Dolly Pentreath

Pentreath lived in the parish of Paul , next to Mousehole , where she was also buried; a monument in her honour was established in the churchyard wall in 1860 by Louis Lucien Bonaparte , a nephew of Napoleon . There are many tales about her. She was said to often curse people, including calling them a "black frog", and was even said to have been a witch. Numerous other stories have been attached to her, the accuracy unknown.

As with many other "last native speakers", there is a matter of controversy over her status. William Bodinar (died , who died in 1890 should be considered the last "traditional" speaker; he was said to have kept it alive by speaking to his cat. However there is some confusion to the extent of his abilities, notably that some may be attributed to him rather than his father. Mebyon Kernow erected a plaque to his name as the last person to have significant knowledge of the Cornish language. Subsequently the Cornish language continued to have some usage, by a few isolated learners, and words of Cornish origin persisted in the local dialect of English. Currently some children and young adults speak various forms of revived Cornish as native speakers.

SEE ALSO

Chesten Marchant - the last ''monoglot'' Cornish speaker

EXTERNAL LINKS

A short account of Dolly Pentreath

Information on the memorial by her grave, with pictures

Information About

Dolly Pentreath