Cornwall: A Celtic Nation Trapped in England | Cornish Language, Culture & Identity
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- čas přidán 17. 05. 2024
- Cornwall, or Kernow in the Cornish language (Kernowek), is a Celtic nation in southwest England. It’s now an English county, but was once an independent Cornish Kingdom. Cornwall has maintained a distinct identity for centuries, and even its own language. Today, 400-500 people speak fluent Cornish, up from 4-5 following the Cornish language revival. I travelled to Truro, Cornwall’s capital, to meet Cornish locals and find out what makes Cornwall unique, aside from the Cornish pasty, of course. I spoke with a councillor for Mebyon Kernow, a Cornish nationalist political party, campaigners for Kernow Matters to Us (KMTU), fluent Cornish speakers, and someone from the Cornish Language Fellowship (Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek).
Cornwall lost its independence in 838, and has since been absorbed into the UK. It is separated from Devon, it’s neighbouring county, by the Tamar river, one of the oldest geopolitical boundaries in the world. The Cornish are ethnically and culturally distinct from the English, but as it is so culturally underrepresented in the media, many people in the rest of the UK don’t even know that a Cornish language exists. UNESCO changed the classification of Cornish from “extinct” to “critically endangered” in 2009, but the number of Cornish speakers is growing. Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language (also known as a P-Celtic language, as opposed to Q-Celtic). There are several Celtic languages, but only two others exist in this category with Cornish; Welsh and Breton.
Since Cornwall is part of England, which in turn is part of the UK, Cornwall is a country inside a country, inside a country. It is one of the 6 Celtic nations: Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and Brittany in Northwestern France. There’s also debate over whether Galicia and Asturias in Northern Spain are Celtic nations as well, which would bring the total to 8. The Cornish are decendents of the Britons (aka Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons), who remained unconquered by the Saxons or the Normans, and even allied with some invaders of what is now England at times.
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00:00-01:39 - Dydh Da: Welcome to Cornwall (Kernow)
01:40-02:43 - What are the Celtic Nations?
02:44-05:33 - What Defines Cornish Identity and Cornish Culture?
05:34-06:34 - Cornwall's Mining Heritage & Deindustrialisation
06:35-08:04 - The Cornish Language: Kernowek
08:05-08:51 - Dha Weles (See ya!) - Final Thoughts
#cornwall #kernow #celticnation #cornishculture #cornwalllife #cornishlanguage
You can find part 2 of this story here:
czcams.com/video/C2DFTj0Ot2o/video.html
I'm from Brittany, and when I was little, we had a friend over from Cornwall, who could speak Cornish. I was amazed by the fact that he could converse rather well with the old people who spoke Breton in the village.
Really interesting, I would love to hear both Languages. What is the difference between the language of the old and newer generations in Brittany? Is it still taught in Schools?
@@branthomas1621 Breton is predominantly spoken by older people. It's a dying language. Breton is very close to Cornish with some French influences.
Onion sellers from Brittney would come to Wales.
My Grandfather who only spoke Welsh could converse with them somewhat.
@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 Is this because of the pernicious influence of the centralising French state?😊
You’d probably understand Welsh as well
I come from a region known as Australia's Little Cornwall. It doesn't look or feel like Cornwall, UK, but it is distinctly Cornish culturally. It is a region in rural South Australia covering historic mining and farming regions. Cornish is still a spoken language, the Lowender Kernewek is one of the biggest festivals in the region, and St Piran's flag is flown proudly under the Australian Flag. Even the older architecture is unique to the rest of the state. Cornwall is definitely not forgotten as a culture and nation of its own (alongside the other Celtic nations), and has it's own diaspora that retains it's unique culture, language and traditions to this day. Indeed, two historic Prime Ministers of Australia were of Cornish ancestry: Robert Menzies (Cornish maternal lineage, Scottish paternal lineage) and Bob Hawke.
I know exactly the town you are talking about. My ancestors moved there for mining
So your technicianly cornish hello brother
I live here too. The towns of Moonta. Wallaroo and Kadina are called "Australia's Little Cornwall". We are called Cousin Jack's and Jenny's"
Proud of you all for keeping Kernow so close to your hearts. Xxxxx
I don't believe you that people are speaking Cornish in Australia
We're seeing the same resurgence with Manx on the Isle of Man - it's wonderful to see the preservation of the many cultures within the British Isles.
And Ireland as well
Sad to say we're in danger for obvious reasons, the government have no respect for us. My little village got flooded with migrants and had it's first ever recorded crime by one of the new people; we used to go fish and stay out at night. Did any of us ever ask for this?
@@limpa756so sad
Cornwall is actually one of the few last bastions of England, with its deep, pagan ties and quirky traditions that have been left alone
I consider that a good thing.
Kernow is not really England ;)
I dunno, England is an Anglo-Saxon invention, English is effectively Anglish. Anglo-Saxons did not have a lot to do with the Cornish culture. The Cornish culture dates to a time where every place in Britannia would have had it's own distinct culture. Rarely anybody speaks of the Northern Dobunni culture which was prevalent in my area, Cornish have far more publicity.
Cornwall is older than england. It's traditions are Cornish. If you want traditional england go to the cotswolds.
Exactly pard
That fact that Cornish went from 0 to 500 speakers is actually very impressive.
Probably Chinese 😂
It really is. I think at the start of the last century there were around 5 fluent speakers. So that's a 10,000% increase in Cornish speakers in 100 years!
There's more speakers of Klingon
I've been learning and am able to say "hello", "how are you?" "I'm ok" and "Goodbye", but then got despondent as I had no-one else to practice with. Then a nearby neighbour moved in from Cornwall! I say the same things every time I see him and he humours me admirably! I hope to learn more now.
