A Year of Late Cornish

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Dewdhek De Yow, üdnegves warn ügens mis Gorefen Thursday, 31st July Eus boos ha dowr lowr dhe'n edhyn gwyls hedhyw e'n jedh? My a welas hûjes bran dre war an vos. Thera hei owth eva dowr ha debry brodnyon. Thera hei ow terevel hy fedn dhe lenky an dowr. Eus boos en gwelyow? Pe le ma an briny tre erel? Martesen an edhen ma ew diek.  Do the wild birds have enough food and water nowadays? I saw a huge rook on the wall. It was drinking water and eating rolled oats. It was lifting its head to swallow the water. Is there food in the fields? Where are the other rooks? Perhaps this bird is lazy.

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans hag Üdnek De Merher, degves warn ügens mis Gorefen Wednesday, 30th July Hedhyw my a vedn scrifa a nebes taclow bian ha nebes taclow brâs gwelys a-dhiwedhes. My a verkyas tra wydn bian war agan glesin, neppeth rond pecar'a pel golf. Saw nag ewa pel, tabm veth. Crogen ew, crogen oy colobmen coos. Rag fra ma'n grogen war an gwels? A veu an neyth ladrys gen pi po wrüg edhnik mos mes an oy? Ma neppeth rond, bian ha glas. Ew hebma oy? Nag ew. Ploumen ew, codhys dhort gwedhen. An kensa ploumen ew dhort an wedhen ploum na. Wotiwedh! Naw bloodh ew an wedhen. Ha'n taclow brâs? ma trònk-carr brâs stagys en bôwnder vian ogas dhe Todpool ha tan  brâs gas dhe Borth Keynans. Today I will write of some little things and some big things seen recently. I spotted a small white thing on our lawn, something round like a golf ball. But it's not a ball, not at all. It's a shell, a wood-pigeon's egg shell. Why is the shell on the grass? Was the nest robbed by a mag...

   2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Deg De Meurth, nawes warn ügens mis Gorefen Tuesday, 29 th  July Nanj ew cans bledhen an ken sa lever termyn "Kernow Goth" a veu dyllys.   Thera  artickels gen tüs a bris (Robert Morton Nance o onan anodhans) adro dhe oll sortow taclow - an tavas Kernôwek en America rag sampel. Dyllys arta ew nebes dyllansow warbarth gen Keffresyans Cowethasow Kernow Goth.  Lebmyn whei ell y redya war linen. A hundred years ago the first magazine "Old Cornwall Journal" was published. There were articles by important people (Robert Morton Nance was one of them) about all sorts of things - the Cornish language in America for example. Several editions are published together by the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies.  Now you can read it on line. 

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Naw De Lün, ethves warn ügens mis Gorefen Monday, 28th July Pandr'ew possybyl? Ellama scrifa daralla heb ûsya an verb "bos"? Na ellam. Bes martesen my alja scrifa daralla gen an verb "bos" en pub lavar. My a venja saya. An daralla a vedh pur sempel! Otta an kensa radn. En kensa thera nei ow metya gen an teylû.  What is possible? Can I write a story without using the verb "to be"? No. But perhaps I could write a story with the verb "to be" in every sentence. I would like to try. The story will be very simple! Here's the first part. First we meet the family. BOS locative  is colour coded red  (including participle and secondary verbs).  BOS descriptive  is colour coded green. Where English has an active verb, Cornish often uses a passive construction with  dhe   to  or  gen  with/by . Tristan  ew  maw.  Tristan is a boy. Ma  hôr, Rosa,  dhe  Tristan.   Tristan has a sister, Ro...

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans hag Eth De Sül, seythves warn ügens mis Gorefen Sunday, 27th July  "Kernow" ew agan pow nei, agan tir, ha "Kernow" ew den a Gernow, martesen nebonan a veu genys en Kernow.  "Kernow"  is our country, our land, and  "Kernow"  (a Cornishman) is a man of Cornwall, perhaps someone born in Cornwall. Lies Kernow ew henwys "Kernôwyon".  Many Cornishmen are called  "Kernôwyon" .  "Kernôwes" ew benyn a Gernow;   "Kernôwesow" ew moy es üdn Gernôwes. "Kernôwes"  is a woman of Cornwall (a Cornishwoman);  "Kernôwesow"  are more than one Cornishwoman.  Kernôwyon ha Kernôwesow ew Pobel Kernow, an Nacyon Kernow, Minorita Kenedhlek.  Cornishmen and Cornishwomen are the Cornish People, the Cornish Nation, a National Minority  "Kernôwek" ew agan tavas nei (henwys "Cornowok" e'n whetegves cansbledhen).  "Kernôwek"  (Cornish) is our language (called   ...

