Skrol an Yeth

Gwrythyans Bardhonieth

Yn gwiryonedh yth esa war ow thowl dhe bostya yn kever hemma pell kyns lemmyn, mes oups.

Seythen Kewsel Kernewek a veu synsys rag 2022 dhe dhiwedh mis Metheven ha splann o. My a vynni gweles niver da a hwarvosow warlinen keffrys ha taklow synsys yn kig ha kneus yn Kernow. Ytho, my a restras nebes! Gans kowetha, heb mar.

Onan anedha o gwrythyans bardhonieth gans agan bagas rag skriforyon y’gan yeth: Kernewek Writers’ Klub. KWK yw synsys pub mis dre Zoom ha restrys yw dre Lyverenep yn bagas Lien Kernow. Wolkom yw pubonan a vynn skrifa yn awenek y’n taves.

An wrythyoryon rag an show o my, Sam Brown, Cam Andrever, Taran Spalding-Jenkin ha Tim Saunders (Bardh Gwerin). Ow hynsa tro o dhe wrythya ow bardhonieth ow honan, ytho tamm nervus en vy, mes splann o. Pur dha o y wul gans an bagas a gowetha ma.

Hag an essedhek a veu rekordys! Ytho, mar mynn’ta mires orto, y hyllydh! Mir orth an gwydhyow a-woles po dre YouTube ha leverel dhyn ena an pyth a dybydh.

In all honesty, I had planned to post about this long before now, but oops.

Speak Cornish Week was held for 2022 at the end of June and it was excellent. I wanted to see a good number of online events as well as things held in the flesh in Cornwall. So, I organised some! With friends, of course.

One of them was a poetry performance by our group of writers in our language: Kernewek Writers’ Klub. KWK is held every month through Zoom and it’s organised on Facebook in the group Lien Kernow. Everyone who wants to write creatively in the language is welcome.

The performers for the show were me, Sam Brown, Cam Andrever, Taran Spalding-Jenkin and Tim Saunders (Bardh Gwerin). It was my first time performing my own poetry, so I was a bit nervous, but it was fantastic. It was great to do it with this group of friends.

And the session was recorded! So, if you want to watch it, you can! Watch the video that’s below or via YouTube and then let us know what you think of it.

Tresor

My a brenas nebes lyvrow wor’taswerth yn Kernewek a-gynsow ha pur ger yns i dhymm. Ottomma bardhonek skrifys genev yn kever an prevyans a brena lyvrow tanow mes isel aga host y’gan yeth.

Kudhys gans arwodhigow:
£2, £1.00!, 3.95, 50p
Po aga gasadow garow
Gravys gans biroyow re grev
Notennow ow kul dons kevnis:
1996, check dict., = let go, ???
Linennow rudh, glas
Ha pluven blomm
Rag merkya pub koyntys
Rag sinella studhyans
Stampys gans henwyn ankoth:
Dhe Anne, M. L., a Bol
Brethys gans broghes
Nemmys gans lewern
Plegys skovarn ki
Krommgentrow gossenek
Liwyow disliwys, dasliwys
Ow flerya paper koth
Ynk koth
Kerensa koth
A’n passys
I a dheu dhymm a-dreus termyn
Ha pellder hag emlow
Mostys ha fustys
Ow splanna dhymmo
Ow kana dhymmo
Ow kelwel dhymmo

I bought some secondhand books in Cornish recently and they’re very dear to me indeed. Here is a poem written by me about the experience of buying these rare but low-price books in our language.

Covered in stickers:
£2, £1.00!, 3.95, 50p
Or their rough remnants
Engraved by too strong biros
Notes dancing a spider dance:
1996, check dict., = let go, ???
Lines red, blue
And pencil
To mark each oddity
To signify study
Stamps with unknown names:
To Anne, M. L., from Pol
Bitten by badgers
Marked by foxes
Dog ear bent
Rusty staples
Colours faded, discoloured
Stinking of old paper
Old ink
Old love
Of the past
They come to me across time
And distance and borders
Soiled and battered
Shining to me
Singing to me
Calling to me

(There’s no literary merit to this English translation, it’s just there as a comprehension aid.)

