Grand Bard’s speech
at the Open Gorsedh St Ives 2010
Madam Mayor, honoured guests, fellow bards, people of Cornwall, fellow Celts from Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany, tourists and our neighbours from the other side of the river, England, people from every country, welcome to our ceremony, to Cornwall’s Gorsedd which will celebrate our culture, our language and our Cornish Identity.
The Bards of Cornwall’s Gorsedd are happy to be here in St Ives which is one of the jewels of our country, Kernow. It has a fine and also very long and interesting history from the day when St Eia came here over the sea from Ireland to this green town and began her mission defending her people from a tyrant across the bay on the opposite shore. It's a heavy thing for me to be here as Grand Bard because I was born, bred and brought up here in this place.
This place is important to the Gorsedd because the Modern Cornish Revival began here. Ninety years ago Henry Jenner and Robert Morton Nance created the first branch of the Old Cornwall Society to gather up the fragments of our Celtic culture so that nothing be lost. From that day it was a quick and constant progress for our movement until in 1928 Pedrog the Arch-Druid of Wales inaugurated Gorsedh Kernow at Boscawen Un with Jenner as the first Grand Bard and Nance his Deputy. After that is history.
We wish to greatly thank all members of the Old Cornwall Societies for the years in which we have worked together for Cornwall and for our distinct identity. Often it was the truth against the world.
We are happy as well to welcome under the sun, the eye of the day, our good friends from the Welsh and Breton Gorsedds. Without them and their brotherhood and support our movement could not have been successful in our work to date.
I’m pleased also that the Bishop of Truro is here with Fr Gough to report to them that our long work in translating the Old Testament into Cornish is going well and we are looking forward to its completion.
We are very happy also with the work done by Cornwall Council, especially on signage in our language and also their work in teaching it in schools. The two of them through Maga. Our cooperation as a Cultural Partnership is also very good, especially through the work of Bewnans Kernow an umbrella organisation of some 60 members. Now there is the threat of financial cuts and there will be a discipline going with that. We hope that we can continue our partnership with you and we will keep our place at the table.
There is another threat to us here, a threat to our territorial integrity. A threat buried in the coalition’s plans for electoral reform. Lest there be any doubt as to the meaning of one and all we should show it together by saying, loudly The Tamar has been our border for more than 1000 years, it is a cultural border, it is a linguistic border it is recognised as such by Europe. The Tamar is our national border.
Na wrewgh tava agan ordir! Hands off our border
Gesewgh Kernow dhe vos Kernow! let Cornwall be Cornwall! Kernow Bys Vykken!
Mick Paynter, Skogynn Pryv
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