The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #4167   Message #22488
Posted By: BAZ
27-Feb-98 - 08:00 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Going Up Camborne Hill
Subject: RE: LRY ADD Going Up Camborne Hill
Barry I can see the family connection to this tune but it's not the same. I looked up Peter Kennedy's 'Folksongs of Britain & Ireland' after reading your message and was suprised to find that almost everything I'd written was in there. But I was using Inglis Gundry's Canow Kernow as my source. The song wasn't written in Cornish but was translated as are nearly all Peter Kennedy's Cornish songs by Talek a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd.
As far as I can establish the only songs surviving that were written in the Cornish language are Ha My Ow Mos a 'three mens song', and a five line rhyme 'A Granken'.
The Gwavas MSS. in the British Museum provides us with 3 more songs, 'Delyow Syvy' noted by Edwin Chirgwin in 1698. and 2 Broadside type ballads written by John Tonkin of St.Just in c.1690. The first of these is to a tune 'The Modest Maid of Kent' which unfortunately I cannot find and I'm hoping that if Bruce O' re-reads this thread he may have knowledge of it. If need be I'll post a seperate request. The second ballad does not give a tune but Merv Davey a Current Cornish Bard and player of the Cornish Pipes has suggested a Cornish tune 'Kerthyans Atla'. I will post all of these soon. Most of the above comes from Merv Davey's book Henegan. I met him recently and said that I had seen a copy of his book in a public library and was it still available. He told me no but added 'get it from the library and photocopy it if you want.' I'm glad I did because shortly after it was destroyed and as far as I know Iv'e got the only copy. My aim is to copy the whole book in English and Cornish together with the tunes and post it.

Baz.