The Giants of Cornwall

St Agnes Bolster Day

Bolster the giant, pictured here on the left, was a bad tempered terror of the countryside with a stride that spanned six miles. He fell in love with the beautiful St Agnes, only to be betrayed and fooled into killing himself. Legend dictates that she asked him to prove his love for her by filling up a hole in the cliff at Chapel Porth with his own blood. Though St Agnes knew the hole was bottomless, Bolster did not. He died of the loss of blood, and even today the sea at Chapel Porth is stained red as a reminder of his grisly fate.  Click here to discover the legend

St Agnes Bolster Day

More of interest....HERE

Cornwall Not England - Brittany Not France

Celtic League focus on Breton issues.

The report of the General Secretary (GS) to the Celtic League AGM held in Mannin last weekend (10/11 July) included a resume of developments in Brittany in the past year.

(Reunification campaign) In relation to the reunification campaign Rhisiart Tal-e-bot said that this was continuing but at a slower pace than the previous year.

He said there have been some important initiatives undertaken associated with campaign including the creation of a `Freque Humaine' in the Breton city of Nantes/Naoned, where over 2000 people turned up to make the symbol 44=BZH ahead of the Municipal elections.

Activists have also kept the pressure up on the issue by drawing public attention to reunification through graffiti. In one such instance in April 2010, a youth who had been daubing reunification slogans in the town of Le Mans was arrested by police, detained for several hours and verbally assaulted during that time. The AGM was advised that the Celtic League had registered concerns over this case with the French authorties and the Council of Europe

The Breton Regional Council moved one step closer in June 2010 by introducing a motion regarding the reform of the `territorial collective', which could make it easier for Brittany to join with Loire-Atlantique. There are nevertheless the GS reported still a large number of obstacles to be overcome before reunification becomes a reality.

(Language development) The General Secretary said a new Breton language preschool movement has been set up at the end of last year in Breizh and already has a number of toddler, parent groups and preschools in the west. The organisation is called `Divskouarn' and the person in charge of running it is called Gregor Mazo.

A Programme about the Breton language was shown on Al Jazeera (English). The programme said that in `France' a battle to save a dying language is being carried out. Breton is spoken by about 200,000 people in France. 80-years-ago, it was more than a million. Estelle Youssouffa presented the programme and tried to show that campaigners believe Breton will make a comeback (programme broadcast on 15 May 2010).Watch the programme here.

A sponsored run to raise funds for the Breton language, Redadeg, was held again this year in May. This is the second time that the run has been held and is based on the Basque Korrika. Ar Redadeg is planned to be held every other year and it has been successful in raising significant amounts of money for the Breton language. This year a number of Welsh and Cornsh people took part in the race. The race covers more than 1200 km in six days all over Breizh to promote the Breton language and culture. It was hoped inter Celtic participation would increase next year.

(Bugaled Breizh) The continuing struggle of the families of the crewmen who died on the French fishing vessel was reported to the AGM by both the GS and a delegate from Brittany. The involvement of a naval vessel (submarine) was still a live line of enquiry. The AGM affirmed its commitment to support the campaign.

(Politics) The GS provided a detailed outline of political developments and specifically focused on the Regional elections in March 2010.

(ABP) He concluded his Breton report with an update on our cooperation with the Agence Bretagne Presse news agency and the AGM recorded its thanks to that organisation for its work in publicising news items from the Celtic League and inter-Celtic issues.

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League

12/07/10

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Burma Global Action Network

Britain's Smallest Nation Resurgent

Why Cornwall is different from its eastern neighbour

In the wake of the Roman withdrawal from Great Britain, Saxons and other peoples were able to conquer and settle most of the east of the island. Cornwall, however, remained under the rule of local Romano-British and Celtic elites. It appears that Cornwall was a division of the Dumnonii tribe - whose tribal centre was in the modern county of Devon and were known as the Cornovii. During the sub-Roman historic period there is little distinction made between the Kingdom of Cornwall, the Cornovii, andDumnonia. Indeed the names were largely interchangeable; with Dumnonia being the Latin name for the region and "Cornwall", or rather Cornweal, being the Anglo-Saxon name for them.

