At the foot of the plaque on the Percy Cowley Memorial overlooking The Sound at southern tip of the Isle of Man is a quote from the Fo'c's'le Yarns by T. E. Brown.
The quote is taken form the Dedication of the First Series and reads as follows:
"To unlock the treasures of the Island heart;
With loving feet to trace each hill and glen,
And find the ore that is not for the mart
Of commerce:" (
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The inscription on plaque on the side of the memorial is as follows:
TO THE MEMORY OF
THE DEEMSTER SIR PERCY COWLEY
Kt. CBE., JP
1886 - 1958
A PATRIOTIC MANXMAN
HIS INITIATIVE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MANX NATIONAL
TRUST MADE POSSIBLE THE PRSERVATION OF THE PLACES OF NATURAL BEAUTY AS PART OF OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE.
"TO UNLOCK THE TREASURES OF THE ISLAND HEART
WITH LOVING FEET TO TRACE EACH HILL AND GLEN
AND FIND THE ORE THAT IS NOT FOR THE MART
OF COMMERCE: THIS IS ALL I ASK."
T.E.BROWN
ERECTED BY THE MANX MUSEUM AND NATIONAL TRUST
Percy Cowley was a great man in the annals of the history of conservation on the Isle of Man. He was instrumental in the formation of the Manx National Trust and gifted the 783 acres of land above the Calf Sound on which the memorial stands.
The poet, T.E Brown, quoted on the memorial was also a Manxman.
Sir William Percy Cowley KBE was in addition to being a conservationist he was also a constitutional reformer.
Percy Cowley was born in 1886 and was educated at Ramsey Grammar School. He was admitted to the Manx Bar in 1909 and went on to serve as High Bailiff, Second Deemster and from 1947 to 1958 First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls.
He began his political career in 1924 as High Bailiff of Ramsey and Peel. He was also an Executive Director of the Manx National Health Insurance Society. Between 1931 and 1957 he was as Grand Master Provincial Freemason.
During World War II he was appointed the Chairman of the War Consultative Committee. This Committee brought together politicians from all sides to advise the Lieutenant Governor on problems facing the Island. In the War he also served as an intelligence officer in the Home Guard and was invested with the CBE when King George VI came to the Island to preside over the Tynwald Day ceremony in 1945.
While Chairman of the War Consultative Committee, Percy Cowley became deeply involved in negotiations with the U.K. about greater constitutional autonomy for the Island.
It was Percy Cowley who negotiated the deal with the Admiralty for the purchase of Ronaldsway Airport by the Isle of Man Government in 1947.
The formation of the Manx National Trust was one of Percy Cowley’s greatest loves and for which he was a determined advocate.
"T. E. Brown was born in Douglas in 1830 and died (in England) in 1897, a brilliant scholar he left his native island for Oxford where he gained a double-first at Christ Church. In his professional life he was an educator but was always a writing poet. He specialised in Manx dialect verse, he published several collections and it appears he enjoyed some success. His collected works ran to well-over 700 pages and is still in print and obtainable from Manx National Heritage. He is referred to as the Isle of Man's National Poet - there is a statue of him in Douglas - had I known earlier I would have sought it out. I always keep an eye out for literary associations on my walks so was delighted to find this one and add a little to my understanding and appreciation of how local poets and poetry keep alive the history of place."
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