This joke always makes me smile.....don't worry, it's not rude. The elephants and jungle bugs had a football match [ soccer for any American readers ] During the first half the elephants were all over the bugs and by half time the score was 20 goals for the elephants and none for the bugs. . The bugs made a substitution and brought on Charlie the centipede for the second half. Well, Charlie was up and down the field, banging in goal after goal and at full time the bugs had won by 30 goals to 20. The elephant captain congratulated the captain of the bug team on their win and asked why they hadn't brought Charlie the centipede on sooner, ' Well, it's like this ,' said the bug captain , ' we would have done so, but it takes him all of the first half to put his boots on!' .....................Go on, smile !
The Cushag [ Manx Gaelic ] is the Isle of Man's National Flower...a bright yellow flowered plant of the ragwort family. How on earth did the intelligent, forward looking Manx choose for their national flower, an invasive, toxic weed that chokes up fields and can be fatal to animals if eaten . It grows wild everywhere on the Island and in the UK there are constant programs to eradicate the pesky plant. But not in the Isle of Man...it was chosen to be the Manx National Flower. So how come? The following story is true !
Many, many years ago, the 24 wise men we had in Government at that time , were debating long into the night, the choice of a plant to be the Manx National Flower. These Isle of Man worthies, probably all suffering from the dreaded Manx affliction of...traa dy liooar....discussed and debated the pros and cons of numerous plants and flowers without reaching any decision .
Eventually, one guy, obviously fed up to the back teeth with the whole business, and probably wanting to get home, remarked sarcastically and jokingly , ' Why not choose the cushag as our flower. It grows everywhere on the Island.'
They all must have thought this a grand idea and promptly voted this yellow weed as the flower of the Isle of Man. In those far off days perhaps they were not fully conversant with the toxic qualities of this plant....or perhaps they all just wanted to go home ! I don't know, but as I said, this story is true.
Anyway, America and England both have the Rose as their flower. Wales has the Daffodil, Canada the Maple leaf , Ireland the Shamrock and France has le fleur de lis....the Lily , and the Isle of Man has some pesky, invasive , yellow , toxic weed . Ye gods !!
Just a few facts about the Isle of Man for those who may have an interest. The Isle of Man [ Ellan Vannin ] is self governing with 24 elected members [ yn kiare as feed.... the twentyfour ] and comprise the House of Keys. Many are in charge of different Government departments, responsible to the Chief Minister. The Manx Government is known as the Tynwald, a name that comes from the Viking words thing [assembly] and vollr [field ] ....[Thingvollr....meeting or assembly field ] The Vikings who invaded and settled here 1000 years ago, set up the original assembly and so it has continued without a break to the present day. The Isle of Man has the longest , continuously running Parliament in the world . Indeed, the Government still meet , once a year on 5th July, in a field and sit on an artificial earthen mound to conduct business. It is largely ceremonial but still classed as an official sitting of the Island's parliament . If 5 July falls on a weekend, Tynwald Day, as it is known, is held on the Monday. Huh , our MHK's don't sit at weekends. Tynwald Day, 5th July, is the Isle of Man's National day .
The Government is responsible for the good running and financing of all the Island services. That is, free health and education , social security and postal and police services, harbours , public transport , forestry and many others. The free Isle of Man National Health Service is run on similar lines to that of the UK but we finance it entirely .....and a first class service it as , as well . I don't think we do too badly for such a small place with no help from the UK and the EU. I know this bit of info may be boring to some , but there again it may be of interest to others.
The Three Legs of Man is an ancient sun sign ...Triskele,.... similar to the Three Legs of Sicily and the Swastika, which is also an ancient sun sign but has four legs and was adopted by the Nazi's. The Island first used the Triskele about 700/800 years ago as the National emblem though they dressed up the original design in armour.....the Sicilians left their legs bare......probably warmer down there !!!
More trivia another time .
