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## Preface and References from _Gwreans an Bys_ (KDL edition, August 2000)  ##
## Edited by Ray Edwards.                                                   ##
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                                  RAGLAVAR
	
Pan dhallathas Kernewek Kemmyn yn 1987, yn mysk oll an tekstow Kernewek, nyns 
esa marnas The Cornish Writings of the Boson Family, dyllys gans an Dr Oliver 
Padel, yn prynt hag a yllys y brena, yn lytherennans an mammskrif. Wosa ena, 
KDL re dhellos Yowann Chi an Hordh, (1987) an Darn Chartour, (1991) Passhyon 
agan Arloedh, (1993) Bywnans Meryasek, (1996) ha'n Ordinalia (1998/2000) yn 
lytherennans an mammskrif gans treylyans dhe Gernewek Kemmyn ha Sowsnek, ha 
Pregothow Treger (1994) yn lytherennans an mammskrif yn unnsel. 

Gwrians an Bys a gowlwra agan kynsa towlenn dhe brofya dhe'n werin oll an 
tekstow Kernewek marnas Treger yn lytherennans an mammskrif, yn Kernewek 
Kemmyn, hag yn Sowsnek erbynn 2004, kansbloedh Dornlyver an Yeth Kernewek gans 
Henry Jenner, yw gwelys yn fenowgh avel dalleth dasserghyans an yeth Kernewek. 
(Y hyllir kavoes oll an lyvrow ma dhiworth KDL po Kesva an Taves Kernewek) 
Gorfennys yw an ober ma gans peder blydhen dhe wari ha hemma yw sywyans, dre 
vras, an gweres ow tyghtya an kors Kernewek dre Lyther res dhymm gans Richard 
Jenkin, Lilian James, Symon Harner ha John Parker, ow kasa dhymm termyn dhe 
oberi gans an tekstow. Moy es henna, my a yll lemmyn oberi gans an Pregothow a 
Yowann Treger, ow kwaytya pareusi dyllans gwell erbynn 2004.

Rag an lyver profys lemmyn, Keith Syed re ros dhymm an tekst dell veu pryntys 
gans Whitley Stokes yn 1864 dasskrifys dhe gylgh jynn-amontya gans arhwilell. 
Keith re ros dhymm ynwedh y dreylyans a'n tekst dhe Gernewek Kemmyn, gwrys war 
gylgh jynn-amontya yn kynsa rag y dhevnydh priva. An dyllans profys lemmyn a 
dal meur ynwedh dhe'n dyllans gwrys gans E. G. Retallack Hooper a'n ober gans 
A. S. D. Smith ha R. Morton Nance yn Kernewek Unys ha Sowsnek, dyllys gans 
Dyllansow Truran yn 1985, ha dhe'n huni gans Paula Neuss dyllys gans Garland 
Publishing Inc. yn 1983. Hemm yw dyllans pur 'vas gans raglavar hir ha meur a 
notennow. Mar kwrug vy devnydh a redyansow dhiworth Hooper ha/po Neuss, 
diskwedhys yw an re ma y'n goloven a Gernewek Kemmyn hag y'm notennow, mes yn 
goloven an mammskrif, pryntys yw tekst Stokes heb ken, gans y ewnansow ev dell 
yns diskwedhys yn y errata. Genev vy yw an treylyans Sowsnek mes y feu gwrys 
gans gweres treylyansow Stokes, Nance ha Neuss. Dhe'n redyer kommendys yw 
ynwedh redya dyllans Paula Neuss, hag ynno meur a dherivadow a-dro dhe'n gwari.

My a aswonn moy ha moy an gendon a dal Dasserghyans an Yeth dhe Stokes ha 
skoloryon erell a'y oes. Ha'n dus ma yn fyw hag owth oberi kyns dalleth an 
Dasserghyans, boghes re beu an gordhyans profys dhedha, mes res yw govynn 
pandr'a hwarvia mar ny ve aga dyllansow a'n tekstow gans tasow an Dasserghyans 
avel sel aga ober.

