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The Cornish question?

Civil Liberty has recently been contacted by a group of Cornish nationalists concerned about the legal position and identity of the Cornish people in England and the so-called United Kingdom. We are happy to reproduce an article by one of them, who prefers to use a nom de plume for professional reasons.

Civil Liberty is happy to co-operate with ethnic nationalists from across the British Isles, whose interest is in the wellbeing and welfare of the indigenous peoples of these islands and who oppose the attempt to redefine and sometimes erase the historic identity of those peoples on the altar of a fake 'multi-culturalism'.

We would welcome feedback on this article, as well as more articles which help people understand the struggle to preserve the rights and heritage of those historic peoples.

The Cornish question?

by 'Cornubian'

The results from the 2001 UK population census show over 37,000 people hold a Cornish identity instead of English or British. On this census, to claim to be Cornish, you had to deny being British, by crossing out the British option and then writing Cornish in the "others" box. This does not represent a mere clerical error or poorly thought through wording. This represents a denial of the right of the Cornish to describe themselves in terms of their identity. It might seem trite to complain about something that happened six years ago. But the 2001 census will remain relevant until the next one (in 2011). Life in the UK quotes the census heavily when describing the regions and ethnic diversity of the UK. The Cornish are not mentioned once.

The PLASC ethnic data from the 2007 Cornish schools survey showed that 27% of children consider themselves to be Cornish rather than British or English.

The Cornish are a Celtic ethnic group and nation of the southwest of Great Britain. We have our own lesser used Celtic language, sports, festivals, cuisine, music, dance, history and identity. Cornwall also has a distinct constitutional history as a Duchy with an autonomous Stannary Parliament. This Celtic Cornish identity was recognised and described in the May 2006 edition of National Geographic.

Cornwall Council's Feb 2003 MORI Poll showed 55% in favour of a democratically-elected, fully-devolved regional assembly for Cornwall, (this was an increase from 46% in favour in a 2002 poll). The Cornish Assembly petition was signed by 50,000 people, which is the largest expression of popular support for devolved power in the whole of the United Kingdom and possibly Europe.

How many more people would have described themselves as Cornish if they did not have to deny being British or if there had been a Cornish tick box? How many people knew that writing 'Cornish' in the "Other" box was an option? (this was extremely poorly publicised). How many ticked British but feel themselves to be Cornish British? This officially sanctioned silence on the existence of a Cornish identity must stop.
  
A recommendation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the 'concept of nation' has been backed by the European Parliament regional and minority language Intergroup. The PACE recommendation stated that, "Everyone should be free to define themselves as a member of a cultural 'nation', irrespective of their citizenship". In response, the Intergroup commented that "Council of Europe member states should avoid defining themselves in exclusively ethnic terms, and should do their utmost to help their minorities, a source of enrichment, to flourish". Today, both the French and the British Governments still deny people from some of the Celtic countries to legally describe themselves in terms of their Celtic national identities in all areas of life. Intergroup leader Dr Csaba Tabajdi, Member of the European Parliament, said that, this recommendation is of utter importance, representing a paradigm change in the protection of minorities in Europe. It contains a new, elaborate concept of nation. The recommendation states that: The term 'nation' is deeply rooted in peoples, culture and history and incorporates fundamental elements of their identity. It is also closely linked to political ideologies, which have exploited it and adulterated its original meaning.

Furthermore, in view of the diversity of languages spoken in European countries, a concept such as nation is quite simply not translatable in many countries where, at best, only rough translations are to be found in certain national languages. 

The UK government has so far failed to recognise the Cornish people under the Council of Europe's framework convention for the protection of national minorities.

The UK government has failed to give the people of Cornwall the democratic referendum on greater autonomy and a devolved assembly that they have shown a demand for.

In fact the UK government has refused to release information on its decision making process concerning the above two issues even when requested under the freedom of information act.

Further information on the Cornish question can be found on the website of the Cornish Stannary Parliament (CSP) here: http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk/ .

This includes details of the UK's unwritten constitution, the Duchy of Cornwall and the absence of a statutory guarantee of equality before the law in English law.

A question that puzzles many a Cornishman like myself and concerns the Duchy and county of Cornwall is a basic one and it is "what is Cornwall?"

Is it a county of England, a county of the UK (but not England) a Duchy or a combination of all of these. Perhaps it is part of the Kingdom of England like Wales (now replaced by the UK) but not part of the country of England.

It is still common for Cornish folk to describe Cornwall as a Duchy, are they misguided and if so should they be informed of their mistake and told once and for all that Cornwall is a County and not a Duchy?

Please take into consideration the following facts.

1) This definition of county in the Complete Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd Ed 1989 p. 1044.

Whence county was gradually adopted in English ( scarcely before the 15th century ) as an alternative name for the shire, and in due course applied to similar divisions made in Wales and in Ireland, as well as the shires of Scotland, and also extended to those separate parts of the realm which never were shires, as The Duchy of Cornwall, Orkney and Shetland. Part definition of the term County.