For most of its history, at least until the mid-8th century, the rulers of Dumnonia were probably also the rulers of Cornwall. InArthurian legend Gorlois (Gwrlais in Welsh) is attributed the title "Duke of Cornwall" but evidence of his existence is scant. He could have been a sub-king in Cornwall because of place names such as Carhurles (Caer-Wrlais) and Treworlas (Tre-Wrlais). There was almost certainly a King Mark of Cornwall. After the loss of most of the territory today called Devon, the British rulers are referred to either as the kings of Cornwall or the kings of the "West Welsh".

This is also the period known as the 'age of the saints', as Celtic Christianity and a revival of Celtic art spread from Ireland andScotland into Great Britain, Brittany, and beyond. Cornish saints such as Piran, Meriasek, or Geraint exercised a religious and arguably political influence; their activities also connected Cornwall strongly with Ireland, Brittany, Scotland, and Wales, where many of these saints were trained or formed monasteries. The Cornish saints were often closely connected to the local civil rulers; in a number of cases, the saints were also kings.

[edit]Kingdom of Cornwall

A Kingdom of Cornwall emerged around the 6th century; its kings were at first sub-kings and then successors of the Brythonic Celtic Kingdom of Dumnonia. The political situation was much in flux, and several kings or polities appear to have exercised sovereignty across the Channel in Brittany. Meanwhile the Saxons of Wessex were rapidly approaching from the east and crushing the kingdom of Dumnonia. In 721 the Britons defeated the West Saxons at "Hehil" (Annales Cambriae). A century passed before we specifically hear of the West Saxons attacking Cornwall again, although the "Welsh" who fought a battle against King Cuthred in 753 were probably from this area. In 814 King Egbert raided Cornwall "& þy geare gehergade Ecgbryht cyning on West Walas from easteweardum oþ westewearde."... and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west.^[16][17] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that in 825 (adjusted date) the Battle of Gafulforda, unidentified but perhapsGalford, near Lydford in Devon took place: "The West Wealas (Cornish) and the men of Defnas (Devon) fought at Gafalforda".^[1][16] In 838 the Cornish in alliance with the Danes were defeated by Egbert of Wessex^[16] at Hingston Down^[18]where the Wealas and the Danes were "put to flight". The Annales Cambriae records that in 875, king Dungarth of Cerniu ("id est Cornubiae") drowns. A remarkable quote is attributed to the last known independent king of Cornwall: "Sorrow comes from a world upturned".

The Cornish: A Neglected Nation?

By Professor Mark Stoyle
Last updated 2009-11-05

For centuries Cornwall retained the marks of a separate country - the Cornish people having their own language, style of dress and folklore. Yet by 1700 there were only 5000 Cornish speakers left in the land. Dr Mark Stoyle explains how it happened.

Introduction

What are the constituent nations of Britain? To most of us, the answer to this question will seem obvious: the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh nations. The idea that Cornwall, too, might have a right to be regarded as a separate nation is one that - outside Cornwall itself - has practically vanished from the popular consciousness. Yet 500 years ago, matters were very different. Throughout the mediaeval and early modern periods, the inhabitants of Cornwall were generally agreed - both by themselves and by their English neighbours - to be a distinctive people or 'race'.

The story... is one of the most intriguing chapters of British history.

The story of how this slowly changed - of how, in the words of A.L. Rowse, the Cornish were gradually 'absorbed into the mainstream of English life' between 1485 and 1700 - is one of the most intriguing chapters of British history. Yet, until very recently, it has also been one of the most neglected. Now - as the drive to create a 'Europe of the regions' and the accelerating 'break-up of Britain' have aroused a growing interest in Cornish identity and distinctiveness in the present - a new generation of historians is beginning to explore the nature of Cornish identity and distinctiveness in the past.

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A land apart

Physical isolation provides the key to Cornish history. A rocky peninsula, jutting out some 90 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, Cornwall stands at the extreme south-western corner of the British Isles. Surrounded by waves on all sides but one, it is practically severed from the adjoining lands to the east by the River Tamar, which runs almost from sea to sea.