Yn mes a notennow Stokes my re withas heb ken an re a-dro dhe redyansow an 
tekst ha'n re yw hwath dhe les. Yma meur a'y notennow ow tochya y dreylyans ev, 
po gramer ha geryow yw styrys gwell y'n yethadoryon ha gerlyvrow arnowydh re 
beu dyllys wosa dyllans Stokes. My re worras notennow ow honan a-dro dhe'n 
tekst pan heveli 'vas yn lytherennow sanserif ha sywys gans an kynsa 
lytherennow a'm hanow (RE). Pan eus kampoell dyllans Hooper, diskwedhys yw gans 
Hooper dhe wul dihevelepter a erlyver Nance 1990 yw henwys Nance 90. 

Yma dihevelepterow byghan yn niverennans an linennow yntra an tri dyllans 
devnydhys genev awos aga fyllel bos unnver yn kever hirder nebes linennow. An 
dyllans ma a syw niverow Hooper mes nyns eus kaletter awos hemma rag nyns eus 
dihevelepter y'n niverennans a voy es dew po tri.

Tekst ha notennow Stokes yw pryntys yn lytherennow Romanek. An treylyans dhe 
Gernewek Kemmyn ha dhe Sowsnek yw pryntys yn lytherennow sanserif ha my a 
omgemmer ow honan ragdha avel dyller. Pan eus Sowsnek y'n tekst, skrifys yw 
hemma y'n goloven a Gernewek Kemmyn yn Sowsnek an moyha arnowydh a vo possybyl. 
Skrifys yw an gorhemmynnadow dhe'n warioryon yn Sowsnek. (Nyns yw hemma an kas 
yn Meryasek nag y'n Ordinalia le may 'mons skrifys yn Latin.) Aga le a-ji dhe'n 
tekst yw war-lergh Hooper ha dihaval yn fenowgh a is Stokes ha Neuss. 
Lytherennans an Sowsnek, ha'n geryow treweythyow, re beu arnowydhhes y'n 
goloven Sowsnek. (Gis an gorhemmynnadow ma re beu sywys yn fordh dhidhan yn 
Bewnans Alysaryn gans Peggy Pollard. An gwari berr ma a waynyas piwas an Orsedh 
yn 1940 ha re beu daspryntys gans Spyrys a Gernow.) My re worras tri fennskrifa 
a rannow a'n gwari yw res gans Hooper: Lamech and Cain, (l. 1429) The Death of 
Adam (l. 1726) ha Noah's Flood (l. 2212) Nyns usi an re ma yn Stokes na Neuss.

Awos y hanow, Gwrians an Bys, es yw krysi y vos daswrians heb ken an Origo 
Mundi. Kyn fo rannow an keth, nyns yw hemma gwir mann. Yma gwethter diblans y'n 
Kernewek. Moy sowsnekhes yw an geryow ha'n lytherennans. Ny a wel yn fenowgh 
geryow ha gorrys dhedha bogalennow heb son, kepar ha wyre (wir) yn l. 3 a dal 
bos unn syllabenn gans e heb son wor'tiwedh. An lytherennans a dhiskwa ynwedh 
speda krev troha Kernewek diwedhes gans geryow kepar hag idn yn l. 5 rag unn. 
Yma an gwir gans an Dr Nicholas Williams ow leverel bos an ober ma, ha ganso 
Pregothow Treger, klas diblans yntra Kernewek kres ha Kernewek Diwedhes.

War fordh arall, yma gwellheans bras yn y nas dhramasek. Origo Mundi a brof 
niver a hwedhlow divers a'n Testament Koth ha gansa hwedhlow hengovek nag usi 
y'n Bibel, heb diskwedhes kevrenn yntredha (marnas Henhwedhel an Grows) ha heb 
meur a furv dhramasek. (Rag derivadow a-dro dhe Henhwedhel an Grows, gwel The 
Legend of the Rood gans F. E. Halliday, Duckworth, London, 1955.)

Gwrians an Bys a dheriv an Gwrians sywys gans rebellyans Lusifer a'n jeves furv 
dhramasek gwrys yn ta hag yw diskwedhys avel an skila prag y hwrug Dyw Adam hag 
Eva dhe gemmeres an le kellys gans Lusifer. Hwedhlow Adam hag Eva, ha Kaym hag 
Abel yw haval lowr dhe'n OM mes wosa Kaym dhe ladha Abel yma studhyans down 
gnas Kaym avel den a woer ev dhe vos kablus mes na vynn kemmeres edrek mann 
kynth usi ow perthi own a dhial ha trestya dhe'n merk res dhodho gans Dyw rag y 
witha, ernag yw ledhys dre wall gans Lamek, y dhiyskynnyas dal a grys y vos 
goedhvil awos y vos gordevys gans blew. Sywys yw an derivas ma gans mernans 
Adam yw haval lowr dhe'n OM may hwra unn hwedhel a-dro dhe Adam hag Eva ha'ga 
theylu.

Lemmyn ni a wel a ver spas Enok yw degemmerys dhe baradhis, ha Seth a worr 
peswar lyver a govadhow yn peder koloven dh'aga witha rag an liv usi ow tos. 
Nyns yw hemma kevys y'n OM.

Ogas lowr yw hwedhel Noy dhe'n OM marnas an rann gwariys gans Tubal Kayn a brof 
dadhel resnys yn ta na vynn Dyw diswul dre liv an bys re wrug nammnygen. Y 
dhadhel a berth kov a dhadhel Tewdar yn Meryasek. Ottomma diwedh an hwedhel, ow 
kasa yn mes an hwedhlow diwettha y'n OM Ytho an dhew bennhwedhel, an Gwrians 
ha'n Liv yw kelmys warbarth dhe wul unnses a fyll yn tien y'n OM Yma ynno 
ynwedh an henhwedhel a Seth ow plansa sprus aval yn ganow ha dewfrik Adam pan 
yw ynkleudhyes. Hemm yw dalleth an Henhwedhel an Grows a resek der an 
Ordinalia.

Gwrians an Bys a hevel moy arnowydh ha le y'n gis a'n Oesow Kres es an 
Ordinalia hag y tal perthi kov y vos skrifys y'n termyn Shakespeare ha ken 
skriforyon gwariow Sowsnek a vri. Y oes a veu henna an Siglo de Oro yn Spayn 
hag ev a veu sywys a-dhesempis gans an Grand Siècle yn Pow Frynk. Dasskrifys 
veu yn 1611, blydhen an Authorised (King James) Version an Bibel. Lyenn Europek 
re wrussa avonsya pell wosa termyn an Ordinalia.

Dell yw an kas gans an tekstow erell re dhelles, nyns yw an lyver ma moy es 
dyllans servadow dhe brovia an tekst yn lytherennans an mammskrif gans 
treylyans dhe Gernewek Kemmyn ha Sowsnek ha my a wayt y fydh neb skoler owth 
omgemmeres pareusi dyllansow gwell ha moy kollenwys a vo wordhi dhe vos sel 
gwir an taves Kernewek y'n blydhynyow a-dheragon.

Pur synsys ov dhe Keith Syed ha'n Dr Davydh Balhatchet re hwithras an tekst hag 
ewna kammskrifow pals ha gwellhe an treylyans. Ow gwreg re'm gweresas, meur hy 
ferthyans, ow redya an mammskrif lytherenn ha lytherenn genev dhe bellhe 
kammskrifow. Kepar ha den, arhwilell, a-der avel jynn-fotokopi, a wra 
kammskrifow treweythyow. Mars eus kammskrifow gesys, po kammskrifow nowydh, 
yma'n fowt dhymmo vy.

KDL a woer gras dhe Dover Publications Inc. a'y gummyas dhe dhasskrifa 
delinyansow dhiworth The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer dyllys gans Willi 
Kurth. An re ma a veu kevys ha profyes dhyn gans Keith Syed ha pur synsys 
dhodho on ni.

