Support Home Rule for Kernow (Cornwall)

NOTICE OF MEBYON KERNOW ANNUAL CONFERENCE

This year's Conference comes at important time for Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall. We achieved 7% of the vote in the European Parliamentary elections and got three councillors elected to Cornwall Council. In both elections, we out-polled the Labour Party.

More and more people are also pledging their support for our six candidates in the 2010 General Election. Why not come to Bodmin to celebrate our successes, meet with friends and help us make sure that Conference provides us with an important springboard to winning a better deal for Cornwall.

It will be held in the Public Public Rooms at Bodmin on Saturday November 21st 2009.

We hope you will be able to attend.

The draft timetable for the meeting is as follows:

Registration, tea and coffee - 10.30

MORNING SESSION - 11.00-12.45
This session will comprise the AGM and discussion of MK campaigns.

BREAK FOR DINNER - 12.45-2.00

AFTERNOON SESSION - 2.00-5.00
This will include speeches from leading MK members, and invited guests from Plaid Cymru, looking at the year ahead. There will be a break for refreshments during the afternoon and the event will finish with an open forum during which issues can be raised with the National Executive.

The finalised agenda and supporting papers will be available on the day. However, if you let us know you are planning to attend, we will send out the finalised paperwork in advance of the meeting.

For further information on the Conference, call Cllr Dick Cole on 07791 876607 or email dickcole@btinternet.com.

Taking the High Road, to Independence

Click on the map to enlarge

"Elect Richard As Gordon's Next MP"
From:
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To: alanindyfed@yahoo.co.uk

Richard Thomson sent a message to the members of Elect Richard As Gordon's Next MP.
--------------------
Subject: Canvassing Tomorrow (Sat 10th Oct) - Dyce, 11AM

Hi Folks,

We're working tomorrow (Sat 10th Oct) in Dyce. It's survey cards, so the work should be nice and easy.

Meet Asda Car park, Dyce at 11AM. Phone me if you get lost or need a lift!

Cheers,

Richard

It's a date - Glasgow NE By-Election
Very quick update - the date has been confirmed, it will be Thursday 12 November 2009. At long last the people of Glasgow North-East have a chance to elect someone to represent their interests at Westminster. We all know there's only one person who's going to do that justice so let's get out there and get David Kerr elected for the good folk of GNE. Bring it on!
(SNP)

Scottish national party to press for independence

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Scotland’s separatist government said Thursday that it would push for a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom next year — a proposal unlikely to go far because the nationalists are outnumbered in Scotland’s parliament.

The Scottish National Party has long made breaking with Britain the focus of its political agenda, but with only 47 out of 129 seats, it lacks the parliamentary majority needed to make its plan for a referendum a reality.

Nationalist leader Alex Salmond called on opposition politicians to put the issue to the people.

“The people of Scotland must be heard and this parliament must not stand in their way. Let the people speak,” Salmond said in a speech before Holyrood, Scotland’s legislature.

Other parties showed no appetite for any such a vote. Britain’s Treasury chief Alistair Darling — a senior official in the country’s Labour Party and himself a Scot — told a business audience in the city of Glasgow that politicians should be working on getting through the recession and getting people jobs.

“I find it strange that today some seem to think the priority is a referendum on the constitutional makeup of the U.K.,” he said.

Annabel Goldie, who leads the Scottish right-leaning Conservatives, joined Labour in its opposition to the referendum, dismissing it as “constitutional vandalism.”

Salmond vowed to secure independence from the U.K. when the Scottish National Party won control of Holyrood in 2007, but his ambitions have been complicated by the aftermath of the credit crunch. Most polls show that support for separation remains low.

However, most Scots do back the idea of having a referendum on the issue, according to a recent survey.

A telephone poll by BBC Scotland in June showed that 58 percent of Scots want a vote on independence — though it also showed that most would still vote in favor of remaining within the U.K. The BBC said pollster ICM interviewed 1,010 people. No margin of error was given, but surveys of that size typically have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Scottish parliament already has autonomy over justice, health and education. Powers over defense and foreign affairs remain with London. Although Scotland could raise some taxes, the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh has so far not done so.

