[Spellyans] The recent englyn

[Hewitt, Stephen]

There is also Iolo Morgannwg's spurious prophecy of Taliesin:

 

Hir y bydd Brython, fal Carcharorion,

Ym mraint Alltudion Tir SAXONIA,

Eu Ner a folant Eu Hiaith a gadwant

Eu Tir a gollant ond Gwyllt WALIA.

 

TALIESIN, anno 550.

 

[...their language they shall keep; their land they shall lose, except
for Wild Wales]

 

 

Long shall the Britons humbled low remain,

For ages drag the Saxons' galling chain;

But faithful still their Ancient God adore,

Pure keep their language as in days of tore;

Be robb'd of native lands, from all exil'd,

But Walia's rough uncultivated wild.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: spellyans-bounces at kernowek.net
[mailto:spellyans-bounces at kernowek.net] On Behalf Of Craig Weatherhill
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 11:16 AM
To: Standard Cornish discussion list
Subject: Re: [Spellyans] The recent englyn

 

Except, Andrew, that all the Celtic nations have a similar saying:

 

IRISH:  Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam (A country without a language is  

a country without a soul)

GAELIC: Tir gun teanga, tir gun anam

MANX: Gyn chengey, gyn cheer (Without a language, without a country)

WELSH: Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon (A nation without a language  

is a nation without a heart)

BRETON: Hep Brezhoneg, Breizh ebet (Without Breton, no Brittany)

 

All these languages have been, or still are, threatened by that of the  

adjoining majority nation, sometimes forcibly.  It's not that long ago  

that Welsh children heard speaking their own language in school would  

be publicly humiliated, and the Bretons are still having big problems  

with the Paris government.  Even the threat of extinction would prompt  

the people into realising that loss of their language would mean the  

loss of the most visible symbol of their identity, and that  

assimilation will quickly follow.  Once that takes hold, then the very  

identity dies.

 

Here, the Cornish have the problem of so many of their own number  

believing what they have been told at school, and still told by the  

media - that they are English (which is appalling behaviour).   

Happily, other Cornish people know different and are actively  

countering this fallacy.  The internet has been a massive boon in that  

regard, but we encounter Anglocentric editing and worse in the process.

 

Craig

 

 

 

 

 

On 26 Gor 2011, at 09:42, A. J. Trim wrote:

 

> The recent englyn is a curious piece of writing.

> 

> I find it difficult to accept the usual interpretation:- i.e. that  

> you should use the Cornish language else you'll lose "national"  

> identity - however true that might be.

> 

> This was apparently written in Middle Cornish times, and already it  

> claims to have been an old saying that had always been true. I don't  

> believe that the people then would have been saying this about any  

> loss of their language. Who else would they have known about who had  

> lost their language and had suffered in some way? - certainly not  

> enough to make this a generalised rule that was worth committing to  

> memory by way of a rhyming saying.

> 

> So, does anyone know what it really meant?

> 

> 

> Regards,

> 

> Andrew J. Trim

> _______________________________________________

> Spellyans mailing list

> Spellyans at kernowek.net

> http://kernowek.net/mailman/listinfo/spellyans_kernowek.net

 

--

Craig Weatherhill

 

 

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