@@decem_sagittae nuqneH
A piece on Cornwall that doesn't descend into pasties and cream teas?! Impressive. Looking forward to part 2. Kernow arta!
Haha I figured there might be enough of those by now! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Exactly what I was thinking. My dad is Cornish, Irish and English and my last name is Cornish -39, I'm also black and Native American. I support Cornish independence. I'm learning Chinese but after I finish I'm going to learn Cornish. If I can ever get better off economically I'm taking the trip to Cornwall my favorite place in Europe.
@@crossroadcircleoffical I'm black too
Mining and Methodism sound like a recipe for misery. It’s great to hear that.the Cornish language and the Celtic spirit is alive and well and bouncing back ❤
They got a lot of Strippers there?
I´m from El Salvador, tiny country in Central América, the smallest on continental ground. Thank you for learning of your people and HERITAGE.
I am reading Winston Gramhan’s Poldark series, after roughly 80 hours of immersion I am so fascinated with Cornwall! The narrator of the audiobook nails the accent so well, Oliver Hembrough, deserves recognition for the achievement of all the accents used in the telling of this excellent story.
I love Poldark! ❤ Big fan I will have to check the audiobook out
Ur not reading ab audio book
There’s a small town in Mexico that was founded by the Cornish. A while ago, Prince Charles went to visit that town. It’s called Real del Monte.
I'd never heard of that, thanks for the info! I just googled it and was reading about the mining in that town, which makes sense given it's cornish roots. Fascinating stuff!
Yes ive heard alot of them still have cornish english features
Yes the biggest pasty factory is in Mexico if I’m not wrong.
@@TieranFreedman after the tin mining industry collapsed the miners moved into new areas such as Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada and Mexico to name a few.
VIVA CORNIXCO🇲🇽❣️🇮🇴🌈👑
I’m from Dorset and when I think of Cornwall I think of retired couples moving there so learning the history is fascinating. I hope Cornish people get their history and culture recognised by more people.
Glad you found the video insightful! Me too, there are a lot of people pushing very hard to make that recognition happen. Though many of my friends here in Sussex still didn't know that Cornish was a language...
@@TieranFreedman I always knew Cornish was a Celtic language but I thought it was extinct unfortunately as Cornwall was full of retired people from London.
Friends of ours ( also from Dorset) came down to visit us in Cornwall. As we live in an old mining area, could not believe the old mining ruins, the amount of history on our doorstep. They loved the way Cornish schools teach Cornish history, teach the Cornish tongue. Most Cornish know the songs and shanties and proudly support our festivals. Even our buses have Cornish phrases for the visitors! Proud to be Cornish? Yes I am.
As a Welsh person, the Cornish are our cousins, they just have a more diverse selections of surnames than Wales (Cymru). We have like 12 surnames: Evans, Roberts, Jones, and that's bout it, but Cornish surnames are so interesting to me.
Particularly the history of how they (the people of kernow) allied themselves with the Danelaw and allowed their kingdom to be used as a Bridgehead to murder Wessexmen (from Dorset, Somerset and Devon)) and how it cost them their kingdom, eh?
Hi, I'm from Mexico and we have some history related to the Cornishman because they came to my city in 1827 to work in the silver mines ; they brought the steam engines, the football, the paste and the Methodist Religion. Actually, we have a clock that was made in England.
My tribe is the Dumnonii, my family name is directly derived from the Brythonic Celts language.( I CHOSE NOT TO YOU USE IT) The tiny Hamlet my family are named after still exists today . It was there before the Romans arrived.Its appears in the Doomsday book published in 1086. The blood and bones of my ancestors are soaked and scattered all over England. Therefore I am an English Celt
Good man. Be proud of your noble lineage! From America with love!
Cornwall and Wales are the cradle of the Breton culture, we don't forget, much love to our Celtic cousins.
It was great to see a Breton song performed at Eurovision!
Breizh da viken! 🖤🤍🖤🤍
Celts are more ancient than most people think, they're related to the Anatolian farmers who settled down in Mesopotamia.
We Cornish love and respect out great Breton cousins from across the waves. Long live the Bretons.
@@AsadAli-jc5tg Mentioned as Galatians in Central Asia Minor in the Bible
Really good piece! I grew up in North Cornwall and my mum's side of the family has a pretty long Cornish heritage, so it's so cool to see this sort of visibility coming about for where we grew up
Thank you, glad you liked it! I really enjoyed putting this video together, since I knew very little about Cornish culture and identity before I visited; it's crazy how underrepresented it is in the media. Does your family speak any Cornish? It's amazing to see such an impressive language revival effort!
@@TieranFreedman I know right? Unfortunately we don't, we have tried learning it, but without a proper Duolingo course (or, you know, it being taught in schools) it's quite difficult to pick up. Either way, sounds like you've enjoyed it down here! Can't wait for the next part! Kernow A'gas Dynergh!
