This piece is based on 4 songs from the island Man. The first, The Good Old Way, is an old and typical Air, mostly written in Dorian mode. The biggest part of the song is probably added aroun 1882, after the introduction of the primitive Methodism on the island.
The second song, on which the faster part of the piece is composed, is a real Folk tune: The Manx Fiddler. Chaloner, a seventeenth century writer, found out that the island of Man’s population felt very much attracted to the violin and that in almost every family someone played the instrument.
The third song, Sweet Water in the Common, is about dike boards and the last part is a beautiful old hymn, The Harvest of the Sea, sung by fishermen after their safe return.