Following the collapse of Roman rule in Britain, this natural fortress became a place of refuge for many of the original British inhabitants (sometimes referred to as 'Celts') of these islands, after they were driven westwards by Saxon conquerors. An independent British polity was established in Cornwall, and was defended against Saxon incursion for many hundreds of years. Not until 838 were the 'West Britons' finally subdued - and for centuries after this Cornwall retained many of the marks of a separate country.

...the culture of the ordinary Cornish people remained entirely different from that of their English neighbours

Although mediaeval Cornwall was - technically speaking - an English county just like any other, the culture of the ordinary Cornish people remained entirely different from that of their English neighbours. They still spoke in the Cornish tongue: a Brythonic language, closely allied with Welsh. They still prided themselves on being descended from British ancestors, rather than Saxon ones. And, as late as the mid-16th century, they still possessed their own styles of dress, their own folklore, their own naming-customs, their own agricultural practices and their own games and pastimes.

In addition, the English Crown had established two special administrative institutions in Cornwall - the Duchy of Cornwall and the Stannary organisation (which oversaw the local tin-mining industry)- and this made it easy for ordinary Cornish people to believe that they had been granted a unique constitutional status to reflect their unique cultural identity.

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A separate people

Throughout the early modern period, many Cornish people continued to regard Cornwall, not as an English county, but as a British country, called Kernow. Foreign observers saw things in very much the same way.

In the introduction to his famous 'Anglica Historia', first published in 1535, the Italian scholar Polydore Vergil wrote that:

'the whole Countrie of Britain ...is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, [and] the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ...in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces.'

Elsewhere, Vergil observed that Cornwall was the smallest of the three distinctive territorial units that made up the kingdom of England. This was a view that continued to be widely held until well into the 17th century. Writing in 1616, Arthur Hopton stated that:

'England is ...divided into 3 great Provinces, or Countries ...every of them speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish.'

the Cornish were commonly regarded as a separate ethnic group

Remarks made by a series of foreign visitors to England during the Tudor period make it clear that, if Cornwall was commonly regarded as almost a separate country, then the Cornish were commonly regarded as a separate ethnic group. Lodovico Falier, an Italian diplomat at the Court of Henry VIII, had no doubts on this score. 'The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other', Falier informed a correspondent in 1531 - adding that it was possible to distinguish the members of each group by their alleged 'national characteristics'. Thus 'the Welshman is sturdy, poor, adapted to war and sociable', he observed, while 'the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish; and the Englishman mercantile, rich, affable and generous.'

Seven years later, Gaspard de Coligny Chatillon - the French Ambassador in London - showed that he, too, was aware of this ethnic split. The kingdom of England was by no means a united whole, he wrote back to his political masters, for it also 'contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a [different] language'. Perceptions remained very much the same throughout the rest of the 16th century. Following the death of Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I, in 1603, the Venetian ambassador wrote that the late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': 'English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ...and Irish'.

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Rebellion and its consequences

During the Tudor period, then, almost everyone accepted that the Cornish were a separate ethnic group. Yet by 1700, practically no one did. What can account for this dramatic change? Perhaps the most crucial factor was the decline of the Cornish language: that central badge of Cornish ethnic identity. For centuries, the Cornish tongue had been gradually retreating to the west as the common people of eastern Cornwall steadily abandoned it in favour of English: the language that was already spoken by most of the local gentry and that was therefore regarded as more 'refined'.

The Reformation sharply accelerated this process. In 1549, Edward VI's protestant government decreed that the familiar Latin liturgy should be replaced with a new Prayer Book in English. A huge popular rebellion at once broke out in the West Country: a rebellion that was partially fuelled by Cornish anger at the assault on the traditional church that had been so supportive of their ancient language and culture. 'We will not receive the newe service because it is but lyke a Christmas game,' the rebels declared, 'and so we the Cornyshe men (wherof certen of us understande no Englysh) utterly refuse thys newe Englysh.'

The insurrection was eventually crushed with hideous slaughter...

Bold words - but also, perhaps, unwise ones. The insurrection was eventually crushed with hideous slaughter - some three to four thousand West Country men were killed - and in its wake the ruling classes may well have come to associate the Cornish tongue with rebellion and sedition, as well as with poverty and 'backwardness'. This in turn may help to explain why the Book of Common Prayer was never translated into Cornish, as it was later to be translated into Welsh. What is certain is that the failure to provide a liturgy in the Cornish tongue did much to hasten the subsequent decline of the language.

