You can take the boy out of Cornwall...
There have been many people and many factors that have shaped me into the person I am today. None however, have had quite the effect that being raised in Cornwall has had.
Ah Cornwall, what comes to mind when you hear that name? Is it pasties, and clotted cream, the beach or quaint fishing towns? Seagulls and surfers? Well for me it is none of those. What really springs to mind is a warm, cozy feeling that can be summed up as Home. Wherever I go or live Cornwall has always been my true home. It is a place where I feel comfortable and happy. Nothing bad ever seems to have happened to me in Cornwall.
Before I went to Lancaster in 1994 I had no real understanding of how Cornwall stands out from the rest of the UK. Just from a recognition point of view if you tell someone you are from Cornwall they know where that is, and often have been there at some point to visit. When I went around to different Uni’s to find out which one I wanted to go to (and which one would have me) I found that if I told people I came from Saltash which is near Plymouth people either didn’t care or didn’t know where Plymouth was. But if I told them I came from Saltash which was in Cornwall, then people would open up to me and start talking about their trip to Newquay with their mates or going to St Ives with their parents. It was a truly marked difference in the two scenarios.
When I went to Lancaster I became more and more proud of the Cornish history and its unique position in peoples minds. I started to read more about Cornwall and its past. It also helped that two close friends are very Cornish coming from a long line of Cornish men and women.
I feel Cornish and so when asked where I come from it is very hard here in the US because most people don’t really know Cornwall. Also I haven’t lived in Cornwall for over 7 years now. I have never truly felt English, partly because my mother is Scottish but also because of the feeling in Cornwall that if you live in Cornwall you live in a different country. A third of Cornish school children asked in a recent survey said that they felt Cornish rather than English. I am proud to be British – after all the Britons were a Celtic tribe who first the Romans and then the Anglo-Saxons successfully pushed to the margins of the UK, namely Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall.
I have in the past tried to have serious debates about Cornwall’s place in the UK, and I will freely admit to playing devils advocate at times, but interestingly when I have played this part I have found that other people’s arguments don’t or can’t refute that Cornwall should be considered differently to most of the UK. Once I was told by a girl at Uni that Cornwall couldn’t be a country because it didn’t have an international airport. When I pointed out that if you made Cornwall a country then Newquay airport would instantly become an international airport, she snogged me rather than continue the argument so I think that counts as a win-win situation.
First of all it is the internationally recognised concept of self determination that I bring up. This belief is what has helped Eastern European countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia break free from Soviet Russian rule and has also been clearly seen in the break up of Yugoslavia. The concept is that if enough people feel different and identify with a nation, race or ethnic group then they should be allowed to have their own country. To this end the UK government had to put an option in the census for people to be able to call them selves Cornish.
Secondly from a historical view point Cornwall has always been treated differently then any other county in the UK. For a start up until 1563 Cornwall was shown on maps of Britain as a separate country attached to England. Cornwall has its own King up until 927AD. Cornwall has its own language (around 3,000 people can form basic sentences), and has even had its own parliament and legal systems. Even to this day there are certain quirks that abound about Cornwall. For example Cornwall has its own Attorney General. If someone in England and Wales dies intestate then the property and any money reverts to the Queen, yet in Cornwall it reverts to the Duke of Cornwall, in other words her son Prince Charles. Prince Charles as the Duke of Cornwall owns the river bed of the Tamar and so when the Royal Navy wanted to build a jetty for their nuclear submarines they needed his permission. This stems from Charles' regalian rights as Soverign of Cornwall. In England the Queen owns all the riverbeds. We could go on to talk about sturgeon landed in England is offered to the monarch of England but in Cornwall it Is offered to the Duke or we could talk about the rights of wrecks found on the coasts of Cornwall belong to Charles but if found anywhere else in England it is the Queens.
As you can see when playing devils advocate I have a lot of information at my fingertips. Although I argue that Cornwall should be its own country I don’t believe that it should. I think though that recognition should be given to the special status that Cornwall has possessed, that the Cornish language should be taught in schools along with the history of Cornwall. I have learnt all I know about the history of Cornwall from my own interest and enthusiasm, at school like many others I was forced to hear about the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. I also had to hear about the invasion of the Danes and Anglo Saxons and then the Normans to Britain, but not once did we go into details about the Celts or the Cornish. I think it is essential for any people to have access to their past in order to truly understand who they are and where they are going. For example most people do not know that the Cornish fought two battles against the English, one in 1497, where hundreds of Cornishmen died, and the second in 1549 were at least 2000 were slaughtered.
Yet when I learnt that Cornwall, one of the poorest regions in the EU has a balance of payments to Westminster of 300 million pounds (being in America they don’t have the pound symbol) I must admit that I felt angered. What I saw was that the poorest region in North West Europe, with the lowest wages in the whole of Britain was providing London, the richest city in Europe with yet more money.
For full disclosure purposes I should point out that I was born in Plymouth, Devon. This does not stop being Cornish because it is about how you view yourself. As Wellington said of his birthplace, Ireland, “Just because you are born in a stable, that doesn’t make you an animal”. I am proud to be Cornish, and happy to be Cornish.
Having re-read this entry I realize that there aren’t many jokes, but then I have never ever pretended to be Jethro
Ah Cornwall, what comes to mind when you hear that name? Is it pasties, and clotted cream, the beach or quaint fishing towns? Seagulls and surfers? Well for me it is none of those. What really springs to mind is a warm, cozy feeling that can be summed up as Home. Wherever I go or live Cornwall has always been my true home. It is a place where I feel comfortable and happy. Nothing bad ever seems to have happened to me in Cornwall.