Even if Scotland does eventually become independent, the Scottish Nationalist Party says it favors retaining the queen as the head of state.

"The media is reporting that the Scottish branch of the Liberal Democrats are meeting behind closed doors to consider dropping their opposition to the self-determination in Scotland."
Welsh Ramblings
http://welshramblings.blogspot.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8297486.stm

Cultural Vandalism in 19th Century Wales

The Welsh Not
How Welsh Language, and Welsh Culture was Nearly Killed
by Kathryn Burton


In Wales, Welsh school children were punished for speaking their own language, in the belief that the English language would solve all their educational problems. Welsh is the oldest language in Europe, dating back at least 2500 years. However, it nearly died out in the 19th century, due to a belief that English was superior, and was the only language which should be used throughout the British Empire.

A report of 1847, written by three English barristers who did not speak one word of Welsh between them, castigated Welsh culture in general, and Welsh schools in particular. It largely ignored the problems of poverty, deprivation, and poor housing, but determined that the problem with under performing Welsh schools lay with the Welsh language.

In many parts of Wales, the use of the “Welsh Not” was used to discourage the use of the Welsh language. There is evidence of this practice dating back to the 18th century, but it came into wider use in the 19th century.

The “Welsh Not” was a board, usually a rectangle of approximately 10 cm by 6 cm, although each school had its own version, and so shapes and sizes vary, with the letteres “W.N.” carved into it. Each morning, this was hung around the neck of the first child caught speaking Welsh, who had to hand it to the next child caught speaking Welsh, who in turn had to hand it to the next child. The unfortunate child wearing the Welsh Not around their neck at the end of the school day was punished. The punishment was usually a caning or detention, although the headmaster of Neuaddllwyd school, in Ceredigion, fined his pupils and used the money to pay for tobacco.

There is some argument over how widespread this practice was, (it was mainly used in eastern and south Wales,to a lesser extent in north and far west Wales). It was largely confined to primary schools. There is no evidence of its use in Grammar schools, however this was hardly surprising, as the children attending Grammar schools would already be inculcated in the use of English. However, culturally, the practice reverberated throughout Wales, and even today, the “Welsh Not” is one of the most hated symbols of English oppression, although it was never part of official British Government policy.

This directly led to the Welsh cultural fightback, and now Welsh people have a genuine pride in their language and heritage. Today the Welsh Assembly government has a bilingual policy, and Welsh inabitants are quite used to having both Welsh and English on all official documents, road signs, and public announcements. All children in Wales learn Welsh at school, and there are many schools in Wales which use Welsh routinely as a medium for instruction.


Read more: http://welshhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_welsh_not#ixzz0TKlJhmeg

Read more: http://welshhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_welsh_not#ixzz0TKk9sHFg

Lost Lands of our Fathers

In 410 the Roman emperor, Honorius, told the local authorities in Britain that he could not send any reinforcements to help them defend the province against 'barbarian' attacks.
The newcomers were not so much invaders as NEW OCCUPANTS who at times fought against the Britons -- or as the Invaders called them the wealas , an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) word meaning slave or foreigner. Curious attitude and viewpoint, but very Anglo-Saxon indeed, to look on the legitimate residents or inhabitants of another land they are invading or systematically occupying as the "Foreigners" or "Slaves," when it is THEY who are the foreign entities forcing their entry under their own imposition. Moreover, in many areas not far from the coastlines of Britannia (Britain) much of the settlement was peaceful with some Germanic-Danish farmers and craftsmen integrating themselves into existing communities. The numbers of the "invaders" was certainly large at times, and they certainly did affect the nature of Bretisc (Briton) society, even to the extent of replacing in protracted manner the primary Celtic language. They did not wipe out the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, although there were thousands of deaths involved, along with rape, looting, and appropriation (as all invasions do in the end). At first, the arrival of the initial hordes was violent and bloody, but as the decades flew by, they realized that assimilation and blending would be a more effective strategy. Nevertheless, there were not always Bretisc communities who were too willing to let the invaders simply come in and take over their lives, and thus resistance and fight were inevitable outcomes. On the other hand, it is certainly NOT true that the Celts were, nor ever have been, a weak nor a compliant or complacent lot. On the contrary, they were a highly nationalized and hearty race always pressing onward in their struggle for their lands and survival.

