2026 Day 248

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens hag Eth

De Sadorn, pempes mis Gwedngala
Saturday, 5th September 

E'n hav, brâssa radn an gwels et agan glesin a dreylyas melyn ha merwel. Glesinyow agan kentrevogyon o kehaval. War an diwedh, e veu badna glaw dhen (an gleppa seythen aba mis Whevrel) ha dasvewys ew an gwels. Lôwen ew agan kentrevogesow drefen ma gwels moy rag aga mergh dhe dhebry. Ma othom dhodhans a le gora. Hedhyw my ell clowes son a lies myjer glesin. Gwrewgh gara nebes bagasow a flourys purpur rag an gwenen. Da ew ganjans pednow calys (ha mellyon). 

In the summer most of the grass in our lawn turned yellow and died. Our neighbours' lawns were similar. In the end, we had a drop of rain (the wettest week since February) and the grass has recovered. Our neighbours are happy because there is more grass for their horses to eat. They need less hay. Today I can hear the sound of a lot of lawn-mowers. Do leave some bunches of purple flowers for the bees. They like knapweed (hardheads).

Deg ger rag hedhyw Ten words for today

aba ~ aban since

dasvewa to recover, live again

gleb wet > an gleppa the wettest

glesin (m) lawn > pl. glesinyow

gora (coll.) hay 

kehaval similar

kentrevek (m) neighbour > pl. kentrevogyon > kentrevoges (f) " > pl. kentrevogesow

mellyon (coll.) clover (and violet)

myjer glesin (m) lawnmower

pednow calys knapweed

2026 Day 247

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens ha Seyth

De Gwener, pajwora mis Gwedngala
Friday, 4th September

Skith o vy, sqwith marow e'n mettin ha treylys moy sqwith dres an jorna. Da via genam còsca moy. My a venja còsca lebmyn bès, et y le, theram ow scrifa ha agenny (egery an ganow pur ledan). Ma'n kei ow renky. Nag era vy ow renky, ma esperans dhebm. Martesen my a dal gwavy! Na wrüga vy gweles an eskelly-grehednas haneth. Pana dermyn a vedn anjei còsca? 

I am tired, dead tired in the morning and become more tired though the day. I'd like to sleep more. I'd like to sleep now but, instead, I am writing and yawning (opening the mouth very wide). The dog is snoring. I don't snore, I hope. Perhaps I ought to hibernate. I didn't see the bats tonight. When will they sleep?

2026 Day 246

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens ha Whegh

De Yow, tryja mis Gwedngala

Thursday, 3rd September

Gellys ew an Hav, sêson a dòbmder ha seghter. An pinbrednyer a wrüg gara lies "naja" marow dhe godha, drefen nag era glaw lowr ragtans. Nag eus bes avalow poder war an dor. "En hav perh cov gwav!" Bes na vedh possybyl. Na whath, ma lies oganen war spern gwydn rag an edhyn. Gellys ew hav ha devedhys ew kidnyadh. Hemm ew sêson a ligyn ha scavellow cronek. Hanter debrys solabreus! 

Gone is the Summer, a season of heat and drought. The pinetrees dropped a lot of dead needles, because there was not enough rain for them. There are only rotten apples on the ground. "In summer remember winter!" But it won't be possible. However, there are a lot of haws on the hawthorns for the birds. Summer has gone and autumn has arrived. This is a season of mist and toadstools. Half eaten already!

Gerva Vocabulary

debrys eaten (SWFMm dybrys)

devedhys arrived, come (va < dos to come)

gara dhe godha to drop

gellys gone (va < mos to go)

ligyn (m) mist (niwl = fog, lew = mist or fog)

scavellow cronek toadstools 

> scavel cronek (f) (resists mutation)

marow dead

ogan haws (coll.) > oganen (f)

pinbren (m)  pinetree > pl. pinbrednyer

poder rotten

seghter (m) drought, dryness

tòbmder ~ tòmder (m) heat

2026 Day 245

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens ha Pemp

De Merher, nessa mis Gwedngala
Wednesday, 2nd September

Da ew genam ow chei lies liw. Pub men ew liw deffrans. Ma monyow deffrans ettans. Dres lycklod thew men an pow, henn ew prei-kyllas, dhort mongleudh en ogas. Nabmys rüdhvelyn, rüdh, purpur ha donek ens gen hôrn. ("Last" henwys ew.) Pecar'a kyllas, ma va ow felja en gwyliow. Nag ew esy dh'y shapya glanyth (pecar'a grôwan galys). 

I like my multicoloured house. Every stone is a different colour. There are different minerals in them. More than probably it is country rock, that is clay-slate, from a nearby quarry. They are stained orange, red, purple and brown with iron. (That's called "last".) Like slate, it splits into layers. It is not easy to shape neatly (like hard granite).