Before I went to Lancaster in 1994 I had no real understanding of how Cornwall stands out from the rest of the UK. Just from a recognition point of view if you tell someone you are from Cornwall they know where that is, and often have been there at some point to visit. When I went around to different Uni’s to find out which one I wanted to go to (and which one would have me) I found that if I told people I came from Saltash which is near Plymouth people either didn’t care or didn’t know where Plymouth was. But if I told them I came from Saltash which was in Cornwall, then people would open up to me and start talking about their trip to Newquay with their mates or going to St Ives with their parents. It was a truly marked difference in the two scenarios.
When I went to Lancaster I became more and more proud of the Cornish history and its unique position in peoples minds. I started to read more about Cornwall and its past. It also helped that two close friends are very Cornish coming from a long line of Cornish men and women.
I feel Cornish and so when asked where I come from it is very hard here in the US because most people don’t really know Cornwall. Also I haven’t lived in Cornwall for over 7 years now. I have never truly felt English, partly because my mother is Scottish but also because of the feeling in Cornwall that if you live in Cornwall you live in a different country. A third of Cornish school children asked in a recent survey said that they felt Cornish rather than English. I am proud to be British – after all the Britons were a Celtic tribe who first the Romans and then the Anglo-Saxons successfully pushed to the margins of the UK, namely Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall.
I have in the past tried to have serious debates about Cornwall’s place in the UK, and I will freely admit to playing devils advocate at times, but interestingly when I have played this part I have found that other people’s arguments don’t or can’t refute that Cornwall should be considered differently to most of the UK. Once I was told by a girl at Uni that Cornwall couldn’t be a country because it didn’t have an international airport. When I pointed out that if you made Cornwall a country then Newquay airport would instantly become an international airport, she snogged me rather than continue the argument so I think that counts as a win-win situation.
First of all it is the internationally recognised concept of self determination that I bring up. This belief is what has helped Eastern European countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia break free from Soviet Russian rule and has also been clearly seen in the break up of Yugoslavia. The concept is that if enough people feel different and identify with a nation, race or ethnic group then they should be allowed to have their own country. To this end the UK government had to put an option in the census for people to be able to call them selves Cornish.
Secondly from a historical view point Cornwall has always been treated differently then any other county in the UK. For a start up until 1563 Cornwall was shown on maps of Britain as a separate country attached to England. Cornwall has its own King up until 927AD. Cornwall has its own language (around 3,000 people can form basic sentences), and has even had its own parliament and legal systems. Even to this day there are certain quirks that abound about Cornwall. For example Cornwall has its own Attorney General. If someone in England and Wales dies intestate then the property and any money reverts to the Queen, yet in Cornwall it reverts to the Duke of Cornwall, in other words her son Prince Charles. Prince Charles as the Duke of Cornwall owns the river bed of the Tamar and so when the Royal Navy wanted to build a jetty for their nuclear submarines they needed his permission. This stems from Charles' regalian rights as Soverign of Cornwall. In England the Queen owns all the riverbeds. We could go on to talk about sturgeon landed in England is offered to the monarch of England but in Cornwall it Is offered to the Duke or we could talk about the rights of wrecks found on the coasts of Cornwall belong to Charles but if found anywhere else in England it is the Queens.
As you can see when playing devils advocate I have a lot of information at my fingertips. Although I argue that Cornwall should be its own country I don’t believe that it should. I think though that recognition should be given to the special status that Cornwall has possessed, that the Cornish language should be taught in schools along with the history of Cornwall. I have learnt all I know about the history of Cornwall from my own interest and enthusiasm, at school like many others I was forced to hear about the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. I also had to hear about the invasion of the Danes and Anglo Saxons and then the Normans to Britain, but not once did we go into details about the Celts or the Cornish. I think it is essential for any people to have access to their past in order to truly understand who they are and where they are going. For example most people do not know that the Cornish fought two battles against the English, one in 1497, where hundreds of Cornishmen died, and the second in 1549 were at least 2000 were slaughtered.
Yet when I learnt that Cornwall, one of the poorest regions in the EU has a balance of payments to Westminster of 300 million pounds (being in America they don’t have the pound symbol) I must admit that I felt angered. What I saw was that the poorest region in North West Europe, with the lowest wages in the whole of Britain was providing London, the richest city in Europe with yet more money.
For full disclosure purposes I should point out that I was born in Plymouth, Devon. This does not stop being Cornish because it is about how you view yourself. As Wellington said of his birthplace, Ireland, “Just because you are born in a stable, that doesn’t make you an animal”. I am proud to be Cornish, and happy to be Cornish.
Having re-read this entry I realize that there aren’t many jokes, but then I have never ever pretended to be Jethro
posted by Nick at 8:20 AM
5 Comments:
im proud to be cornish too
and Cornwall's proud of you both. As someone whose mother's maiden name is Truscott and who can count fishermen and tin miners as part of his family I completely agree with Nick, it's about a sense of identity and the warm feeling of home. Looking forward to seeing you again sometime Nick in the land of Oggies and singing Trelawney whilst drunk on Cider.
M
The Cornish Republican Army starts here. Lets found a political party called The Cornish Republican Army Party to fight at the polling booths. On second thought the acroynm would be CRAP do maybe we need to rethink that name.
We could be the Cornish Popular Front, and have T Shirts printed and on the reverse have the Cornish Slightly Less Popular Back?
No o.k, CRAP it is.
M
Leave the jokes to the Burr Brothers please.
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