The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-10-23
of its waters, permanent marital mastery
Hence the old lines:

-
Hence the old lines:
II the husband of the gifted we'll
Shall drink before his wife,
happy man hencelOrth Is he,
For he shall be master for life.
But if the wife shall drink of it first
God help the husband then!-etc.
Taking off the hat to a magpe wards away
bad luck. No miner will permit whistling
in mine, as it offends the "knockers;"
while fishermen would throw a man over
board who would whistle at sea after night
fall. Killing the first butterfly OF the sea-
con brings good luck. If the limbs of
corpse remain flexible, another member of
the deceased's family will shortly die. A
black cats tail passed over a child's sore
eyes nine times will effect a cure.
The croak of raven over
the house bodies death. Children
born in May are may 'chets" and will
never have luck; a perjurer will never
again see the color of the sunlight; mill
prive, or adder-stone, will prove an anti
dote to the poison ofthat reptile. Atmid-
night on Christmas eve all the oxen of
Cornwall may be found on their knees in
the attitude of alteration. If one touches
a logan or rocking-stone nine times at mid
night, he instantly becomes a witch. In
the fishing hamlets il fish be eaten from
from the coasts. And you are no true
Cornishman if you will not assert that the
shipwrecked dead "haii' or call aloud
their names above the roaring OF the storms
along the coast.
The entire disappearance of the Cornish
language has occurred since the reign of
Elizabeth. The centennial of the last SER
mon preached in Celtic at Landewedneck
(the white rooted church of st. Wednack)
was celebrated in 1878. Even at the begin
ming of this century divers old folk could
be found who were constantly moaning,
"Cornoack eve all ne cea yer yen poble
vounk;" Cornish is all forgot with the
youngpeople." Consequently the Cornish
dialect is still rich in expressions wholly
without meaning to one unwilling to
patiently observe, delve and study. Every
elderly person is called ''uncle" or 'aunt,"
the latter shortened to "Ann." Mother
is "mawther;" father is "fay-
ther." All intimate acquaint-
ances are cousin Jack, or Jan :" and
nearly every conversational query, or an
swer, terminates with you" as: over
tina (thee) gavin, your" ''Io las core by
day, you" The yep" of the rapid
American man or boy, meaning "yes," or
anything else, has its counterpart in the
universal Cornish "Unce" terminating in
an inverted whistle. 1t means, assent,
doubt, surprise, or anything else at that
moment in the mind of the listener COW
AIRY, cheel vean? ?" means, GLOW are you,
friend ?" The "clacker" is the tongue
and "crowder" is fiddler. COW do ee
fadge2" is "How are you getting along?"
"Hoozy' is hoarse; "T Jacks" is ain
faith" "a brave courant," a splendid
time; "good havage," is taking gin and
treacle; and "a knaws tim" (he knows
TIM is the highest compliment Cornish
man is capable of conceiving
Among people of such antiquity, isola-
ton, meager and sharply-defined pursuits
there cannot but be found two striking
characteristics One is their extraordinary
clannishness and loyalty to each other;
and the other, an obstinate clinging to old
and priced customs The monument TO
the great Camden in Westminster Abbey
will not stand so long as his own famous
couplet, written three centuries SINCE
"By Ire, Ros, Pol. Ian. Caer and Len,
You may know the most of Cornish men,"
He might also have added places, for
nine-tenths of the names of Cornish
places, as well as of individuals and fami-
lies, contained, or still contain, these roots
and prefiXes. Ire, answering to the Saxon
tun, means an inclosure; Ros, a heath
Pol, a pool; Caer, a defended place, and
Pen, head. All this filtering
through antiquity, and peoples folk
ore, in time became something
of shibboleth, shortened finally to
Tire, Pol and PEN" further intensified
and treasured by the Cornish national
toast of tires, Polls and Pens-One and
Allw Then to still further intensity the
feeling OF national indivisibility, along in
the reign of James IL, came the famous
ballad of ''Trelawne," one electrifying
auatrain Of which will be roared forth in
freside. social and political song as long as
Cornish miner, with a voice, is left
"above grass" to do it. The origin OF the
song was the incarceration and prosecu-
ton for seditious libel of the archbishop
of Canterbury and six other bishops, in
1858, because they refused the reading of
OF royal declaration of indulgence for
liberty Of conscience. The good Bishop
Trclawney was one of these offenders. He
was CorDishman besides. Instantly all
Cornwall rang with
"And will they scorn IRE, Pol and Pen,
And shall rr.lawney die7
There's hreafy thousand underground
VIII know the reason Why"
And this shout OF the wild twenty thou
sand" miners Of Cornwall had more TO do