The Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society’s (IOMNHAS) winter season of lectures will begin on Saturday with an examination of the origins of the Isle of Man’s constitution and how it has evolved over the centuries.

In his presentation entitled ’The Manx Constitution: a constitutional anomaly’ - based on a lecture which he gave at University College, Isle of Man, in December 2018 - former Deemster William Cain, CBE TH, will explore the constitution’s origins in the Viking Age and then its evolution and development to the present day.

The talk, which is also open to non-members in return for a donation if desired, will take place in the Manx Museum lecture theatre, at the Douglas museum at 2.30pm.

The winter lecture series will continue on Saturday, November 9, with John Callow speaking on the subject of ’Gerald Gardner and Witchcraft’, focusing on the founder of Castletown’s former Witches’ Mill museum, a successful island tourist attraction for more than two decades, and how his work reshaped public perceptions of witchcraft and paganism in modern times.

By contrast, the lecture after that, on Saturday, December 7, will see Dr Tim Grass, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a senior research fellow at Spurgeon’s College, London, speaking on ’The Reformation and the Isle of Man’, focusing on how the Isle of Man’s distinct political and linguistic features impacted on the way the introduction of Protestantism was received during the era of religious changes and upheavals in the 16th and 17th century which were so unsettling in other parts of the British Isles. Did, for example, the fact that most islanders spoke Manx Gaelic present a language barrier to reformers?

For more information see www.manxantiquarians.com and the group’s Facebbok page.