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Seyth De Sadorn, wheffes warn ügens mis Gorefen Saturday, 26th July Terweythyow da via genam gwil travyth. Soweth! Na veu hedna possybyl hedhyw. Rag hedna, skith o vy. Da via genam scrifa moy, saw na ellama. Sometimes I would like to do nothing. Alas! That was not possible today. Therefore, I am tired. I'd like to write more, but I can't.

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Whegh De Gwener, pempes warn ügens mis Gorefen Friday, 25th July Maw bian, seyth bloodh coth - ma othom dhodho a lies didhan, a-jei ha mes a-jei. En kensa nei a wras crampeth rag li - crampeth choclat gen manyn choclat! Wòja hedna, nei a gerdhas adro gen an keun ha cuntel nebes delkyow ha flourys - dhe wil olow del. Shiek o nei - etho paper nowodhow coth dhe witha an bord! Flourys an linhajen o nebes calish - thera othom dhodhans a re paynt. Art nag ew lowr! Gwary o pòrresys  - maw, pelyow ha keun oll kemyskys. A little boy, seven years old - he needs a lot of diversions, indoors and outdoors. First we made pancakes for breakfast - chocolate pancakes with chocolate spread! After that, we walked around with the dogs and collected some leaves and flowers - to make leaf prints. We are messy - so old newspaper to protect the table. The stinging nettles were quite hard - they needed too much paint. Art is not enough! Play was essential - boy, balls and dogs ...

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Pemp De Yow, pajwora warn ügens mis Gorefen Thursday, 24th July Ma maw bian genam, etho pur skith o vy! Nos da. My a vedn scrifa moy avorow. (Ma esperans dhebm.) Lebmyn ma othom dhebm a gòsk. I have a little boy with me, so I'm very tired! Goodnight. I will write more tomorrow. (I hope.) Now I need sleep.

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Pajar De Merher, tryja warn ügens mis Gorefen Wednesday, 23rd July Ha my ow sevel et ow lowarth e'n gordhûher a-varr my ell clowes an mor ha neb edhen ow cana en wheg. Ew hei mola dhû po mola las? Po, martesen, thew hei awhesydh. Na ellama hy gweles. Nag üjy hei ow neyja en ogas. Moy a-varr e'n jedh my a glowas ha gweles neppeth brâs ow neyja a-ûgh an lowarth. An ambûlans ayr nowydh? Nag ew! Helicopter o, saw thera an company tredan ow whithra an caples voltach ûhel.  As I stand in my garden in the early evening I can hear the sea and some bird singing sweetly. Is it a blackbird or a song thrush? Or, perhaps, it is a skylark. I cannot see it. It's not flying nearby. Earlier in the day I heard and saw something big flying above the garden. The new air ambulance? No! It was a helicopter, but the electricity company was inspecting the high voltage cables.

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Trei De Meurth, nessa warn ügens mis Gorefen Tuesday, 22nd July En termyn eus passyes nag era gòlowow strêtys e'n termyn nos; nag era mosocter gòlow en ebòrn. An düs alja gweles an loor, an planetys ha'n ster moy cler avel an jedh hedhyw.   Anjei a verkyas an  ebòrn nos ow treylya gen an  s ê sons; an constellacyons ow tremena an  ebòrn. Anjei a radnas an vledhen herwydh an ster, dhe rei an Zodiak dhen.  Hedhyw thew an diwettha dedh An Crang (Canker) ha avorow e vedh an kensa dedh An Lew. Na ellama gweles steren veth haneth - re gomolek ew.  In the past there were no streetlights during the night; there was no light pollution in the sky. People could see the moon, the planets and the stars more clearly than nowadays. They noticed the night sky changing with the seasons; the constellations crossing the sky. They divided the year according to the stars, to give us the Zodiac. Today it's the last day of Cancer and tomorrow it will ...