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The death of Cornish?

By 1640 or thereabouts, the Cornish tongue was restricted to the far west of the peninsula. Yet the Cornish sense of difference remained strong. This was made clear during the opening months of the Civil War, when Cornwall - unlike the divided English counties to the east - declared itself wholeheartedly for the King. At least in part, this was perhaps because Charles I was regarded as a British monarch, whereas his Parliamentarian opponents were felt to represent a purely English interest.

The Cornish soon won a reputation as Charles I's most committed supporters and several thousand Cornish soldiers lost their lives in his service. Ironically, loyalty was to prove as disastrous for the Cornish in the 1640s as rebelliousness had done in the 1540s. The King's eventual defeat, in 1646, was another hammer blow for traditional 'Cornishness', and thereafter both the Cornish language and the Cornish sense of ethnic identity faded fast.

By 1700, there were only 5000 Cornish speakers left: most of them living in the coastal parishes between the Lizard and Land's End. From this last, precarious toehold, there was nowhere left for the language to go but into the sea itself - and into the sea it eventually went: ending its days as a technical, ship-board vocabulary employed by a handful of elderly fishermen during the late 18th century. Cornish, it seemed, had died - and with it had died Cornwall's claim to be the fifth British nation. Or had it?

For today's Cornishmen and women - some of them speaking revived versions of Cornish, many of them increasingly fascinated both by Cornwall's distinctive past and by its potential future within a devolved United Kingdom - the answer is by no means clear-cut.

The Resurgence of Cataluya! Breaking news

One and a half million Catalans caused the complete collapse of the centre of Barcelona yesterday, Saturday 10^th July, in a demonstration without precedents. It was against the sentence made public on Friday last week by the Spanish Constitutional Court which severely cut back on Catalan rights as contained in the Catalan Statute passed both in the Catalan and Spanish Parliaments in 2005. The sentence, amongst other things, establishes that the Catalan language is to be placed in an clearly inferior position to Spanish, outrules the possibilitiy of Catalan justice institutions and ensures that the Catalan economy continues entirely in Spanish hands, granting no respite for the 10% PIB drain from Catalonia to Spain that is yearly sapping the Catalan economy.

The demonstration was coordinated by the Catalanist association Òmnium Cultural with the support of  over1500 other associations and parties.

Bearing the banner heading the vast demonstration, which completely filled three kilometres of the city’s widest avenues, were six presidents and ex presidents of the Catalan Government and Parliament from the period that these institutions were recovered, after Franco’s 40-year ban, in 1980.

This demonstration has meant a huge step forward for the independentist positions in line with recent surveys that show that figures for those Catalans favouring this option are neck and neck with those still favouring staying in Spain.

The demonstration was called under the slogans “We are a nation” and “We decide”, in answer to the Constitutional Court’s elimination of 14 articles in the Statute and the interpretation of 27 more, with the inclusion of eight references in the text to the “indissoluble unity of Spain”.

This demonstration culminates the campaign carried out since September last year in which pro-independence polls have been held in over 400 Catalan cities and towns in which over 580,000 Catalans have voted in favour of independence.

Today's Madrid press has only given partial and minor coverage to the event.

If you need more information on this question, please get in touch with us. You can see photographs of the demonstration at the link:

http://www.lluisbrunet.cat/decidim

Ireland - A Slice of Heaven on Earth

Salting the Wounds of Ireland

FOR A UNITED IRELAND

Read all about it: http://unitedirelander.blogspot.com/2007/03/why-irish-unity-needs-to-happen.html

Who put the fest in Orangefest?

Is there another festival in a European city which is so offensive to its citizens that they will travel to the ends of the earth to avoid it?

I doubt it and yet the grand wizards at the House of Orange have the audacity to call this week's tension-filled, misanthropic outing a fest. It's so much of a 'fest' that entire sections of the city have emptied on its eve. On the Malone Road on Saturday morning to pick up papers from a garage newsagent, I felt like an extra on Hitchcock's The Birds as an eerie silence replaced what is usually a bustling, early-morning market scene.

