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Cornwall's Celtic Culture
Introduction
Celtic Cornwall,Chsauster; a fine example of ruined houses, and Englands oldest are part of what was  probably  a thriving mining settlement some 2000 years ago.the stone outlines of eight houses indicate that the Celtic inhabitants sited the main enterance of each house facing North-East to protect them from the prevailing South-West winds.
Furtheremore, there were centralcourtyards and paved floors fitted with drainage channels.
Cornwall is rich in relicsof its past, from place names associated with King Arthur to the ruins of countless 19th-century tin and Copper Mines.
Most interestinglly evidance of Celtic Placenames can be found. For example, Tre, Pol,Pen, Chy and Wheal are renants ofthe ancient Cornish language,a Celtic tongue that links Cornwall with Brittany, Wales, the Isle of Man, Ireland and Scotland.
Check it out. You'll be amazed at what you discover!
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Who were the Celts?
Who were the Celts? Was there ever a distinct people known as the Celts? Was there ever a mass invasion of Celtic peoples into Britain? The word 'Celt' is thought to be derived from the Greek word 'Keltoi' - a name given to a tribe from around the Massilia (Marseille) region of southern France. All other tribes exhibiting similar characteristics were deemed 'Celts'. Recently the term has fallen out of favour and is often replaced by the less romantic but strictly more accurate 'Iron Age peoples'. The term 'Celt' now refers to a type of art - Celtic Art. They were not an 'ethnically distinct group' from the Upper Danube or alpine Europe. In the case of Britain it was as Francis Pryor puts it '... it was more an invasion of ideas than of people'.
The original inhabitants of these lands grew and populated the countryside, evolving from the Stone Age through the flooding of the North Sea Basin - recently christened 'Doggerland', to form the islands of Britain in about 5000BC. From the change in being 'hunter-gatherers' to the application of Farming in the Early Neolithic. During the next 2000 years or so, cultures evolved still further with man really making their mark on the landscape with barrows, causewayed enclosures of the Middle Neolithic (c.3500BC) through to the huge henge monuments such as at Stonehenge and Avebury (c.3000BC). As Man developed ever more complex tools and ideas, he discovered the ability to work metals, promoting the next stage in his evolution - The Bronze Age. Some 1500 years later the culture evolved into the Iron Age, with a further increase in the complexiy of artifacts and tools. In Britain, the Iron Age is deemed to have ended with the Roman invasion of Emperor Claudius and his legions in AD43. We now move from pre-history into ancient history.

What makes Cornwall and the other 'Celtic' nations so different, so enigmatic, is their very non-Englishness. They stand as somewhere close to home but with different languages, heritage and cultures. Cornwall is often portrayed as unique to promote tourism - obviously its long beaches of golden sand and spectacular scenery help to put the icing on the cake.
Cornwall emerged from the former 'kingdom' of Dumnonia that grew to prominence in the Late Iron Age - from about 150BC. The rise of the tribal kingdoms had differing effects on their people depending on which part of the British Isles you lived. The eastern side of the country looked east towards the continent, the western side towards the Atlantic. There seems to have been relatively stable but warlike kingdoms in place by the time of the first tentative expedition by Julius Caesar in 55BC. Although he brought a force of about 100 ships containing about 10,000 soldiers (2 legions) he did not gain a foothold and returned across the channel to try again the following year.


A Land Apart?
Several different cultures and peoples make Cornwall what it is today. There are traces of the Neolithic Beaker People and the Megalith builders of 2000 B.C, with dolmen, burial chambers, and mênhirs (standing stones) found especially on the Isles Of Scilly, Penwith in West Cornwall and on Bodmin Moor in East Cornwall. The human remains in these tombs were usually found kneeling or sitting with their knees up to their chins. Later Bronze Age cultures began the custom of single burial and cremation that continues today. Very many of these ancient relics have been destroyed over time and by mining activity, but a brief visit to these sites should fulfil all but the most ardent of researchers. The main sites being Boscawen-ûn (Nine Maidens); Boleigh (Merry Maidens and The Pipers); Carn Gluze (Ballowall Barrow); Pendeen Vau; The Blind Fiddler at Sancreed; Chûn Quoit; Mulfra; and Mên-an-Tol (Holed Stone). Other notable sites are The Hurlers (on Bodmin Moor); Trethevy Quoit (near Liskeard); Carn Euny near Sancreed; Tremenheer (St. Keverne) and the Stripple Stones and Trippet Stones of St. Breward.
Around about 750 B.C. the culture evolved from working with Bronze to working with Iron. The Iron Age had begun. This evolution into new ways of working was formerly known as 'Celtic Culture'. Their whole way of life began to change, compared to the scattered Bronze Age residents, the Iron Age tribes had a highly organised structure, they were civilised and well trained in battle. They set about fortifying their hilltop settlements with ditches and ringed earth ramparts. Some of these Iron Age hill forts can still be seen at Castle-an-Dinas (near St. Columb); Trencrom (Hayle); Castle Canyke (Bodmin); Chûn Castle (Pendeen) and Carn Brea overlooking present-day Redruth. The most impressive however lies near Dorchester in Dorset and is the huge 20 acre site of Maiden Castle - home of the Durotriges Celts until 43AD.