I'm from Belfast and grew up in the most dangerous city on the planet now Europe's capital of Terrorism's Cornish aren't Celtic people neither or the free state invited them over we don't have Generation Z X snowflakes Woke's Gay's lesbian's Bull Dyke's lesbian's liberals left wing idiology we have no Eastern Europeans and African's and Americans and English bastard's keep your nose out of our business you don't have blonde hair blue green eyes Celtic features their is only 1.8 million people in Ulster Ulula let them cross the Irish sea they wouldn't be welcome in Larne or Belfast it's a fuckin War Zone a good knee caping or a Jesus feed them to the Pig's we've got our own terrorists and munitions so fuck off home British soldiers 800 years of attrococities made as slaves and we weren't worth a penny we were shot Hung Drawn Quartered beaten dragged around sexualy abused tortured and humiliated Oliver Cromwell committed mass Genocide numerous occasions we were put on slave ship's chained 7 years penal servitude never to return UTube stick your Armament decommissioning Tony Blair's and Moe Mollem we never retreat and no Surrender Robert Paddy Blair Main was a family friends he was educated at Belfast university and boxing champion he played Rugby for Ireland and the British lions he took out more aircraft that any other airman at Tripoli he single handedly took out the main gun post to allow the landings he was one of the 12 founder members of the S.A.S he against the government landed in France to rescue 100 S.A.S troops which were shot he also played his favourite song of lily marlain he & a Canadian soldier stolen a jep attached German soldiers who thought that they were under attack for a whole Battalion but still rescued his 5 body's he wone 9 medal's one being the French legion of hounner but never give the V.C he single handedly shot dead 30 airmen he is buried in movila cemetery with his family in Newtown Ards we refuse to watch series and because they are all totall bullshit episode's like we also in Ulula Ulster don't celebrate s.t Patrick's Day parade it's a day or work he was a slave never went to the free state so we think that the entire world are Wankers making fool's like the village idiots Oliver Cromwell committed mass Genocide numerous occasions we were shot Hung Drawn Quartered beaten dragged around sexualy abused tortured food clothing housing stollen from us put on slave ship's chained won't worth a penny we were shot for fun UTube the Irish in new Orleans History47 years years of attrococities shoot to kill policy castle lock you up without trial castle Reagh is the equivalent to quantanamo bay Cuba we had 800 years UTube go on home British soldiers UTube stick your dicommisioning up your arssholes as for the potato Famine effected all of us but England let us all drop dead we hate Brexit you English bastard's keep your nose out of our business Cornwall and Wales aren't Celtic features so we call you Heinz 57 Dolly mixture it's like Yorkshire think that they are above the rest of England your all English bastard's Pussycat's wouldn't know a harder day's work not1bit because you are genitic fuck ups
I remember stating in an English lesson i want to learn Cornish, was told we don't do that.
I wish i made more of a problem
Cornwall is hardly ‘trapped’ in England. Have you tried to get there in the summer? It hangs off the end of England like a dewdrop off my nose in January. 🤓
Hahaha, I was going to say something similar but not as good as the drewdrop description.🙃
This is the most British comment I think I've ever seen
This videos just click bait, your soo right
So it’s a summer vacation spot ?
Holiday spot?
I'm guessing the metaphor flew over your head?
A few years ago I visited Grass Valley, a former mining community in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The whole history of that town revolves around the Cornish. The gold mines up there run very deep and go under major rivers such as the Yuba River. The Cornish were brought in because of their experience mining below the waterline. It's quite a visit there in Grass Valley - to go into the deep dark mines that brought wealth to places like Sacramento and San Francisco, then come out into th e sweltering heat and get a beef pasty!
Very well done. Best video about Cornish culture so far. If you did an hour version of this, I'd watch the whole thing.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! There is a part 2 you can find on my channel as well if you are interested 😊
@@TieranFreedman Please do a vidoe on Wales for years they have been treated horrible by the English at one point in history , their language was banned by the English
I moved to Cornwall 3 yrs ago (Lanson) and love it. My children are loving the history and we are blessed with so many locals that have excepted us. My children are learning the Cornish language. I would never tell anyone I’m Cornish because I’m not but we try and embrace the Cornish culture where ever we go.
Hopefully, they'll accept you one day, John.
@@moosey62 am I right in saying we are meant to have at least 3 generations in the grave before we can say we’re Cornish 😁
Hopefully they'll ACCEPT you before then.
@@moosey62 lol never hapn
@@moosey62 god loves a trier 😉😂
Others have said it but I'd like to talk about further: This reminds me of a place in Mexico with Cornish heritage called Real del Monte in the State of Hidalgo. Basically in the late 18th and 19th centuries, Cornish people left the UK in droves to countries like the US and Australia. But many chose to settle in Mexico for mining. Real del Monte was already known for silver mining during the Spanish period, but Cornish immigrants brought "new" Industrial Revolution mining technology, reviving Mexican silver mining. One Cornish chap, Francis Rule, became wealthy buying up silver mines and exploring flooded tunnels helped uncover huge finds that would spur the economy.
Of course, these miners brought their Cornish pasties with them, having an impact of Mexican society. In Mexico, they call them paste and rather than beef and potatoes, they're stuffed with everything from pineapple to chicken! These Cornish miners are also the reason why football is so institutionalized in the country. They founded several clubs there!
Lovely fluffy tale of how Europeans invaded the Americas 😅😅
@@kellz5135 you just hate soccer
no actually, you see all white people the same, and thats the problem. Cornish people in Diaspora left because of oppression, not opportunism. not all migration is an invasion.
@@tecc8960 don’t worry it will still be there when you are long dead.
@@kellz5135 They didn’t invade,its called immigration.😊
Great bit of content, well done!
Greetings from a Cornish descendant in Chile! Thank you for this.
Greetings!....dydh da!
Love it My ancestors travelled from Ludgvan and Camborne, to Moonta South Australia but I am Cornish and proud,
What a journey! Do you know what brought them there? I just looked it up and saw there was some mining there.
Mining specifically copper. Thousands of Cornish came in the 1800s to South Australia. Moonta is affectionately knows as Australia’s little Cornwall and home to the largest Cornish festival on the planet Kernowik Lawender which takes place every two years.
My family are from Moonta Mines who’s ancestors came from Cornwall mostly from Stithians Cornish miners we were. Cousin Jack and Jennie’s
@@christopherericparker live in Lancashire, have cornish ancestors who came up here in 19th century , to work down the pits, they were pascoes ,some from Stithians ,copper and tin miners , I've learnt that thousands of cornish migrated to lancashire and lots of places had a little Cornwall area in towns across the Lancashire coalfields
@@eldee9842 No I am not English, my surname actually means Cornwall
@@laurint1 Cornwall is a part of England though so you are of English blood
I like that, "We will fight you 'till the bitter end, but win or lose, we will then take you for a pint." -Tony Leamon
That just resonates with me.