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans ha Dew De Lün, kensa warn  ü gens mis Gorefen Monday, 21st July Tails, Heads and Feet The Cornish word  lost  for "tail" is well established. We find it in place names from all eras, e.g: LESQUITE  (Pelynt) OC  Lostcuit  “tail of a wood”. We know it is OC because of the "quite" from " cuit ". LESQUITE (Lanivet) was MC Lostcoys “tail of a wood” in 1320, so ought to be  Lostcoos. LUSTY GLAZE ( Newquay)   Lostyn Glas  “little green tail of land”   LOSTWITHIEL “tail of a wooded area” was Lostwythyel in 1349, now would be  Lostwydhyel. Looking at wildlife, we find  losyow ôn  "lambs tails" or "hazel catkins"  and  lostek , the familiar nickname for a "fox" (and also for the "long-tailed tit").  Another little bird is the  lostik rüdh    "red start".   The Cornish had a habit of naming things according to their dominant features,  so the "hare" is...

  2025  Dedh Dew Cans ha Wonan De Sül, ügensves mis Gorefen  Sunday, 20th July Kernow a veu an kensa telher e' n Wlascor Ûnyes gen ambûlans ayr. Calan Ebrel en mil naw cans pajar ügens ha seyth an servis gorothom ma a neyjas rag an kensa termyn en bargas bian. Ambûlans Ayr Kernow ew cherita, telys gen  alüsonow   a'n bobel. Lebmyn ma secònd helicopter dhodhans, wòja derevel milvil bens ogasty. Ma Kernôwek scrifys warnodho: Agas alusen, ow selwel bewnansow. Ma'n helicopter ow carya lewyader ha para medhek dhe dhroglabmow ha gorothobmow en teleryow leb ew calish dhe dhrehedhes en vorr. An bobel a viras ort an helicopter nowydh hag oll an daffar nowydh  en lowarth Chei Scorrier. Cornwall was the first place in the United Kingdom with an air ambulance. On the first day of April in 1987 this emergency service flew for the first time in a small chopper. Cornwall Air Ambulance is a charity, funded by public donations. Now they have a second helicopter, after raisi...

  2025 Dedh Dew Cans De Sadorn, nawnjegves mis Gorefen Saturday, 19th July An lever ma ew pur goth ha remembrys etto ew warvosow cottha. An nawnjegves dedh a vis Gorefen e'n vledhen etek cans trei ugens ha naw goleyty a veu gorfednys war garrek ydnal tredh Pedn an Wlas ha Sillan. Derevys o en eth bledhen hir. "Wolf" en Sowsnek ew "Bleydh" en Kernowek - martesen drefen an son, saw nag ew hedna hanow da. Lebmyn ma "helipad" war an topp. This book is very old and remembered in it are older events. On the 19th day of the year 1869 a lighthouse was finished on an isolated rock between Land's End and the Scilly Isles. It was built in eight long years. "Wolf in English is "Bleydh" in Cornish - perhaps because of the sound, but that is not a good name. Now there's a helipad on the top. WOLF ROCK (The Gulfe 1564) (E) The Gulf "the gulf" 

  2025 Dedh Cans Pajar Ugens ha Nawnjek De Gwener. etegves mis Gorefen Friday, 18th July Nebes deffrans ew agan tavas lebmyn, nebes chânjys. Scrifys veu an gwers ma en mil whegh cans pajar ügens hag etek. Agan spellyans a wrüg treylya bes an son a vedh kehaval.  Ello whei y redya? Our language is a bit different now, somewhat changed. This verse was written in 1698. Our spelling changed, but the sound will be similar. Can you read it? Edward Chirgwin 1698 Delkiow Seve  Delkyow Sevy  Strawberry leaves Pelea era why Moaz, Moes fettow Teag Pele ero whei ow mos, mowes fettow teg Where are you going, fair pretty maid Gen ackas pedden Dew (altered to bedgeth gwin, poss. by Tonkin) ha ackas Blew mellen? Gen agas pedn dû/bejedh gwydn ha 'gas blew melyn?   With your black head/white face and your yellow hair? Moas than ventan, sarra weage, Mos dhe'n venton, sara wheg, Going to the spring, kind sir Rag Delkiow seue gwra Moesse Teag. rag delkyow sevy gwra mowysy teg. for s...