Cliff castles were also constructed on the coast with the some of the most accessible at Rumps Point (Polzeath); Trevelgue (Newquay); Kelsey Head (Holywell Bay); Gurnard's Head (Zennor); Carrick Lûz (Coverack); Kenidjack Castle (Cape Cornwall); Treryn Dinas (Porthcurno); Maen Castle (Land's End) and Dodman Point (St. Austell). More photographs..>

In fact, it is thought that the classic cliff castle at Rumps Point is so similar to those in Armorica, Brittany that it may have been built by refugees from the great sea battle of Morbihan Bay between the Romans and the Veneti in 56 BC. The Celts also introduced the idea of special areas dedicated to the burial of their dead - in fact these were Iron Age cemeteries. Left largely untouched by the Romans until their departure in c. 410 A.D., Cornwall retained the majority of this Celtic influence for almost the next 1000 years. When the Jutes; Angles and Saxons invaded from across the North Sea in about 450 A.D. and established 7 states: Kent (Jutes); Northumbria; Mercia; East Anglia (Angles); Wessex; Sussex and Essex (Saxons), the Celts (Ancient Britons) were squeezed into the extremities of the island of Britain. This relocation of the Celts only strengthened their language and culture in these lands. The Dumnonii and Cerniw became Devon and Cornwall, the 'strangers' (Saxon - wealhas) formed Wales, with other tribes forming Scotland and Armorica (present-day Brittany). Cornwall was, in fact, the last part of Britain to surrender to the Saxons in 838 AD.

Cornish Mining
There are eleven main metalliferous areas in Cornwall. A section dedicated to each area has been set up to complement the successful World Heritage Site Bid of 14th July 2006. Cornwall in Focus are currently visiting these areas taking photographs and researching information in order to set up a comprehensive Mining Database for each district. See the Mining section for more details.
Family Trees
To quote the old adage 'Where there's a hole in the ground, you'll find a Cornishman at the bottom'. I am sure that there are many people exploring this site that will have at least one Cornish Ancestor. The great exodus of skilled miners in the mid to late nineteenth century to all corners of the globe caused by the fall in copper and tin prices has ensured that there are thousands of people with Cornish ancestors. Check out our Family Tree page for helpful links and information.
Cornish Language
The ancient Celtic language of Cornwall was reportedly last spoken by Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole who died in 1777. There is also however, a tombstone at Zennor churchyard to John Davey of Boswednack (1812-1891), 'the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language'. He sang traditional songs and could converse quite fluently. Why did it die out? While Cornwall remained largely untouched by the outside world the language remained intact. Some historians point to the failed 'Cornish Rebellion of 1497' - led by Michael Joseph 'An Gof' (the Smith) and Thomas Flamank - and the 'Prayer Book Rebellion' of 1549 as two major turning point in the demise of Cornish. For more information on the ancient Cornish Language as well as key words, links and phrases, please see our Cornish Language page.
Myths & Legends
Everywhere has its legends and myths - some are more believable than others. Here are a selection of some of my favourite Cornish Myths and Legends.
Cornish v. Gaelic Languages
All about Cornish
History
Gaelic equivalents
Cornish keywords
Counting in Cornish
Food and drink
Dates and time
Useful phrases
Lord's Prayer

Radyo an Gernewegva
'Deth da, Da yu genef dha weles'....The ancient Celtic language of Cornwall was reportedly last spoken by Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole who died in 1777. There is also however, a tombstone at Zennor churchyard to John Davey (1812-1891), 'the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language'. He sang traditional songs and could converse quite fluently. Why did it die out? While Cornwall remained largely untouched by the outside world the language remained intact..
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Mesolithic: Middle Stone Age, 8000BC to 4500BC
Neolithic: New Stone Age, 4500BC to 2200BC
Bronze Age: 2200BC to 700BC
Iron Age: 700BC to 43AD
Roman: 43AD to 410AD
Post Roman: 410AD to 1000AD
Medieval: from 1000AD
Cornwall has hundreds of ancient monuments. They range from the small underground chambers known as 'fogous', mysterious chambered cairns and entrance graves, round barrows, long barrows, enigmatic inscribed stones, through to imposing quoits (dolmens) and cliff castles as well as my personal favourite the longstones or mênhirs.
Obviously, all of this monument building did not take place at the same time. Man has been leaving his mark on the surface of the planet for thousands of years and each civilisation has had its own method of honouring their dead and/or their deities.

