éamon de Valera](/source/%C3%89amon_de_Valera) visited the Isle of Man. The Taoiseach was a fluent [Irish](/source/Irish_language) speaker himself and was greatly interested in [Gaelic](/source/Gaels) and [Celtic](/source/Celtic_nations) cultures. In Ireland, de Valera had been instrumental in setting up the Irish Folklore Commission in 1935 which recorded not only living and dying Irish dialects, but also [Irish folklore](/source/Irish_folklore) and customs.[4] As part of his trip to the Isle of Man, de Valera had a conversation with [Ned Maddrell](/source/Ned_Maddrell), the youngest of the last remaining native speakers, with Maddrell speaking Manx and de Valera speaking Irish.[5] During his trip, the Taoiseach heard that the Manx language had dwindled down to a few elderly speakers, but that the [Manx Museum](/source/Manx_Museum) did not have the facilities or funds to record and preserve the last speakers of the language. On his request, [Kevin Danaher](/source/Kevin_Danaher) of the Irish Folklore Commission travelled to the Isle of Man with a crate of fragile [acetate discs](/source/Acetate_disc) to record the last remaining native speakers on 22 April 1948.[6] Radcliffe along with [Walter Clarke](/source/Walter_Clarke_(linguist)) helped to transport the recording equipment and acted as a guide for Danaher, bringing him to the remote and isolated locations where the informants lived. They assisted Danaher and spent considerable time before every recording carefully balancing the equipment with a spirit level and connecting batteries and converters as many of the informants did not have electricity.[5] As Radcliffe was familiar with the elderly native speakers and met them many times, he can be heard on several of the recordings speaking to them.[7] After the visit by the Irish Folklore Commission, Radcliffe and other members of [Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh](/source/Manx_Gaelic_Society) continued to record the remaining native speakers despite technical and financial restraints: "We just – we wanted to record the old people but we didn’t, we had neither the money nor the means of doing it".[8] Eventually they were able to make these recordings, albeit often at significant financial expense to themselves; [John Gell](/source/John_Gell_(Manx_language_activist)) for example loaned them £8 to purchase the necessary equipment.[8] ## Other interests Radcliffe spent most of his life as a [coal merchant](/source/Coal_merchant) in [Ramsey](/source/Ramsey,_Isle_of_Man), in the north of the Isle of Man.[1][2] He married Manx historian and teacher [Constance Curphey](/source/Constance_Radcliffe) in [Kirk Maughold parish church](/source/Kirk_Maughold_Parish_Church) on 15 August 1957.[9][10] He was a keen local historian and a member of the board of trustees of the Manx Museum.[11] After his retirement, he focused on writing and co-wrote *History of Kirk Maughold*, *Maughold and Ramsey Place-names,* and *Kirk Bride: A Miscellany* with his wife.[12] Radcliffe took over the role of [Yn Lhaihder](/source/Yn_Lhaihder) at the [Tynwald Day](/source/Tynwald_Day) ceremony from Charles Craine in 1978 and continued in that role until his death. This is a centuries old tradition that required Radcliffe to read out new laws that were to be promulgated in the Manx language on Tynwald Hill.[1] ## Legacy Radcliffe's work inspired a new generation of Manx speakers. [Brian Stowell](/source/Brian_Stowell) first learned Manx by spending time with him and others members of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh who learned Manx from the last native speakers.: For weekend after weekend I was immersed in hours of spoken Manx, meeting Doug Fargher, [Walter Clarke](/source/Walter_Clarke_(linguist)), Leslie Quirk and Bill Radcliffe, and occasionally going out with them when they were recording native speakers. For a long time, I could understand only a few words, then a few sentences, and then more and more.[13] Stowell would go on to be one of the most important figures in the modern Manx revival movement.[14] Radcliffe's contribution to his native area and the language of the Isle of Man was celebrated with a Manx language plaque on Court Row in Ramsey, by Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh. ## References 1. ["J.W. (Bill) Radcliffe"](https://www.imuseum.im/search/collections/people/mnh-agent-94936.html). *iMuseum*. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. ["Wedding at Maughold Parish Church"](https://www.imuseum.im/Olive/APA/IsleofMan/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=IMT%2F1957%2F08%2F16&id=Ar01226&sk=E30D2A92&viewMode=image). *Isle of Man Times*. 16 August 1957. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. George, Broderick (2017). "The Last Native Manx Gaelic Speakers. The Final Phase: 'Full' or 'Terminal' in speech?". *Studia Celtica Fennica*. **14**: 18–57. 1. Briody, Mícheál (9 February 2008). ["Keepers of the Folklore"](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/keepers-of-the-folklore-1.892628#:~:text=Between%201935%20and%201970%2C%20the,folklore%20institutions%20in%20the%20world.). *The Irish Times*. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. ["60th Anniversary for Manx Recordings"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2008/08/05/native_manx_feature.shtml). *BBC*. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. ["Skeealyn Vannin (Stories of Mann)"](https://www.imuseum.im/search/collections/archive/mnh-museum-676861.html). *iMuseum*. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. Irish Folklore Commission. [*Skeealyn Vannin, Disk 1 Track 06: Conversation: Annie Kneale, Ballagarrett, Bride, J.W. (Bill) Radcliffe and Mark Braide*](http://imuseum.im/search/archive_record/view/40?id=mnh-museum-675917) (Audio recording) (in en, gv). 1948. 1. Clarke, Walter. "Oral History Project Transcript: Time to Remember" (Interview). Interviewed by David Callister. 1. ["Ramsey Weddings"](https://www.imuseum.im/Olive/APA/IsleofMan/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=RYC%2F1957%2F08%2F23&id=Ar00603&sk=F20C011B&viewMode=image). *Ramsey Courier*. 24 August 1957. Retrieved 23 August 2020. 1. ["Wedding at Maughold Parish Church"](https://www.imuseum.im/Olive/APA/IsleofMan/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=IMT%2F1957%2F08%2F16&id=Ar01226&sk=E30D2A92&viewMode=image). *Isle of Man Times*. 16 August 1957. Retrieved 23 August 2020. 1. ["Members of the Executive Council"](https://www.imuseum.im/Olive/APA/IsleofMan/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=MMNT%2F1979%2F03%2F31&id=Ar00301&sk=DB47991A&viewMode=image). *Manx Museum and National Trust Report*. 31 March 1979. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. ["Constance Radcliffe"](https://www.culturevannin.im/rbv/constance-radcliffe-297093/). *Culture Vannin*. Retrieved 21 July 2020. 1. Stowell, Brian (May 2011). "Manx Gaelic and Physics, a Personal Journey" (PDF). *Journal of Celtic Language Learning*. 15-16: 111–126. 1. ["'If it wasn't for Brian, the Manx language would have died out'"](http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=45317&headline=%27If%20it%20wasn%27t%20for%20Brian,%20the%20Manx%20language%20would%20have%20died%20out%27§ionIs=news&searchyear=2019). *IOM Today*. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020. ## External links - [Bill Radcliffe reciting a Manx language poem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aomClknlssg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0vMPc_emHbkhvDNcNitD_BgUhBF9d6GHl79-5t9IvogOUNVw-5yDvfxuQ) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bill Radcliffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Radcliffe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Radcliffe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.