Perhaps of greater importance today when transport and sophisticated communication systems have  developed to the extent that people move quickly and easily around, not just in this country but the world. Most families will be made up of individuals from many places and cultures. They have become citizens of the world rather than of some small village at the foot of Cornwall and feel a need to establish and conserve their roots.

It is fortunate that there are individuals who realise this and strive to preserve words, sayings and pronunciation for future generations. Liz Harman, from an old established Newlyn family, is one of these and I know that many will, like myself, be delighted that her contribution to Cornish culture is to be recognised when she becomes a bard at the Gorseth in September.  Her tales of Aunt Sarah Ann, amongst others, are amusing but that should not be seen as their main purpose.  Incidentally they should be recorded as well as written or 'correct' pronunciation will be lost. There are also those who  strive to see the Cornish language more universally used and seek to have the subject offered as an examination subject in Cornish schools.  This has recently been a topic for debate and I frequently get questions from people who are not sure what it is all about, what follows is for them.

As with dialect today, in the 17th century scholars predicted that the Cornish language would ultimately disappear.  At the beginning of the century Richard Carew in his Survey of Cornwall (1602) stated that the majority of Cornish were bilingual speaking Cornish among themselves but able to converse with a stranger in the English tongue. Norden, writing in 1610, said much the same although he added that some obscure people who seldom 'confer with the better sort' spoke only Cornish.

The English Civil War of 1642-46 uprooted many Cornishmen who had to quickly acquire some English in order to communicate. Richard Symonds, who kept a diary in 1644, now in the British museum, records that “all beyond Truro they speak the Cornish language and at Land's End they speak no English”.

By the late 17th century scholars in the Penzance area formed a group to preserve the language. Prominent among these were John Keigwin of Mousehole (1641-1710), William Gwavas, John and Thomas Boson of Newlyn, Thomas Tonkin, of St. Just, and Oliver Pender. They concentrated on translating various passages of the Scriptures, proverbs and colloquial sentences, together with songs popular at the time.  They had hoped to translate parts of the Bible into Cornish in order to revive popular interest through religion.  This proved too great a task.

Looking back over a century to 1533 and the start of the Reformation it must have been obvious to these 17th century scholars that this date saw the start of the decline in the use of Cornish.

In 1547 Edward VI decreed that The English Book of Common Prayer should be introduced into Cornwall. Kings Commissioners were sent to enforce this new legislation in Cornwall.  Feelings grew extremely bitter and the following year, for the third time since the Norman Conquest, a Cornish force was raised to defend the rights of Cornishmen.  An army of 6,000 prepared to march across the Tamar, led by Humphrey Arundell of Lanherne and Henry Boyer, Mayor of Bodmin.

A petition was sent to the King, professing their loyalty but stating that they would not adopt the new form of church service, the main reason being that many of them did not understand English. Edward did not respond in a satisfactory manner and the Cornish army crossed the Tamar and laid siege to Exeter.  They were defeated by superior numbers, the Cornish army fled, its leaders soon rounded up and executed. History records that they had fought valiantly. The use of English was forced upon Cornwall by the tyranny of England, a death blow to the Cornish language. Had the new prayer book and bible been translated into Cornish as they were into Welsh it may be wondered whether the language would have survived longer than it did.

To return to the late 17th century the above was one of the reasons given by scholars for the decline in the use of Cornish.  Other reasons were lack of literature in the language, loss of legends and ancient records; and the  indifference of the Cornish about their heritage.

The 18th century was the last in which the Cornish language was in general use. During the latter half of the 17th century it can safely be assumed that there were few monoglot Cornish speakers left. At the beginning of the 18th century Dr Edward Lhuyd, an eminent scholar from Wales, visited Cornwall to study the language. He found twenty-five parishes where Cornish was spoken, almost all of these in West Penwith and the Lizard area. There is evidence that a number of native speakers were still alive in the early 1800s but few seem to have passed on their knowledge to their children. The language may have all but died out, Cornish scholarship did not but that is another story.

And in case you are wondering how Bishop Trelawny, made famous by Hawker in his Song of the Western Men (1825) with its rousing chorus:

And shall Trelawny die?
Heres twenty thousand Cornishmen
Will know the reason why!

fits into this story, he doesn't. He was a staunch royalist who, in 1685, with his brother Major General Charles Trelawny, was active in putting down the western rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth. His grateful sovereign, James II, made him Bishop of Bristol for his services during the rebellion. He was one of the seven Bishops who petitioned against James II's declaration of Indulgence (1687/88) granting religious tolerance to the Catholics. As a result he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower  on charges of 'seditious libel'. He was  tried and acquitted.

Margaret Perry

(Hwilors Kedhlow – Seeker of Facts)

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