CORNISH NAMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20375, 2 October 1929, Page 14

CORNISH NAMES.

Sir,—ln answer to "New Zealander'.'. may I fij'st quote Camden ! By Ire, ros, pol, laii, caer and pen, You may know most Corniahmcn. Tre means homestead, pen means headland, ros means moor, lan means church ov sacred enclosure, pol means pool or port, caer means camp or town. The accent is placed on the syllable immediately following these prefixes. J. Treharnb Phillips, Vicar of Otorohanga. Formerly chaplain in the Isles of Scilly and Priest of Carbis Bay, Lelaut, near St. Ives, Cornwall.

Sir,—ln answer to "New Zealander" re Cornish namc3, tre means a town, pol a pool, pen a headland, bos and chy a houso or dwelling, goon a downs, lan an enclosure, dinas a fortification, car a fort, fol is a hole. The accent is almost always on the second syllable, e.g., tre-sidd-er, pen-berth-y, chynoweth, tre-veth-an, pol-glase, etc. A. E. Aug all. Paeroa.

Sir, —Being a Cornishman, I feel interested in the letters which have appeared in your paper on the subject of Cornish surnames, and would like to point out to "New Zealander" that in the Cornish name of Tresidder, like all Cornish names with the prefix of tre, pol or pen, I have nover in Cornwall heard the accent on the first syllable. Although Mr. H. Roberts and "Old Cornubian" give the pronunciation as Tre-zidder, I do not consider this to be altogether correct, but a careless way of speaking, the proper pronunciation briing Tre-sidder. I have noticed the accent has often been placed wrongly when speaking of some of the Hain line of steamers, which sometimes come to Auckland, such as the Tredenham, Trelyon and others with the prefix tre. The accent sihould be on tho second syllable. This also applies to Cornish names such as Penrose, Polglase, etc., but tho name Pasicoe is pronounced tho same in Cornwall as here. Mr. Roberts may be right in that pen means a headland, as these names will certainly have meanings in tho ancient ' Cornish language. The Old Cornwall Society is at present endeavouring to reconstruct this language, and. the results of their efforts should prove of great interest to all Cornishmen. Cousin Jack.