Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, continued to be passed on within families and by individuals, and a revival began in the early 20th century. The language has a growing number of second-language speakers, and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language. Cornish is currently recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and the language is often described as an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage.
Henry Jenner was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival.
Gorsedh Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, based in Cornwall, United Kingdom, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. It is based on the Welsh-based Gorsedd, which was founded by Iolo Morganwg in 1792.
Kenneth John George is a British oceanographer, poet, and linguist. He is noted as being the originator of Kernewek Kemmyn, an orthography for the revived Cornish language which he claims is more faithful to Middle Cornish phonology than its precursor,.
Robert Morton Nance (1873–1959) was a British writer and leading authority on the Cornish language, a nautical archaeologist, and joint founder of the Old Cornwall Society.
Brenda Wootton was a British folk singer and poet and was seen as an ambassador for Cornish tradition and culture in all the Celtic nations and as far as Australia and Canada.
Tony Snell is a Cornish teacher, linguist, scholar, singer, waterman and poet born in England. He spent many years teaching at St. Edward's School, Oxford. He became a member of Gorseth Kernow in 1954 under the Bardic name of Gwas Kevardhu. During the 1970s, he led the folk group Tremenysy (Travellers).
Julyan Holmes is a Cornish scholar and poet. Born in 1948, Holmes has worked on such topics as Cornish placenames, the Prophecy of Merlin of John of Cornwall, and the writings of the Penwith School.
Haldreyn is the bardic name of William Morris. He is a Cornish poet, linguist, and painter. Haldreyn was an original member of Kesva an Taves Kernewek and is a bard of the Gorseth Kernow, appointed in 1966.
Tim Saunders is a Cornish poet and journalist primarily writing in the Cornish language who also writes in the Welsh, Irish, and Breton languages. He is resident in Cardiff but is of Cornish descent. He is a literary historian and editor of 'The Wheel' – an anthology of modern poetry in Cornish 1850–1980. High Tide is a collection of his own poems in Cornish from the years 1974 to 1999. He was made bard of the Gorsedh Kernow in 1998, taking the bardic name Bardh Gwerin.
Kescusulyans Kernow was an independent non-political Cornish conference which was held twice yearly at Perranporth, Cornwall, England, UK, between 1987-1994. It was formed to promote research into Cornish current affairs and the culture of Cornwall and was originally started by members of Cowethas Flamank, an organisation founded in 1969. Of special interest to Kescusulyans Kernow was the issue of the Cornish Constitution implicit in the creation of the Duchy of Cornwall.
Alan M. Kent was a Cornish poet, dramatist, novelist, editor, academic and teacher. He was the author of a number of works on Cornish and Anglo-Cornish literature.
Les Merton is a convicted child-abuser from Medlyn Moor, Cornwall, England, UK, subsequently living in Redruth before his 2015 conviction. Educated at Halwin School, and employed in various ways in his life, he has written in a range of genres including humour and Cornish dialect.
Loveday Elizabeth Trevenen Jenkin is a British politician, biologist and language campaigner. She has been a member of Cornwall Council since 2011, and currently serves as councillor for Crowan, Sithney and Wendron.
The Cornish language revival is an ongoing process to revive the use of the Cornish language of Cornwall, England. The Cornish language's disappearance began to hasten during the 13th century, but its decline began with the spread of Anglo-Saxon in the 4th and 5th centuries. The last reported person to have full knowledge of a traditional form of Cornish, John Davey, died in 1891. The revival movement started in the late 19th century as a result of antiquarian and academic interest in the language, which was already extinct, and also as a result of the Celtic revival movement. In 2009, UNESCO changed its classification of Cornish from "extinct" to "critically endangered", seen as a milestone for the revival of the language.
Movyans Skolyow Meythrin (MSM) is a not-for-profit organisation set up by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, who is also its current director, since 2009. Based at Cornwall College in Camborne, it aims to spread the Cornish language among small children and their families.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
Bert Biscoe DL, also known by the bardic name Viajor Gans Geryow, is a Cornish politician, historian and bard of the Cornish Gorseth. Biscoe represented Cornwall Council's Truro Boscawen District as an independent Cornwall Councillor until 2019, serving as an independent Truro City Council Councillor for the new Boscawen & Redannick Ward.
Kitty Lee Jenner was a Cornish artist, bard and writer who helped to set up the Cornish Gorsedh. She grew up in Cornwall and studied art in London. She later became an author, publishing six novels under the name Katharine Lee, as well as writing books on Christian symbolism. She became known as Mrs Henry Jenner and Katharine Jenner following her marriage to Henry Jenner in 1877. The couple had one child together. To begin with, she was the more famous person in the relationship.
Craig Weatherhill was a Cornish antiquarian, novelist and writer on the history, archaeology, place names and mythology of Cornwall.
