E L, 
4(37 
P E 
To PEEL, v. a. [peler, Fr. from pellis, Lat. the fkin.] 
To decorticate; to hay : 
The fkilful (hepherd peel'd me certain wands; 
And thick them up before the fuifome ewes. Shahefpeare. 
From piller, Fr. to rob.—To plunder. According to 
analogy this (hould be written pill; and it is ufually fo 
written by our old authors.—Go, ye fvvift meffengers, to 
a nation Scattered and peeled. Ifaiah xviii. z. 
Lord-like at eafe, with arbitrary pow’r, 
To peel the chiefs, the people to devour; 
Thel'e, traitor, are thy talents. Dryden. 
PEEL, /, [phi, old Fr. pellis, Lat.] The (kin or thin 
rind of any thing. 
PEEL, f. [pelle, Fr.] A broad thin board with a long 
handle, ufed by bakers to put their bread in and out 
of the oven.—A notable hot baker ’twas when he plied 
the peel. B. Jonfon's Bartliol. Fair. 
PEEL, a fmall fea-port town, fituated on the weftern 
coaft of the I(le of Man, in the Irifh channel, was for¬ 
merly denominated Holme Peel; and appears, from its 
remains, to have been a place of confiderable importance 
in the times of Mankifh independence. The annexation 
of Man to the Britifh crown, and the fubfequent deftruc- 
tion of the fmuggling-trade, however, have reduced it 
greatly. The harbour, indeed, is now alinoft entirely 
negle&ed, notwithftanding it is an excellent refort for 
(hipping ; and the pier is completely deftroyed. In (hort, 
this town offers to the prefent traveller an appearance of 
decayed grandeur; and is confequently more an objeft 
of intereil and curiofity than inviting as a place of refi- 
dence, for the man of bufinefs or of pleafure. Woods, 
in his Account of the Ifle of Man, computes the popu¬ 
lation of Peel at about twelve hundred perfons. The 
only church in the town, now ufed for divine fervice, is 
that dedicated to St. Peter; but there are befides the 
ruins of other two, dedicated to St. Patrick and St. Ger¬ 
main. Thefe (land within the caftle, on a fmall rocky 
ifland, which is feparated from the weftern extremity of 
the town by a narrow channel, fcarcely a foot deep at 
low water. This ifland and caftle are connected with 
the mainland by a ftrong wall, (helving to the top, which 
was built many years ago to fecure the harbour. The 
entrance is on the eaftern fide, by a flight of fteps now fo 
ruinous as to be dangerous of accefs. The walls of this 
fortrefs meafure about four feet in thicknefs, and are 
flanked with towers; the whole inclofing a (pace of 
fomewhat more than two acres of ground. 
This caftle is faid to be haunted by feveral apparitions; 
among which is that of Eleanor, wife to Humphrey duke 
of Gloucefter, uncle to Henry the Sixth. She was con¬ 
fined and died here, and her ghoft has ever fince been 
nightly heard to afeend a (tone (taircafe, leading to a 
little houfe upon the wall. Waldron, an old Mankifii 
writer, tells the following curious (lory of an apparition 
in the fhape of a dog. “ They fay that an apparition, 
called in their language the maiithe doog, in the (hape of 
a large black fpaniel, with curled (baggy hair, was ufed 
to haunt Peel-caftle; and has been frequently feen in 
every room, but particularly in the guard-chamber, 
where, as foon as the candles were lighted, it came and 
lay down before the fire, in prefence of all the foldiers, 
who at length, by being fo much accuftomed to the fight 
of it, loft great part of the terror they were feized with at 
its firft appearance. They (till however retained a certain 
awe, believing it to be an evil fpirit which waited to do 
them hurt; and for that reafon forbore fwearing and all 
profane difeourfe while in its company. But, though 
they endured the (hockiof fucha gueft when all together, 
none cared to be left alone with it. It being the cuftom, 
therefore, for one of the foldiers to lock the gates of the 
caftle at a certain hour, and carry the keys to the cap¬ 
tain, to whofe apartment the way led through a church, 
they agreed among themfelves, that whoever was to fuc- 
Vol. XIX. No. 1317. 