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                                    PREFACE

When Kernewek Kemmyn was launched in 1987 the only Cornish texts available in 
print in the original manuscript spelling were The Cornish Writings of the 
Boson Family edited by Dr Oliver Padel. Since then, KDL has published Yowann 
Chi an Hordh, (1987) the Charter Fragment, (1991) The Passion Poem, (1993) 
Bywnans Meryasek (1996) and the Ordinalia (1998/2000) all in the MS spelling 
with a Kernewek Kemmyn conversion and an English translation, and the Tregear 
Homilies (1994) in the MS spelling only. 

The Creation of the World completes our initial programme of making all the 
texts except Tregear available in the MS and KK spellings with an English 
translation by 2004, the centenary of Henry Jenner's Handbook of the Cornish 
Language which is often regarded as the beginning of the current revival of the 
language. (All these books may be obtained from KDL or the Cornish Language 
Board.) The fact that this has been achieved with four years to spare owes much 
to the help received from Richard Jenkin, Lilian James, Symon Harner and John 
Parker in running the KDL Cornish Course, leaving me time to devote to the work 
of editing the texts. It also means I shall now be able to work on the Tregear 
Homilies in the hope of preparing a fuller edition than the one now available 
by 2004.

For the present book, Keith Syed has provided me with the text, which was 
printed by Whitley Stokes in 1864 scanned onto computer disk. Keith has also 
given me his conversion of the text to Kernewek Kemmyn, originally made on disk 
for his personal use. However, the edition now offered is also heavily indebted 
to the one made by E. G. Retallack Hooper of the version in Unified Cornish and 
English by R. Morton Nance and A. S. D. Smith and published by Dyllansow Truran 
in 1985, and to the one by Paula Neuss published by Garland Publishing Inc. in 
1983. This is a very full edition with a copious introduction and notes. Where 
I have used a reading from Hooper and/or Neuss this is indicated in the 
Kernewek Kemmyn column and in my notes but the Stokes version, incorporating 
corrections given in his list of errata, is retained in the MS column. The 
translation is my own, but is heavily dependant on the translations of Stokes, 
Nance and Neuss. The reader is recommended to read the edition of Paula Neuss 
alongside the present edition as it contains a vast amount of additional 
information.

I have become increasingly aware of the great debt owed by the present revival 
movement to Stokes and other scholars of his time. As these men predate the 
actual revival they have received little praise but one wonders what would have 
happened if the early Revivalists had not had their editions on which to base 
their work.

I have retained Stokes' notes, only in cases where they are concerned with 
readings of the text or still seem to be of interest. Many of them deal with 
his own translation or points of grammar or vocabulary which are explained more 
fully in the modern grammars and dictionaries which were not available when the 
book was first published. I have added notes myself on the text where these 
seemed necessary, in a non-serif type font and followed by my initials (RE). In 
these notes I have referred to Hooper's edition as Hooper to distinguish it 
from references to the Nance dictionary republished in 1990 which is referred 
to as Nance 90.

There is some slight divergence in line numbering between the three editions I 
have used as they display a certain disagreement in a few cases as to what 
actually constitutes a line. This edition follows the numbering used by Hooper 
but cross reference is not difficult as the difference in the numbering is 
never more than two or three.	

Stokes' text and notes are in Roman type. The Kernewek Kemmyn conversion and 
the translation, for which I accept full editorial responsibility, is in a 
non-serif type font. Where English occurs in the text, the version of this in 
the Kernewek Kemmyn column is modernised as far as possible. The stage 
instructions are in English (unlike the Ordinalia and Meryasek where they are 
in Latin) I have followed Hooper as to where they are positioned in the text of 
the play. This is often different in Stokes and Neuss. The spelling and 
sometimes the wording have been modernised in the English column. (There are 
entertaining parodies of these stage instructions in Bewnans Alysaryn by Peggy 
Pollard which won the Gorsedd prize in 1940 and has been re-issued by Spyrys a 
Gernow). I have inserted three section headings given by Hooper: Lamech and 
Cain, (l. 1429)  The Death of Adam, (l. 1726) and Noah's Flood. (l. 2212). 
These do not appear in Stokes or Neuss.

