Beach Ices at Praa Sands
Ice meeting the sand at the base of the low cliff behind Praa Sands Beach, West Cornwall. 6th January 2009....
Icicles at Trewellard Bottoms
Water seeping through a wall is turned to icicles, ate Trewellard Bottoms, where Geevor Mine meets the sea....
Winter Sunset at Levant
A late afternoon scene, at Levant Mine, West Cornwall. 7th January 2009....
Winter at Levant
The old electricity generator building, at Levant Mine, West Cornwall, during the recent cold snap. 7th Jnauary 2009....
Mike amd Morsarf, seld appointed guradians of the champrions of cornishness.
Aren't the cornish entitled to ask what their self appointed champions have done for us lately. Or should normal cornish people kowtow to the magnificanet men (and women) in their blue robes and not ask their superiors such impertinent questions.
If the gorsedh recent achievements for the cornish people are so numerous and monumental it should be easy for you to provide many links to reports of these activities and show me for the fool I am?
Cornishness lives in the spirit the cornish people, but overtime this spirit will be diminished regardless of a few thousand speaking cornish, within a hundred years with out effective and united political cornish party there will be no cornish people.
first get rid of the robes and the 1930s spitualist rituals,
second change the granting of cornish honours, perhaps a different title to bard, to people that have achieved for the cornish people, rather than attained a linguistic qualification or have the right family connections.
Thirdly, change the Gorsedh in to more of a Ceili event, where different aspects of cornishness could be explored, wrestling rugby, gig racing, dancing drinking, singing, and a little side tent for those few interested in reciting their own poetry in cornish.
fourthly, and most importantly would be to use the office to bring the leaders of th e various cornish organisations together to attenpt reconcilliation and create a single cornish poltically orientated organisation.
fifthly, on completion of task 4 dissolve the office of grand bard and hand over the rebranded Gorsedh Ceili organisation (perhaps charitiable) to appropriately experienced commitee of cornish/celtic event organisers.
I think its still important to have a GB or a figure head, in whatever the gorsedh could be rebranded as. Wether this GB is symbolic / executive doesn't matter.
I agree with the majority of IJ's comments... Modernising and making the Gorsedh events more accesable. I think the events they organise should be as bi-lingual as possible, with emphasis on Cornish... Admittance and in house meetings should be Cornish based...
As the gorsedh's purpose is to encourage and support our Culture, Language features high in that list...Our Culture has many facets, Music, Dance and others, but I would posit that the Language is the backbone of our culture, or at least or our difference to England. And as such deserves a little extra attention.
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Where there's a Negative - there's always a Positive. You just have to find it.
No infact the opposite, I think that the language has been made too central to the cornish movement, and this in itself ostracises many cornish peopele who believe in a seperate cornish identity from cornish organisations. Compare the vote that MK to the numbers of people who signed the petition for a cornish assembly. Compare the numbers of people who supported cornwall in Twickenham to the numbers that attended the Gorsedh. Even the support that the 500 year walk received compared to current support levels. The cornish movement have squandered these fantatstic opportunities over the last 20 years with their focus on language, rather than political orgnaisation and change.
Back to the point, people studying the cornish language receive an academic qualification, fair noth, but this doesn't actual do anything for cornish people or cornish recognition, so why should they get any other award?
Exactly so the organisations are run by an ineffectual clique that are language obssesed rather than obseeed with political recognition, as demonstarted by Wales, Scotland and Ireland, political recognition leads to increased support for the language, but increased knowledge/use of the language doesn't lead to political recognition. The current cornish movement has itself arseways.
As I have already said in this thread I don't believe that the cornish language is what makes us diffrent from the english. The language is not the backbone of our culture, the people and what they carry in their minds and hearts are.
The language obssession of the 'intellectual' elite is extreemely damaging to a united political cornish movement. Do you want an to live in an english county where you can feel special because of your knowledge of a reinvented language? or do you want to live in a cornish cornwall where our separateness is acknowledged political and in the governance of the duchy?
The cornish movement should focus on motivating cornish people to the cause rather than fosussing on a linguistic lead cultural debate.
The gaelgors did not win freedom for the irish state, this was won by english speaking people who believed in a separate irish state. Are the majority of the citizens of the modern RoI english because they neither use nor care for gaelic? Does this mean that becasue they think and converse in english that they do not carry irishness and the irish culture within them?
edited by: IrishJack, Jul 31, 2008 - 11:19 AM
But I'm starting to think that it won't for us cornish, no unity, no leadership, but lots of factions, backbiting and esoteric language drivel
The Bureaucracy needs to expand to meet the needs of the Bureaucracy
Cornish identity and culture is far bigger than about speaking the language,commendable that it is. Why should those who receive awards for long service be treated as 2nd class? They do at least carry on with their work, unlike those who drop out after learning, but it is good that entry rules to the Gorsedd have now changed.
Yes the language is very important but I believe it should be viewed as part of a much larger picture, with equal respect given to all aspects of Cornish culture.
Forgive my ignorance, but why can't there be both? Admitedly the fact that there were several different versions of Cornish has helped to alienate the majority of people from the Cornish Language, however I think this can be rectified through compremise.
for example, now that there is an SWF, why can't a language organisation provide for 2 different types of people? Say if you just wanted to learn about the Cornish history, culture and some of the language, couldn't there be some sort of class, maybe even with an exam for those types of people in order to allow more peopleto learn about the language and other aspects of the Cornish identity? Those who still wanted to specialise could still learn the language and even keep their traditions, but this would just allow for a wider scope for teaching and learning.
Unfortunately in England... !
'Griffin Girl'[?]
"Cornish will take over your life. it does. Resistance is futile." Click me
I think we have to admit that all discussion about reform/renewal of the Gorseth is pretty academic - it will never change significantly while ex-grand bards hang around like Banquo's ghost, pulling the strings.
Unless they elect a radical BG with a mind of their own, which just won't happen!
Well, let's be positive and think what they might be doing. ArchDruid can feed things in perhaps to the Gorseth council (are you there AD?).
This might be a good time to bring the language agencies together under one SWF banner and organisation under the umbrella of the Gorseth. It might then create its own publishing label maybe.
Pie in the sky, I suppose, until they elect a grand bard with vision who is empowered to initiate change. There are some fine (anonymous) candidates contributing on this thread, but my nomination would have to be Andrew Clemo - charismatic, very clever and not too anti-Gorseth.
But would the Queen Mother of the Gorseth permit it? I think not!
Their core values are all wrong. In pursuit of high culture, grace and dignity, they have settled upon the esoteric, the mundane and the downright boring.
Nothing about the Gorseth captures the public imagination.
I am as Cornish as they come, but litte nauseates me more than the prospect of seeing the middle class WI types preening themselves in their blue robes.
Not so long ago, political mummers plays, bulldog, mock mayors and effigy burning were popular in Cornwall. These are real traditions that should, and could, be introduced into the event to liven things up and attract interest.
But then, real rough and ready Cornish tradition wouldn't be invented high culture, grace and dignity.
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Film con man ordered to pay £100K
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Call for inquiry into fire centre
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A man who admitted swindling more than £51,000 in benefits over a six-year period is jailed for 18 months.
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‘NO’ TO NUCLEAR WASTE IN CORNWALL - MPs
Proposals to bring nuclear waste to Cornwall have been described as ‘absurd and irresponsible’ by Cornish MPs.
Route Partnership Plan for Penzance unnecessary
Their plan having been rejected by the public in the final exhibition in Septmber with 90% against the Route Partnership have decided to try again in mid January after a mailout and poster campaign.The Chamber of Commerce has been at the forefront of this campaign.
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