Cornwall: Encyclopedia II - Cornwall - Culture

Cornwall - Culture

Cornwall - Language

The Cornish language is closely related to Welsh and Breton, and less so to Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx. It continued as a living Celtic language until 1777 and the death of Dolly Pentreath, the last person thought to have used only the Cornish language (although this is disputed on a number of counts). The publication of Henry Jenner's "Handbook of the Cornish Language" in 1904 caused a resurgence of interest in the Cornish language. The subsequent revival gathered pace during the twentieth century and, although there has never been a census, most estimates agree that there are now around 2,000 Cornish speakers, 100–150 of whom are fluent, and there are several families who have raised their children with the language. Cornish has recently been officially recognised by the UK government as a minority language and although currently less than 0.1% of the population speak it fluently, it is taught in many schools and used in religious and civic ceremonies and has boosted Cornish cultural identity.

Some Cornish surnames are prefixed by Tre, Pol, or Pen, as indicated in the rhyme "by Tre, Pol and Pen ye shall know Cornishmen." These come from Cornish language words meaning, respectively, town (or farm), pool, and head.

Cornwall - Cornish studies and literary references

The Institute of Cornish Studies, established in 1970, is a branch of the University of Exeter, and now part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Campus at Tremough, Penryn. Philip Payton, professor Cornish studies, has written a history of Cornwall as well as editing the Cornish studies series, and other academics, including Mark Stoyle of the University of Southampton and John Angarrack of the human rights organisation Cornwall 2000, have also produced work on Cornish culture.

A detailed overview of literature is provided by A. M. Kent's 'The Literature of Cornwall'. It covers everything from Medieval mystery plays to more recent literary works that draw on the Cornish landscape. Notable Cornish writers include Arthur Quiller-Couch alias "Q", the deaf short story writer, Jack Clemo and D. M. Thomas acclaimed author and poet.

Cornwall also produced a substantial amount of passion plays during the Middle Ages. Many are still extant, and provide valuable information about the Cornish language.

Daphne du Maurier lived in Cornwall and set many of her novels there, including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and The House on the Strand. She is also noted for writing Vanishing Cornwall. Charles de Lint's novel The Little Country, Winston Graham's series Poldark, Kate Tremayne's Adam Loveday series, Susan Cooper's novels Over Sea, Under Stone and Greenwitch, Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn and Gilbert and Sullivan's musical The Pirates of Penzance are all set in Cornwall.

Cornwall - Religion

Traditionally, the Cornish have been nonconformists, in religion. Celtic Christianity was a feature of Cornwall and many Cornish saints are commemorated in legends, churches and place names.

The Methodism of John Wesley also proved to be very popular with the working classes in Cornwall in the 18th century. Cornwall has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.

In 2003, a campaign group was formed called Fry an Spyrys (free the spirit in Cornish) [14]. It is dedicated to disestablishing the Church of England in Cornwall.

Cornwall - Music and festivals

Cornwall has a rich and vibrant folk music tradition which has survived into the present. Cornwall is well known for its unusual folk survivals such as Mummers Plays, the Furry Dance in Helston, and Obby Oss in Padstow.

Cornish players are regular participants in inter-Celtic festivals, and Cornwall itself has several lively inter-Celtic festivals such as Perranporth's Lowender Peran folk festival[15].

Cornwall - Sports and games

Cornwall has its own unique form of wrestling related to Breton wrestling.

Cornwall's other county sport is hurling, a kind of medieval football played with a silver ball. Hurling is distinct from Irish Hurling. The sport now takes place in St Columb and St Ives although hurling of a silver ball is part of the beating the bounds ceremony at Bodmin every five years.

Rugby has a larger following in Cornwall than football, with the Cornish Pirates RFC (the name change — previously the team were Penzance Newlyn RFC — is recent and designed to tap into the large amount of Cornish nationalist sentiment), Launceston RFC and Redruth RFC in the national leagues. The Cornwall rugby team often draws very large crowds of supporters, dubbed Trelawny's Army.

Due to its large coastline, various maritime sports are popular in Cornwall, notably sailing and surfing. International events in both are held in Cornwall. Cornwall will host the Inter-Celtic Watersports Festival in 2006.

Rock climbing on the sea cliffs and inland cliffs has been popular since the pioneeering work of A. W. Andrews and others in the early 1900s, and is now highly developed.

Euchre is a popular card game in Cornwall, it is normally a game for four players consisting of two teams. Its origins are unclear but some claim it is a Cornish game. There are several leagues in Cornwall at present.

A recent application for a place in the 2006 Commonwealth Games failed to impress the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). The Cornwall Commonwealth Games Association claimed that Cornwall should be recognised with a team, in the way that other sub-state entities such as England, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are. However, the CGF noted that it was not their place to make political decisions on whether or not Cornwall is a separate nation [16].

Cornwall - Food

Cornwall is famous for its pasties (a pastry dish; traditionally a Cornish pasty — known locally as simply a pastie or an oggie — contains meat and vegetables, often peppered), but saffron buns, Cornish Heavy (Hevva) Cake, Cornish fairings (biscuit), Cornish fudge and Cornish ice cream are also quite common.

Cornwall is famous for clotted cream and many types of cider, these are also made in the neighbouring English counties. There are also many types of beers brewed in Cornwall – the St Austell brewery is the best-known — including a stout and there is some small scale production of wine. There is no tradition of high alcohol spirits, such as whisk(e)y, in Cornwall.

Rodda's cream (a creamery based in Cornwall) is eaten by the Queen at Christmas.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Culture", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki