 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United Kingdom (England andWales) 99,754 (2021)[2] (Scotland) 467 (2011)[8] | |
| Significant Cornish diaspora in | |
| United States | 1,000,000 – 2,500,000[9][10][11] |
| Australia | 1,000,000[12][9] |
| Canada | 1,975[13] |
| Mexico | [9][14] |
| New Zealand | [15][16] |
| South Africa | [9][17] |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
MainlyChristianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
aCornish American,bCornish Australian | |
Cornish people or theCornish (Cornish:Kernowyon,Old English:Cornƿīelisċ) are anethnic group native to, or associated withCornwall[18][19] and a recognised national minority in theUnited Kingdom,[20] which (like theWelsh andBretons) can trace its roots to theancient Britons who inhabitedGreat Britain from somewhere between the 11th and 7th centuries BC[citation needed] and inhabited Britain at the time of theRoman conquest.[21] Many in Cornwall today continue to assert a distinct identity separate from or in addition toEnglish orBritish identities. Cornish identity has also been adopted by some migrants into Cornwall, as well as by emigrant and descendant communities from Cornwall, the latter sometimes referred to as theCornish diaspora.[10] Although not included as a tick-box option in the UK census, the numbers of those writing in a Cornish ethnic and national identity are officially recognised and recorded.[22][23]
Throughoutclassical antiquity, the ancientCeltic Britons formed a series oftribes, kingdoms, cultures and identities throughout Great Britain; theDumnonii andCornovii were theCeltic tribes who inhabited what was to become Cornwall during theIron Age,Roman andpost-Roman periods.[24] The name Cornwall and itsdemonym Cornish are derived from the Celtic Cornovii tribe.[24][25] TheAnglo-Saxon invasion and settlement of Britain starting from the late 5th and early 6th centuries and the arrival ofScots from Ireland during the same period gradually restricted the Romano-British culture and Brittonic language into parts of the north and west of Great Britain by the 10th century, whilst the inhabitants of southern, central and eastern Britain became English and much of the north became Scottish. The Cornish people, who shared theBrythonic language with theWelsh, Cumbrics andPicts, and also the Bretons who had migrated across the sea to escape the Anglo-Saxon invasions, were referred to in theOld English language as the "Westwalas" meaning West Welsh.[24] TheBattle of Deorham between the Britons andAnglo-Saxons is thought to have resulted in a loss of land links with the people of Wales.[26]
The Cornish people and theirBrythonicCornish language experienced a slow process ofanglicisation andattrition during themedieval andearly modern periods. By the 18th century, and following the creation of theKingdom of Great Britain, the Cornish language and to some degree identity had faded, largely replaced by theEnglish language (albeit Cornish-influencedWest Country dialects andAnglo-Cornish) orBritish identity.[27][28] ACeltic revival during the early-20th century enabled a cultural self-consciousness in Cornwall that revitalised the Cornish language and roused the Cornish to express a distinctly Brittonic Celtic heritage. The Cornish language was granted official recognition under theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2002,[29] and in 2014 the Cornish people were recognised and afforded protection by the UK Government under theFramework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.[20]
In the 2021 census, the population of Cornwall, including theIsles of Scilly, was recorded as 570,300.[1] TheCornish self-government movement has called for greater recognition of Cornish culture, politics, and language, and urged that Cornish people be accorded greater status, exemplified by the call for them to be one of the listed ethnic groups in theUnited Kingdom Census 2011 form.[30]
Both geographic and historical factors distinguish the Cornish as an ethnic group[31] further supported by identifiable genetic variance between the populations of Cornwall, neighbouring Devon and England as published in a 2012 Oxford University study.[32] Throughout medieval andEarly Modern Britain, the Cornish were at some points accorded the same status as the English andWelsh and considered a separaterace or nation, distinct from their neighbours, with their own language, society and customs.[33] A process ofAnglicisation between 1485 and 1700 led to the Cornish adopting English language, culture and civic identity, a view reinforced by Cornish historianA. L. Rowse who said they were gradually "absorbed into the mainstream of English life".[33] Although "decidedly modern" and "largely retrospective" in itsidentity politics, Cornish and Celtic associations have advanced the notion of a distinct Cornish national and ethnic identity since the late 20th century.[34] In theUnited Kingdom Census 2001, despite no explicit "Cornish" option being available, approximately 34,000 people in Cornwall and 3,500 people elsewhere in the UK—a combined total equal to nearly 7 per cent of the population of Cornwall—identified themselves as ethnic Cornish by writing this in under the "other" ethnicity option.[6][35] The census figures show a change in identity from West to East, inPenwith 9.2 per cent identified as ethnically Cornish, inKerrier it was 7.5 per cent, inCarrick 6.6 per cent,Restormel 6.3 per cent,North Cornwall 6 per cent, andCaradon 5.6 per cent. Weighting of the 2001 Census data gives a figure of 154,791 people with Cornish ethnicity living in Cornwall.[36]
The Cornish have been described as "a special case" in England, with an "ethnic rather than regional identity".[37] Structural changes to thepolitics of the United Kingdom, particularly theEuropean Union anddevolution, have been cited as the main stimulus to "a growing interest in Cornish identity and distinctiveness" in late-20th century Britain.[33] The British are the citizens of the United Kingdom, a people who by convention consist of four national groups: theEnglish,Northern Irish,Scots andWelsh.[33] In the 1990s it was said that the notion that the Cornish are to be classified as a nation comparable to the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh, "has practically vanished from the popular consciousness" outside Cornwall,[33] and that, despite a "real and substantive" identity, the Cornish "struggle for recognition as a national group distinct from the English".[34] However, in 2014, after a 15-year campaign, the UK government officially recognised the Cornish as a national minority under theCouncil of Europe'sFramework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, giving the Cornish the same status as the Welsh, Scots and Irish within the UK.[20]
