House of Keys in United Kingdom

The origin of the name Keys or House of Keys, the lower branch of the legislature, the court of Tynwald, of the Isle of Man, has been much discussed, but it is generally accepted that it is a particular application of the word “key” by English- and not Manx-speaking 768 people. According to A. W. Moore, History of the Isle of Man, i. 160 sqq. (1900), in the Manx statutes and records the name of the house was in 1417 Claves Manniae et Claves legis, Keys of Man and Keys of the Law; but the popular and also the documentary name till 1585 seems to have been “the 24,” in Manx Kiare as feed. From 1585 to 1734 the name was in the statutes, &c., “the 24 Keys,” or simply “the Keys.”

Moore suggests that the name was possibly originally due to an English “clerk of the rolls,” the members of the house being called in to “unlock or solve the difficulties of the law.” There is no evidence for the suggestion that Keys is an English corruption of Kiare-as, the first part of Kiare as feed. Another suggestion is that it is from a Scandinavian word keise, chosen.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica (1911)

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