Cornish

It is reported that Cornish is to be raised to the dizzy heights of an official member of the UK's Celtic minorities. Apparently 84,000 people declare themselves to be Cornish. I wonder how many people would say that they are from Yorkshire or the West Riding of Yorkshire or York? I suppose it might help the tourist industry in Corwall and boost the sale of pasties and cream teas but at what expense?

 

The, "Independent," reports that 557 people claim that Cornish is their principal language. Perhaps these individuals believe this to be the case but I suspect that the reality is much different. No doubt we will now have bilingual signs and brochures and official interpreters and further tax payers monies being used to engage individuals to promote the Cornish language.

 

I have no problem with people wanting to safeguard elements of their heritage and the history of the country but it is history. The, "official," figures for individuals who claim that their principal tongue is Cornish, Welsh, Scots Gaelic, Manx, Ulster Scots or Irish is in all probability nothing more than an aspiration on the part of many individuals. I enjoyed learning Latin, its logicality and its history. I wish I had greater knowledge of the language but no matter how proficient I might become in Cicero's mother tongue it will never be my principal language. It will not become the language of day to day life for anyone who has not decided to be something of a social recluse or at least highly parochial . Ditto the languages of the Celtic minorities.

I am not a fan of Balkanisation, I much prefer the notion of a unity in diversity.