Inhabitants of Cornwall may have multiplepolitical allegiances, adopting mixed, dual or hyphenated identities such as "Cornish first and British second",[30] "Cornish and British and European",[38] or, likePhil Vickery (arugby union prop for theEngland national rugby union team andBritish and Irish Lions), describe themselves as "Cornish" and "English".[39] Meanwhile, another international rugby union player,Josh Matavesi, describes himself as Cornish-Fijian and Cornish not English.[40]
A survey byPlymouth University in 2000 found that 30% of children in Cornwall felt "Cornish, not English".[41] A 2004 survey on national identity by the finance firmMorgan Stanley found that 44% of respondents in Cornwall saw themselves as Cornish rather than British or English.[42] A 2008University of Exeter study conducted in 16 towns across Cornwall found that 59% felt themselves to be Cornish and 41% felt "More Cornish than English", while for over a third of respondents the Cornish identity formed their primarynational identity. Genealogy and family history were considered to be the chief criteria for 'being' Cornish, particularly among those who possessed such ties, while being born in Cornwall was also held to be important.[43]
A 2008 study by theUniversity of Edinburgh of 15- and 16-year-old schoolchildren in Cornwall found that 58% of respondents felt themselves to be either 'Fairly' or 'Very much' Cornish. The other 42% may be the result of in-migration to the area during the second half of the twentieth century.[44]
A 2010 study by theUniversity of Exeter into the meaning of contemporary Cornish identity across Cornwall found that there was a "west-east distance decay in the strength of the Cornish identity." The study was conducted amongst the farming community as they were deemed to be the socio-professional group most objectively representative of Cornishness. All participants categorised themselves as Cornish and identified Cornish as their primary ethnic group orientation. Those in the west primarily thought of themselves as Cornish and British/Celtic, while those in the east tended to think of themselves as Cornish and English. All participants in West Cornwall who identified as Cornish and not English described people in East Cornwall, without hesitation, as equally Cornish as themselves. Those who identified as Cornish and English stressed the primacy of their Cornishness and a capacity to distance themselves from their Englishness. Ancestry was seen as the most important criterion for being categorised as Cornish, above place of birth or growing up in Cornwall. This study supports a 1988 study by Mary McArthur that had found that the meanings of Cornishness varied substantially, from local to national identity. Both studies also observed that the Cornish were less materialistic than the English. The Cornish generally saw the English, or city people, as being "less friendly and more aggressively self-promoting and insensitive". The Cornish saw themselves as friendly, welcoming and caring.[45]
In November 2010 British Prime Minister,David Cameron, said "I think Cornish national identity is very powerful" and that his government would "devolve a lot of power to Cornwall – that will go to theCornish unitary authority."[46]
A campaign for the inclusion of a Cornish tick-box in the nationality section of the2011 census failed to win the support of Parliament in 2009.[35][47] As a consequence, posters were created by the census organisation andCornwall Council which advised residents how they could identify themselves as Cornish by writing it in the national identity and ethnicity sections and record Cornish in the main language section.[23] Additionally, people could record Cornwall as their country of birth.[48]
Like other identities, Cornish has an allocated census code, (06), the same as for 2001,[49] which applied and was counted throughout Britain.[50] People were first able to record their ethnicity as Cornish in the 2001 UK Census, and some 37,000 people did so by writing it in.[51]
A total of 83,499 people in England and Wales were described as having a Cornish national identity. 59,456 of these were described as Cornish only, 6,261 as Cornish and British, and 17,782 as Cornish and at least one other identity, with or without British. Within Cornwall the total was 73,220 (14% of the population) with 52,793 (9.9%) as Cornish only, 5,185 (1%) as Cornish and British, and 15,242 (2.9%) as Cornish and at least one other identity, with or without British.[52]
In Scotland 467 people described themselves as having Cornish national identity. 254 with Cornish identity only, 39 as Scottish and Cornish, and 174 having Cornish identity and at least one other UK identity (excluding Scottish).[8]
In the 2021 census, 89,084 people in England and Wales described their national identity as Cornish only and 10,670 as Cornish and British.[2] Within Cornwall, 79,938 people (14.0% of the population) specified a Cornish only identity and 9,146 (1.6%) Cornish in combination with British.[53][54]
Since 2006 school children in Cornwall have been able to record themselves as ethnically Cornish on the annual Schools Census (PLASC). Since then the number identifying as Cornish has risen from 24% to 51% in 2017. The Department for Education recommends that parents and guardians determine the ethnicity of children at primary schools whilst pupils at secondary schools can decide their own ethnicity.[55]
