More Bits of Late Cornish 23 (place names 7)

Place Names 7

When land was cleared for farming a grove kelly or a copse prisk or pris of trees was often left, giving rise to some place names. You can see how some names with similar beginnings ended up quite differently:

Kelly	grove
Engelley (Gilly 1404)	the grove
Trengilly (Trengelly 1309)	farm at the grove
Kellow (Kelyou 1302)	groves
Trengilliowe	the groves farm
Callywith (Kellegwyth 1276)	grove of trees
Kelly Bray (Kellibregh c1286)	dappled grove
Coldvreath (Kellyvregh 1281)	dappled grove
Gilly Gabben (Killygam 1506)	crooked grove
Gillywartha	higher grove
Roskilly	coastal slope with a grove
Cargelley (Cargelly 1332)	grove fort
Clann (Kellilan 1309)	grove at a church enclosure
Kehelland (Kellyhellan 1284)	grove at Henlan disused church site
Nankelly (Nanskelly 1330)	grove valley
Pengelly	end/top of a grove
Voskelly	wall/bank by a grove
Stephengelly (Styrngelly 1313)	bend of a grove
Cambrose (Cambres 1286)	crook-grove/copse
Prideaux (Pridias c1180-1346)	?copses

Sometimes the type of tree in the grove or copse is named, e.g.:

Prospidnick (Pryspinik 1284)	pine copse
Presingoll (Presencoll 1461)	the hazel-trees copse
Kellygreen (Keligren 1258)	aspen grove
Kelynack	holly grove
Pencalenick (Penkelynnec 1296)	end of a holly-grove
Trenglennick (Tregelennek 1359)	holly-grove farm

                   

Tabm a Gernow 55 (death comes to Cornwall)

Nebes dedhyow gyllys thera morvil marow war dreth en Tywarnheyl. Tho hei morvil benow, dewgens trooshes hy hester. Rag fra a wrüg hei doas? Na ora vy. Na alja hei neyja kerr (swim away) arta e'n basdowr. Whei ell gweles hy imaj war http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-36759106. 

Mernans a dhevedhas dhe lowarth vy e'wedh, bes en form münys. Edhen yonk a wrüg neyja (fly) bedn beister en chei gweder. Hy fedn o browys. Na alja hei neyja kerr (fly away) arta. 

Pana ehen a edhen o hei? Martesen tho hei mola dhû.

Tabm a Gernow 54 (flower meadow)

Jorna teg o de Sadorn, gen howl tòbm ha ebòrn blou. Ma pras gweljek bian dhebm, leun a flourys gwels. Ma flourys melen ha flourys purpur magata e'mesk an gwelsednow hir. Radn a'n flourys melen a wrüg treylya dhe has. Flourys moy rag nessa bledhen. An arran (orchids) purpur a wrüg treylya dhe has solabres. Pur deg o en mis Efan. Ma flourys lowr bes nag eus lies ticky Düw po lies gwenenen. Ma nebes ticky Düwes donek bian ha nebes dranow bian, gwydn aga lost, bes nag eus lies. Pe le ma oll an whesker (insects)? A vedh moy en mis Est?

"Pop! Pop!" Me a glowas tros dhort prisken eythin. Son pecar'a tardhow (explosions) bian. Pur dòbm o e'n howl ha thera an couthow (pods) eythin o folja (splitting). Keniver tardh a wrüg dehesy mes (catapult out) an has. 

More Bits of Late Cornish 22 (Males & females 2)

Males and Females 2

We have looked at males and females of animals, so here are some humans. Notice the frequent <-es> feminine word ending.  Let’s have a look at people who live, work or play in some of our places. Do not worry about variations in spelling, not all of which are given here.  (They are related to variations in pronunciation at different times and in different regions of the county.[1]):

prins or pednsevik	prince (or noble)
prynses or pednseviges	princess
metêrn	king
metêrnes	queen
tiek	farmer
tioges	farmer (f), farmer’s wife
presner/prisner pl. prisnoryon	prisoner
presnores	prisoner (f)
meliner or beledner	miller
melinores	miller (f), miller’s wife
letherwas	postman
lethervos	postwoman
gwaryer	player or actor
gwariores	actress
gwaryer peldros pl. gwaryoryon peldroos	footballer
ôst a’n chei	landlord, publican
ôstes a’n chei	landlady

 We can put them together with some of our places:

An pednsevik; pe le ma va o triga?	The prince (or noble): where does he live?
Ma va o triga en palys.	He lives in a palace.
Pe le ma metêrn o triga?	Where does a king live?
Ma va o triga en castel.	He lives in a castle.
Piw üjy o triga en bargen tir po deijy (godref)?	Who lives in a farm or smallholding?
Ma tiek o triga en bargen tir, en chei tiek.	A farmer lives in a farm, in a farmhouse.
Eus nebonan o triga en prison?	Does anyone live in a prison?
En tei! Ma prisnoryon o triga en prison.	Certainly! Prisoners live in a prison.
Pe le ma soudoryon o triga?	Where do soldiers live?
Terweythyow mons en ker ha terweythyow en tyldow.	Sometimes they are in a fort and sometimes in tents.
Pe le ma meliner o conis?	Where does a miller work?
Ma va o conis en belin (or melin) ha ma va o triga en melinjy.	He works in a mill and he lives in a millhouse.
Pe le ma letherwas o conis?	Where does a postman work?
Piw üjy o conis en sodhva greslû?	Who works in a police station?
Ma gwithijy cres (creswesyon) ha gwithyadesow cres o conis en sodhva greslû.	Policemen and police women work in a police station.
Pe le ma gwariores o conis?	Where does an actress work?
Ma hei o conis en gwariva po stüdhla.	She works in a theatre or studio.
Üjy gwaryoryon peldroos o qwary en gwariva (gwarijy/chei gwary)?	Do footballers play in a theatre?
Nan tei! Mons o qwary en sportva.	Certainly not! They play in a stadium (sports venue).
Piw üjy o conis en tavern?	Who works in an inn (pub)?
Ma ôst po ôstes a’n chei o conis en tavern.	A landlord or landlady work in an inn.
Üjy letherwas ha lethervos o conis e’n sodhva greslû?	Do a postman and postwoman work in the police station?
Nag üjens. Mons o conis e’n sodhva bost.	No. No they work in the post office.

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[1] In the later language, the letter <j> sometimes replaces the letter <s>. (Perhaps they were both pronounced like soft French <j>). In the earlier language the letter <y> was sometimes written instead of the letter <e> and <nn> instead of <dn>. And <y> and <i> may be interchangeable.

More Bits of Late Cornish 21 (place names 6)

Place Names 6

The number of places in Cornwall that have “Castle” in their name gives the impression of a heavily fortified county, although maybe it was “Every man’s home is his castle!” Add to that various forts and hill forts (some names incorporate both castle and fort). At the other end of the scale are place names beginning with the prefix bos or bo (older bod or bad) which simply means “home or dwelling of” (though not all names starting with Bo include this prefix).

Carvossa (Carwosa 1480)	(poss.) fort of blood-letting
Berry Down (Berydon 1516)	fort hill
Dennis Hill (Dynas 1356)	fort
Dennis Head (Dinas 1610)	fort
Pendeen Watch	fort headland
Pendennis Point	fort headland
Pordenack Point (Poynt Pendenack 1580)	fortified headland
Castle an Dinas nr. St Columb Major (Dynas 1345)	fort
Castle an Dinas nr. Ludgvan (Castel Andinas 1584)	the hill-fort castle
Castle Dor	earth castle
Castle Goff	smith’s castle
Castle Gotha	castle of geese
Castle Killibury (Killiburgh 1215)	grove castle
Tintagel[1] Castle (Durocornovio c.700)	fortress of the Cornish
Boscastle (Castelboterel 1334)	castle of the Boterel family
Bodinnick nr .Fowey (Bosdynek 1396)	fortified dwelling
Bodmin (Botmenei C9, Bosvena C18)	monks’ home, churchland dwelling
Bodulgate (Bodulgoyd[2] 1286)	high wood dwelling
Borah (Boswragh 1302)	hag’s dwelling
Borthog (Bosworthogo 1330)	dwelling at a cave
Boscarne	dwelling by a tor
Bodwen nr. Lanlivery (Boswyn 1296)	fair dwelling
Bosence nr. St Hilary (Bos wyns 1330)	windy dwelling
Boscawen	elder-tree dwelling

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[1]  Tin derives from Din

[2]  from Old Cornish cuit wood with hard ending

More Bits of Late Cornish 20 (landscape features 6)

Landscape Features 6

When you look around a landscape you see far more than inanimate geology. You see wild life; plants and animals in some form or other, many of which have found their way into the place names of Cornwall (see Place Names 9) – some a matter of pride, some more of a pest, some no longer native.  (See Landscape Features 7 for plants and creepy crawlies).

bleydh (pl. bleydhes)	wolf
lowarn       (pl. lewern)	fox
lost	tail
lostek (pl. lostoges, lostogyon)	fox (colloquial) – big-tailed, bushy-tailed
kei (pl. keun)[1]	dog
brogh (pl. brohes)	badger (“brock”)
dorgy (pl. dorgeun)	badger (“ground dog”)
dowrgy (pl. dowrgeun)	otter
gavar (f) (pl. gever)	goat
alargh (pl. elergh)	swan
gwednel (f) (pl. gwenily)	swallow
bran (pl. briny)	crow
kigbran (f)	carrion crow
bran vroas (f)	raven
marghvran (f)	raven
bran dre (f)	rook
palores (f)(pl. paloresow)	chough[2]
choha (pl. chohys)	chough jackdaw
bargos (pl. bargojes)	buzzard
edhen (f) (pl. edhnow, edhyn)	bird
oula (pl. oulys)	owl
hok	hawk
keryth (f)	heron
logojen (f) (pl. logos)	mouse
conin (pl. conines)	rabbit
scovarn (f)	ear
scovarnek	big-eared
scovarnek (pl. scovarnoges)	hare

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[1]  initial <k> softens to <g> in second part of compound nouns, even if not feminine

[2] Gendall also  has brân ridhik for chough and brân Varadzhou for hooded crow