Oh, so average, was this wee lady.
Her ordered life had its hum-drum ways.
Eighteenth Century! All are ready
To hear the voice that's spoken in plays.
But Dolly Pentreath had of it none.
Shunning the new, she kept her own tongue.
When she died, with her life full done,
Twas last Cornish speak that Cornwall heard sung.
Cornwall is almost an island,
Thanks to the river Tamar and the sea,
Its indigenous inhabitants are us Cornish and
We Cornish are a nation - and will always be.
Kernow (Cornwall) boasts its own:
Parliament and laws home grown,
Flag, anthem and crest with fifteen bezants,
Cornish Pasty and Oggy Oggy chants,
Patron Saint and noble Kings,
National bird with its black chough wings,
Unifying tagline of ‘One And All’,
Cornish wrestling and silver hurling ball,
Ethnic Minority status, Unique DNA,
Cornish language still spoken today,
Nationhood recognised worldwide,
Facts are facts and the facts can’t hide.
We embrace our British neighbours
For we are part of the UK team,
But we Cornish are a Nation
And we have always been.
Westminster chooses to ignore this fact,
Let it relent and admit its shame,
For whilst the truth beats in Cornish hearts,
A nation – we shall remain…
I think of my Cornish identity,
As on a cliff-top bench I sit,
And realise that Cornwall is a part of me
And I am a part of it,
I won’t be taken out of Cornwall
And you can’t take Cornwall out of me,
Though I gaze at far off horizons,
I know Cornwall is where I will stay
And is where I am meant to be.
the room is all aglow
feel the warmth from the fireplace
sitting upon the mantle
a vase, Cornwall blue in color
within it, seemingly translucent
a bouquet of neon daisies
I await with bated breath to stand on the shores
The land where my mother's last name bores
To watch a blade of grass that he may have sowed
Or watch the waves crest on the among the crowd
To visit the place that he docked
That long voyage to start where he rocked
Distant clouds the ones I see
They may have been the same ones that set him free
I'll never meet the man that started it all
But I'll feel his presence all around home in Cornwall
I think of my Cornish identity,
As on a cliff-top bench I sit,
And realise that Cornwall is a part of me
And I am a part of it,
I won’t be taken out of Cornwall
And you can’t take Cornwall out of me,
And though I gaze at far off horizons,
I know Cornwall is where I will stay
And is where I am meant to be.
I watched
A Cornish chough,
Flying so Cornish high,
Over Cornish cliffs,
In a Cornish sky,
All Cornish observations,
Made by my Cornish eye.
I watched
The Cornish sun,
Masked by a Cornish cloud,
I thought my Cornish thoughts,
My Cornish thoughts were loud,
I viewed the Cornish landscape,
And I felt so Cornish proud.
I watched
The Cornish waves,
Roll into the Cornish bay,
I saw the Cornish sunset,
At the end of another Cornish day,
For I am forever Cornish,
And forever Cornish I will stay ...
Cornwall is my homeland
And will forever be,
Its pulse and mine in unison
With the pounding of the sea.
Cornwall is my homeland,
My roots run tin-mine deep,
The connection to my forbears,
A treasured link to keep.
Cornwall is my homeland,
Of my being it is a part,
For it resides within my soul
And it beats within my heart.
Cornwall is my homeland,
Its sea, rivers, land and sky,
And when my days are over,
It’s where I shall forever lie.
Coastline, rocky, rugged, proud,
Crumbling cliffs in ozone shroud,
Sun-kissed drifts of desert sand,
Golden frame of a sea cradled land.
Fishing village, atmospheric hub,
Brass band playing, outside quaint old pub,
Boats, all sizes, rest near harbour wall,
Wading birds sift through tide-filled pool.
Foliage explosion of a Cornish hedge,
Country lanes snake, and young birds fledge,
Ruminants, punctuating, quilted hill,
Buzzards soar and wise hares are still.
Tin mine engine house, towering stack,
Roof caved in, gorse and bracken’s back,
White clay peak, geometrical and sleek,
Earth’s riches gouged, canyon deep.
Moor-land, open, untamed, granite strewn,
Wild ponies dance to a skylark’s tune,
Tor and beacon, barrow and mound,
You’re in God’s own country,
When you walk this ground.
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