Traditionally, the Cornish are thought to have been descended from the Iron AgeCelts, making them distinct from the English, many (but not all) of whom are descended from theAnglo-Saxons who colonised Great Britain from their homelands in northern Europe and drove the Celts to Britain's western and northern fringes.[59][60][61] Recent genetic studies based on ancient DNA have complicated this picture, however. During theBronze Age, most of the people that had inhabited Britain since the Neolithic era were replaced byBeaker People,[62] while scholars have argued that the introduction of the Celtic languages and material culture into Britain and Ireland was by means of cultural diffusion, rather than any substantial migration.[63] Genetic evidence has also suggested that while ancestry inherited from the Anglo-Saxons makes up a significant part of the modern English gene pool (one study suggested an average 38% contribution in eastern England), they did not displace all of the previous inhabitants.[64][65] A 2015 study found that modern Cornish populations had less Anglo-Saxon ancestry than people from central and southern England, and that they were genetically distinct from their neighbors inDevon. The study also suggested that populations traditionally labelled as "Celtic" showed significant diversity, rather than a unified genetic identity.[66]
Throughoutclassical antiquity the Celts spokeCeltic languages, and formed a series of tribes, cultures and identities, notably thePicts andGaels in the north and theBritons in the south.[citation needed] The Britons were themselves a divided people;[67] although they shared theBrythonic languages, they were tribal, and divided into regional societies, and within them sub-groups. Examples of these tribal societies were theBrigantes in the north, and theOrdovices, theDemetae, theSilures and theDeceangli in the west.[68] In the extreme southwest, what was to become Cornwall, were theDumnonii andCornovii, who lived in the Kingdom ofDumnonia.[24] TheRoman conquest of Britain in the 1st century introducedRomans to Britain, who upon their arrival initially recorded the Dumnonii, but later reported on the Cornovii, who were possibly a sub-group of the Dumnonii.[69][70][71] Although the Romans colonised much of central and southern Britain, Dumnonia was "virtually unaffected" by the conquest;[27][72] Roman rule had little or no impact on the region,[21][25] meaning it could flourish as a semi- or fully independent kingdom which evidence shows was sometimes under the dominion of thekings of the Britons, and sometimes to have been governed by its ownDumnonian monarchy, either by the title of duke or king.[73] Thispetty kingdom shared strong linguistic, political and cultural links withBrittany, a peninsula oncontinental Europe south of Cornwall inhabited by Britons; the Cornish andBreton languages were nearly indistinguishable in this period, and both Cornwall and Brittany remain dotted with dedications to the same Celticsaints.[74]
TheSack of Rome in the year 410 prompted a completeRoman departure from Britain, and Cornwall then experienced an influx ofCeltic Christian missionaries from Ireland who had a profound effect upon the early Cornish people, their culture, faith and architecture.[21] The ensuingdecline of the Roman Empire encouraged theAnglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.[72] TheAngles,Jutes,Frisii andSaxons,Germanic peoples from northern Europe, established petty kingdoms and settled in different regions of what was to become England, and parts of southernScotland, progressively defeating the Britons in battle. The Saxons of the Kingdom ofWessex in particular were expanding their territory westwards towards Cornwall.[21] The Cornish were frequently embattled with the West Saxons, who used theirGermanic wordwalha (modern English: Welsh) meaning "stranger" or "foreigner", to describe their opponents,[75] later specifying them as theWestwalas (West Welsh) orCornwalas (the Cornish).[24][72] Conflict continued until KingAthelstan of England determined that theRiver Tamar be the formal boundary between the West Saxons and the Cornish in the year 936,[76] making Cornwall one of the last retreats of the Britons encouraging the development of a distinct Cornish identity;[73] Brittonic culture in Britain became confined to Cornwall, parts ofDevon,North West England,South West Scotland andWales.[59][61][72] Although a treaty was agreed,[when?] Anglo-Saxon political influence stretched westwards until some time in the late 10th century when "Cornwall was definitively incorporated into theKingdom of England".[21]
TheNorman conquest of England, which began with an invasion by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy (later, KingWilliam I of England) in 1066, resulted in the removal of the Anglo-Saxon derived monarchy, aristocracy, and clerical hierarchy and its replacement byNormans, Scandinavian Vikings from northern France[77][78] and their Breton allies, who, in many cases, maintained rule in the Brittonic-speaking parts of the conquered lands.[79] Theshires of England were progressively divided amongst thecompanions of William I of England, who served as England's new nobility.[77] The English would come to absorb the Normans,[80] but the Cornish vigorously resisted their influence.[17] At the time of the conquest, legend has it that Cornwall was under the governance ofCondor, reported by laterantiquarians to be the last Earl of Cornwall to be directly descended from the ancient monarchy of Cornwall.[81][82] TheEarldom of Cornwall had helddevolved semi-sovereignty from England,[83][84] but in 1067 was granted toRobert, Count of Mortain, King William I's half-brother, and ruled thereafter by anAnglo-Norman aristocracy;[25][85] in theDomesday Book, the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, "virtually all" landowners in Cornwall "had English names, making it impossible to be sure who was Cornish and who was English by race".[86][incomplete short citation] However, there was a persistent and "continuing differentiation" between the English and Cornish peoples during the Middle Ages, as evidenced by documents such as the 1173charter ofTruro which made explicit mention of both peoples as distinct.[87]
