A Year of Late Cornish

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans hag Ügens De Sadorn, ethves mis Est Saturday, 8th August Eduard Lhuyd a dheth dhe Kernow rag cuntel geryow ha lavarow Kernowek. Y Archaeologica Britannica a veu dyllys en mil seyth cans ha seyth. John Boson a ros dhodho whedhel scrifys gen y sira lies bledhen moy a-varr. Otta an kensa gwers scrifys gen Nicholas Boson ha gen Lhuyd, gen treylyans gen John Boson. Eduard Lhuyd came to Cornwall to collect Cornish words and sayings. His Archæologia Britannica was published in 1707, John Boson gave him a story written by his father many years earlier. Here's the first verse written by Nicholas Boson and by Lhuyd, with a translation by John Boson. En Termen ez passiez thera Trigaz en St. Levan; Dean ha Bennen en Tellar creiez chei a Horr. En termen ez paſſiez τera trigaz en St. Levan, dên ha bennen en teller kreiez Tſhei an hɐr. In tyme that is passed, there Dwelt in St. Levan a man & woman in a place caled The House of a Ramm. Otta nebes vercyons moy: Robert Mo...

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans ha Nawnjek De Gwener, seythves mis Est Friday, 7th August Thera vy ow redya an whedhel "Jowan Chei a'n Horr". A wrüg Jowan kerdhes reb an meyn ma?  Scrifys veu en kensa gen Nicholas Boson nanj ew termyn hir (seytegves cansbledhen). Ma lies vercyon. Ma kevys genam nebes anodhans en cuntellyans gen Ian Jackson war y wiasva lovinglivingcornish. Meur ras dhis, Ian, rag dha ober da. Ha ma kevys genam whath moy! My a vedn rei sampels avorow. I am reading the story "John of the Ram's House". Did John walk by these stones? It was written initially by Nicholas Boson a long time ago (17th century). There are many versions. I have found some of them in a collection by Ian Jackson in his website lovinglivingcornish. Thank you Ian for your good work. And I have found even more! I will give examples tomorrow. https://www.skeulantavas.com/literature/jowan-chy-an-hordh

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans hag Etek De Yow, wheffes mis Est Thursday, 6th August Na wrüga vy gweles an loor leun e'n eborn nos, saw my alja gweles hanter loor dres an cloudys e'n jedh seythen moy diwedhes. Thera vy ow mires emann hedhyw ewedh. En hav perh cov gwav. Tredan voltach ûhel a res bos gwithys rag damach dhort gwedh en enawellow. Ma nebes gwedh (üdn golwedhen dres ehen) ew re hir. Aga branchys ew re ûhel, re nes dhe'n caplys electrek. Devedhys ew an düs yonk ma dh' aga threhy moy isel. Lebmyn parys o nei rag an gwens! I didn't see the full moon in the night sky, but I could see a half moon beyond the clouds in the day a week later. I'm looking up today as well. In summer remember winter. High voltage electricity must be protected from  tree damage in storms. There are some trees (especially one hazel tree) that are too tall. Their branches are too high, too close to the electricity cables. These young men have come to cut them lower. Now we are ready for the ...

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans ha Seytek De Merher, pempes mis Est Wednesday, 5th August Ma bestes oll adro. Terweythyow nag ens merkyes drefen bos bian. Ma pajar ehen warn ügens a wenen e'n pow ma. Pe lies ew gwelys genowgh? Otta gwenenen vlewek brâs, rüdh hy lost. Pandr'üjy hei ow cül? Üjy hei ow whilas neppeth, po palas toll e'n dor? Calys (calish) ew an dor ena. En ogas ma tycky-Duw war flour pedry pronter. Liwys ew pecar'a gwels marow. Flourys pedry pronter ew da gen gwenen ewedh. Otta dran gen blew rüdhvelyn ha dran aral gen lysten rüdhvelyn war y geyn. There are animals all around. Sometimes they are not noticed because they are small. There are 24 species of bees in this country. How many have you seen? Here's a big hairy bee, with a red tail. What is she doing? Is she looking for something or digging a hole in tha ground? The ground there is hard. Nearby is a butterfly on a knapweed flower. It's coloured like dead grass. Bees like knapweed flowers, too. Here'...

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans ha Whetek De Meurth, pajwora mis Est Tuesday, 4th August Coynt ew, gweles an tycky-Duw nos teg ma e'n termyn an jedh. Ma va ow neyja e'n termyn an nos. Ma liwans cüdh dhe'n gowdhan bleyn liw treth. Ma mir dhodho pecar'a sethen derrys dhort besowen wydn. My alja y weles war ow yet. My a wrüg y dhegy dhe vos, ha straft tho va cüdhys. Na wra va bewa termyn hir. Na wra va gwavy - còsca dres an gwav. Eus oyow po preves del dhodho solabres? An preves del a res debry lies delen. Üjy anjei en lowarth vy po en lowarth kentrevek? Res ew dhebm whilas preves del war dhelkyow. Anjei ew melyn ha dû. Pupa a dal gwavy dadn an dor, rag dos mes nessa bledhen. It is strange, seeing this beautiful moth in the daytime. It flies in the night time. The buff-tip moth has cryptic colouration. It looks like a broken twig from a silver birch tree. I could see it on my gate. I carried it to a wall, and it was hidden straight away. It won't live a long time. It will not hib...

  2026 Dedh Dew Cans ha Pemdhek De Lün, tryja mis Est Monday, 3rd August Ma meur a whel dhe wil en hav, en mis Est dres ehen, pan vo an gewer segh. Dres an gwav ha'n gwenton, misyow an moyha gleb, ma'n prednweyth a-ves ow qwethhe. Paynt ew kellys, ha ma kewny ow tevy war baynt ha war bredn noth en pecar maner. Paynt lows a dal bos scurrys gen paper treth. Wòja hedna an kewny a dal bos golhys dhe ves. Pa vo segh an predn ha'n paynt coth, termyn ew rag kensa côta a baynt nowydh. There's a lot of work to do in summer, especially in August, when the weather is dry. Through the winter and the spring, the wettest months, the external woodwork deteriorates. Paint is lost, and alga grows on paint and on bare wood alike. Loose paint should be sanded (scoured) with sand paper. After that the alga should be washed away. When the wood and old paint are dry, it is time for a first coat of new paint.