Folklore

During her lifetime Morrison was recognized as the leading authority on Manx folklore. She was consulted by the leading folklorists of the day, even being mentioned by Walter Evans-Wentz as of equal standing to the likes of John Rhys, Douglas Hyde, Alexander Carmichael, Henry Jenner and Anatole Le Braz. She contributed work to the journal Folk Lore, Celtic Nations & their Literary Activities edited by Rhŷs Phillips, and to Walter Evans-Wentz's Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries (1911).^[3]

The modern edition of Manx Fairy Tales, featuring illustrations by Archibald Knox from the 1929 second edition.

Her interest in the collection of folklore was channelled by Charles Roeder (1848–1911), a Manchester-based German folklorist, who was instrumental in Morrison's more scientific and hands-on approach. He was to estimate Morrison as of far greater importance and significance for the preservation of Manx culture even than A. W. Moore: "You are really the only Manx person I know who quite understands the great value of all these matters."^[5] What made Morrison distinct from collectors such as Moore was that she would collect folklore from people directly, often going on field trips with friends such as Josephine Kermode, better known by her writing name, Cushag.^[6] It was with Roeder that Morrison co-authored Manx Proverbs and Sayings in 1905. From this book comes the telling preface, by both authors, which is a good statement of Morrison's belief in the importance of folklore:

Something of the national character, somewhat of the history of a people, much of its manners and customs, may be gleaned from its folk lore. I make, therefore, no further apology for introducing this collection to the public. I feel sure that it will be welcomed, not only for its intrinsic interest, but as showing what treasures of Manx lore may still be unearthed by research among the people, if only the opportunity be seized before the passing away of the older generation.^[7]

Her most successful work in this area is Manx Fairy Tales, first published in 1911. Unlike other works in this area at that time, Morrison's book managed to gain wide appreciation from both scholars and the public. This balancing of both the purist and the populist approaches to cultural heritage was essential for Morrison; in bringing Manx culture to a wider audience, it could be both preserved and reinvigorated.^[8] This leaning of the book towards the popular audience can be seen in both the book's title (since superstition traditionally means that the word 'fairy' is never used on the Isle of Man) and in the near complete absence of Manx language or strong dialect. However, despite such concessions, and the minor changes to stories to present them in a better written form, they were well received by the people of Peel and its environs from whom the stories were originally collected.^[9]

The popularity of Manx Fairy Tales was boosted by its second edition in 1929 when illustrations were added by Archibald Knox, Morrison's friend who had earlier illustrated the journal, Mannin. To this edition of Manx Fairy Tales were also added five new stories, which were collected from published written sources, including the significant ones of 'The Moddey Doo', 'Magnus Barefoot' and 'The Buggane of St. Trinians'.^[10] It is this edition of the book which is still in print today.

Manx Language

Despite coming from an English-speaking home, Morrison was a fluent Manx speaker, thanks to her contact with people such as the fishermen of Peel who she came to know well through her father. At a time when the Manx language was going into a steep decline, Morrison began to take special interest in learning and preserving the language. With O. Joughin and William Cashen, Morrison set up Manx language lessons in Peel, which would soon become a feature of most towns across the island.^[11]

In March 1899 she was a founding member of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society),^[12] where she served as Secretary from 1901 until her death. She was to be described as "the mainspring of all the Society's activities" by P. W. Caine.^[11] Through the society Morrison was central to the printing of a number of books by others that preserved the Manx language, most notably Edmund Goodwin's First Lessons in Manx (1901).^[3]

Morrison was also keen to preserve the Anglo-Manx dialect, which she also saw as in danger due to the continued rise of English. She supported the dialect through the encouragement of contemporary literature written in dialect for Mannin and on the stage through The Peel Players. She was also interested in the more formal recording of the dialect, such as through her completing, with Edmund Goodwin, A. W. Moore's work on A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect, a book which was not to be completed until after her death, being published in 1924 by her sister, Louisa. Her death also interrupted work she was carrying out in writing an Anglo-Manx dictionary.^[3]