The Earldom of Cornwall passed to various Englishnobles throughout theHigh Middle Ages,[88] but in 1337 the earldom was given the status of aduchy, andEdward, the Black Prince, the first son and heir of KingEdward III of England, became the firstDuke of Cornwall as a means for the prince to raise his own capital.[87][89] Large parts of Cornwall were owned by Edward, 1st Duke of Cornwall, and successive English Dukes of Cornwall became the largest landowners in Cornwall;[21] Themonarchy of England established two special administrative institutions in Cornwall, the first being theDuchy of Cornwall (one of only two in the Kingdom of England)[90] and the second being the CornishStannary Courts and Parliaments (which governed Cornwall's tin industry).[73] These two institutions allowed "ordinary Cornish people to believe that they had been granted a unique constitutional status to reflect their unique cultural identity".[61] However, the Duchy of Cornwall gradually lost its political autonomy from England, a state which became increasingly centralised in London,[21] and by the early-Tudor period the Cornish had begun to see themselves as "a conquered people whose culture, liberties, and prosperity had been downgraded by the English".[91] This view was exacerbated in the 1490s by heavy taxation imposed by KingHenry VII of England upon the impoverished Cornish to raise funds for his military campaigns against KingJames IV of Scotland andPerkin Warbeck,[91] as well as Henry VII's suspension of the privileges of the Cornish Stannaries.[92] Having provided "more than their fair share of soldiers and sailors" for the conflict innorthern England,[92] and feeling aggrieved at "Cornwall's status as England's poorest county",[91] apopular uprising out of Cornwall ensued—theCornish rebellion of 1497. The rebellion was initially a political march fromSt Keverne to London led byThomas Flamank andMichael An Gof, motivated by a "mixture of reasons"; to raise money for charity; to celebrate their community; to present their grievances to theParliament of England,[91][92] but gathered pace across theWest Country as a revolt against the king.[93]
Cornish was the most widely spoken language west of the River Tamar until around the mid-1300s, whenMiddle English began to be adopted as a common language of the Cornish people.[72] As late as 1542Andrew Boorde, an English traveller, physician and writer, wrote that in Cornwall there were two languages, "Cornysshe" and "Englysshe", but that "there may be many men and women" in Cornwall who could not understand English.[87] While theNorman language was in use by much of the English aristocracy, Cornish was used as alingua franca, particularly in the remote far west of Cornwall.[94] Many Cornishlanded gentry chose mottos in the Cornish language for theircoat of arms, highlighting its socially high status.[95] However, in 1549 and following theEnglish Reformation, KingEdward VI of England commanded that theBook of Common Prayer, anAnglican liturgical text in the English language, should be introduced to all churches in his kingdom, meaning thatLatin and Celtic customs and services should be discontinued.[72] ThePrayer Book Rebellion was a militant revolt in Cornwall and parts of neighbouringDevon against theAct of Uniformity 1549, which outlawed all languages from church services apart from English,[96] and is specified as a testament to the affection and loyalty the Cornish people held for the Cornish language.[95] In the rebellion, separate risings occurred simultaneously inBodmin in Cornwall, andSampford Courtenay in Devon—which would both converge atExeter, laying siege to the region's largest Protestant city.[97] However, the rebellion was suppressed, thanks largely to the aid of foreign mercenaries in a series of battles in which "hundreds were killed",[25] effectively ending Cornish as the common language of the Cornish people.[72][87] The Anglicanism of the Reformation served as a vehicle for Anglicisation in Cornwall; Protestantism had a lasting cultural effect upon the Cornish by way of linking Cornwall more closely with England, while lessening political and linguistic ties with theBretons of Brittany.[98]
TheEnglish Civil War, a series of armed conflicts and political machinations betweenParliamentarians andRoyalists, polarised the populations of England and Wales. However,Cornwall in the English Civil War was a staunchly Royalist enclave, an "important focus of support for the Royalist cause".[99] Cornish soldiers were used as scouts and spies during the war, for their language was not understood by English Parliamentarians.[99] The peace that followed the close of the war led to a further shift to the English language by the Cornish people, which encouraged an influx of English people to Cornwall. By the mid-17th century the use of the Cornish language had retreated far enough west to prompt concern and investigation byantiquarians, such asWilliam Scawen.[98][99] As the Cornish language diminished the people of Cornwall underwent a process of Englishenculturation andassimilation,[100] becoming "absorbed into the mainstream of English life".[33]
TheIndustrial Revolution had a major impact upon the Cornish people.[100][102] Cornwall's economy was fully integrated into England's,[100] andmining in Cornwall, always an important source of employment and stability of the Cornish, experienced a process of industrialisation resulting in 30 per cent of Cornwall's adult population being employed by its mines.[102] During this period, efforts were made by Cornish engineers to designsteam engines with which to power water pumps for Cornish mines thus aiding the extraction of mineral ore.[citation needed] Industrial scale tin and copper mining operations in Cornwall melded Cornish identity with engines and heavy industry,[102] and Cornwall's leadingmining engineer,Richard Trevithick, became "as much a part of Cornwall's heritage as any legendary giant from its Celtic past".[103] Trevithick's most significant success was a high-pressure steam engine used to pump water and refuse from mines, but he was also the builder of the first full-scale working railwaysteam locomotive.[104] On 21 February 1804, the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along thetramway of thePenydarren ironworks, nearMerthyr Tydfil in Wales.[104]
The construction of theGreat Western Railway during theVictorian era allowed for an influx of tourists to Cornwall from across Great Britain. Well into theEdwardian era andinterwar period, Cornwall was branded as a rural retreat, a "primitive land of magic and romance", and as an "earlier incarnation of Englishness, a place more English than an England ravaged by modernity".[105] Cornwall, the United Kingdom's only region with asubtropical-like climate,[106] became a centre forEnglish tourism, its coastline dominated byresort towns increasingly composed ofbungalows andvillas.[105]John Nichols Thom, or Mad Tom, (1799 – 31 May 1838) was a Cornishman self-declared messiah who, in the 19th century led the last battle to be fought on English soil, known as theBattle of Bossenden Wood. While not akin to the Cornish rebellions of the past, he did attract some Cornish support as well as mostly Kentish labourers, although his support was primarily of religious followers.
