Cornish literature
-
What is Cornish literature?
Cornish literature refers to the body of writing in the Cornish language, the Celtic language of Cornwall. The earliest records date from around the 10th century, including glosses and proper names. The first known literary text is a 41-line poem from the 14th century.
Middle Cornish literature is largely characterized by religious plays, similar to medieval miracle and morality plays. The most significant of these is the Ordinalia, a trilogy of plays from the late 14th or early 15th century. Other notable works include Pascon agan Arluth and Beunans Meriasek.
After the Protestant Reformation, Cornish literature became more fragmented. The early 20th century saw a revival of the Cornish language, leading to a new body of literature that has grown in scope and volume.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Which language is used in Cornish literature?
Cornish literature is written in the Cornish language, a member of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. This language was historically spoken in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. While it became extinct in the 18th or early 19th century, it has been revived in the 20th century. The earliest surviving records in Cornish date back to around the 10th century, with literary texts emerging in the 14th century, primarily in the form of religious plays. Modern revival efforts have led to a new body of literature in Cornish, encompassing various genres.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
When did Cornish literature first start appearing?
The earliest evidence of Cornish literature appears in glosses and proper names within Latin texts dating to around the 10th century. The Domesday Book from the 11th century also contains Cornish records. A significant early text is the Vocabularium cornicum (c. 1100), which is a vocabulary addition to a Latin-Anglo-Saxon glossary.
The first known literary text in Cornish is a 41-line poem from around 1340, offering advice to a bride. The 14th century also saw the composition of Pascon agan Arluth ("Passion of Our Lord"). Middle Cornish literature is largely characterized by lengthy religious plays, such as the Ordinalia trilogy (Origo mundi, Passio Domini, and Resurrexio Domini), which are considered the finest examples of this period. These plays were performed in open-air settings and are related to miracle, morality, and mystery plays common in medieval Europe.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some examples of early Cornish literary works?
The earliest literary works in Cornish include a 41-line poem from around 1400, offering advice to a bride. The most significant early works are the religious plays of the Middle Cornish period, often performed in open-air "play-fields." The finest examples are the Ordinalia, a trilogy comprising Origo Mundi (Origin of the World), Passio Domini Nostri Ihesu Christi (Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ), and Resurrexio Domini Nostri Ihesu Christi (Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ). These plays, likely from the late 14th or early 15th century, are related to miracle and morality plays found throughout medieval Europe. Another notable play is Beunans Meriasek (The Life of Meriasek), dating from a manuscript completed in 1504.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Cornish literature changed over time?
Cornish literature, written in the Cornish language, has evolved significantly over time. Early records from around the 10th century include glosses and names in Latin texts. The earliest known literary text is a 41-line poem from the 14th century. Middle Cornish literature is dominated by lengthy religious plays, such as the Ordinalia trilogy, which were performed for popular audiences.
Following the Protestant Reformation, Cornish literature became more fragmented. The late 17th and 18th centuries saw short poems, songs, and letters, with notable linguistic studies by scholars like Edward Lhuyd. The language's extinction in the early 19th century marked a pause, but a revival in the 20th century led to a new body of literature, including short stories and translations, which has grown in breadth and volume.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Cornish literature, the body of writing in Cornish, the Celtic language of Cornwall in southwestern Britain.
The earliest extant records in Cornish are glosses added to Latin texts as well as the proper names in the Bodmin Manumissions, all of which date from about the 10th century. The 11th-century Domesday Book also includes records in Cornish. The Vocabularium cornicum (c. 1100; Eng. trans. The Old Cornish Vocabulary), an addition to Aelfricâs LatinâAnglo-Saxon glossary, provides the only substantial record of Old Cornish.
A 41-line poem, perhaps from a longer work, is the earliest known literary text in Cornish. It was written on the back of a charter dated 1340 and gives advice to a prospective bride. The poem Pascon agan Arluth (âPassion of Our Lordâ; also called in English Mount Calvary), about Christâs suffering and Crucifixion, was written in the 14th century. Literature in Middle Cornish otherwise takes the form of lengthy religious plays produced for popular audiences and performed in the open. These are in verse, typically consisting of four- and seven-syllable lines, and are related to the miracle plays, morality plays, and mystery plays performed throughout medieval Europe. The main centre for the production of the Cornish plays was Glasney College in Penryn, founded in 1265 and dissolved in the 1540s. The three plays that constitute the Ordinalia (Eng. trans. Ordinalia) are the finest examples of Middle Cornish literature: Origo mundi (âOrigin of the Worldâ) addresses the Creation, the Fall, and the promise of salvation; Passio Domini (âPassion of the Lordâ) describes Christâs temptation and his Crucifixion; Resurrexio Domini (âResurrection of the Lordâ) covers the Resurrection and Ascension. The Ordinalia cannot be dated with certainty but may be from the late 14th or early 15th century. Unlike contemporary works in English, these plays are linked by the legend of the Holy Rood and are notable for the absence of the Nativity or details of Christâs ministry. Other features, such as Pontius Pilateâs death, also point to a distinct Cornish tradition that nevertheless shows Continental influences.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
Set in Cornwall and Brittany, the play Beunans Meriasek (from a manuscript dated 1504; Eng. trans. Beunans Meriasek) is a life of Meriasek, the patron saint of the Cornish town of Camborne. A pagan tyrant, identified as a member of the House of Tudor, expels Meriasek from Cornwall and is in turn defeated by the Duke of Cornwall, a sequence of events that has been seen as a reference to the rebellion that followed the landing in Cornwall of Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne, in 1497. The play, which includes scenes from the life of St. Sylvester I, has strong Marian elements, and among its themes are salvation, the nature of evil, and the relationship of church and state. Gwreans an bys (The Creation of the World) is the latest surviving medieval religious play in Cornish, perhaps composed about 1550. Some 180 of its lines also appear in Origo mundi, and its language shows features associated with Late Cornish. John Tregearâs Homelyes XIII in Cornysche (c. 1560; Eng. trans. The Tregear Homilies) is the longest text in historical Cornish, the form of the language extant prior to the languageâs disappearance by the early 19th century and its revival in the 20th. This manuscript renders into Cornish 12 sermons by Bishop Edmund Bonner of London; appended to these sermons is âSacrament an alterâ (âSacrament of the Alterâ), written in another hand. Tregearâs manuscript was rediscovered in 1949 but received little attention despite its capable and idiomatic prose, in which English words are borrowed freely.
Cornish literature after 1600 is fragmentary. The brief translations of the Bible by William Rowe (c. 1690) are notable as examples of Late Cornish. Nicholas Bosonâs Nebbaz gerriau dro tho Carnoack (c. 1665; âA Few Words About Cornishâ) gives an account of the status of Cornish during the 17th century. From about 1680 the scholar William Scawen encouraged his contemporaries to write in Cornish. A number of them, notably Thomas Tonkin and William Gwavas, collected words, sayings, and manuscripts. Most 18th-century works are short poems, songs, and letters. In 1700 the linguist and naturalist Edward Lhuyd visited Cornwall to study the language. His ArchĂŠologia Britannica (1707) reproduces Bosonâs folk tale âJohn of Chyannorâ in a phonetic script, the only example of a secular prose story in historical Cornish. William Bodinarâs letter (1776), the last surviving text in historical Cornish, describes how he learned the language as a boy by going to sea with old men.
With the revival of the Cornish language in the early 20th century came the creation of a new body of Cornish literature that soon surpassed in breadth and volume that of historical Cornish. By the turn of the 21st century, this literature had become wide-ranging in its form and subjects, although short stories and translations remained the literatureâs dominant genres.