Cornwall

Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow or occasionally Curnow) is a county of England's south-west peninsula, lying west of the River Tamar.

History

The modern English name is likely to derive from the same root as Wales (Walea, meaning foreigner) combined with its Roman name of Cornubia (see below). It is also proposed that it may derive from the Celtic tribe of the Cornovii. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/history/ab-hi32.htm. A people of this name are known, from Roman sources, to have lived in the Outer Powys to Shropshire area of the later Wales and England. One theory suggests that a contingent was sent to the West Country in order to rule the land there and keep out the invading Irish. A similar situation occurred in North Wales. However, there is no evidence for this move west, and Cornish place names of a similar age indicate that there was an independent tribe of Cornovii in the West Country. The Romans knew the area as Cornubia, probably a sub-kingdom of the greater Dumnonia that covered much of the West Country at that time, while in Cornish it was known as Kernow or Curnow; a name which has regained some currency today. It is worthy of note that on many maps produced before the 18th century Cornwall was depicted as a nation of Great Britain; a famous example is Gerardus Mercator's Atlas http://www.walkingtree.com/.

Related Topics:
Wales - Walea - Cornovii - Dumnonia - West Country - Great Britain - Gerardus Mercator

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Cornwall was the principal source of tin for the civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean, and at one time the Cornish were the world's foremost experts at mining. As Cornwall's reserves of tin began to be exhausted many Cornishmen emigrated to places such as the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa where their skills were in demand. The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 is attributed to Tin miners. The tin mines in Cornwall are now economically worked-out at current prices, but the expertise and culture of the Cornish tin miners lives on in a number of places around the world. It is said that, wherever you may go in the world, if you see a hole in the ground, you'll find a Cornishman at the bottom of it. Several Cornish mining words are in use in English language mining terminology, such as costean, gunnies, and vug.

Related Topics:
Tin - Civilisation - Mediterranean - Cornish Rebellion of 1497 - Costean - Gunnies - Vug

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In 1841 there were nine hundreds of Cornwall: Stratton, Lesneweth and Trigg; East and West; Powder; Pydar; Kerrier and Penwith. The shire suffix has been attached to several of these, notably: the first three formed Triggshire; East and West appear to be divisions of Wivelshire; Powdershire and Pydarshire. The old names of Kerrier and Penwith have been re-used for modern local government districts. Caradon, Carrick, Kerrier, North Cornwall, Penwith, Restormel, and the Isles of Scilly compose the modern civil parishes of Cornwall.

Related Topics:
1841 - Hundred - Stratton - Lesneweth - Trigg - East - West - Powder - Pydar - Kerrier - Penwith - Shire - Wivelshire - Local government districts - Caradon - Carrick - North Cornwall - Restormel - Isles of Scilly - Civil parishes

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Since the decline of tin mining, agriculture and fishing, the area's economy has become increasingly dependent on tourism — some of Britain's most spectacular coastal scenery can be found here. However Cornwall is the poorest county in England and it has been granted Objective 1 status by the EU. A political party, Mebyon Kernow, the MK, or 'Sons of Cornwall', was formed in 1951 to attempt to assert some degree of autonomy (see Cornish nationalism); although increasingly the flag of St. Piran is seen across Cornwall at protests and demonstrations, the party has not achieved significant success at the ballot box, although they do have some councillors.

Related Topics:
Objective 1 - EU - Mebyon Kernow - 1951 - Cornish nationalism

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Recently there have been some developments in the recognition of Cornish identity or ethnicity. In 2001 for the first time in the UK the inhabitants of Cornwall could record their ethnicity as Cornish on the national census and in 2004 the schools census in Cornwall carried a Cornish option as a subdivision of white British.

Related Topics:
Ethnicity - 2001 - UK - Census - 2004 - Schools census

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