In the latter half of the 19th century Cornwall experienced rapid deindustrialisation,[107] with the closure of mines in particular considered by the Cornish to be both an economic and cultural disaster.[106] This, coupled with the rise ofRomantic nationalism in Europe inspired and influenced aCeltic Revival in Cornwall,[107] a social, linguistic and artistic movement interested in Cornish medievalethnology. This Revivalist upsurge investigated Cornwall's pre-industrial culture, using the Cornish language as the "principal badge of [Cornish] nationality and ethnic kinship".[107] The first effective revival of Cornish began in 1904 whenHenry Jenner, a Celtic language enthusiast, published his bookHandbook of the Cornish Language.[108] Hisorthography,Unified Cornish, was based on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupilRobert Morton Nance later steered the revival more towards theMiddle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became influenced by English.[109]
Thevisit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 reinvigoratedScottish national identity, melding it with romanticist notions oftartan,kilts and theScottish Highlands.[110] AsPan-Celticism gathered pace in the early 20th century, CornishmanL. C. R. Duncombe-Jewell and the Cowethas Kelto-Kernuak (a Cornish language interest group) asserted the use ofCornish kilts and tartans as a "national dress ... common to all Celtic countries".[110][111] In 1924 theFederation of Old Cornwall Societies was formed to facilitate, preserve and maintain Celticity in Cornwall,[112] followed by the similarGorseth Kernow in 1928,[113] and the formation of the Cornish nationalist political partyMebyon Kernow in 1951.[114] Increased interest and communication across theCeltic nations in Celtic languages and culture during the 1960s and 1970s spurred on the popularisation of theCornish self-government movement.[106] Sincedevolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, enthusiasts for Cornish culture have pressed for the Cornish language to be taught formally in Cornish schools, while Cornish nationalists have demanded greater political autonomy for Cornwall, for example that it be constituted as theUnited Kingdom's fifth constituent country with its ownCornish Assembly.[106]
The Cornish people are concentrated in Cornwall, but after theAge of Discovery in the early modern period were involved in theBritish colonisation of the Americas and other transcontinental andtransatlantic migrations. Initially, the number of migrants was comparatively small, with those who left Cornwall typically settling in North America or else amongst the ports andplantations of theCaribbean.[10]
In the first half of the 19th century, the Cornish people were leaders intin and copper smelting, whilemining in Cornwall was the people's major occupation.[21] Increased competition from Australia,British Malaya andBolivia, coupled with the depletion of mineral deposits brought about an economic decline for Cornish mining lasting half a century, and prompting masshuman migration from Cornwall.[10][21] In each decade from 1861 to 1901, "around 20% of the Cornish male population migrated abroad"—three times that of the average ofEngland and Wales—and totalling over a quarter of a million people lost to emigration between 1841 and 1901.[10] There was a displacement of skilled Cornish engineers, farmers, merchants, miners and tradesmen, but their commercial and occupational expertise, particularly inhard rock mining, was highly valued by the communities they met.[10][21] Within Great Britain, Cornish families were attracted from Cornwall toNorth East England—particularly onTeesside—to partake in coal mining as a means to earn wealth by using their mining skill. This has resulted in a concentration of Cornish names on and around Teesside that persists into the 21st century.[115]
Large numbers of the 19th century Cornish emigrants eventually returned to Cornwall, whilst the rate of emigration from Cornwall declined after World War I.[116] However, the global connections of the remainingCornish diaspora, which is concentrated inEnglish-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States, are "very strong".[9][10][17][117] Their outreach has contributed to the international spread ofMethodism, a movement withinProtestant Christianity that was popular with the Cornish people at the time of their mass migration.[118] "Cousin Jacks" is a nickname for the overseas Cornish, thought to derive from the practice of Cornishmen asking if job vacancies could be filled by their cousin named Jack in Cornwall.[31][119]
From thebeginning of Australia's colonial period until after the Second World War, people from the United Kingdom made up a large majority of people coming to Australia, meaning that many Australian-born people can trace their origins to Britain.[120] The Cornish people in particular were actively encouraged to emigrate to Australia following the demise ofCornish mining in the 19th century. A "vigorous recruiting campaign" was launched to encourage the Cornish to aid withmining in Australia because of their experience and expertise.[121] Free passage to South Australia in particular was granted to hundreds of Cornish miners and their families,[121] so much so, that a large Cornish community gathered in Australia'sCopper Coast, and South Australia'sYorke Peninsula became known as "Little Cornwall".[9] It has been estimated between 1837 and 1840, 15 per cent of all assisted migrants to South Australia were Cornish.[121]
Cornish settlement impacted upon social, cultural and religious life throughout thehistory of South Australia. Cornish identity was embraced strongly in the Yorke Peninsula, but also in the more outlying mining towns ofKapunda andBurra, where Cornish miners constituted a sizeable community.[122]Methodism, was the main form of religious practice for the Cornish. Methodist sensibilities were held with strong conviction by the migrant Cornish in a direct rivalry with CatholicIrish people in Australia.[122] TheKernewek Lowender is the largest Cornish festival in the world, held in theKadina,Moonta andWallaroo towns on the Yorke Peninsula, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors bi-annually.[117][119]
European fishing ventures in and aroundNewfoundland during the 16th century were the earliest Cornish activity in what was to become Canada. However, permanent settlement by the Cornish across the Atlantic Ocean was rare until at least the 19th century.[21] TheBritish colonisation of the Americas encouraged additional migration of the Cornish tothe Canadas, particularly by those who served in Great Britain'sRoyal Navy.[21] The creation of the colony ofBritish North America spurred more people from Cornwall to settle in North America; they were registered as English migrants.[21] Many Cornish (and other West Country) immigrants who had been agricultural labourers settled in an area of what is now South Central Ontario in what were the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Ontario, ranging from the towns of Port Hope and Cobourg in the east, to Whitby in the west and to the north ends of those counties.[123]