Whatever the assumed or inferred "facts" may be, it is more likely than not that there were in actuality a mixture of all the speculations and conjectures which have been handed down to us in recent years by the "experts" in the field. The fact is that in some regions and places the native Britons were entirely, or almost entirely, replaced by the newcomers, while in other places the two peoples lived side by side, gradually blending in with each other through miscegenation. Still, in other places, especially the more remote regions to the north, the population remained almost exclusively Bretisc, although these "British" people gradually adopted some of the ways and parts of the language of the invaders. (This gave rise to the modern English speaker who still retains the ancient mother tongue and genetic or national character of that remote and venerable past.) Here is an extraordinary fact and principle of invasions and occupations which allow for the COEXISTENCE of both races. This was precisely the "miracle" of the British island which came later to be called "England." The Britons and the "Anglo-Saxon" occupants and newcomers both allowed for the blending of customs, actions, traditions, and community actions -- LANGUAGE, only to some extent. For, it was with the passing of Time that essentially the Anglo-Saxon mixture of the invaders' dialects merged to reshape and give rise to the incipient language form now known as ENGLISH. In brief, with the passing of the decades and Evolutionary Time, ANGLO-SAXON originated (now named "Old English" by linguistic study); and it was this ultimate product which united the British peoples in the end. As time went on, Old English evolved further from the original Continental form, and regional dialects developed. The four major dialects recognized in Old English are Kentish, originally the dialect spoken by the Jutes; West Saxon, a branch of the dialect spoken by the Saxons; and Northumbrian and Mercian, subdivisions of the dialects spoken by the Angles. By the 9th century, partly through the influence of Alfred, king of the West Saxons and the first ruler of all England, West Saxon became prevalent in prose literature. A Mercian mixed dialect, however, was primarily used for the greatest poetry, such as the anonymous 8th-century epic poem Beowulf and the contemporary elegiac poems.
http://www.geocities.com/meister_z/ANSAXNVA.htm

Labour and the "Welsh Not"

It is decreed: "Welsh must not be spoken".
The Labour government in London operates increasingly by decree, not by consensus.
It must be admitted that the system LCO's is a botched and cumbersome exercise and of no use to Wales.
These failed politicians choose to ignore fundamental realities and communal needs and aspirations. Truly they will not survive following the next general election. They have served Wales badly and have lost their traditional base of support, both in Wales and in Scotland. Along with other British parties they are unionist to the core, despite their espousal of devolution. They are fearful of the logical outcome, the dissolution of Britain, where the trappings of the Establishment and its constitutional anomalies are so in conflict with the movement for change and the growth of a new awareness throughout Europe, from Sicily and Sardinia to Flanders and Cornwall. This resurgence is not confined to these islands. The peoples of Europe are not content to be merely a part of an amorphous super-state; they need to feel a sense of national identity too, with their culture and language intact and recognised as being of value and great worth in the diversity of small nations bound in unity which is the future face of Europe.

Welsh is a Living Language - Accept it!

Language LCO: Get on with it! Plaid AM calls to ditch Welsh Grand discussion on LCO
06 October 2009

Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood has called for the Welsh Language LCO to finally be passed by Westminster after the Welsh government revealed the final content of the formal bid for powers over the Welsh Language.

Ms Wood labelled the upcoming debate in the Welsh Grand Committee in Westminster as “pointless”, saying that it should be cancelled so that Westminster can finally pass the powers to Wales.

The One Wales Government today announced that agreement had finally been reached with the Wales Office in Westminster over the content of the LCO – and that it will enable the government to deliver all of its One Wales language policies.

The Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central sat on the National Assembly Legislation Committee on the LCO.

Plaid AM Leanne Wood said:

“The cross party committee on this LCO called for all powers on the Welsh language to be brought home to Wales and I’m disappointed that its not possible for that to happen right now. However, it is clear that we can deliver the policies agreed upon in One Wales with the powers this LCO asks for.

