deemsters

On entering into office, the deemster took an oath, which is sworn by all deemsters to this day, declaring by the wonderful works which God hath miraculously wrought in six days and seven nights, that he would execute the laws of the island justly "betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the herring's backbone doth lie in the midst of the fish."

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

But these laws down to the time of the second Stanley existed only in the breasts of the deemsters themselves, being therefore called Breast Laws, and thus they were supposed to be handed down orally from deemster to deemster.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

Christian had a nephew, Edward Christian, who was one of the two deemsters.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

The two deemsters -- a name of obvious significance, deem-sters, such as deem the laws -- were then the only judges of the island, all other legal functionaries being of more recent date.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

Then the Acts of Tynwald were read or recited aloud by the deemsters; first in the language of the laws, and next in the language of the people.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

The deemsters, as we have seen, literally swear by its backbone.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

He promulgated our laws, and had them written down for the first time -- they had hitherto been locked in the breasts of the deemsters in imitation of the practice of the Druids.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

I dare say there were many good men among deemsters of the old order, who loved justice for its own sake, and liked to see the poor and the weak righted, but the memory of deemsters of this kind is not green.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

His deemsters and barons are about him, and his people are on the sward below.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892

His barons and beneficed men, his deemsters, knights, esquires, coroners, and yeomen, stood on the lower steps of the mount.

The Little Manx Nation - 1891 Hall Caine 1892