In 1825 a band of 60 Cornishmen leftFalmouth forMineral del Monte in centralMexico with 1,500tonnes (1,500long tons; 1,700short tons) of mining machinery with which to apply their mining skill and technologies to resuscitate Mexico's ailingsilver mining industry after the neglect caused by theMexican War of Independence.[14] Following their sea voyage they attempted to dock atVeracruz but were forced away by the Spanish to a beach at Mocambo from where they hauled their machinery through jungle and swamp toSanta Fe.[14] During this haul through the jungle, the Cornishmen and their Mexican helpers fell victim toyellow fever, resulting in 30 Cornish and 100 Mexican fatalities.[14] The fever forced the survivors to abandon their equipment and head inland up into the mountains toXalapa to try to escape the mosquitos for three months, until the end of the rainy season. Once the rainy season closed the Cornish and Mexican miners continued their 250-mile (402 km) "Great Trek" to Mineral del Monte, transporting their machinery to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above sea level and arriving at their destination on 1 May 1826.[14] Following their arrival, the Cornish community flourished and stayed in central Mexico until theMexican Revolution in 1910. Although the Cornish community in Mexico broadly returned to Cornwall, they left a cultural legacy;Cornish pasties, Cornish mining museums and aCornish Mexican Cultural Society are all part of the local heritage and tradition in and around Mineral del Monte.[14]
TheWitwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886 encouraged large numbers of Cornish miners to migrate to theSouth African Republic.[124] Although an international gold rush, the Cornish overwhelmingly formed the skilled labour force in theWitwatersrand, until the outbreak of theSecond Boer War prompted a retreat.[124]
The discovery oflead ore and copper in North America prompted an influx of Cornish miners to the continent, particularly around theUpper Mississippi River.[21] By the early 19th century Cornish people were present in theUpper Peninsula of Michigan—particularly the mining town ofIshpeming.[125][126] Additional waves of Cornish migrants followed theCalifornia Gold Rush of the mid-19th century;[21] in the 1890s it was estimated that inCalifornia'sGrass Valley, over 60 per cent of the population was Cornish.[9] It has a tradition ofcarols stemming from the Cornish who settled the area as gold miners in the 19th century. The carols have become "the identity of the town", some of the members of the Grass Valley Cornish Carol Choir are descendants of the original Cornish settlers.[117]
Most migratory Cornish to the United States were classified as English or British, meaning that the precise number ofCornish Americans is difficult to estimate. The aggregate number of immigrants from Cornwall to the United States before World War I is suggested to be around 100,000.[31]
The survival of a distinctCornish culture has been attributed to Cornwall's geographic isolation.[17][127] Contemporaneously, the underlying notion of Cornish culture is that it is distinct from theculture of England, despite itsanglicisation, and that it is instead part of a Celtic tradition.[21] According to American academicPaul Robert Magocsi, modern-day Cornish activists have claimed severalVictorian era inventions including theCornish engine,Christmas carols,rugby football andbrass bands as part of this Cornish tradition.[21] Cornish cultural tradition is most strongly associated with the people's most historical occupation, mining,[128] an aspect of Cornish history and culture that has influenced its cuisine, symbols and identity. The Cornish writer C. C. Vyvyan wrote in her 1948 bookOur Cornwall: "A man might live and die among us and never gain throughout his allotted span of life one glimpse of the essential Cornwall or the essential Cornishman."[129]
Cornwall hasits own tradition of Christian saints, derived from Celtic extraction, that have given rise to localised dedications.[74]Saint Piran is the 5th century Christian abbot, supposedly of Irish origin, who is patron saint of both tin miners and Cornwall.[130] According to popular mythology, Piran, an Irish scholar who studied Christianity inAncient Rome was to be drowned in theIrish Sea by theHigh Kings of Ireland, but instead floated across toPerranporth in Cornwall by the will of God to preach theGospel.[130]Saint Piran's Flag, a centred white cross on a black field,[131] was described as the "Standard of Cornwall" in 1838 and was re-introduced byCeltic Revivalists thereafter as acounty flag of Cornwall.[131] It has been seized upon by the Cornish people as a symbol of their identity, displayed on cars and flying from buildings including those ofCornwall Council.[30][107]St Piran's Day is an annual patronalfête, and the pre-eminentCornish festival celebrating Cornish culture and history on 5 March.[130]
TheCornish language is derived from theBrythonic branch of theInsular Celtic languages. It is closely related to theBreton language, and to a lesser extent shares commonalities with theWelsh language,[132] although they are notmutually intelligible.[133] The language functioned as a community language in Cornwall until alanguage shift to the English language was completed during the late 18th century. The demise of the Cornish language is attributed to English cultural influence, particularly the political and religious dominance of theEnglish Reformation and theAct of Uniformity 1549 which outlawed all church services within the Kingdom of England that were not in English.[96] The exact date of the death of using the Cornish language is unclear and disputed, but popularly it is claimed that the lastmonolingual Cornish speaker wasDolly Pentreath, aMousehole resident who died in 1777.[134][135]
The revival of Cornish began in 1904 whenHenry Jenner, a Celtic language enthusiast, published his bookHandbook of the Cornish Language.[108] He based his work on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupilRobert Morton Nance, with his orthography,Unified Cornish, later steered the revival more towards theMiddle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became more heavily influenced by English.[109] This set the tone for the next few decades; as the revival gained pace, learners of the language disagreed on which style of Cornish to use, and a number of competing orthographies—Unified Cornish,Unified Cornish Revised, Modern Cornish,Kernewek Kemmyn—were in use by the end of the 20th century. Astandard written form was agreed in 2008.[136]
Cornish is a restored and livingmodern language, but most of its speakers are enthusiasts, persons who have learned the language through private study.[137] Cornish speakers are geographically dispersed, meaning there is no part of Cornwall where it is spoken as a community language.[137] As of 2009, it is taught in fifty primary schools,[30] although regular broadcast in Cornish is limited to a weekly bilingual programme onBBC Radio Cornwall.[137] Daily life in Cornwall therefore is conducted in the English language, albeit withsome regional peculiarities.[31]