“This process has now been ongoing for the past 2 years, and the last thing the language needs now is more needless delays. Holding a pointless discussion in the Welsh Grand Committee can achieve nothing except delaying positive legislation even further – it should simply be cancelled.

“Both an Assembly committee and a Westminster committee have looked at this issue at length and had their say. We must now get on with it, and let the Welsh Government legislate as soon as possible.”

Menna Machreth, chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, said: “The Wales Office and Welsh Assembly Government have decided to block the people of Wales from gaining access to the Welsh language. What difference will this measure do to the day-to-day lives of people in Wales? The Wales Office and Assembly Government prefer to please large corporations and anti-Welsh elements within the Labour Party instead of making a real difference to the Welsh language’s status in Wales.”

See this:
http://cymdeithas.org/pdf/gorchymyn-iaith-tystiolaeth-cyig-san-steffan.pdf

Carwyn's Poor Strategy & Global Reality

Carwyn Jones' strategy in promoting himself to be the next Chief Minister of the Welsh Assembly is short-sighted and ineffectual. He is playing the Unionist "I am Welsh and British and British is Best" card. It is an argument which belongs to a past age as Gordon Brown is finding to his cost. Today's Britain is bankrupt economically, mortgaged to the hilt, and embroiled in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, having followed America's policy of imposing western democracy on theocratic Middle Eastarn states, which would be better off left to their own devices and carving out their own futures. We are a global world now, certainly, but this does not give former colonial powers the right to assert their superior authority, backed by military might, and so control the world.
Wales needs to shake off the shackles of Unionism, not proclaim it, and recover its past from the clutches and the sorry legacy of Britannic hegemony.

The Celtic Kingdom of Devon

CELTIC DEVON
http://users.senet.com.au/~dewnans/

This website attempts to uncover some of the real history of Devon - a Celtic Devon - proud, unique, and independent.

Most people are aware that Devon has beautiful varied scenery, a rich Maritime history ( with names such as Drake, Raleigh, Gilbert, Grenville, etc...) and a vibrant tourist industry.

However Devon is much, much more than that.

Devon was the cornerstone of one of Britain's most significant Celtic Kingdoms (Dumnonia), and retains a significant heritage from those days. Devon's people are predominantly of Celtic stock, with the Celtic language (which also resulted in Cornish) being spoken well into the dark ages, and is retained today in place names, dialect, as well as in customs and culture.

This is not to say that the Saxons, who 'conquered' Devon in the eight and ninth centuries (and who militarily conquered Cornwall in the ninth and tenth centuries), or the Normans who did the same to the whole of England in the eleventh century, are without merit or contribution. However the point of this web-page is to promote that part of Devon's history which for some strange reason appears to have been repressed - that of Celtic Devon.

Devon's Cornish Celtic name is Dewnans although another Celtic name for it is Dyfnaint (meaning 'deep valley dwellers') and it is this that gives Devon its name.

Devon was one of the last areas of what is now known as England to be conqured by the Anglo-Saxon invaders, and was not formally claimed by the Saxon Kindom of Wessex until the early ninth century (805 AD - only a couple of decades before Cornwall was 'conquered', although Cornwall retained some degree of independence thereafter), and even after this (as noted in King Alfred the Great's will in 900 AD), Devon's Celtic people were called Wealcynn (wealas being the Anglo-Saxon word for Celts, and literally translates as 'foreigner').

Perhaps it is surprising that this history of Celtic identity is not better known. How can this be so? A number of factors probably came into play. The Victorian era prized all things teutonic because (for some reason) they equated it with civilised society. Even in the mid/late twentieth century schools teach a 'unified' english history with little focus on regional history. Devon's own Celtic history has been overlooked and neglected. This story is not unique to Devon. History, language and culture have been suppressed in many parts of the Celtic world (eg Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany - to name a few). In Devon's case its proximity to Cornwall, with its own rich Celtic ancestry, has probably also hindered recognition of Devon's own history.