Never mind the Fenians, the many Protestants sipping their cider at Sandy Row by the Sea this Twelfth don't care enough about the 'fest' to stay in Belfast. And those that do must prepare for an exhibition of open-air urinating by bandsmen and hangers-on not seen since the RUA last displayed at Balmoral.

And when the jackdaws of Orangeism swoop this morning,  it will be Fenians, victory over whom they are supposed to be celebrating, who will ensure their provocative parade past Ardoyne does not result in rioting. How far, indeed, they have marched. Gone are the days when, as a previous columnist to this paper once recalled, Orangemen in East Belfast could march into his home — the only Catholic one in the street — on the Eleventh night, stomp upstairs, pee in the bath, and troop back out again. In their place has come a new era where Orangemen can only march if they ask permission from a Parades Commission which has already banned them from their favourite hunting grounds on the Ormeau Road and in Drumcree. And there's even better to come when the Commission is replaced by a body on which Sinn Féin will have direct appointees.

Are there any heroes in this fest? Yes, the community activists standing under brollies at the Broadway interface on Saturday night ensuring there would be no repetition of the drunken rioting which had rocked the area the previous weekend. And the republicans who will rise early this morning (Monday) to ensure the yesterday's men striding pompously past Ardoyne do not spark a violent reaction .

And spare a thought too for the working class loyalists, linked to the paramilitaries, who will be expected by the Orange Order to do the fest-fighting and cleaning up too, if it comes to that. Thankfully, the leaders of working class loyalist communities are getting wise to that old Orange Order trick.

Other than that, have a great Twelfth.

(Photographic update from the front line: didn't have a chance to get a snap of the bonfire in the Village, yards from Catholic Roden Street, where they decided insulting the neighbours by putting two Tricolours on top of the 'bonie' will not suffice. Therefore, they opted for insulting a people 2,000 miles away by adding a Palestinian flag. Class. Over in Belvoir, meanwhile, their Council-funded monstrosity (pictured) has the biggest Tricolour I've ever seen..as well as a Celtic shirt. Good to see the World Cup theme get an outing. Culture, indeed.)

Posted by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir

Marching to Perdition

Opinion

The Orange Order marches in Belfast only aggravate and inflame a very serious and sensitive issue in Ireland, the conflict of interests between the Republicans and the Unionists. It is time to look beyond sectarian interests and towards the reconciliation of the divided Irish citizens and the wider humanitarian aspirations which are shared by those who wish to see Ireland prosperous and united. Most people of the island regard their birthright as an Irish one and not one imposed by those from across the water. History, and particularly the historical events that took place and culminated in the Battle of the Boyne should be laid to rest. The Boyne Valley is now noted for its honey production which is as it should be, and honey is a sweetener with medicinal properties. These marches in Belfast which stir up hatred and hurtful memories should be banned in order that the process of reconciliation can continue.

Americymru Needs You!

URGENT! VOTE NOW! VOTE HERE:- 

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/263243673-meriwether-lewis-memorial-eisteddfod-foundation


The Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation has entered the Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook in an attempt to win a grant for $20,000 This money will be used to fund airfares and accommodation for Welsh artists and musicians to appear at the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland , Oregon this year. 

Why does this matter? For two reasons. Firstly because Wales' image in the US, in so far as its existence is recognised at all, is dominated by outmoded ideas and conceptions which actively hinder its acceptance as a thriving , creative and contemporary culture. Our Scottish and Irish cousins have done a good job of selling themselves to the world. We have not. We intend that this event will act as a 'shop window' for contemporary Welsh culture and encourage an American audience to actively explore the many riches that Wales has to offer.

Secondly since we are the only Welsh or Celtic charity in this race it has become something of a point of pride that we place in the top 200. Many people have rallied around to help with this and in our opinion it is no longer solely about how many artists we can fly across the pond. It is about whether or not the Welsh or Celtic online communities can support their own and assert themselves on a major platform and in a major contest. We pledge to support any Welsh or Celtic charity which decides to take this on next year. But right now we need your support.

