10 Pounds Sterling 2007, Isle of Man
| in Banknotes Book | Number: IM54b |
| Years of issue: | 2007 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Chief Financial Officer: Mr. P.M. Shimmin |
| Serie: | 2002 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 1991 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 142 x 75 |
| Printer: | De la Rue currency,Gateshead |
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Description
Watermark:
Triskelion.
Avers:
HM The Queen Elizabeth II.
The portraits in this group are official portraits, taken by Anthony Buckley, circa 1966. The sitting that produced the photographs on which these engravings are based also produced a number of similar portraits that were used on postage stamps.
In this portrait The Queen is wearing Queen Victoria's Collet Necklace and Earrings. (While this necklace is depicted in Portrait 10, the matching earrings are not used for that portrait.)
The Coronation Necklace and Earrings are an important set in the Queen's collection not just because of overall diamond weight but, because of historical significance.
The necklace was created for Queen Victoria in 1858 and has been worn by queens for every coronation after Queen Victoria's death, hence the name. It currently has 26 stones: 25 in the necklace itself, plus the 22.48 carat Lahore Diamond as a pendant. "From her Majesty's Jewel vault"
The drops of the earrings are stones taken from the Timur Ruby Necklace, owned by The Queen.
Each old-cut diamond cluster surmount suspending a foliate diamond link and pear-shaped diamond cluster drop, mounted in silver and gold.
King George IV started a practice in the British royal family which continues today: the awarding of family orders. These are diamond-set portraits of the monarch suspended from a silk bow (the color varying by reign), and they are today given to female royal family members of the sovereign's choosing as a personal gift.
Queen Elizabeth was first given her grandfather George V's order, set on pale blue silk.
Followed by her father George VI's, on pink silk, and she wears them both today. (A royal lady can wear all the family orders she has at once.) The orders are positioned on the left shoulder. They are worn for the most formal events, and can usually be seen on the Queen when she's at a tiara event.
In most renditions of this portrait, the Royal Family Order of King George VI is apparent below the left-hand shoulder of Her Majesty, while the uppermost portion of the Royal Family Order of King George V is apparent in only some renditions of the portrait. (Her majesty's Jewel Vault)
In this portrait, the Royal Family Order of King George V has been truncated.
Centered, is an emblem of Isle of Man - Triskelion.
A triskelion or triskele (which invariably has rotational symmetry) is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, three bent human legs, or three bent/curved lines extending from the center of the symbol. Both words are from Greek "τρισκέλιον" (triskelion) or "τρισκελής" (triskeles), "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" (tri-), "three times" + "σκέλος" (skelos), "leg".
Although it appears in many places and periods including 3200 BCE Newgrange, it is especially characteristic of the Celtic art of the La Tène culture of the European Iron Age.
A triskelion is the symbol of Sicily, where it is called trinacria, as well as of the Isle of Man, Brittany, and the town of Füssen in Germany.
It is unknown how the Manx triskelion was originally adopted, and several theories have been put forward its origin. In 1607, English historian William Camden stated that it was derived from the Sicilian triskelion. In 1885 John Newton considered the Manx triskelion originated in the mid XIII century, when the Pope offered the throne of Sicily to Edmund, son of King Henry III of England. Newton noted that the wife of King Alexander III of Scotland was Henry's daughter, and that Alexander visited the English court in 1255. Later in 1266, Norway ceded the Isle of Man to the Kingdom of Scotland, and Newton considered it likely that Alexander utilized the triskelion for the arms of his new possession. It has also been suggested that the ancestry of the Manx triskelion can be traced to the triquetra in a coin of Olaf Cuaran, a X-century Norse-Gaelic warlord who was king of Northumbria and king of Dublin. Lending credibility to this theory is the current belief that the mediaeval Manx dynasty was related to that of Olaf Cuaran. However, the gap between the X century and late 13th century, when the Manx triskelion is first recorded, is wide indeed, and it has been noted that several kings from this period are known to have borne a galley as their emblem, and not a triskelion.