Taklow dhe Wul

My re skrifas zin! Pyth yw ‘zin’? Well, yn harow, lyver-termyn isel kost yw. Herwydh usadow yth yw unn folen a A4 plegys yn eth folennow byghan ha, dre vras, gwynn ha du yns. Desinys yns dhe vos liesskeusennys ha kevrennys yn es.

Hanow ow zin yw “Taklow dhe Wul: Things to Do Instead of Bickering About Spelling”. Zin yw nag yw a-dro dhe lytherenna! Skrifys yw yn brassa rann yn Sowsnek gans Kernewek rag an blas.

Y hyllir y gavos po avel kopi bysyel po avel kopi fisegel. Nyns yw res ri arghans dhymm rag an gwersyon bysyel marnas ty a vynn y wul!

Ytho, gwra y redya, y gevrenna ha leverel dhymm an pyth a brederydh yn y gever!

I’ve written a zine! What’s a ‘zine’? Well, roughly, it’s a low-cost magazine. Usually, it’s one page of A4 folded into eight little pages and, mostly, they’re black and white. They’re designed to be easily photocopied and shared.

The name of my zine is “Taklow dhe Wul: Things to Do Instead of Bickering About Spelling”. It’s a zine which is not about spelling! It’s written mostly in English with Cornish used for flavour.

You can get it as a digital copy or as a physical copy. You don’t need to give me any money for the digital version unless you want to!

So, read it, share it and let me know what you think about it!

Rag Flip

Ow howeth Phil re verwis an mis ma. Ny allav y grysi ha skant ny allav y berthi. Mar yowynk. Nyns yw ewn.

Ny vynnav skrifa meur omma yn y gever, mes my a vynni skrifa neppyth yn furv bardhonieth rag… ny wonn, kartha ow omglewansow tamm? Gul neb furv a ven kov skrifys?

Nyns ov sur. Mes res o. Ytho, ottava.

RAG FLIP
Sos
Ny wre’ta gweles
Dydh a’n par ma
Arta, na ken dydh mann
Na glaw
Na glasnedh
Na galari
Mes yth ambosav
Y fydhav
Pub dydh koyntta a-barth dhis
Kuffa ha kreffa ha koyntta
Ragos

My friend Phil has died this month. I can’t believe it and I can hardly bear it. So young. It’s not right.

I don’t want to write much here about it, but I wanted to write something in the form of poetry to… I don’t know, cleanse my feelings a bit? Make some kind of written memorial?

I’m not sure. But it was necessary. So here it is.

FOR FLIP
Friend
You won’t see
A day like this
Again, nor another day at all
Not rain
Not greenery
Not grieving
But I promise
I will be
Every day weirder on your behalf
Kinder and stronger and weirder
For you

(There’s no literary merit to this English translation, it’s just there as a comprehension aid.)

Dehwelans

Tamm lent ov yn unn leverel hemma, mes yma nowodhow dhymm! My re beu dyllys yn prynt rag an kynsa tro yn Kernewek (a-der An Gannas) ha mar lowen ov. Mir orth an bewdy ma!

I’m a bit slow in saying this, but I have news! I’ve been published in print for the first time in Cornish (aside from in An Gannas) and I’m so happy. Look at this bewdy!

An lyver a veu dyllys dhe benn mis Hwevrer ha soweth nyns yw prenadow. Nyns esa marnas martesen kans gwrys rag tus arbennik, an skriforyon y’ga mysk. Mes y fydh kopi yn Kresen Kernow bys vykken.

Soweth, henn a styr y fydh ynwedh gwithys yn Kresen Kernow bys vykken an kammgemeryans ma yn ow hever:

The book was published at the end February and unfortunately it’s not purchasable. There were only maybe 100 made for particular people, the writers among those. But there will be a copy in Kresen Kernow forever.