4:47 btw
Yeah Irish are like that especially after a game of rugby...
Dia duit from Ireland. We're undergoing a language revival too so it's great to see the progress in Cornwall
The Cornish revival was derailed in the late 20th century when Ken George invented a rival form of Cornish and it split the revival movement down the middle, with competing orthographies and different grammars and vocabularies. Much of the effort on Cornish since then has tried to repair the damage. You can easily see the difference between Cornish texts: If you see a word with "wh" in it, that's good authentic Cornish. If it has the ugly and ahistorical "hw" instead, it's the fake newfangled variety.
As a Cornish person, that zoom meeting was just a mess of verbal diarrhoea.
People that enjoy the outdoors feel a connection to their environment is true of anywhere and isn't distinctly Cornish. Some people in Yorkshire are probably quite passionate about the Dales for example. Cornwall can be very beautiful, so is easier for people to feel that sense of connection.
Cornish people can be grumpy and frustrated, so fair point, but not distinctly Cornish.
Finally "we will fight you to the bitter end, and then have a pint with you" is just complete rubbish. In terms of structured thought, historically and attempts to stereotype a whole group of people.
But the video overall was interesting and was nice just to see shots of Truro and be able to pin-point where you were.
You must be fun at parties, sound just like a devoner you are
You do yourselves a disservice. The Cornish people are different, along with a tiny piece of South West Wales. The other 'different place' is the Orkneys.
The Cornish had a particular asset, and that was tin. There were only two sources of tin that supported the entire European Bronze Age, the other was in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, you can forget that whole Celtic thing. There's no evidence of any connection between any of the people of North-Western Europe and the guys who made the astonishing jewellery. Here's the phrase from the 2015 genomic study: "...there exist genetically differentiated subgroups rather than a general ‘Celtic’ population."
@@nicktecky55 Celts are not a genetic grouping, they were a culture that spread throughout most of Europe. The different Celtic peoples were never one homogeneous genetic block, rather they were about as varied as the genetics of the peoples of Europe in the modern era. The Cornish are Celtic, as were the people of the British Isles generally, but the Cornish are notable for managing to continue practicing their Celtic culture for longer than the rest of what constitutes England thanks mainly to their isolated location.
The Cornish people are a Celtic people, because Celt is a cultural term not a genetic one.
Cornwall isn't unique in its tin deposits, as neighbouring Devon also has them, granted in Sub-Roman Briton they were part of a Brythonic Kingdom that stretched from Cornwall up to the River Axe in Dorset. There are also major bronze age tin deposits in Brittany and North-Western to Central Iberia.
A fairly large quantity of bronze age crafted tin objects have been found in Salcome in Devon, comparable to those found in the Levant and parts of Ancient Greece.
@@treeaboo Excellent, thank you. Well researched facts over fanciful emotions.
I'm Welsh and largely agree with you. There are certain Welsh trains I like to think as being unique, but I dont think they are. There are common denominators that people share with other groups such as warmth and a good humoured approach to life, but these are culturally learned types of behaviour rather than genetic predisposition. Community people are familiar and down to earth. The richer people get, the more independ and distant they become.
I 'm Breton and the Cornish people are our cousins. I don't really speak Breton fluently (the result of the policy of the French state since centuries) but, for the few that I know, I compared Breton words with Cornish words and I realised how close or even similar they are. Cornwall and Brittany had cultural exchanges for centuries, after the arrival in Brittany of the celts coming from the UK, forced to flee Saxon invasions of Britain.
What a wonderful video presentation. It is so very interesting 😊
Beautifully filmed. Great information
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 😁
Meur ras bras, thank you! For this open minded view on our nation and language which is so often looked down upon or completely ignored or denied - and for talking and listen to Cornish folk.
Thanks for the kind words ☺️ Glad you enjoyed it! It really is a shame the Celtic cultures in the UK are not celebrated more by the government. I didn't know too much about Cornwall prior to filming this, so it was really fascinating to learn about it :)
Considering whether anyone likes it or not, England and Scotland basically subsidise Northern Ireland and Wales, whilst I admire your independent spirit, how do you propose to fund your new Cornish Republic? Weigh in mind that you will need energy of some kind, a financial system and more than just a vague goal of employment opportunities.
Furthermore it's quite a bold claim and frankly Horseshoe Theory the claim in this video that the Cornish are ethnically distinct from the English. I once encountered a very unsavoury Englishman claiming that English is 'a special ethnicity that needs protecting' as he seemed to forget about the rest of Britain and Europe. Like the word Ultra-Nationalist applies to such types. Eerily similar and very very disturbing.
"Nation"? Lol
Kernow Bys Vyken
It IS completely ignored . By most
people in Cornwall . And rightly so ..
Usual yanks and Australians claiming to have 1 % Celtic blood in them,it gets so tedious.
Normally the yanks haha
You've got a knack for Documentary that very few on this platform have. Excellent video.
Thank you for such an excellent video of my home.Propper job .
Fascinating! I’m a Welshman and recently discovered that my families surname originated from Cornwall, (probably) as there are places and pubs in Cornwall called Buller! I would love to visit this beautiful county one day and retrace my heritage! Great content looking forward to part 2! Da iawn 👏🏽🏴
It was called South and West Wales before the invasion.
Cornishman here, lots of farming families around me named Buller! :)
In Wales, we call that feeling of connection to the landscape and melancholy, “hiraeth”. I wonder if you have a similar word in Cornish?
