Thread.
Found an FT article from 2008 that I was featured in about Cornish identity. No wonder we're confused about our identity when English writers say things like this (a breakdown): https://www.ft.com/content/e7b328fa-c1d2-11dd-a350-000077b07658

Based off my Irish last name, despite the fact that my mother's side is wholly indigenously Cornish and hasn't left the Camborne/Redruth area in hundreds of years.
Even if this wasn't the case, I'd still be Cornish. I don't engage much with my Irish heritage & have never visited

Except if this slip betrays a psychological contradiction in identity thats not explored enough to give 11-yos sufficient understanding to avoid using Country to refer to both Cornwall & England.
Or maybe she just misspoke?
Either way, "confusion" is just demeaning.

How does the writer know this fact? Many of the surnames of those I went to school with were common in the town in the 1700-1800s.
Furthermore, even in the 1970s, going as far as Hayle was a summer holiday for my family

I think the writer extrapolates "few families can trace their names back" from the lack of Tre/Pol/Pen in the school. This isn't a specific test for Cornish names. Many strongly associated Cornish names don't feature these words. He just assumes this fact based on a rhyme...

Classic trope: English fascination w/ ability of historically colonised areas to "lapse into code". Chooses to push this as the dominant narrative for why people want to learn Cornish: not exploring identity, just to piss off the English in pubs

or 13 year olds, apparently (i.e. me).

Dear Author,
Don't push your F-Grade O-Level in French on our language.
Sincerely,
Cornwall

I appreciate him choosing to write on the subject of Cornish identity & language, but a lot of the points he makes just try to pass our feelings of identity off as some sort of cultural confusion or some baseless nostalgia. I wish author was on Twitter to discuss more.

Cornwall has unique cultural features that rub off on you when you grow up in Cornwall. When I moved to Northern England, I was so confused by lots of things. e.g. Where can I buy saffron buns? Why aren't there more elderly choirs? What local songs did you learn in school?

Answers:
1. Nowhere, apparently it's just a Cornish thing!
2. Apparently it's a Cornish/Welsh thing
3. None. This is in my Top 10 most confusing. In school, we learnt "Going up Camborne Hill", "Lamorna", "White Rose".

These cultural features that you're aware of forge an identity that connects you to those things & others that share them - in this case, Cornish identity. This identity is only brought into sharper contrast by moving away (as discussed above).

Some people feel this identity strongly - like me - some don't so much & that's fine. Don't need to force it on anybody. I was around 12 or 13 when I became aware of my cultural identity. Who knows why? My maternal grandparents were very Cornish, perhaps that influenced me.

The language becomes a way of exploring that identity & your relationship with the land & with others who share that identity. It's easy to see around the world how tightly connected identity & language are. It is literally used every second of your day.

"Tryna fight colonialism with a colonised tongue" Regarding my contradiction between Cornish & English language, this line by @Lowkey0nline resonated with me so much.

Probably worth exploring another time how conscious Hip Hop provides cultural expression even for us Cornish!

Anyway, those are my thoughts trying to do a better job of examining Cornish identity and language than this author. It's no PhD but might be interesting to people.