Sadly, that means this mistake made about me will be kept in Kresen Kernow forever too:

Ea, nyns ow henna po ow hanow ewn po ow hanow pluven naneyl. Tru! Well, my a ewnhas ow hopi yndelna hag y fydh noten gorrys yn kopi Kresen Kernow ynwedh, dell leverons.

Dhe’n lyha, an lyver yw marthys teg ha pur brout ov bos ynno. Anfeusik yw ny vydh an lyver ha’n hwedhlow ynno kavadow dhe’n poblek, ytho (drefen my dhe witha an gwirpryntyans ragdho) my a wrug dyllo ow hwedhel Gwithans anodho yn tiwyethek y’m gwerthi Ko-Fi omma.

Mar pleg, gwrewgh y redya, y gevrenna ha leverel dhymm an pyth a brederowgh!

Yup, that’s neither my real name nor my my pen name. Alas! Well, I corrected my copy as above and there will be a note put in Kresen Kernow’s copy too, they tell me.

At least the book is very beautiful and I’m very proud to be in it. It’s unfortunate that the book and the stories in it won’t be available to the public, so (because I kept the copyright for it) I have published my story Safekeeping from it bilingually in my Ko-Fi shop here.

Please do read it, share it and let me know what you think of it!

Haiku Gwenton

‘Mes a’m fenester
Gwenton na wrug vy gweles
Nans yw mil vledhen

Outside my window
A spring that I haven’t seen
For a thousand years

Mab an Gov

Ny wrug vy y veneges omma hwath, dell dybav, mes my re beu ow kweres Kowethas an Yeth gans aga ober dyllo lyvrow warlena ha hevlena. Yn brassa rann, henn o gweres gans an dyllans a romans nowydh skrifys gans Owain Holland, kesstudhyer genev y’n 4a gradh yn Klass an Hay warlena: romans henwys Mab an Gov.

Lyver pur dha yw ha marthys y deythi. Owain yw kepar ha jynn-skrifa dhymm, mar uskis o y skrifa! Ow ober y’n lyver ma? My a wrug y olsettya hag ynwedh y hwrug vy desinya an gudhlen a woles:

I haven’t mentioned this here yet, I think, but I’ve been helping Kowethas an Yeth with their work in publishing books last year and this year. Mostly, that’s been helping with the publication of a new novel written by Owain Hollain, a fellow student with me in the my fourth grade class last year: a novel; called Mab an Gov.

It’s an impressive and very good book. Owain seems like a writing machine to me, so quick is his writing! And my work in the book? I typeset it and I also designed the cover below:

Art an gudhlen yw lymnans henwys La Forge gans an vreder Le Nain a Bow Frynk. Lymnys veu a-dro dhe 1642. Rag lyver henwys Mab an Gov, pur wiw yw!

Ytho, my a wrug mellya ganso hag ott! Nyns yw re dhrog! Hag an lyver a-ji dhedhi yw marthys. Ytho, mar mynnowgh hwi oll y redya: y hyllowgh! Gwrewgh!

The cover art is a painting called La Forge vy the Le Nain brothers of France. It was painted around 1642. For a book called Mab an Gov, it’s very appropriate!

So, I mucked about with it and look! It’s not too bad! And the book inside it is marvellous. So, if you all want to read it: you can! Do!

Rekna an Dedhyow

An mis ma my re beu ow kul kalender anhedhek yn Kernewek. Ea!

Ny wonn vy pyth a hwyris yn hwir, mes my a welas neb kalender anhedhek, martesen yn Kembrek po neppyth an par na, ha dalleth prederi a onan kepar ha henna y’gan yeth ni.

Well, nyns eus. Ny yllir prena kalender anhedhek yn Kernewek. Ytho, my a erviras prena onan gwag a Ukrayn hag y bayntya ow honan. Ha lemmyn gorfennys yw!

Melyn neon yw gans golowilyon seythliw ha niverow yn du. Ha my a’n kar! Yma gwydhyow anodho a-woles, mes moy splann yw yn kig ha kneus, heb mar.

Ha lemmyn y hallav rekna an dedhyow war’m desk y’m yeth. Perfeyth.

