The remarkable contribution to Manx folk song by the Gill brothers was the subject of a lecture at Cecil Sharpe House in London, home of the Folk Dance and Song Society.

The well attended lecture was given by Manxman Stephen Miller, who has a BA in history and an MA in folk life studies, both from the University of Leeds.

The Gill brothers, W.H. Gill (1839-1923) and Deemster J.F. Gill (1842-99) have remained marginalised and neglected figures in the collecting of Manx folk song, overshadowed by A.W. Moore (1853-1909), whose own Manx Ballads and Music appeared in 1896, and by Dr John Clague (1842-1908), whose collection was published in large part in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society between 1924-26, edited by A.G. Gilchrist.

Ironically, the Gills have left more manuscript material behind than any of these collectors, found among the personal papers of Deemster Gill when they were released in 2000. A number of members of the London Manx Society attended the meeting.

Society member Alastair Kneale said: ’It is very important that the work of the Gill Brothers is recognised.

’Stephen Miller gave a really informative and interesting talk that sought to acknowledge the work they undertook on behalf of Manx culture and heritage.’

Mr Miller previously worked at the Austrian Academy of Sciences on the Austrian Academy Corpus and taught recently at the University of Vienna.

He has combined interests in folkloristics and digitisation and has lectured on both.

Research interests include Manx folklore, folk song, and folk dance, and the figures and collectors involved with the Celtic Revival.