Its becoming quite a cause celebre amongst the Welsh American community and we have volunteers getting the votes in around the clock.. Indeed I know of at least one of our people who has barely slept for a week. We are all hunkered down behind our mealie bags, slowly running out of ammo and singing 'Men of Harlech'. We are waiting for YOU to appear on the horizon and ride to our assistance :)

WE ARE WORKING ROUND THE CLOCK FOR THIS AND THE RACE IS VERY TIGHT, JUST 4 DAYS TO GO!

WE ONLY NEED ONE MINUTE OF YOUR TIME!

YOUR VOTE MAY BE THE ONE THAT SECURES $20,000 FOR THE EISTEDDFOD!

PLEASE READ AND VOTE!

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY VOTED PLEASE ASK A FRIEND AND POST OUR VOTING PAGE ON YOUR WALL TOGETHER WITH A PERSONAL APPEAL!


HOW TO VOTE

1. Log in to Facebook and register with the app http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/....you need to give it permission to access your profile.

2. Click on 'Search and Vote' which is in a bar with a green background just below the 'Like' button. Do not just click on the 'Like' button. You have to click it but this does not constitute a vote. All this will do is 'Like' the application. This is very important...you need to click the 'Like' button but there is more. CLICKING ON LIKE DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE VOTED.

3. On the search page:- http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/search enter ... meriwether lewis memorial eisteddfod foundation ... in the 'Charity Name' search box ( cut'n'paste will do ). This will bring us up in the search results. Click on the link to take you to the voting page. You should see a bar ( green background ) with the words 'Vote Now' . Click it and you're done. You will see the vote counter increase by one.

Diolch


From Americymru

Brythoneg/Cymraeg has more than two millennia history: -

The Coligny Moon lunar calendar – twelve months a year - six weeks a month - five days a week.

Two thousand years ago, a bronze sheet about 1½ metres by 1 metre and 5 millimetres thickness was broken into small pieces, placed in an earthenware jar and buried at a site near Coligny, Ain Province, France.

It was rediscovered when unearthed in AD 1897. The bronze pieces have now been re-assembled in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle, revealing a yearly twelve-month lunar calendar, yearly cycles repeated five times. Named the Coligny Plaque, it is inscribed with words in capital letter Latin characters, not Roman names but purely Celtic core words with added terminations. Considered a most important ancient artefact, it portrays a comprehensive Moon calendar, twelve months a year, six weeks of five days a thirty-day month. Every other
month lost one day of the fourth week to maintain a fifty-nine day bi-monthly lunar cycle.

The twelve month names are Samonios, Dumannios, Rivros, Anagantios, Ogronios, Cvtios, Giamonios, Simivisonnios, Eqvos, Elembivios, Edrinios and Cantlos. The Plaque is a record of the native Gallic Celtic language at that time, half the month names are early Welsh Brythoneg and half early Irish Gaelic, demonstrating Celtic Gallic links with the Brythonic and Gaelic languages.

I translated the twelve names as the first month SUMMER, SECOND month, THIRD month, HOARD month, OGRE month, SHELTER month, WINTER month, BUDSWELL month, LAMBING month, SPRING month, BETWEEN month and lastly FULL CIRCLE month.

Archaeologists suggest the Coligny Plaque was manufactured between 200 BC and AD 50. Having regard to the known and deduced features, I consider its actual date of manufacture could be considerably earlier. Its suggested manufacture date is not really important, what far exceeds other considerations is the message offered by the Bronze Age or Iron Age artefact. A skilfully made bronze article could properly belong to the Bronze Age well before 200 BC.

The Coligny Plaque has identical Moon calendar features to the Irish Loughcrew and Knowth petroglyphs c.3500 BC, also to Stonehenge about 2300 BC. It demonstrates a fully comprehensive lunar calendar endured for three and a half millennia until Julius Caesar decreed observance of the Julian calendar throughout the Roman Empire two thousand years ago.

My translation of the Moon calendar months’ twelve Celto-Gallic names was facilitated by concordance between the Moon calendar and Sun calendar seasons and events. I can recount how the ancient Stonehenge Sun calendar had sixteen months, four weeks of five days each month, 365 days a year.

This record of the Celto-Gallic language two thousand years ago is a significant source of written information concerning our forebears and their language.