Legends of the Fall, a novella by American authorJim Harrison, detailing the lives of aCornish American family in the early 20th century, contains several Cornish language terms. These were also included in theAcademy Award winningfilm of the same name starringAnthony Hopkins as Col. William Ludlow andBrad Pitt as Tristan Ludlow.[138]
Early medieval Cornwall was associated with theMatter of Britain, anational myth recounting a legendary Celtic history of Brittonic warriors, includingKing Arthur.[17][27] The Matter of Britain was supported by texts such as theHistoria Regum Britanniae, apseudohistorical account of the history of the ancient Britons, written in the mid-12th century byGeoffrey of Monmouth.[139] TheHistoria Regum Britanniae chronicled the lives oflegendary kings of the Britons in a narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with theTrojans founding the ancient British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century forced the Celtic Britons to the west coast, namelyWales and Cornwall.[139][140] Although broadly thought of as a work of fiction, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work had a lasting effect upon the identity of the Cornish.[141] His "historical construct" characterised the ancient Britons as heroes, which later helped Celtic revivalists to redefine Cornishness as an identity closely related to ancient heroic Celtic folklore.[141]
Another strand of Cornish folklore is derived from tales of seafaringpirates andsmugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century.[27] Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of the Cornish coastline as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages.[27] For manyfishing villages, loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretiveunderground economy in Cornwall.[27]
Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore includebuccas,knockers andpiskies.[142] Tales of these creatures are thought to have developed assupernatural explanations for the frequent and deadlycave-ins that occurred during 18th-century Cornish tin mining, or else a creation of the oxygen-starved minds of exhausted miners who returned from the underground.[142]
Celtic crosses, many dating from between the 7th and 15th centuries, are found in Cornwall and have been used as inspiration in modern and contemporary Cornish visual arts.[143][144] In the 1780s,John Opie was the first Cornish-born painter to gain widespread attention; his work was exhibited at theRoyal Academy and he was described byJoshua Reynolds as "likeCaravaggio andVelázquez in one".[145] Artists who appreciated the quality of Cornwall'snatural light, such asJ. M. W. Turner, began to visit, with more following after the opening of theGreat Western Railway, includingWhistler andSickert.Stanhope Forbes andFrank Bramley settled in Cornwall in the 1880s, establishing theNewlyn School of paintingen plein air. By the 1920s, theceramicistBernard Leach was established atSt Ives, and theSt Ives School for abstract artists formed there, influenced bynaive painters such asAlfred Wallis, and involving the work ofBen Nicholson, his wifeBarbara Hepworth,Naum Gabo andPatrick Heron.
Anciently, the religion of the Cornish Britons wasCeltic polytheism, apagan,animistic faith, assumed to be led byDruids in full or in part.[146]Early Christianity is thought to have existed in Cornwall during the 1st century, but limited to individual travellers and visitors, possibly includingPriscillian, a Galician theologian who may have been exiled to theIsles of Scilly.[86][incomplete short citation]Celtic Christianity was introduced to Cornwall in the year 520 bySaint Petroc,[25] a Brython from the kingdom ofGlywysing, and other missionaries from Wales, as well as byGaelic monks and holy women from Ireland;[27] this "formative period" has left a legacy of granitehigh cross monuments throughout Cornwall.[27] Dedications to many differentCornish saints can also be traced to this period.[27] In the Middle Ages, Roman Catholicism was dominant in Cornwall,[17] and even in the 17th century the Cornish were "fervently Roman Catholic", slow to accept theProtestant Reformation, according to some scholars.[106] The adoption ofAnglicanism was, eventually, near-universal in Cornwall and facilitated theanglicisation of the Cornish people.[98] A variety of dissenting congregations such as the Quakers and Baptists were to be found in certain districts. Through a combination of tours of Cornwall byJohn Wesley, rural isolation and compatibility with Cornish tastes and sensibilities,[118]Methodism, an evangelical revival movement within theChurch of England,[147][148] became the form of Christianity practised by the majority of the population all over Cornwall during the 19th century.[17][118][149] During this time other kinds of Methodist churches appeared such as the Bible Christians and there were also Evangelical andAnglo-Catholic revivals within the Church of England.
Cornish cuisine is a regional variety ofBritish cuisine, strongly rooted in a tradition of using local produce,[150] which is used to create relatively simple dishes.[151] Most prominent in Cornish cuisine is thepasty (sometimes known as the Cornish pasty) made from diced beef, potato, onion and swede (commonly called 'turnip' by the Cornish), enclosed within a pastry crust and then baked.[152] One idea of its origins suggests that it evolved as a portable lunch for Cornish miners, the crust serving as a disposable handle that could be held by a miner's hand without soiling the filling.[151] Fish was an important element of the Cornish diet, but internationalcommercial fishing was also well established by the 16th century, and tons ofpilchards were exported from Cornwall to France, Italy and Spain every year.[150]Stargazy pie is an occasional festive Cornish dish with the heads of fish standing on their tails, originallypilchards, piercing a pastry crust.[151][152] Thesaffron bun, also known as the tea treat bun, is a sweet bread with its origins in Cornwall.[122]
With its comparatively small, rural population, major contribution by the Cornish to nationalsport in the United Kingdom has been limited.[153] There are no teams affiliated to theCornwall County Football Association that play in theFootball League ofEngland and Wales, and theCornwall County Cricket Club plays as one of theminor counties of English cricket.[153] Viewed as an "important identifier of ethnic affiliation",rugby union has become a sport strongly tied with notions of Cornishness,[154] and since the 20th century,rugby union in Cornwall has emerged as one of the most popular spectator and team sports in Cornwall, with professional Cornish rugby footballers being described as a "formidable force",[153] "naturally independent, both in thought and deed, yet paradoxically staunch English patriots whose top players have represented England with pride and passion".[155] In 1985, sports journalistAlan Gibson made a direct connection between love of rugby in Cornwall and the ancient parish games of hurling and wrestling that existed for centuries before rugby officially began.[155]