This month I have been making a perpetual calendar in Cornish. Yup!

I don’t know what happened exactly, but I saw some perpetual calendar, maybe in Welsh or something like that, and I started thinking about one like that one in our own language.

Well, there aren’t any. You can’t buy a perpetual calendar in Cornish. So, I decided to buy a blank one from Ukraine and paint it myself. And now it’s finished!

It’s neon yellow with iridescent glitter and numbers in black. And I love it! There’s a video below of it, but it’s more bright and brilliant in the flesh, without a doubt.

And now I can count the days on my desk in my language. Perfect!

Bella Ciao

Drog yw genev na wrug vy postya omma yn fenowgh dres an diwettha mis, mis kales re beu gans ow hennerther ha dyghtyans dans ponvosek.

Mes pan yth vy dhe dre rag an estennans, my a glewas den ow seni Bella Ciao y’n stret. Henna a’m kofhas a’m treylyans a’n gan ma a wrug vy y’n hav.

My a vynn y gevrenna genowgh, dell waytyav y fydh da genowgh.

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted here very often throughout the last month, it has been a hard month with my booster vaccine and a miserable tooth treatment.

But when I went to town for the extraction, I heard a man playing Bella Ciao in the street. That reminded me of my translation of that song that I did in the summer.

I want to share it with you and I hope that you will like it.

Italek

Una mattina mi son svegliato,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao!
Una mattina mi son svegliato
e ho trovato l’invasor.

O partigiano portami via,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
o partigiano portami via
che mi sento di morir.

E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e se io muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir.

Seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.

E le genti che passeranno,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e le genti che passeranno
mi diranno «che bel fior.»

Questo è il fiore del partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
questo è il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà

Sowsnek

One morning I awakened,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
One morning I awakened
And I found the invader.

Oh partisan carry me away,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching.

And if I die as a partisan,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and if I die as a partisan
then you must bury me.

Bury me up in the mountain,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
bury me up in the mountain
under the shade of a beautiful flower.

And all those who shall pass,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and all those who shall pass
will tell me “what a beautiful flower.”

This is the flower of the partisan,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
this is the flower of the partisan
who died for freedom

Kernewek

Y’n myttinweyth, my a dhifunas
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Y’n myttinweyth, my a dhifunas
An goryskynnydh a gevis

Ogh, partisan, ogh, dog vy alemma
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Ogh, partisan, ogh, dog vy alemma
Awos ow klewes Ankow nes

Mar kwrellen merwel ‘vel partisan, ogh!
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Mar kwrellen merwel ‘vel partisan, ogh!
Gwra ow gorra vy y’m bedh

Gwra ow ynkleudhyas y’gan menydhyow
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Gwra ow ynkleudhyas y’gan menydhyow
Yn-dann skeus bleujen mar deg

Hag an re na a wra tremena
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Hag an re na a wra tremena
Yn-medhons “pana vleujen deg”

Homm yw bleujen a’n dus partisan
Ogh, bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!
Homm yw bleujen a’n dus partisan
A wrug merwel rag rydhses

KWikiWriMo ’21

Well, diwedh a vis Du yw, ytho a-nowydh my re worfennas an chalenj bledhynnyek skrifa erthyglow rag Wikipedia yn Kernewek!

Arta, bagas byghan ahanan a wrug an chalenj ha skrifa erthyglow, po byghan po bras. An vledhen eus passys, ni a skrifas moy es 120 erthygel nowydh war-barth. An vledhen ma moy es 300 erthygel nowydh re beu skrifys genen dres an mis! Hemm yw bryntin dres eghen.

Ottomma an erthyglow a wrug vy ow honan an mis Du ma:

Well, it’s the end of November, so I’ve just now finished the annual challenge of writing articles for Wikipedia in Cornish!

Again, a small group of us did the challenge and wrote articles, whether small or large. Last year we wrote more than 120 new articles together. This year more than 300 new articles were written by us throughout the month! That’s absolutely brilliant.

Here are the articles I wrote myself this November: