Another relatively local lost language that is now on the upswing, especially amongst children, for this is Manx, the home of this tail-less tabby.
Now the Isle of Man, like Cornwall, is also across water, but a larger body of water than the Tamar, taking three hours by ferry to cross the Irish Sea. This mention of the Irish Sea is no coincidence, as Manx is another Celtic language, though it is also a Gaelic one, and closely related to primitive Irish, possibly because of its location. However some of the words are more closely related to ones only found in Scottish Gaelic.
It died out in December 1974, with its last known speaker, Ned Maddrell, aged ninety-seven, who was both born and died in Cregneash, on the Isle of Man. However, since the year 2000, it has started to come back, especially in schools, where it is taught to pre-schoolers and studied at A Level. There is also a growing demand for adult classes.
This has also led to the most amazing thing, for they now have signage in both Manx and English.
Of course some of this arose when UNESCO decided that the language was extinct, but were met with a barrage of letters in Manx to not only fight back but prove that it was widely used across the island. And UNESCO replied, taking the language out of the dead list and moving to endangered.
Here we have the Manx cat, tail-less, but with longer legs than usual. They have been native to and resident in the Isle of Man for centuries, but there are many theories as to why. Some say they were brought there by sea, which could well be true, as they are descended from the African wildcat and not the European one. Others swear that because of a lack of cats on the island they suffered with a genetic mutation due to inbreeding. And then there is the curious "tail" of a particular male whose lack of rear end decoration was compensated for by his very active romantic tendencies, all of his kittens being also born like him, and also spreading down through their descendants.
As to our card, we have a home page for Priory Tea - I Spy, with background info on the company, and a listing of all the sets, and, one day you will be able to see a specimen card from every set by linking out from there. Not yet though.
This particular set is described in our original British Trade Index part two, as :
Priory Tea & Coffee Co. Ltd., London, S.E.1. Cards issued 1957-64. Small size 69 x 37 m/m. Special album issued to house the 13 series, listed below in order used in album. Series numbers appear only on album sheets.
SERIES 2 "I SPY PETS". Sm. Nd. (24) ... PTT-2
Our updated British Trade Index adds "Special album issued to house all 13 sets. Albums to take one or two sets were available for 6d." And it also gives the date of issue, as series 1 to 4 were all issued in 1957. But I forgot to write down the card code. So that will come tomorrow