There are large concentrations of megalithic Chamber Tombs in the far west, on the Land's End Peninsula and also on the Isles of Scilly. The most commonly visited (and photographed) are Lanyon Quoit, Chun Quoit, Mulfra Quoit (near Zennor); Ballowall Barrow (Carn Gluze) in Penwith and Trethevy Quoit (Liskeard). Scillonians can explore the well preserved Giant's Tomb above Porth Hellick [Grid ref. SV928108]; Innisidgen [Grid ref. SV922127] and Bant's Carn [Grid ref. SV910123] on St. Mary's. An excellent pair of guide books are The Modern Antiquarian by Julian Cope and Journey To The Stones - Mermaid to Merrymaid by Ian McNeil Cooke.

Holed stones are a lot rarer with only two notable examples - Mên-an-Tol near Morvah and the Tolvan Stone on private farmland near Gweek.

The major Bronze Age barrows are situated at Pelynt; West Taphouse; Newquay; Rillaton & Jericho in Cornwall, and Obadiah's Barrow on Gugh, Isles of Scilly.
Well preserved Bronze Age Stone Circles are found in Penwith at The Merry Maidens (Boleigh); The Nine Maidens (Boscawen-ûn); Duloe Stone Circle (of white Quartzite) and at Tregeseal (The Dancing Stones). Bodmin Moor is home to The Hurlers and the Trippet Stones. The Hurlers are the remains of three ancient stone circles north of Liskeard. Legend has it that the local people were warned by local cleric St. Cleer not to play Hurling on the Sabbath, when they refused he turned all of them to stone as a warning to others. Bronze Age Long Stones (Mênhirs) are relatively common with the district of Penwith boasting almost 90 instances. The most famous being The Pipers (near Boleigh); The Blind Fiddler (near Sancreed); Tremenheer (near St. Keverne) and Boslow (near Pendeen). The Isles of Scilly have The Old Man of Gugh.
The best examples of Iron Age Forts; Fogous and Cliff Castles are: Castle-an-Dinas; Castle Canyke; Chapel Carn Brea; Trencrom; Chûn Castle; Castle Dore. Fogous are quite widespread with notable ones at Pendeen Vau; Boleigh; Chysauster & Porthmeor. There is a fine Iron Age village with Bronze Age Fogou at Carn Euny (OS Explorer 102 at Grid ref. SW402288) - See the Friendly Map & Guide to exploring the Land's End Peninsula for a plan of the site and more information. Also check out the site of Bodrifty Iron Age Settlement, near Newmill, Penzance (OS Explorer 102 at Grid ref. SW445355) and Halangy Down Village on St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly. The following are Iron Age Cliff Castles: Trevelgue; Rumps Point; Maen Cliff Castle; Treryn Dinas; Kelsey Head and Gurnard's Head. Iron Age cemeteries have been discovered at Harlyn Bay; Chysauster and Porthmeor.
Enjoy,
<Paul Thompson>


..Compare it with Gaelic
Some Keywords in the Cornish Language, with their Gaelic equivalents - kindly supplied by Cecil Ward of An t-Eilean Sgitheanach - the Isle of Skye
English Word
Cornish Translation
Pronounciation
Gaelic Equivalent
Pronounciation
water
dowr
dower
dobhair, dòbhran

beach
treath
treth
traigh

Sea
Mor
More
muir, mara
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Church
Eglos
Egg-Loss
eaglais

House
Chi
Chee
taigh

Dwelling
Bos
Bose
bothan

Field
Parc or Plen
Park or Plen
pàirc

Head, Headland
Pen-
Pen-
ceann

Religous Settlement
Lan-
Lann
Lann

Homestead
Tre-
Tray
(treubh)

Boat
Scatho
Scath-O
sgoth

Sand Dune
Towan
Tau-an
toman, tonn

Cliff
Als
  Alz
àil

Rocks
Carreg
Car Egg
carraig

A Wood
Cus or Cos
Kawz
coilltean (pl.), coille (sing.)

New
Noweth
Now-Eth
nuadh

White
Gwynn or Gwidden
Gwinn or Gwidden
fionn

Black
Du or Dhu
Dew
dubh

Blue
Glas or Glaze
Glayze
Glas
Glahze
Red
Rudh
Ruth
ruadh

Yellow
Melyn
Mellin


Green
Gwyrdh
Gwirth


Pink
Gwynnrudh
Gwinn-Ruth


Grey
Loes
Loess


Grove
Kelly
Kelly
coille

Mill
Melyn
Mellin
muileann

Pond or Pool
Pol
Pol
Poll
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