All the Celtic nations have a word like that, that cannot be translated, it’s described as a pain of not being able to return to your home, due to English colonialism
Yes we do, it's "hireth". Like a lonely homesick nostalgia. It's a wonderful word and as I sit here on the train crossing the Tamar I feel it big time!
If not, someone will make one up! They have made up words for Mobile phones, and other modern electrical devices, which were not around when the Cornish language was spoken!
I am guessing "hir", meaning "long", "hiraeth" would be longing.
In English it's "hearth".
0:17 @Tieran Freedman it wasn't "brought back from the brink of extinction" it was brought back from extinction and is quite different from Cornish spoken before the death of the last native speakers. In fact there are competing versions of this "neo-Cornish", one based off Middle Cornish and another based off Late Cornish. Essentially it's use today is less akin to breathing new life into a highly endangered language and more revival projects like that of Hebrew.
Furthermore Cornish is only the native language of the Western part of Cornwall, more towards the East you have Anglo-Cornish which is a quite divergent dialect of English similar to others traditionally spoken in the West Country
Correct. It was completely extinct. When I visited Cornwall, I went to a cemetery to see the gravestone of the last native speaker.
very good video. glad to see there's more people raising awareness than the stalwart Cornish cultural figureheads preaching to the (often literal) choir, that means we're getting somewhere!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! From a personal standpoint, I found it (and part 2 which will be coming soon) to be really fascinating to film and edit. I knew next to nothing about Cornish culture and identity, since it is so rarely mentioned in the media. So it was great to learn so much during my visit and hear the language spoken by so many fluent Cornish speakers!
@@TieranFreedman sadly there are only very few in reality, the only reason there's any Cornish culture left at all is because of the hard work of a vocal minority of very dedicated individuals. there's very little attention paid to Cornish culture in schools, it's only independent organisations. it's tempting to say it's hegemonic oppression.
regardless, i'm appreciative to you for reaching out and taking an open mind into this, it's amazing how people can independently create genuinely valuable pieces of investigative journalism, and i look forward to part 2!
From a proper Cornish lass this is a great film and should be shown in schools!
Thank you for the kind words Lisa, glad you enjoyed it! 😊
Never show
What do Cornish people think of London and Londoners? 😂
I agree, children should be taught their history! I’m neither English or Cornish but, we had a fantastic English History teacher in Highschool that’s why I know that Cornwall was first settled by the Celts!
All this internal debate on these small islands makes no difference now. Britain is owned by Islam and within 2 generations will be mostly populated by none Europeans.
Well glad to see it hope u get more reached viewers
Greetings from Alabama USA. I enjoy your vids.
I live in Australia but ancestry DNA says I am 60% Cornish in ancestry. I know that on both my mother and father sides my Cornish descendants travelled to Australia as miners and stonemasons. Great to watch your video!
So you say .. sir , I say your ancestors never saw a shovel in anger. Bread theives and handkerchief bandits no doubt. Free boat to the colonies Good day!
Your DNA shows exactly where in England you’re from? Lol. Where did you get that? Mine says in mostly English, but it doesn’t tell me I’m mostly London.
My local pub has a framed sign about emigration to Australia with free travel from the 1800s. Meetings were held there in the pub!
What is the other 40%?
@@pommiebears Cornish DNA is distinguishable from English DNA and easier to pin point, English DNA could be anywhere from Plymouth to Carlisle.
Yorkshire. A Viking nation trapped in England…we could go on forever.
not quite the same i think.
@@lesterquintrell4844 why not?
@@Oobido The eastern Irish have quite a bit of viking heritage as well.
@@Oobido where are you getting your information from? For most of Britain they have 28% of their DNA from Scandinavia, in Yorkshire it’s 52%. In our dialect we have many Old Norse loan words, substantially more of our place names are Viking origin, a lot of people I know have Scandinavian origin surnames and we have a lot of Viking history in York, including the Jorvik Museum.
People aren’t confident enough or know enough about our history to ask for recognition as a country unfortunately. I’d recommend reading some of the books produced by the Yorkshire Dialect Society, like with Scots we also had a period of rich poetry and literature but it’s mostly been forgotten because of our status of being part of England.
Very informative. I always wondered about Cornwall. Subscribed.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Loving this one thanks for sharing very information blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
Thank you for this beautiful video on our home and people. Onen hag oll, Kernow bys vyken!
Glad you enjoyed it Chris! It was really fascinating to learn about it, and great to meet some fluent Cornish speakers. There will be a second part coming in the not-too-distant future! 🙂
@@TieranFreedman also just a random point, you pronounce 'dha weles' as 'dah'. 'Dh' is pronounced 'th'. Meur ras!
Selective history is such a fun tool for those who have an agenda or ideology to push. Cornwall we know today only came into being after King Athelstan (in 936) set the boundary at the River Tamar... prior to that Cornwall, Devon, and part of Somerset was one ancient kingdom of Dumnonia. The Cornovii were a sub-tribe that formalised after the boundary was set.
To say it is a 'Celtic nation trapped in England' is a misnomer.
They still occupied (and continue to) occupy the land shared with former more ancient Britons and thus a shared gene pool.
I think a celtic identity is more to do with culture and language than genetics, and all modern "Celtic Nations" are places where non-germanic languages survive (or at least survived long after English arrived in the British isles), and in Cornwall, Cornish, (A Brythonic language similar to Welsh and Breton), was spoken up until the late 18th century, although, you'll be happy to know, it has recently experienced a revival!, now being taught in more than 60 schools in Cornwall
Celtic linguistic and cultural identity rather than DNA. The French people have a Celtic history in the Gaulish people. The Gaulish language is long gone and most traces of their Celtic heritage are also lost. Therefore the French are not considered Celtic. The only Celtic part of France is Brittany which was settled by British Celts in the Dark Ages. There are Celts in Galicia in Spain too.They are racial Celtic, have a Celtic culture, in particular their music, but have lost their Celtic language. Some people consider the Galicicians not fully Celtic because they lack a Celtic language.
