Misyow yn Kernow: October (mis Hedra)

Dydh da! Hello! My name is Juliet, and I am Cornish. I am a third-year student of English with Creative Writing at Falmouth University. As well as being passionate about the English language, I love to speak Kernewek, the Cornish language, which I have been learning for the past five years or so. In ‘Misyow yn Kernow,’ which means ‘Months in Cornwall’ (I like it because it rhymes in Kernewek!), I will be writing about Cornish traditions and culture and introducing some Cornish words, as I believe it is important to keep our history and culture alive. Kernewek adds to the rich culture of Cornwall and embodies its history as a Celtic nation. It ties the past to the present and connects us with our heritage and Cornish identity. Many Kernewek words, phrases, poems and songs do not truly translate into English (or most other languages) and would be lost forever if the language became extinct. You may not realise that you are already speaking Kernewek, but if you live in Cornwall and say place names, house names, even people’s names, you are!

In April 2014, Cornish people were officially recognised as an ethnic minority within the UK. But this recognition only grants a certain amount of protection for the language. In order for Kernewek to thrive, people like you and me must learn the language, carry it with us, and pass it on for the generations to follow.

Halloween / Nos Kalan Gwav

When you think of Halloween, you may think of fancy-dress parties, trick-or-treating, or scary movies. Many of the traditions we still enjoy today can be traced back to a pre-Christian pagan festival called Samhain. If we travelled back to Britain two-thousand years ago, we would see that the Celtic people split the year into two seasons: the light and the dark. Samhain marked the transition between the two. In the agricultural world, this meant the time for harvest. In the spiritual world, this symbolised the border between the living and the dead.

Christianity arrived in Britain with its own traditions and festivals. All Saints Day (not a day to celebrate the popular nineties girl group), otherwise known as All Hallows’ Day, was originally celebrated 13 May to remember those who died for their Christian beliefs. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory moved the festival to 1 November, possibly in an attempt to eradicate the pagan festival of Samhain. Instead of eradication, Samhain evolved into the festival of the night before All Hallows Day and became All Hallows Even, then Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween.

In Cornwall, this time of year can be known as Kalan Gwav, which means the first day of winter, or Allantide. Saint Allan is thought to have been a bishop of Quimper in Brittany in the sixth century, although his existence is historically uncertain. In Cornwall, Allantide was marked by the ringing of church bells to comfort departed Christian souls, and large red apples known as Allan apples were given to children as tokens of good luck. The traditions of pumpkin carving began as carving faces into root vegetables (swedes or turnips) to ward off evil spirits. Apple-bobbing celebrated a fruitful harvest, and ghost stories would remind us of the world of the dead, ever just a season away. It was our friends in America who popularised the tradition of giving sweets to ghoulish Trick-or-treaters and introduced us to the larger and easier to carve pumpkins. These have since become the most popular British Halloween traditions and are how we celebrate Halloween in Cornwall today.