"When the mightiest nations die out, language and all, the lesser Celtic ones cannot expect to live forever, but the example of each of the others teaches us in Cornwall at least to die only when we must; and not, because we have ceased to take an interest in our own existence, to perish of inanition "
(R. Morton Nance 1924)
My mother who is of Cornish and Welsh decent had always insisted that Cornwall is a country in its own right, separated from England through blood and culture from times way way before the first Saxon arrived at these shores, and I should celebrate that I was a Cornish man and a Celt
I will readily admit that I took little notice as I had arrived in Essex at the age of 6 I just assumed that she was just being nostalgic and that Cornwall was just another county in England. However I have never shook that feeling I get each and every time I cross the Tamar bridge, a real sense of coming home I am not talking about that American drivel of coming home to see the old folk I mean a real physical pull in my stomach from when I was a mere pup coming down to my Nans for the school summer holidays to now at the age of 43.
Here is the strange thing I can lay claim to many or all of the countries on the main island to be my own, my father is half English and half Scottish and my mother is half Welsh and half Cornish (indeed I was born in Elgin Scotland when my father was based there with the navy) but Cornwall is the only place I have ever really had the feeling of being tied to, and we as a family have been working towards a return, in fact we have made it to Plymouth.
Of course we would happily have made the move into Cornwall , but the hideous truth is you cannot buy a house in Cornwall at a reasonable price, strange situation when it is one of the poorest parts of the country with some of the lowest wages so how do the Cornish survive? I also noticed there are far to many accents like mine or even worse that dull dreary middle class accent that is good for a News presenter but empty of character and history and very few Cornish accents, this unsettled me deeply and I couldn't understand why until I happened to read the quote at the beginning of this blog by R. Morton Nance from 1924 and I have finally understood I am watching the death of a country, a people , a culture and a language, not by genocide but something almost as bad, death by apathy and assimilation.
This brings me to the reason of this blog, it is my aim to try and create a comprehensive website on all things Cornwall, its language, art, music, history, genealogy, political movements to keep it alive and anything else to that anyone would like to suggest. To do this I am going to try and get people to help me, specialists in their own particular fields and I will attempt to pull the whole thing together. I genuinely don't know how its going to go, but I will report back from time to time letting you know whats what (if anyone is reading this which I very much doubt)
I also want to look into that special relationship we share with Brittany (above all), Wales, Scotland and Ireland, why have these countries not aided the Cornish national ideals, what are their thoughts on the rebirth of the 5th Celtic nation ? also where should Kernow's borders begin ? because it damn well is not the Tamar that's for sure !!!!