Early examples of the symbol are present in the Royal Arms ascribed to the King of Mann in several late XIII century armorials. The Manx triskelion also appears on the Manx Sword of State, which is popularly said to date to the time of King Olaf the Black (d. 1237), although recent analysis has shown it more likely dates to about the XV century. Another example can be seen on a XIV-century stone cross in the churchyard of Maughold. Another is example is a late XIV-century seal of Sir William le Scrope, Lord of Mann, in which the Manx triskelion is depicted in plate armour, rather than mail. Early representations of the Manx triskelion show the legs running clockwise, and later representations show the legs running in both directions.
The motto is "quocunque jeceris stabit", which is Latin and means: "whichever way you throw, it will stand". The motto dates to the XVII century, where it is first recorded as being present on Manx coinage dating to the year 1668. It is possible that the motto became associated to the Manx triskelion through these coins.
A little more info about Triskelion:
So long as the Kings of Man could write "Rex Manniae et Insularem" (Kingdom of Man and the Isles) after their names the arms were the ship with furled sail; but when the Scots, under their King Alexander, took possession of the Western Islands and also of Man, the three legs were substituted.
"With the toe of one leg they spurn at Ireland,
with the spur of another they kick at Scotland, and
with the third leg they kneel to England."
The legs are all cased in armour, denoting self-defence; the spurs denote speed; while in whatever position they are placed, one of them falls into the attitude of supplication.
The meaning of the symbol is, that if England should have thought of oppressing the island, Ireland and Scotland would have been asked for help; and if either of these two, or both of them combined, should assail the Manx nation, England would be called upon to help and defend them.
The motto is an iambic dimeter - "Quocunque Jeceris Stabit" ("Whichever way you may throw it, it will stand"). Whether this be taken in English or Latin, it very ingeniously agrees, both in sense and style, with the attitude of the legs. The position of the legs cannot be changed in the plain so as to alter their attitude to the three surrounding countries of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and no transposition of the words of the Latin motto will change its sense and meaning.
The occult moral of this emblem presents the instructive parable of "A brave man struggling with fate." The character is constituted by the conjunction of humility, energy, and fortitude. His attitude is that of supplication; but, at the same time, that of activity. He is only on one knee. With one limb he implores assistance; with the other two he serves himself. With the sense of dependence on strength superior to his own, he combines the most strenuous exertion of his own energies; to the modesty of supplication he conjoins the discretion of armour and the activity of the spurs. Whatever lot Providence may apportion to such a man, whatever it will cost him, he will stand.
The insignia of the Island of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, is also three legs, similarly joined together at the thighs, but the legs are bare and naked.
The origin of the very quaint device of the Manx three legs goes back to very old times—times when the Manx people believe that the island was only inhabited by fairies, and everything was carried on in quite a fairylike and supernatural manner, without any aid from mortal men.
Tradition says that the island was enchanted and ruled by a fairy enchanter, who was very jealous at the bare idea of mortals coming to its shores, and so to prevent anyof the sea-rovers from seeing the land when passing in their ships, he caused a blue mist or fog to envelop and hang over it, and thus kept the island out of the sight of all mariners who frequented those seas.
This enchanter had also the power of making one little fairy-man appear like a whole army of big men, and of so frightening away the crews of any vessels that might penetrate the mist and attempt to invade his domains.
One day, however, it so happened that some fishermen were driven by stress of weather through the mist, and, much to their surprise, discovered land where they least expected to find it; but when they did see it, it was so enshrouded in vapour and mist they could hardly discern anything distinctly. They Succeeded, after great difficulty, in getting their small vessel safely on to the beach and landing.
Once on shore, they prepared to make a fire to warm themselves and cook some food. Amid their preparations, they were frightened and astonished on hearing fearful noises, but could not distinguish whence they proceeded. Directly one of the men struck a light with his tinder-box, the fog began to break, and as the fire burned up, so did the clouds and mist commence to roll along and ascend up the sides of what they could now perceive was a mountain. The rolling mist was followed by a curious object that looked like three legs of men, joined together at the thighs, the knees and feet sticking out like the spokes of a wheel. This wonderful object, slowly revolving, followed after the cloud as it rolled up the mountainside, and disappearing, was never seen again from that time to this.
The light of the fire evidently broke the spell of the enchanter’s power, and though the island is often remarked to have a belt of fog and mist hanging about its shores, neither mist nor fog has ever returned so dense again.
An Irishwoman, on first beholding the device of the three legs on the paddle-box of one of the Isle of Man Packet Company’s steamers, on the occasion of her arrival in Liverpool, and being told what they were, exclaimed: "It must be a moighty quare counthry that his ligs for its arums."(www.isle-of-man.com)
Denominations in numerals are in top left and lower right corners. In words centered.
Revers:
View from the promenade at Peel Castle. Engraving or painting made around 1830.
The original engraving I have not found, so here are the photos of the castle of the late XIX - early XX century, made approximately from the same point, on the waterfront.
Peel Castle (Cashtal Purt-ny-Hinshey in Manx Gaelic) is a castle in Peel on the Isle of Man, originally constructed by Vikings. The castle stands on St Patrick's Isle which is connected to the town by a causeway. It is now owned by Manx National Heritage and is open to visitors during the summer.
The castle was built in the XI century by the Vikings, under the rule of King Magnus Barefoot. While there were older stone Celtic monastic buildings on the island, the first Viking fortifications were built of wood. The prominent round tower was originally part of the Celtic monastery, but has had battlements added at a later date. In the early XIV century, the majority of the walls and towers were built primarily from local red sandstone, which is found abundantly in the area. After the rule of the Vikings, the castle continued to be used by the Church due to the cathedral built there – the see of the diocese of Sodor and Man – but was eventually abandoned in the XVIII century.
The castle remained fortified, and new defensive positions were added as late as 1860. The buildings within the castle are now mostly ruined, but the outer walls remain intact. Excavations in 1982-1987 revealed an extensive graveyard as well as the remains of Magnus Barefoot's original wooden fort. The most spectacular finds were the 10th century grave of "The Pagan Lady" which included a fine example of a Viking necklace and a cache of silver coins dating from about 1030. The Castle's most famous "resident" is the so-called Moddey Dhoo or "Black Dog" ghost.
Peel Castle may occasionally be confused with Piel Castle, located on Piel Island, around 30 miles to the east in the Irish Sea. This particularly occurs in reference to the William Wordsworth poem describing Piel, spelling its name as "Peele": especially as Wordsworth is documented as having visited Peel Castle, and wrote several times about the Isle of Man.
Peel Castle has been proposed as a possible location of the Arthurian Avalon.
The cathedral ruins located within the walls of Peel Castle are those of the former Cathedral of St. German. Like the structures throughout the castle grounds, the cathedral's roof is completely missing. An examination by Robert Anderson to determine what repairs were required to restore the cathedral was completed and reported to the island's lieutenant governor in 1877. However, none of the suggested repairs were carried out.
A pointed barrel-vaulted crypt exists below the chancel measuring 34 feet by 16 feet by 9 feet high at the west end, sloping to the entrance at the east.
In the middle of the transept is the tomb where Bishop Rutter was interred in 1661.
A cemetery exists in what was once the cathedral's nave.
In 1980 the parish of German, part of the Church of England's Diocese of Sodor and Man, was officially transferred to the newer Cathedral Church of St German on Albany Road in Peel. 
Along the borders of banknote is interlaced Celtic design with Celtic crosses inside.
The Celtic crosses.
This cross design has the circle in the center symbolizing God, the motionless mover. Although the wheel cross as a whole was originally a symbol of Christ derived from the Chi-rho monogram, it came to symbolize heaven. The interlaced knot-work, so prominent on Celtic crosses represented the beginning and the end of the eternal circle.
Celtic cross represents a unique blend of Christianity and the ancient Indo-European tradition. Cross in a circle is the ancient symbol of life and of the world order, occurring everywhere from India to Norway, however, it became the emblem of the Celtic world - Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man. Christianity brought by the monks missionaries to Ireland back in the IV century, has absorbed all the richness and beauty of the ancient Celtic culture: the myths and legends, the elements of art, the secret knowledge of the Druids. Celtic cross is a symbol of wisdom and harmony, the link between the past and the present, the emblem of Celtic culture and the entire northern European tradition.
Denominations in numerals are in lower corners. In words at the top.
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