CENTENARY OF THE OLD CORNISH LANGUAGE.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2819, 26 February 1878, Page 2

CENTENARY OF THE OLD CORNISH LANGUAGE.

The' centenary of the old Cornish language was held a few days ago at St. Paul, near Penzanco, the parish in which the old Celtic language of Cornwall died out, and where the last persons who spoke it were buried. The occasion was a singular one, as the Coraish is almost the only European language which has died out in modern times, and the date of the disuse of which as a vernacular can be approximately fixed. The only other part of Europe, probably, in which a similar centenary might be held would be the interior of Russia, where certain Finnic languages hare yielded before the modern Russian in recent times. The Cor pish t on the othev hand, is an Aryan lon-uago which the Cornish people up voluntarily in exchange for English. Tno irlerest in the centenary on the spot was irjiy great, and more than double the pumj?pr of persons applied for tickets than the promoter* b|d anticipated. A large portion of these were Mouseb^ole fishermen or farmers, showing tlie ipterepjt generally taken by all classes ?n tUe rajbj cj. Tiie proceed|nss commenced with a ppruish team the JTational Schoo}rpom at Paul Churclitown; At the meetjjg

which followed, Mr W. C. Borlase, the author of " Netnice Cornubien<«sß," and a descendant of Dr ::Bdrlhs"9,the Cornish antiquary, preside/I. In his introductory address he bri ily explained the early history of the coimtry,and how the ancient Britons were driven by the Saxons to Wnles proper and West Wales, or Cornwall, carrying with them tbeir ancient language. Of the Cornish language no literary relics prior to the twelfth cetury had been yet found, although the Welsh literature was very rich from an early dale. The date of their centenary was selected, because on December 17, 1777, tho last person known to have spoken Cornish, was buried at the churchyard of Paul. The president then read letters expressing interest in the subject from tiie Lord Lieutenant (the Karl of MountEdgcuinbc), the Bishop of Truro, Sir J. St. Aubyn, M.P., and others. The Bey. W. 8. Ibch-Szyrma, vicar of Kewlyu St. Peter, a part of oid St. Paul parish, then followed with an explanation of the position of tbe Coruish in the Aryan family of languages. He said the European languages were like a chain, of which Cornish was one link, and that link was of great interest to philologists. The integral unity of the European languages was shown'by examples of the commonest words—- <?.£., the number three, " father," "mother," See. The Cornish language belonged to the Celtic division, and was nearest to the Breton and Welsh, and, like the Irish, the Manx, and the. Gaelic. Ha then -gave a brief summary of the existing relics of the Cornish literature, especially, speaking of the '* Beunane Meriasek," a drama describing the life of St. Meriasee, of Camborne, and the final struggles between heathenism and Christianity in West Cornwall, and then briefly mentioned the other miracle plays, the "Origo Mundi," the " l'assio Christi," the " Besurrectio " (with the death of Pilate and the Ascension), and finally Jordan's " Crcacon" of 1611, The gradual decline of the language be* fore the English was then described, from the period when, as at Buryau in 1336, the vicar of St. Just hud to translate the Bishop of Exeter's sermon to the Buryan people, down to the time when in the Lizard region and in the parishes of St. Paul and St. Just in the Land's End district the old Cornish was alone spoken, and then at length died out at Mousehole. The event was not altogether to be regretted. It was an expensive luxury for a people to be belingual; however, the language ought always to be of interest to Cornish* men. The language was not quite dead, for it still affected the Cornish dialect, the accent of which was foreign, and also many expressions. A number of local words were then given (still in use), with their Welsh and Breton congeners and connection in other Aryan languages. Mr Victor, of Mousehole, followed, and gave some sentences which he recollected hearing from childhood. One was (as written in Mr Ellis's Glossicmode) " Paji kulaa tv vee un polce-un dv moi onaa-y." He also gave the numerals (according to tradition) up to twenty {igans). Mr Kelynack, an agcl man, of Uewlyn, also gave the fisher* man's cry, "Breeul meta trooja biswahdhu pemper whether all isserowed all along the line, oh 1" Breal is mackerel (Welsh brith, Breton brir), tbe other Cornish words merely the ordinals. Mr Pentreath, of Mousehole, also made some remarks on local words. The proceedings were enlivened during the tea by the local band, and between the speeches with old Cornish carols and the song, " Shall Trelawny Die f " in the chorus of which the audience heartily joined, and concluded, after the usual votes of thanks, with "God save the Queen." — Hose News.