85:, published in 1892, the year after Davey's death. In a chapter discussing Cornish and the evidence of its late survival in the region, Matthews indicates that Davey had had some knowledge of the tongue, could decipher local Cornish placenames, and could "converse on a few simple topics in the ancient language". However, he records only one example of Davey's speech, and is unclear as to whether he had heard Davey speak in person, or was relying on second-hand accounts. Additionally, while Davey's reputation as a receptacle of Cornish was well known in the area, none of his neighbours or descendants learned or recorded any of it. As such it is difficult to judge the accuracy of Matthews' claims or to gauge how much knowledge of the tongue Davey might actually have had. Davey is known to have had a copy of
22:
397:
139:
Richard Hall (Elizabeth Vingoe's nephew) in 1914, when Mann was 80. He told Hall that, when a child in
Boswednack, Zennor, he and several other children always conversed in Cornish while at play together. This would have been around 1840–1850. They would certainly have known Cornish speaker Anne Berryman (1766–1854), also of Boswednack.
138:
There is some evidence that at least three individuals with some knowledge of
Cornish outlived John Davey: Jacob Care of St Ives (d. 1892); Elizabeth Vingoe of Higher Boswarva, Madron (d. 1903 and who taught at least some Cornish to her son); and John Mann, who was interviewed in his St Just home by
97:", does not appear in Pryce or any other known text, showing that he had some "original" Cornish that he may indeed have learned traditionally from his father. As such he is an important figure in the study of Cornish in its last stages, along with
120:
amended
Matthews' spelling into a comprehensible form, and offered a translation. By Nance's emendation, the song is a brief piece of humour, comparing the fertility of the rocky fields of Cranken unfavourably to a road.
93:, which he inherited from his father. As such it is possible that he acquired some part of his Cornish through studying – or memorising – Pryce. However, the piece of Cornish recorded by Matthews, the song known as the "
256:
131:. The inscription describes Davey as "the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language", and contains a Cornish quotation from the
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286:
793:
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419:– website on writing systems & languages of the world (this page on the Cornish Language has Davey as the last Cornish speaker)
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in Zennor for a period, he reputedly learned his
Cornish from his father. He died in 1891, aged 79, taking his knowledge with him.
373:
Shield, L. (1984) "Unified
Cornish–-Fiction or Fact? an examination of the death & resurrection of the Cornish language", in:
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783:
55:", is not known from any earlier source and is notable as possibly one of the last survivals of Cornish literary tradition.
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Matthews could make nothing of the "Cranken Rhyme", regarding it as seemingly a "mere jumble of place-names.". However,
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A History of the
Parishes of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack and Zennor: in the County of Cornwall
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135:: "The words of wise men are as a deep pool, a flowing stream – a fountain of life".
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farmer who was one of the last people with some traditional knowledge of the
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287:"After centuries, Cornish agree how to speak their language"
157:"After centuries, Cornish agree how to speak their language"
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105:(died 1777), judged by various scholars to be the last
257:"Legend of Dolly Pentreath outlived her native tongue"
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A memorial plaque at Zennor church was erected by the
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83:History of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack, and Zennor
365:"John Davey of Boswednack and his Cornish Rhyme".
259:. This is Cornwall. 4 August 2011. Archived from
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368:The Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
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51:. A song attributed to Davey's memory, the "
16:One of the last Cornish speakers (1812–1891)
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411:Picture of Davey memorial stone at Zennor
370:, vol. XXII (1922–25), pp. 146–153.
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302:The Cornish language and its literature
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49:restricted to a few words and phrases
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285:Bruxelles, Simon de (21 May 2008).
244:Cornish – The Struggle for Survival
155:Bruxelles, Simon de (21 May 2008).
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377:, 5 (3 & 4), pp. 329–337
314:A Handbook of the Cornish Language
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794:Last known speakers of a language
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71:parish. A farmer who served as a
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91:Archaeologia Cornu-Britannica
63:Davey lived in the hamlet of
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645:Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek
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113:of Cornish respectively.
650:Movyans Skolyow Meythrin
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789:Cornish-speaking people
640:Kesva an Taves Kernewek
630:Cussel an Tavas Kernuak
333:Murdoch, Brian (1993).
297:Ellis, Peter Berresford
81:mentions Davey in his
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779:Farmers from Cornwall
655:Skol Veythrin Karenza
577:Standard Written Form
321:Matthews, John Hobson
89:'s 1790 Cornish work
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361:Nance, Robert Morton
129:Old Cornwall Society
79:John Hobson Matthews
732:Brittonic languages
701:Robert Morton Nance
521:Bodmin manumissions
230:Nance, pp. 146–153.
118:Robert Morton Nance
799:People from Zennor
561:Bible translations
527:Pascon agan Arluth
336:Cornish Literature
263:on 7 February 2012
35:(1812–1891) was a
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716:Nicholas Williams
587:Kernowek Standard
221:Matthews, p. 405.
212:Matthews, p. 404.
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737:Celtic languages
725:Related articles
691:Kitty Lee Jenner
615:Akademi Kernewek
541:Beunans Meriasek
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454:Cornish language
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43:. According to
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350:. Retrieved
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265:. Retrieved
261:the original
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73:schoolmaster
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45:Henry Jenner
32:
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774:1891 deaths
769:1812 births
664:Key figures
329:. E. Stock.
267:19 February
763:Categories
681:Ken George
671:John Davey
620:Agan Tavas
548:Bewnans Ke
513:Literature
346:0859913643
280:References
65:Boswednack
29:John Davey
534:Ordinalia
483:Phonology
383:0143-4632
291:The Times
161:The Times
417:Omniglot
323:(1892).
240:Rod Lyon
107:monoglot
488:Numbers
478:Grammar
468:Revival
311:(1904)
299:(1974)
126:St Ives
59:History
37:Cornish
461:Topics
381:
352:17 May
343:
246:, 2001
69:Zennor
143:Notes
379:ISSN
354:2012
341:ISBN
269:2014
109:and
33:Davy
67:in
31:or
765::
363:.
289:.
242:,
205:^
191:^
168:^
159:.
557:"
553:"
446:e
439:t
432:v
356:.
317:.
293:.
271:.
163:.
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