Nasty Pasty
There has been a comment posted on the site about Devon’s claims that they invented the pasty as a receipe was found in Plymouth decades before one in Cornwall. My reaction is of disbelief.
The Cornish like many other Celtic tribes did not have a society based around writing, but rather the oral tradition. Stories, songs and folklore have always been passed down by word of mouth and so there is no reason why the same could not have happened with receipes. The 1st mention in any literature of pasty's states that they were Cornish and this was in a letter by some French bloke 500 years before this receipe was written.
I would also like to point out that every few years there is an attempt by the English to undermine Cornwall’s historical differences; I seem to recall a few years ago that Devon started to claim that it was also Celtic. Whilst the Celtic tribe of Cornwall did extend to Exeter at one point there is no strong evidence to suggest that Devon as we know it is Celtic as by the year 1100 all Cornishmen had been driven from Exeter’s walls..
Does finding a receipe mean that the pasty was made in Devon before it was made in Cornwall – no. I had a friend who learnt to swim when he was 20. The year was 1995. He got a certificate to prove that he could do the front crawl. I learnt to swim when I was 5, but I don’t have a certificate to prove that in 1980 I could swim because my Dad taught me. Yet my friend wouldn’t claim to have learnt to swim before me just because he provide evidence to swim and I can’t.
Did Devon invent the pasty? No. Could the Cornish write? Probably not. Have I wasted your time and mine with this rant? Most definitely.
The Cornish like many other Celtic tribes did not have a society based around writing, but rather the oral tradition. Stories, songs and folklore have always been passed down by word of mouth and so there is no reason why the same could not have happened with receipes. The 1st mention in any literature of pasty's states that they were Cornish and this was in a letter by some French bloke 500 years before this receipe was written.
I would also like to point out that every few years there is an attempt by the English to undermine Cornwall’s historical differences; I seem to recall a few years ago that Devon started to claim that it was also Celtic. Whilst the Celtic tribe of Cornwall did extend to Exeter at one point there is no strong evidence to suggest that Devon as we know it is Celtic as by the year 1100 all Cornishmen had been driven from Exeter’s walls..
Does finding a receipe mean that the pasty was made in Devon before it was made in Cornwall – no. I had a friend who learnt to swim when he was 20. The year was 1995. He got a certificate to prove that he could do the front crawl. I learnt to swim when I was 5, but I don’t have a certificate to prove that in 1980 I could swim because my Dad taught me. Yet my friend wouldn’t claim to have learnt to swim before me just because he provide evidence to swim and I can’t.
Did Devon invent the pasty? No. Could the Cornish write? Probably not. Have I wasted your time and mine with this rant? Most definitely.
posted by Nick at 3:17 PM
2 Comments:
Your Cornish knowledge is as wide and impressive as that lovely smile of yours! If you get into any fights with scum from Devon over the origin of the Cornish Pasty, call me, I'll bring my bagpipes and saffron cake. No messing.
Monge
See, this is what happens when Jurg tries to change the course of English/British/Celtic history. It just causes Trouble.
Amanda
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