ceed, the enfuing night, his fellow on this errand, (liould 
accompany him that went firft, and by this means no 
man would be expofed fingly to the danger; for the 
maiithe doog was always feen to come out from that paf- 
fage at the clofe of day, and return to it as foon as the 
morning dawned, which made them look upon this place 
as its peculiar relidence. One night, a fellow being 
drunk, and thus rendered more daring than ordinary, 
laughed at the (implicity of his companions ; and, though 
it was not his turn to go with the keys, would needs take 
that office to teftify his courage. All the foldiers en¬ 
deavoured to difluade him ; but the more they faid the 
more refolute he feeined, and fwore that he defired no¬ 
thing more than that the maiithe doog would follow him 
as it had done the others ; for he would try whether it 
was dog or devil. After having talked in a very repro¬ 
bate manner for fome time, he (hatched up the keys, and 
went out of the guard-room. In fome time after his de¬ 
parture a noife was heard ; but nobody had the boldnefs 
to fee what occafioned it, till, the adventurer returning, 
they demanded the knowledge of him ; but, loud and 
noify as he had been at leaving them, he was now become 
fober and Client enough ; for he was never heard to 
fpeak more: and though all the time he lived, which 
was three days, he was entreated by all who came near 
him either to fpeak, or, if he could not do that, to make 
fome fign by which they might underftand what had hap¬ 
pened to him, yet nothing intelligible could be got from 
him, only that by the diftortionof his limbs and features, 
it might be gueffed that he died in ; agonies, greater than 
is common in a natural death. The maiithe doog was 
however never feen afterwards, nor would any one at¬ 
tempt to go through that paflage ; for which reafon it 
was clofed up, and another way made. This accident I 
heard attelled by feveral, but efpecially by an old foldier 
who affured me that he had feen the maiithe doogoftener 
than he had hairs on his head.” Walter Scott alludes 
to this tale in the following lines of his Lay of the Laft 
Minftrel : 
But none of all the aftonifli’d train 
Were fo difmay’d as Doloraine : 
His blood did freeze, his brain did burn, 
’Twas fear’d his mind would ne’er return : 
For he was fpeechlefs, ghaftly, wan, 
Like him of whom the ltory ran, 
That fpoke the fpe&re-houndin b/lan'' 
Before the fale of the royalty of Man to the Britifli go¬ 
vernment, a garrifon of troops, in the pay of the lord of 
the ifland, was ftationed here; but fince that event the 
caftle has been altogether neglefted, and the entire area 
is occupied by the ruins of various buildings, walls, and 
dwelling-houfes. About the centre of it is a fquare py- 
rarnidical mound of earth, terminating obtufely, and 
having each of its fides direfted to one of the cardinal 
points. This tumulus is furrounded by a ditch five feet 
and a half broad ; and is fuppofed either to have been an 
eminence whence an officer might harangue his troops, 
or the burial-place of fome great perfonage. Near this 
mound Hand the ruined churches above mentioned, both 
of which are of confiderable antiquity. Patrick’s, how¬ 
ever, is by far the older of the two, and is probably of 
earlier date than the era of the Norman conqueft. St. 
Germain’s was built about the year 1245, and is the ca¬ 
thedral of the ifland, but has not, for many years, been 
ufed for any other purpofe than a burying-place. Its di- 
menfions are feventy-fix feet by twenty; and beneath 
one part of it is the ecclefiaftical prifon or dungeon, 
where Inch perfons were confined as were fo unfortunate 
as to incur the fpiritual cenfure. The length of this 
vault is thirty-four feet, and its breadth fixteen. The 
bottom is of earth, and at one corner are the remains of 
an uncovered well, which muff: have rendered the place 
damp in the extreme. The only light or air is admitted 
through a fmall hole in the wall. 
6 D 
Three 
