The Cornish were isolated
from the outside world and the majority was engaged
in the traditional occupations of mining, farming,
and fishing; therefore, they were able to retain
until the mid nineteenth century a rich folk-lore
inheritance. It is said that Cornwall had more in
common with Brittany across the channel, the
occupants of which settled in Cornwall, than with the
rest of England.
William Bottrell's
Tales and Hearthside Traditions of West Cornwall is a
classic book of this tradition. Unfortunately, I am
not able to find a copy and will have to rely on
later books who draw material from it. Bottrell's
book is related in the rambling style of the old
droll-tellers. Humor and romance, lively dialog,
character portrayal, and appreciation for nature find
their places in his stories. Here and there, in some
tale of "dark imagining," his narrative
rises to the heights of dignity and strength.
This genuine
folk-culture permeated the minds of those who lived
in the Cornish cottages and must have compensated
them for their lack of education.
"Against this
stubborn rock of old belief, the waves of Methodist
teaching long broke in vain." As late as 1869,
Reverend C. G. Honor said until recently
"wonderful stories were still told among the
miners and fishermen of the doings of giants,
, charm, superstition, widdle, piskies, mermaids, and demons."
The influence of
Methodism never completely eradicated the
superstition of the Cornish people; nevertheless, the
Cornish left their native language for English about
a century before John Wesley, and for this the
Cornish "suffered almost the entire loss of
their older Celtic folk-lore."
This loss is seen
comparing the Cornish celtic traditions with their
parallels still related in Wales or Brittany; for
example, the vague Cornish traditions of lost lands
and buried cities [Atlantis] with the fully told
stories from the Celtic speaking countries across the
English Channel. In Cornwall, with the celtic Cornish
language gone, there remains a faint echo of Arthur
and remnants of folk tales from Wales and Brittany.
