TO THREAD:

My recollection was that the first three verses of Sans Day Carol were recorded in English and subsequently translated into Cornish by a Cornish Revival bard (Tyrvab, apparently, according to Malcolm Douglas), but that the fourth of his verses was original with him in Cornish. I'm not sure whether I got this from the Oxford Book of Carols (which I don't have at hand) or perhaps from Geoffrey Sutton's booklet on Cornish in Esperanto (which is where I first learned about Cornish linguistic history), or from some other forgotten source. I also recall (from OBC I'm pretty sure) that St. They is an alternate spelling, and that he was a popular saint in both Cornwall and Brittany, but I know nothing about him.

Several years ago (close to a decade now, I guess) Seattle singers Carolyn Gronlund and (the late) Gene Patterson recorded my Esperanto version of the carol, but the projected cassette for which it was done never materialized. I've just posted William Auld's version, a bit oddly titled Sanstaga Himno, and will add my own version soon (or at any rate, I hope, before Advent).

Thanks, GUEST Mountain Dog, but it looks like GUEST Kernow Jon is even better situated as far as helping me contact the bookstore in Helston. Would love to hear about the book you were researching, though.

And thank you, too, GUEST Kernow Jon. Seems to me on a Manx Gaelic site I ran into an article that cast serious doubt on the historicity of Ms. Pentreath's status as the (purported) last native speaker of pre-revival Cornish, but I don't recall the details. It was in the context of an attempt to demonstrate that Manx had never actually died out, I do recall that much. I certainly would be interested in whatever you find out from the bookseller in Helston and his books, and yes, please do post or PM me the list of the 5 traditional songs that survive written in Cornish, and info on where the texts and/or English translations can be found.