John Clague (physician)

[2] Clague received his medical training in Guy's Hospital in London and returned to the Isle of Man in 1873 to practise medicine.

[4] Based in Castletown, he was surgeon to Castle Rushen jail, to the household of the lieutenant governor, and also to the troops garrisoned in the barracks there.

Manx language teacher and author John Gell remembered Clague coming to treat his father after he fell sick and that he was well known for refusing to take payment from patients.

As a doctor, he was an influential and respected figure in the community and he used this position to collect songs, dances, and melodies as he travelled in the south of the island.

The greater part of the words and songs that I have taken down from his singing, and I spent many happy hours in writing them down.

[8]Clague retired in the early 20th century, but continued to see some of his long-term patients until shortly before his death on 23 August 1908.