The traditional custom on Good Friday on the Isle of Man was to gather shellfish on the shore[1] and eat flitters in particular for breakfast,[2] after cooking them in the fire without the use of iron.
[1] A dance was collected in connection to these customs by Mona Douglas, who first mentioned it as ‘partly noted but still incomplete’ in 1937.
[3] Her informant at this stage,[4] a Mrs Callow of Cardle Veg, Maughold,[5] was able to recall the process of gathering mychurachan to make a fire on the beach, in which "arran-traaie"[6] barleymeal cakes were made and baked in the hot ashes and flitters were baked in their shells.
After the meal accompanied by milk, the remains were thrown into the sea with the words: ‘Gow shoh as bannee orrin’ (‘Take this and bless us’)[6] spoken as ‘some kind of prayer or charm.’[3] It was after this that the Flitter Dance was performed, by pairs of dancers to ‘wind to and fro in the shape of an S,’[4] however, no steps or details of the actual dance were recalled by Mrs Callow.
[8] Because of its simple and repetitive form, the dance is popular today for beginners and young dancers alike.