The question of Devon's Celtic identity is not new. In 1870 Professor Thomas Huxley, President of the Royal Society, President of the Ethnological Society and friend of Charles Darwin who stated that '(Devonians) are as little Anglo-Saxon as Northumbrians are Welsh' by which he meant that Devonians are genetically descended from the Brythonic Celts, rather than the germanic tribes of the Angles or Saxons who give the term 'Anglo-Saxon' (and the term England) its name.

The 'pro-teutonic' prejudices of the Victorian era were Huxley's target, and sadly his views were not universally accepted. The ramifications of this 'Victorian prejudice' continued well into the twentieth century, and distorted the real history. However the issue is now being revisited, and the truth is slowly emerging.

Recent genetic evidence (from the BBC 'Blood of the Vikings' series) has indicated that the Celtic peoples in South Western Britain not only survived, but that their gene pool are predominant in the current population.

Norwegian based research indicates that Devon (and Cornwall) has a far greater proportion of black hair colour than other english counties, a tendancy also seen in Ireland and Scotland. Perhaps this also provides evidence of a common Celtic background, and certainly supports the theory that the Tamar is no 'racial' boundary.

Comment:
Prince Geraint
(g hard). Tributary Prince of Devon, and one of the knights of the Round Table. Overhearing part of E'nid's words, he fancied she was faithless to him, and treated her for a time very harshly; but Enid nursed him so carefully when he was wounded that he saw his error, “nor did he doubt her more, but rested in her fealty, till be crowned a happy life with a fair death.” (Tennyson: Idylls of the King; Enid.)

"Brown’s presentation of English policies as if they were British exemplified all the familiar dishonest and self-serving motivations"
http://britologywatch.wordpress.com/

A Force for Change

Whatever can be said about the flawed and abysmal policies generated by New Labour one stands out as an unstoppable force for change, namely devolution. The logical and inevitable result of devolution will be the setting up of national parliaments and government within the nations of Britain and the advent of independence for the former colonies of the English Crown. The efforts and the struggles of national figures, Owain Glyndwr, William Wallace, Padraig Pearse and Bishop Trelawney, will be vindicated and history will elevate them and venerate them as national heroes in their respective nations.

Devolution Delays in the North of Ireland

Policing powers for northern Ireland are being devolved from Westminster but they are causing tension between the power-sharing executive. The British PM is flying there to attempt a resolution before the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Press association

While the two main parties in the powersharing executive both support the transfer of law and order responsibilities from Westminster, they are at loggerheads over the timing of the move.

Sinn Fein claims it should have happened months ago, but the DUP says it will not approve devolution until the Treasury stumps up an appropriate cash package - thought to be in the region of £600 million - to support the region's new justice department.

Though the republican party acknowledges funding is important, it believes Mr Robinson is using it as an excuse to delay the transfer in the face of resistance from hard-line elements within his ranks. Senior Sinn Fein figures also believe the DUP is wary of the electoral impact of the move, given the vocal opposition to devolution from the anti-agreement Traditional Unionist Voice party.

Comment:
Traditional Unionist need to realise that the road ahead for northern Ireland is in uniting with the South and establishing the long delayed and fiercely resisted (by Ulstermen of the Orange order) unification of all Ireland as a free and independent sovereign state within Europe.

The Seven Celtic Nations

Preponderance of Celtic DNA in Britain

Correct me if I am mistaken but DNA tests throughout Britain have ascertained that 67% of the British population has DNA from their Celtic forebears. If this is true it points to the assumption that the Saxon incursions into Britain did not make such a physically genetic impact on the population even though the Saxon domination resulted in the eventual subjugation of the native British population. Thus, large numbers of "English" people living today have Celtic DNA and not Germanic apart from the fact of interbreeding across the centuries.

The True Britons

A letter from Australia

The Welsh & Cornish Are the Last of the TRUE Britons/British!
Global
Basic Info
Name:
The Welsh & Cornish Are the Last of the TRUE Britons/British!
Category:
Common Interest - History
Description:

Shw'mae pawb! (Hello everyone!)

