February
Welcome to Cornish Cottage Holidays February Newsletter.

How Three Cornishmen Helped Save the English Language
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, French was adopted in England as the language of royalty and law. By the early 14th century, English was banned from official use and frowned upon in polite society, being seen as the jargon of peasants.

There was a movement to retain the language but this was met with harsh legislation. For example in Oxford in 1325 it was decreed that all conversations should be in Latin or French and in 1332 an Act of Parliament forced all children in education to learn French.

One stalwart in the preservation of English was John Treviso of St Mellion. A Cornish-speaking cleric, he produced an encyclopaedia in English and, in his history of the day, he mentions John of Cornwall, a grammar-master and Richard Pencrych. Together they encouraged the teaching and use of English instead of French in schools.

By 1385 the tide had turned in favour of the English tongue.

John Treviso died in 1402 but the movement that he set in motion continued and by 1413 English had become the official language of the royal court.

Ironically, these Celtic-speaking Cornishmen may have championed English at the expense of their own mother-tongue. As the use of English crept westward, so Kernewek, the Cornish language, retreated to the Far West.

MYTH and LEGEND
Not surprisingly for a land almost surrounded by sea, mermaids play a part in the legends of Cornwall. There is a tale that a mermaid who once guarded the port of Padstow tried to tempt a local man and to make his escape, he shot her with an arrow. Mortally wounded in her dying moments she cursed Padstow causing sands to pile up at the mouth of the Camel estuary, thus creating the 'Doom Bar' which is such a hazard to shipping, that it brought about the decline of Padstow as a major port.

In the far west of Cornwall bench end carvings of a beautiful sea creature can be found in Zennor Church which recall the downfall of Matthew Trehella, a noted chorister who was enticed to live in the sea for the love of a mermaid. It is said that their singing can still be heard rising from beneath the waves.

The legend of King Arthur and his association with Cornwall remains strong to this day, and who could visit the remains of Tintagel Castle without being inspired by its dramatic setting straddling a rocky promontory linked to the main headland by a narrow causeway. Legend affords that Arthur, the son of Uther Pendragon was born in Tintagel and Merlin, who lived in a cave at the foot of the plunging cliffs, used his magical powers to create the castle which became the home of Arthur and his queen Guinevere.

Properties that we have around North and mid Cornwall: Sleep 2, Sleep 4, Sleep 4, Sleep 4, Sleep 5 and Sleep 6 or view all our properties.