There is no Celtic DNA as such.
I completely agree. The other pre Roman tribes are also still 'trapped', by this interpretation. The late Saxon boundary setting carved up much of regional England into what we know today, and yet many pre Roman tribal boundaries still show as sub-regional county boundaries. I was raised in the Cantii, and there are accents and manners of speaking there that are different to other counties etc. But the language was lost over centuries of rule - Latin, then Saxon, Norman French etc. But the people are still there...
England and the UK is a mosaic of tribal boundaries. This is an excellent production, yet you could argue every county in England is 'trapped' in England.
And there are the peoples who were here before the celtic incursions....what of them? Are they trapped in Cornwall? It goes ever on, and a simple interpretation is never conclusive.
What agenda? Some people just want to connect with their past.Selective history. Ha!
Your riiiight! I'm interested in Egyptian History because I want to go through the Stargate and talk to Ra 👁️ about Nuclear weapon supplies. While I'm in the Orion system I'll do a little sunbaking, mining negotiations and bring home a 👰 bride and camel.
This is such a nice surpirse.. very thankful you came up on my feed and the video is fantastic. don't know why i watched all of it but very interesting
Thank you glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
I spent a little time in a B&B overlooking St Michael’s Mount last year. It was incredibly special.
I'm an Aussie but my great-grandfather hailed from Vogue near St Day and Redruth and my mother's family came from Northern Ireland in the 1830s. Have never thought of myself as "English" and am now realising that I'm a Celt. Wonderful! Interested in learning to speak Cornish as well.
Do you know where abouts your mother's family came from in Northern Ireland?
@@danieleaglen3433 Yes. Letterkenny and some north of there on the coast.
Lovely part of the country
@@corinnecowper1339 Letterkenny is in the Republic of Ireland not Northern Ireland unless you meant northern Republic of Ireland
Vogue magazine wrote to the pub in Vogue (Star inn Vogue) telling them that they couldn't use the name?. You can imagine the response...The magazine had to back track as it was clearly pointed out to them that the village had been in existence long before the magazine was developed.
'win or loose we will take you for a pint' .. im cornish lived in the midlands now for over 10 years and can tell you people in cornwall are not like this
Thanks for the wonderful video
as someone who visits Cornwall frequently, I have a great love for the place, so this is a very interesting video.
I think it's worth mentioning that the term "country" didn't originally mean a nation or nation state as we now use it. It just meant a people in an area, which we still have echoes of "The West Country" or "The Black Country". As a rule of thumb, it means you have your own name for bread rolls. The nation of England (and of Scotland, Wales etc) is composed of many countries. The histories of peoples are fascinating, but all nations are composites and splitting up into perceived historical peoples would result in (a) a lot of very small political units and (b) a lot of unresolvable arguments about history and authenticity.
In short, it spreads more divide
@@JoeCool90 In short, yes :)
Very, very well said.
So...
Basically any country.Every country is exactly this.
@@JoeCool90 LET US AMALGAMATE INTO A NAMELESS, FACELESS MASS OF NATIONHOOD: A PANGEA OF PERSONHOOD, A DESERT OF DESCRIPTORS, CHARACTERIZED BY CHARACTERLESSNESS. IN THE NAME OF WORLD PEACE, NATIONHOOD IS NO MORE. WE HAVE TRANSCENDED THE FETTERS OF ETHNICITY AND RELIGION, SHARED HERITAGE AND HISTORY. IT IS BEST TO FORGET EVERYTHING ABOUT WHAT IS, AND THINK INSTEAD OF WHAT OUGHT TO BE!!!! 🤪
Until I saw the series Poldark, I knew nothing of the area. I am in love with the area now and have been diving into its history!!
You might also like to read Vanishing Cornwall, by Daphne Du Maurier, and her Cornish novels
@@janknuckey thank you, I will.
Good video. Keep uploading videos like this. Subscribed.
Thank you glad you enjoyed it! That's the plan, I'll be publishing one on the Isle of Man in a few weeks 😊
Just came from the video abt Isle of Man. Love the videos!
I served in the army for 20yrs and I would always ache to come home to Cornwall, I was born here ill die here the land I belong too will be my resting place .
So lovely that you feel such a strong connection to your homeland. It must have been hard being away from it for so long. Where about in Cornwall are you from?
Thank you for this video, as a cornishman I hugely appreciate it and its tone... as well as the fantastic drone shots, especially of how snazzy you made my beloved Truro look
So glad you enjoyed the video 😊 It was great to have the chance to learn so much about Cornwall, particularly since I was never taught about any Celtic history or heritage growing up. It's a really beautiful place!
Fly St.Pirins flag high!
My father was Cornish and I think my relatives still live in St,Blazey and in Bodmin! Me,I'm Scottish but love my Cornish side too!
@@georgejob2156as some one who’s lived in bodmin may I offer my sincerest apologies to your relatives
Amazing cinematography. You do a very great job! Jealous!
I think inspiring is a better term. I’m not jealous, but I am inspired! Thank you.
The old boundary of Cornwall stretches right up to the caratacus Stone in West Somerset.
Me and my friends a group of 8 spend 2 weeks in cornwall each summer!
It honestly feels like you’re in a different country. Beautiful
Would you recommend middle class person to move there alone as a woman? 😯
So language wise, the Cornish language is part of the Brittonic (Brittonic referring to Britain) branch of the Insular Celtic family. This branch is then split further into Western Brittonic, Pictish (an extinct language from northern Scotland) and Southwestern Brittonic. Western Brittonic is made up of Cumbric (an extinct language from northern England and southern Scotland) and Welsh. While Cornish falls in Southwestern Brittonic with Breton from Brittany. So Cornish is more closely related to Breton than any other Celtic language. Neat stuff!
That aside, can't help but think of how the US treats the indigenous. No matter how much past administrations have tried to erase indigenous culture and make them abandon their ways, they're still around, prevailing and passing on their traditions to new generations, and their influence is very much present. I mean I'm on Long Island and the amount of place names here of indigenous origin is staggering. We wouldn't have certain English words like canoe, moose, chocolate, barbecue, and hickory if it wasn't for the indigenous of the Americas.
How come I see you everywhere
New information, good content. 🙂🙂
There was a significant amount of monolingual Cornish speakers in the American West in the 1800s. They were brought over for their mining skills. There were also bilingual speakers amongst them, but many only spoke Cornish. Crazy to think the language was alive and well to the extant some people didnt need English, 150 years ago or so, but was extinct 15 years ago
I would love to see an AI that's built to preserve dying languages so that people can always learn them in to perpetuity.
As an American who has been to Britain many times, I am very happy to be better educated on its many cultural groups. I vividly remember flyer over Lands End on a flight from Paris to New York.
Tbf every county has its own identity and history. I’m from Sussex… I don’t delude myself it’s an independent state, even tho it was in 477 and not taken by Vikings at all.
@@Anglo_Browza @Anglo Browza But that's the Problem though. That attitude. Sussex has always been a part of the mainland of England. Corwall was its own country, we had language, flags and our own kings. Just like wales, or Scotland or ireland, but people are able to identify those nations as Seperate. The Cornish get lost by being seen as a county of England. We didn't become a part of England because we were asked nicely. You know? I can't explain to an English person Why, as a cornish person I've never felt like I really fit, because that displacement is seen as delusion.
But that's what the english do. eradicate an entire culture through Invasion, then call that same group of people, delluded when they're upset about it. The takeover of Cornwall was also far more recent than 477. We became seen as a county in 1889. That's recent history. I'm married to an English Man, and he had no idea Cornwall was even a Celtic nation. That's Cultural Eradication and we have every right to be bothered by it.
@@shannonclarke656 yeah Sussex had a king as well.
You’re outlook is ridiculous.
Look at the US… look how large it is and how different each state is. It’s still one country.
The UK is union, it’s common knowledge it’s made up of many places and people.
You should be proud to be British
@@shannonclarke656 yeah Sussex had a king as well.
You’re outlook is ridiculous.
Look at the US… look how large it is and how different each state is. It’s still one country.
The UK is union, it’s common knowledge it’s made up of many places and people.
You should be proud to be British
@Anglo Browza You should ask Native Americans If they feel "Proud To Be American". It is you with the Ridiculous outlook.
Liked, shared, subscribed! Thank you
Thank you! ☺️
hey great video. i live im the uk and have a good understanding of celtic culture and you nailed it + 1 sub earned
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it ☺️
I lived in Kernow for 3 years whilst I was at uni, the most wonderful beautiful place to live. I’d give anything to move back and stay, truly felt like home when you immerse yourself in the true culture of it. So sad that so much of it is lost to emmets and Londoners with second homes.
And students making it unaffordable for locals.
One of the most stunning places I’ve ever been to. Warm people and amazing culture. The memory of having a beer in Britain’s most westerly pub overlooking the Atlantic will always stay with me.
I hope you enjoyed your stay in the Isles of Scilly.
A comprehensive and easy to watch video. I like it, as well as the other videos of yours that I've seen so far. Also, thank you for bringing the spotlight to the Celtic nations! I have just one question about the video though.. The flute song at the beginning, can you tell me the name please? I'd love to listen to it more often
Wow! What a beautiful place. Awful to loose your language and culture though. I hope they recover it.
To defend Cornish traditions “we will fight you to the bitter end…” ( a perfectly English expression)
Lol, and there isn't actually anyone trying to stop them celebrating tjeur traditions. Some parts of the UK just like to pretend we still live in the 10th century, and we still need to fight each other.
@@RonSill1986 As someone from Atherstone and our ball game just a few weeks ago ill say you couldnt be more wrong .
@god zillas search uppies and downies Workington town because we plsy a similar game in the North West of England. You're not a victim.. The game gets dangerous, people get hurt, and that's why people like the police want it banned. It's not an attack on your culture, so stop pretending it is. You're exactly the type of person I described lol
It is great to see Corns reclaiming their language and history. Great video! Thanks for doing it, please do more content on Corns working for independence from the UK?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Maybe you've seen it already, but there is actually a part 2 on my channel that covers exactly that 😁
And who would end up paying? The poor old English as usual, the cash cow of the UK
@@blackbeard6423 really? Who said they didn’t? If they want independence I’m in favour as long as they pay for the referendum and if they vote to leave the UK then pay to actually leave.
@@blackbeard6423 what are you on about you mug. I live in London, been to Cornwall once in my life. Nice place and if you want independence then fair enough, just pay for it yourselves.
@@blackbeard6423 what nonsense you knob? I’m not bringing nothing to Cornwall. Your must be an inbred. Just if Cornwall want independence then pay for it. That’s all.
fantastic video. i'm in the process of relocating to cornwall. great content
My father's family came from Lelant, outside of St. Ives.
Pasty is Kernowek for a pie. The EU regarded Kernow as being culturally separate from England. Mining existed long before the industrial revolution. My name is James Jenner, a descendant of the Jenner family from St. Just in Penwyth. Once had the pleasure of meeting Donald Raw on Lundy where we talked about Cornish history and the history of the Jenner family. Legally Kernow should have the same status as the Isle of Man and the Cornish parlement still exists!
The Celts were in northern Italy too. There is a town called in Italian Cameri, in local dialect it’s called Cambra that is a giveaway.
The Celts went further south than that, they sacked Rome in 390 BC.
@@Lexivor all over fighting
Yes they were, But a part from trade, the Celts had nothing to do with the British Isles.
Very well made considering how few subscribers you have! hope to see your channel grow mate! lots of thanks from Australia.
I lived in Redruth until I was 10 years old. Many wonderful tales and places I remember very well. From pirate caves, druids, dragons, and giants. It was a Magical childhood. I live in Australia now but have an 80 metre Celtic Cross garden I hand dug over several months for my Irish wife. I guess now I can claim to be Celtic too !
I'm from Cornwall and I've never met anyone that speaks fluent Cornish
So what do you want ? Cornish independence . Then what? Ban people from visiting or coming on holiday . Trade with the world with you abundance of industry. Form your own military and defend yourselves from marauding Spanish ,French and any other country who wants to plunder your fish stocks. Before you say it happens now its not just Cornwall who sufferers . We all have to pay the price for over fishing. I am from Hertfordshire. A beautiful county full of History and good farmland . Maybe we should seperate from England . Oppressed? Trapped? get over yourselves . There are people struggling in England and they don't have the joy of living in such a beautiful part of the country. You just hate the fact you rely on the oppressive English holiday makers to keep your heads above water. Independence ? As far as I am concerned you can go for it . Bring it on .
Growing up in the village of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire was a limbo experience culture-wise. My late mum spoke Cymraeg but I only learned it as an adult. I grew up apologising to family friends as they'd assume I'd know the tongue. Also in primary school 2/3 of the classmates were rougher, from a council estate on the edge of the village. I later worked out a wave of families arrived here/displaced from Cornwall when tin mines there closed in the 1920s. Descendants?
My sisters teacher was from Cornwall. We used to call her the Wardle from Cornwall.
Miss Wardle we loved your sense of humour!
Meur ras!
As a Cornishman, I'm always happy to see attention brought to our culture.
your hard
Cornwall was in Wales before Roman times because the land boundary hadn't shrunk back so much then, that's why the languages are similar. 😅
Cool video! I woud definitely recommend the cornish language music by Gwenno for all interested.
Thanks for the map.
Bryntin! (excellent) video.. but since there is a comment section i'd just like to pull you up on one thing XD, the 1000's miles of Atlantic ocean isn't wrong per se, but even Google recognizes the Celtic Sea first (due to the European shelf) since the last ice age when the water separated Britain from mainland Europe,, you can still see the land under the water that connects the Celtic nations.
Wow I have to confess I didn't know that, thank you for the info! And there I was thinking I'd made it through through whole thing without any big errors 😅
Nearly all of the cheerful, friendly residents I ever met in Cornwall were outsiders who had moved there and were living their dream in the splendid Cornish surroundings and weather. Most of the native Cornish I met ranged between surly and hostile.
I live just across the border and I'd say that's quite accurate having met some farmers, though I wouldn't immediately interpret a cold reception as hostility.
Every Cornishman/woman I know is jolly friendly warm and inviting. It might have been something wrong with your own attitude?
Are you a 2nd home owner?
You came to my homeland! What's mad is I could have literally passed you in the street at some point last year in Truro and not known it! 😮
Mad to see my old college tutor on a video like this
As a South Australian I know alot about Cornwall due to the large Cornish populations which moved here in the 1800s to mine copper out of Burra, Kadina and Moonta.
Best Cornish pasties in the world came from the bakery at Adelaide train station in the 90's
Most people don’t even know that if it wasn’t for three Cornish speaking Cornishmen dragging the English language back from the verge of extinction no one would be speaking it now!!
If you’re interested their names were John Trevisa, John of Cornwall and Richard Pencrych.
One of the cruelest ironies of history is that in saving English from extinction it meant the demise of our own!
Kernow bys vyken!
These 3 peoples made colonial twang aka modern americanized westernization universal dialect.
If they didn’t save English from extinction, what would be speaking in England and the US? What language or languages at that time were pushing English to the brink?
Thank you in advance for taking time to answering my curiosity!
@@jamesogara7053 we would be speaking a dialect of French
Complete hogwash! Whilst we incorporated a lot of French and later Latin into English the masses were never in danger of losing all the Saxon influences. Norman French was the language of the Aristocracy. The ordinary masses still used much of their Saxon vocabulary and sentence structure to communicate in everyday life.
Modern English is still classified as a West Germanic language not a Romance language although it has evolved over it’s history.
This quote sounds like a fanciful opinion because I’m not sure how these folks were supposed to have saved the language that was spoken by the majority in the country in one form or another.
@@pennyfarthing1372 totally true Google there names and learn your Cornish history!
Very interesting. Thanks
Didn't talk about the language schism because the last original speaker died, so the 30 "speakers" had an argument about pronunciation and split into two groups.
Quite counterproductive when actually trying to grow a group to split that group into two
Thanks for taking the time to focus on the Cornish culture. Growing up here I feel a real regret and anger that my history/culture/language was not availble to me as a child. Thankfully this is changing.
Yeah right ! Another " victim " ??
Is there a support group you can join. Or maybe you can get a Compo pay out for your trauma ??
@@2msvalkyrie529 LOL
There are pockets of Cornish culture in other parts of the world. Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, was settled by a lot of Cornish miners who mined copper there.
There is a Launceston over there presumably after the town in Cornwall.
@@sarac.3259 Launceston is in Tasmania... but clearly a Cornish connection.
As well as the mining areas of Wisconsin, USA. Many Cornish emigrated there.
"We will fight you 'til the bitter end, but win or lose we will take you for a pint.". Absolutely brilliant.
as brilliant as violent
greetings from scotland!