When people hear the word 'Britain' their instant thought to mind is 'England'! Yes, England is a part of the the United Kingdom of Great Britain along with Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Northern Ireland! But do they really understand what the word 'British' means?

It is a term that has been lost or should I say stripped off the Welsh & Cornish people in the midst of History!

I think it's about time that the Welsh & Cornish revive this term and bring it back to Wales & Cornwall where it truly belongs within its roots! How many times have you been somewhere abroad on holidays and hear an English person refer to themselves as British?!? About 98 times out of 100, that's how many! But do they and everybody else around the world know the true meaning of the term?

The term British or Briton was the name given to the inhabitants of the island of Britannia/Britain, the Brythonic Celts i.e. Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric and maybe Pictish! They spoke a Brythonic/Brittonic language i.e. modern day Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Cumbric (the later sadly extinct)! They inhabited the island of Britain long before the Saxons, Jutes, Angles (modern day English) arrived from 440 AD onwards, who were Germanic tribes and speakers of a western Germanic language! Now although they refer to themselves as British, are they? Do they speak any Brythonic/Brittonic? NO! Even the Scots are not, while Cumbric died out in Strathclyde & Pictish in Pictland; and the actual 'Scots' themselves are Gaelic Celts originally crossing from Ireland to Scotland, who mixed with the Picts. So there is how the term misleads people all over the world and I think its about time the Welsh stood up and proudly claim what is rightfully theirs!

So when asked what nationality you are, don't stubbornly say 'I'm Welsh/Cornish not British' like most Welsh seem to do, you're just stating what the government and the others want you to state! Proudly say 'I'm a true Briton' You've got every right even more right to state your Brythonic/British roots than anyone else in U.K! Lets promote ourselves like other countries do and get this point across the world and teach people and tourist the true history and terms when they enter Cymru (Wales) or Kernow (Cornwall)

This group is open to all you Welsh & Cornish folk who want to get your points across and anyone else who is open for discussion! This is not a racist group* and does not promote such a thing, everyone is welcome to express their views and find out about heritage and the history of Britain and the Celts!

Diolch yn fawr/Meur rasta (thank you very much)!

Jason Perry
Location:
Sydney, Australia *it is a new group on Facebook

Outrage at State Snoopers and Infiltrators

This outrage took place at the funeral in Wales of Glyn Rowlands

From : Cambrian News

POLICE have been accused of acting in a “deplorable” way by asking Machynlleth Town Council to use a room at its Plas building for covert monitoring of a rally following the funeral of a well-known Welsh nationalist from Corris.
The rally was held earlier this month after the funeral of Glyn Rowlands, 71, who was a supporter of the Free Wales Army.
Town clerk John Parsons told a meeting this week he was stunned when he learned that the town’s PCSO asked Plas manager Bob Dunn on the day of the funeral if the CCTV system based at the Plas could be moved to cover the Owain Glyndŵr memorial.
When Cllr Dunn said he couldn’t do that, he was asked if a room in the Plas overlooking the memorial could be used to covertly monitor the memorial and rally.
Mr Parsons has written to Dyfed Powys Police Chief Constable Ian Arundale to complain about the police’s request. He said: “I feel the request for such an operation should have been made beforehand and by a more senior officer. To ask for this on the day of Mr Rowlands’ funeral was, in some ways, offensive.”
He added: “There were more police in plain clothes and in uniform than there have been in Machynlleth for many years.
“To do that on the day of a man’s funeral was beyond. If Bob had agreed that would make us a part of it and I felt that was deplorable.”
Mayor Sylvia Rowlands, a relative of Mr Rowlands, said: “There was no way people there would have caused trouble on that day. I took part in that march and so did a lot of other people and this was very upsetting.”
Superintendent Huw Meredith said: “We are in receipt of a letter from the clerk to Machynlleth Town Council raising some concerns in respect of the policing response on the day of the funeral of Mr Rowlands.
“We are currently examining the issues raised and will communicate with the council in due course.”

http://welshremembrancer.blogspot.com/2009/10/security-services-show-disrespect-to.html

Seeking Deliverance

"From the Posturings and Pretensions of New Labour
May the Good Lord deliver us."