Cornish wrestling (also known as Wrasslin')[154] is a regional, folk style ofgrappling or martial arts. The Cornwall County Wrestling Association was formed in 1923, to standardise the rules of the sport and to promote Cornish wrestling throughout Cornwall and the world.[156] Together withCornish hurling (a localised form ofmedieval football), Wrasslin' has been promoted as a distinctly Celtic game, tied closely with Cornish identity.[154]
Surfing was popularised in Cornwall during the late 20th century, and has since become readily associated with Cornishness.[154][157] The waves around the Cornish coastline are created by low pressure systems from the Atlantic Ocean which unleash powerful swells eastwards creating multiple, excellent surfing conditions in some parts of the coast of Cornwall.[157]Newquay, one of Britain's "premier surfing towns", regularly hosts world championship surfing events.[154][157]
Thepolitics of Cornwall take place within a wider national political framework of aconstitutional monarchy, in which theUnited Kingdom's monarch ishead of state and thePrime Minister of the United Kingdom is thehead of government. Cornish politics are marked by a long tradition of Liberalism.[21][158]
Important historical institutions were theDuchy of Cornwall and the CornishStannary Courts and Parliaments.[73] The Stannary court administeredequity, through special laws and legal exemptions, for all matters relating to the tin mines and tin trade in Cornwall. Cornish miners were effectively exempt from the jurisdiction of the law courts atWestminster, except "in such cases as should affect land, life or limb".[73] The ancient privileges of the Stannary Courts and Parliaments were confirmed by successiveRoyal Charters in the Middle Ages, including those administered by KingsJohn,Edward I andEdward III of England.[73] As the tin mines of Cornwall lost their economic importance during the 18th and 19th centuries, so the Stannary institutions lost political power. The last Stannary parliament was held atTruro in 1752, and continued, by adjournments, until 11 September 1753.[73]
As in the rest of Great Britain, theLiberal Party dominated Cornish politics during the 19th century,[159] although socialism gained limited support in western Cornwall,[160] and theLabour Party won preference after World War I.[161] Nationalism (orregionalism)[162] in Cornwall traces its roots to theIrish Home Rule bills of the late 19th century,[158] and is represented by theCornish self-government movement, a political action group that is predominantly organised to promote Cornwall as the national homeland of the Cornish, campaign fordevolution, and win it the status as a fifthcountry within the UK rather than outrightseparatism.[163] More "militant" variants of Cornish nationalism however claim that because of historical constitutional peculiarities regarding thestatus of Cornwall, thelaw of the European Union does or should not have jurisdiction over Cornwall until Cornish sovereignty is recognised.[163] Popularisation of Cornish nationalism is attributed to a Celtic cultural revival in Cornwall which itself began with a renewed interest in the Cornish language in the 1920s.[163] The revival of the Cornish language encouraged a parallel revival of Celtic traditions, which by the 1970s had spurred on Cornish nationalism.[163] The United Kingdom's entry into theEuropean Economic Community in 1973 prompted claims that the Cornish should be granted their owndevolvednational assembly—theCornish Assembly—comparable to that of theNational Assembly for Wales.[162][163]Mebyon Kernow is aleft-wing political party based in Cornwall, founded in 1951.[114] Its main objective is attaining greater autonomy for Cornwall through the establishment of a legislative Cornish Assembly.[164] As at 2009 Mebyon Kernow has no Members of Parliament elected to theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom, and in the2009 United Kingdom local elections received 4 per cent of votes to elect councillors toCornwall Council, behind theConservative Party (34 per cent),Liberal Democrats (28 per cent), andIndependents (23 per cent)[165] Since the2009 structural changes to local government in England, Cornwall Council has been aunitary authority,[166][167] serving as the sole executive,deliberative, andlegislative body responsible for local policy, settingcouncil tax, and allocating budgets.
Following the Cornwall Council election in May 2013, the council remained as "no overall control", with the Independent politicians becoming the largest grouping on the council through a modest gain of councillors from the previous election. The Liberal Democrats remained the second largest party after losing 2 councillors and the Conservatives slipped to third after losing over a third of their councillors. The Labour Party (+8), UKIP (+6), and the Green Party (+1) all gained seats, with UKIP and the Greens entering Cornwall Council for the first time. Mebyon Kernow had 6 councillors before the election, having added 2 since the 2009 election, their total following the election was reduced to 4.[168]
In the2015 general election all Cornish seats were won by the Conservatives. This was repeated in the2017 general election.[citation needed]
A study was carried out by J. M. A. Willett, R. Tidy,Garry Tregidga et al. through Exeter University[169] using data from January to April 2017 to understand why Cornwall voted leave in the Brexit referendum when it benefitted greatly from EU funding, such as the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme[170] which was worth £600 million and supported over a hundred projects such infrastructure, agriculture, employment and low carbon initiatives. In this study people from lots of different backgrounds and jobs where interviewed and asked about their reasoning for voting leave, farmers described the EU policies as being overly complicated and taking the "fun" out of farming, many had issues with infrastructure and many others stated that with Brexit they were reclaiming sovereignty from the EU and there were underlying issues with the EUs lack of border control. It was found that the what linked the reasoning for leaving the EU was the uncertainty that they were experiencing, their inability to get any real change even with the EUs funding and a lack of knowledge about where the funding was spent as a whole.
In the UK's 2021 census plans, a "tickbox" for claiming "Cornish" as a national minority status has not been implemented and is under debate. Since Cornwall was officially given "official national minority status" in 2014, the Cornwall Council's Party Leaders have submitted a letter to the cabinet office of Chloe Smith for the Minister of State. In the coming weeks, Parliament is set to debate The Census Order. If enough Members of Parliament side with the Cornish people and stand in solidarity with their cause, a box to select a "Cornish" identity could be added—reaffirming the official identity they established 6 years prior.[171]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Cornish,kor'nish, adj. ofCornwall.—n. the people or former language of Cornwall.
Cor⋅nishadjective:
- of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Cornwall, Great Britain, its inhabitants, or the Cornish language.
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