This would seem to indicate that Cornwall was a Duchy, a county but not part of England.

2) The Duchy charters which are still law turned all of Cornwall into a Duchy.

3) Taken from Cornwall County Council's website:

In the 19th century the legal arguments of Sir George Harrison, Attorney General to the Duchy of Cornwall, defeat the Crown's aspirations of sovereignty of the Cornish foreshore. The Duchy that Cornwall argues the Duke has sovereignty of Cornwall and not the Crown. During the same case, Parliament defines the Cornish as "aborigines".

On behalf of the Duchy in its successful action against the Crown, which resulted in the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act of 1858, Sir George Harrison (Attorney General for Cornwall) makes this submission.

That Cornwall, like Wales, was at the time of the Conquest, and was subsequently treated in many respects as distinct from England.

That it was held by the Earls of Cornwall with the rights and prerogative of a County Palatine, as far as regarded the Seignory or territorial dominion.

That the Dukes of Cornwall have from the creation of the Duchy enjoyed the rights and prerogatives of a County Palatine, as far as regarded seignory or territorial dominion, and that to a great extent by Earls.

That when the Earldom was augmented into a Duchy, the circumstances attending to it's creation, as well as the language of the Duchy Charter, not only support and confirm natural presumption, that the new and higher title was to be accompanied with at least as great dignity, power, and prerogative as the Earls enjoyed, but also afforded evidence that the Duchy was to be invested with still more extensive rights and privileges.

The Duchy Charters have always been construed and treated, not merely by the Courts of Judicature, but also by the Legislature of the Country, as having vested in the Dukes of Cornwall the whole territorial interest and dominion of the Crown in and over the entire County of Cornwall.

This legal case again would suggest that Cornwall (the county) is a Duchy.

4) Taken from Cornwall County Council’s website:

In 1969-71 Kilbrandon Report into the British constitution recommends that, when referring to Cornwall - official sources should cite the Duchy not the County. This was suggested in recognition of its constitutional position.

5) Taken from Cornwall County Council’s website:

In 1863 the Duchy of Cornwall Management Act confirms that the Duke possesses seignory and territorial rights befitting a king.

6) Taken from Cornwall County Council’s website:

In 1889 (1st April) Cornwall county council is created by the Local Government Act of 1888.

This act however does not do away with the Duchy or state if Cornwall is a county of England.

As you can see there is much information that contradicts the common perception of Cornwall as a county of England and goes some way to support the opinion of many Cornish folk that Cornwall is in some way different.

Taken into account with the historic quotes and maps below it seems the status of Cornwall is not at all clear.

Many of these maps by cartographers such as Gerardus Mercator(1512), Sebastian Munster(1515), Abraham Ortelius and Girolamo Ruscelli,  are contained on these BBC website Maps of Cornwall here :  http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A10686710

Treaty of Brétigny: "John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Earl of Anjou, confirmed the aforesaid; and Richard, King of Germany and Earl of Cornwall, in like manner, confirmed the aforesaid".

The 15th century Croyland Chronicle states "In order zealously to carry out the same, he sent the venerable men of God, brothers Egelmer and Nigel, his fellow-monks, with relics of the saints, into the western parts, namely, Flanders and France. To the northern parts and into Scotland he sent the brothers Fulk and Oger, and into Denmark and Norway the brothers Swetman and Wulsin the younger; while to Wales, Cornwall and Ireland he sent the brothers Augustin and Osbert".

1485 : Polydore Vergil, an Italian cleric commissioned by King Henry VII to write a history of England, states that "The whole country of Britain is divided into four parts, whereof the one is inhabited by Englishmen, the other of Scots, the third of Welshmen, the fourth of Cornish people ... and which all differ among themselves either in tongue, either in manners, or else in laws and ordinances."

1509 : King Henry VIII's coronation procession includes "nine children of honour" representing "England and France, Gascony, Guienne, Normandy, Anjou, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland."

1531 : From the court of King Henry VIII, the Italian diplomat Lodovico Falier writes in a letter that "The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other". He also claims it is possible to distinguish the members of each group by alleged "national characteristics".

1538 : Writing to his government, the French ambassador in London, Gaspard de Coligny Chatillon, indicates ethnic differences thus: "The kingdom of England is by no means a united whole, for it also contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a [different] language".

1603 : Following Queen Elizabeth I's death, the Venetian ambassador writes that the "late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': 'English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ... and Irish'".

1616 : Arthur Hopton [later ambassador to Madrid?] writes that "England is ... divided into three great Provinces, or Countries ... speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish".

It seems clear that the Duke of Cornwall still has feudal rights over the territory of Cornwall even if the Duchy claims to be little more than a private estate.

Oll an gwella

'Cornubian'