Mannin

The title of Mannin, designed by Archibald Knox

The front cover of the first edition of Mannin, May 1913

Morrison was responsible for Mannin: Journal of Matters Past and Present relating to Mann, the journal of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh, produced twice a year for nine editions between 1913 and 1917. It has been described as the culmination of her life's work, 'formalizing the ideals of the early-twentieth century Manx cultural movement'.^[13] Morrison acted as the originating force, the editor and also the funder of the journal, as it was she who was responsible for the cost of production.^[14]

The journal was a focal point for the Manx cultural movement, comprising pieces covering a wide range of cultural concerns: music, folklore, oral history, history, politics, biographies of significant Manx people, natural history, Manx Gaelic and original pieces of poetry, prose and theatre. The journal successfully raised the profile of Manx culture, both by the quality of the contributions and by the international calibre of those appearing in the journal. Significant figures published in Mannin include: T. E. Brown, John Ruskin, Archibald Knox, W. H. Gill, A. P. Graves, George Borrow, Josephine Kermode, P. M. C. Kermode, William Boyd Dawkins, Mona Douglas, Edward Forbes, William Cubbon and W. Walter Gill.^[15]

Like A. W. Moore's The Manx Note Book before it, Mannin made a significant and lasting impact on Manx culture, both as a store of writing and as a focus point for those enthused by Manx culture. But unlike Moore's earlier publication, and perhaps unlike other Manx journals that followed, Mannin is notable for the extension and continuation of Manx culture and literature, rather than just its preservation. The quality of Manx-centered literature published in the journal stands out in the history of a literature of the Isle of Man, including, as it does, perhaps all of the most important writers and thinkers of the period (except for Hall Caine, whose absence from such Manx cultural circles is noteworthy).

The last edition of the journal came in May 1917, when the ninth edition was published after Morrison's death, finally edited by her protégée, Mona Douglas. This final edition included a number of pieces commemorating Morrison and her importance to the Isle of Man and its culture.^[16]

Theatre

Sophia Morrison was ”averse to photographs as she had problems from childhood with her eyes giving her a form of squint"^[2]

Morrison's commitment to a living Manx culture saw her become director of The Peel Players, a small theatre company which produced specifically Manx plays, generally written in Anglo-Manx dialect.^[14] The significance and success of the group is shown by their performing plays both across the island and also in England.^[17]

The group was significant in promoting a sense of Manx identity, both through the plays performed and in the dialect used. It is perhaps unique in Manx history in being able to run a successful theatre group through plays written by local authors. Chief amongst the Manx authors who found their outlet in the Peel Players were Christopher R. Shimmin, Cushag and W. Clucas Kinley.^[14]

Other cultural activities

Where there was something to be done for the preservation, advancement and promotion of Manx culture, Morrison would take it upon herself to fulfill the necessary role. This is seen in a wide range of activities, including: in 1901, she attended the first Pan-Celtic Congress at Dublin, and in 1904, she was one of the members of the Manx delegation to the Celtic Congress of Caernarfon, arguably the high point of the Pan-Celtic movement which existed between 1900 and about 1910, photographed by John Wickens of Bangor.^[18]

She produced a calendar of T. E. Brown quotations with Alice Mallt Williams (1912), masterminding the T. E. Brown day in the island's schools (wherein each pupil received a picture of the Manx poet),^[3] a Manx Cookery Book written with her sister, Louisa, which proved to be very popular (1908)^[14] and a monograph on the subject of Manx folk dress, compiled in conjunction with Miss A. Corrin (in which she proposed developing the idea of a Manx national dress).^[3][11] She was also involved in the collection and recording of folk music, although little of her fieldwork in this area survives.^[19] Her folk music collecting was much more purist than W. H. Gill^{[lower-alpha 1]} who was prone to arrange the tunes for popular taste, but this did not dint Gill's respect for her opinion of his work.^[20] She was also instrumental in setting up Manx singing classes across the island.^[19]

Morrison was central to the idea of the Isle of Man as a Celtic nation, culturally tied to Ireland, Scotland and Wales more closely than England. Although its ambiguous relation to England made the Isle of Man unique (and perhaps something of an outsider) amongst the other nations of the pan-Celtic movement,^[21] Morrison ensured that there was a Manx presence at pan-Celtic gatherings, including going herself to the Pan-Celtic Congress in Dublin in 1901 and in Caernarfon in 1904.^[11]