Gerva Glossary

cales ~ calys (pre-SWF calish) hard

dres lycklod more than probably

felja ~ fallya to split

grôwan (f) granite

gwyliow layers, strata

kyllas (coll.) slate

lies liw multicoloured

men (m) stone, rock

mongleudh (m) quarry

monyow minerals < moon (m)

nabma to stain > va. nabmys

prei (m) mud

2026 Day 244

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens ha Pajar

De Meurth, kensa mis Gwedngala
Tuesday, 1st September

Terweythyow nei a wel dew sêson en üdn jorna; hav e'n mettin a-varr ha kidnyadh e'n dohajedh. An howl isel e'n est a golôwas oll an cloudys bian, cloudys kewer vas, pecar'a hav. Moy diwedhes, my a welas an loor golôwys en ebòrn blou havek. Nag ew leun an loor na velha (henn a veu nanj ew peder nos), ma hei ow tifygya. Bès hedhyw, an kensa dedh a vis Gwedngala ew, an dalladh kidnyadh a veteorologieth. Nei a welas "cala gwedn" a-varr en mis Est e'n vledhen ma. Lebmyn, dadn skeuj an cloudys, ma mir loos dhe'n cala - pecar'a mis Dû! Nag ew an edhyn troblys gen an gewer. Pandr'ew a droos e'n gwedh? Trosüs ew an briny tre.

Sometimes we see two seasons in one day;  summer in the early morning and autumn in the afternoon. The low sun in the east lit up all the little clouds, fair weather clouds, like summer. Later, I saw the moon illuminated in a summery blue sky. The moon is no longer full (that was four nights ago), it is waning. But today it's the first day of September (the month of white straw), the first day of meteorological autumn. We saw "white straw" early in August this year. Now, under cloud shadow, the straw looks grey - like November! The birds aren't bothered by the weather. What is afoot (happening) in the trees? The rooks are noisy.

Geryow rag hedhyw Words for today

briny tre (pl) rooks < bran dre (f) < bran crow

cala (coll.) straw

difygya to wane, fail, grow less

golôwy ~ golôwa to light (up), illuminate

havek summery < hav summer

kidnyadh (m) autumn

pandr'ew a droos? what is afoot? what's happening?

trosüs noisy

2026 Day 243

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dogens ha Trei

De Lün, üdnegves warn ügens mis Est
Monday, 31st August

Nag ew Kernow pow platt. Nag ewa goon wastys naneyl. Tiredh menedh ew, gen oll sortow nansow. Ma nebes nansow down, leun a wedh. Nans a'n par na ew henwys "glynn". Otta an "Glynn Valley" gen ponsvorr (ponsfordh) a-dreus, a-ûgh an gwedh. Ma glynn aral ogas dhe Treth Heyl. Henn ew henwys Glynn Dowrgeun. Lowarth famos ewa lebmyn. Ma va ow mos war nans dhe Dowrgeun. Eus dowrgeun kevys whath e'n dowr reb an treth? Ma bargen tir (tre) reb glynnen. Whei ell gweles nans bian en mappa, ow mos war nans dhe vrâssa coos.

Cornwall is not a flat country. Neither is it a featureless plain. It's hilly country, with all sorts of valleys. There are some deep valleys, full of trees. Such a valley is called a "glynn". Here is the "Glynn Valley" with a viaduct across, above the trees. There is another wooded valley near to Helford Passage. That is called Glendurgan. It is now a famous garden. It goes down to Durgan (a place of otters). Are there still any otters found in the river by the ferry? There is also a farm by a small wooded valley. You can see a little valley in the map, going downhill to a larger wood.

GLYNN (Glyn 1351)                                

Glynn = “deep valley” (so Glynn Valley on the map is repetition)

GLENDURGAN (mod.)                            

Glynn Dowrgeun = “deep valley at Durgan”

(glynn = deep valley, Durgan see below)

DURGAN (Dourgen 1813)                     

Dowrgeun = “place of otters”

(dowr = water or river + keun = dogs)

CARGLONNAN (Kylglynan 1327)         

Kilglynen = “ridge by a small deep valley”

(kil = back -usually a prefix, glynn + diminutive en = small deep valley) 

2026 Day 242

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dewgens ha Dew

De Sül, degves warn ügens mis Est
Sunday, 30th August

Nakevys ew oll an tòbmder solabres - ha nag ew an glaw neppeth nowydh na velha. Nanj ew nebes seythen tho vy troblys - alja ow plansow dürya heb dowr lowr? Ma plans nowydh dhebm - cactus theram ow pedery (nag eus hanow Kernôwek dhodho) - ha lowen o hedna e'n howlsplan. Lebmyn troblys o vy arta - a vedn an cactus beudhy?

All the heat is forgotten already - and the rain is no longer a novelty. A few weeks ago I was worried - could my plants survive without enough water? I have a new plant - a cactus I think (it doesn't have a Cornish name) - and that was happy in the sunshine. Now I am worried again - will the cactus drown?