It is easy to assume, because of its title that this play is just a re-run of 
the Origo Mundi. This is far from true in spite of the fact that some passages 
are identical. There is a clear deterioration in the quality of the Cornish. 
Vocabulary and spelling become much more Anglicised. We often see words to 
which silent vowels have been added such as wyre (wir: true) in l. 3 which must 
be one syllable with a final silent e. The spelling also shows very marked 
progress towards Late Cornish with words like idn in l. 5 for unn. Dr Nicholas 
Williams is right in regarding this work and the Tregear Homilies as an 
intermediate category between Middle and Late Cornish.

On the other hand there is a clear improvement in dramatic form. Origo Mundi 
gives several different episodes from the Old Testament with added legendary 
material without showing much connection between them (except the Legend of the 
Rood) and very little dramatic build up. (For information about the Legend of 
the Rood see the book of this name by F. E. Halliday, Duckworth, London, 1955.) 

Creation of the World concentrates on the actual Creation itself followed by 
Lucifer's Rebellion which has considerable dramatic build up and is shown to be 
the reason why God created Adam and Eve to take the place which Lucifer has 
forfeited. The Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel stories are fairly close to the 
OM version but after Cain has slain Abel his character is studied in depth as 
one who knows he is guilty but utterly refuses to repent although he fears 
revenge and relies on the mark God has given him for protection until he is 
killed by mistake by Lamech, his blind descendant, who thinks he is a wild 
beast because he is covered in hair. This episode is followed by the death of 
Adam which is fairly close to the OM. version so that it is all tied into the 
story of Adam and Eve and their family.

Now we have a brief glimpse of Enoch who is carried off to paradise and Seth 
who places four books of records in four pillars to protect them from the 
forthcoming flood. This does not appear in the OM.

The story of Noah is fairly close to the OM version except for the introduction 
of Tubal Cain who puts forward a very logical argument that God is not likely 
to destroy the world he has just created in a flood and we see the contrast 
between the Creation of the World and its Destruction in the Flood. His logic 
is reminiscent of Teudar in Meryasek. The story ends here and omits the later 
episodes found in the OM so the two main themes, the Creation and the Flood are 
linked together to form a unity quite lacking in the OM. It also has the story 
of Seth planting the apple pips in the mouth and nostrils of Adam when he is 
buried. This forms the beginning of the Legend of the Rood which runs through 
the Ordinalia.

CW has a more modern and less mediaeval feel about it than the Ordinalia and it 
is worth bearing in mind that it was contemporary with Shakespeare and other 
well known English playwrights. It was also contemporary with the Spanish Siglo 
de Oro and was followed immediately by the French Grand Siècle. Its date is 
1611, the same year as the Authorised (King James) Version of the English 
Bible. European literature had come a long way since the time of the Ordinalia.

As with the other texts which I have edited, this book is only a provisional 
publication to make available the text in the manuscript spelling with a 
conversion to Kernewek Kemmyn and English, and I hope some scholar will 
undertake the preparation of better and more complete editions which are worthy 
of being the true basis of the Cornish language in the years ahead.

I am very grateful to Keith Syed and Dr David Balhatchet for proof reading and 
making valuable suggestions in connection with the text and translation. My 
wife has shown endless patience in reading over the MS text, letter by letter 
with me, to remove copying errors made by the computer scanner. Unfortunately a 
computer scanner, unlike a photo-copier, is like a human copyist. It sometimes 
misreads its text. I am responsible for any errors which remain or have been 
introduced. 

KDL is grateful to Dover Publications Inc. for permission to reproduce 
illustrations from The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer, edited by Willi 
Kurth. These were obtained and made available by Keith Syed and we are very 
grateful to him for them.
			

Ray Edwards

Mis-Est, 2000



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                               Bibliography

Reference is made to the following books by their title, author, or the 
abbreviation shown in brackets:

The Tregear Homilies	C. Bice (ed.)	reprinted by Kernewek dre Lyther

Bewnans Meryasek (BM)	Ray Edwards (ed.)	Kernewek dre Lyther 1996

Notennow Kernewek (NK)	Ray Edwards		Kernewek dre Lyther 1999/2000

Origo Mundi (OM)	Ray Edwards (ed.)	Kernewek dre Lyther 2000	

Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn (GM)
			Dr Ken George		Cornish Language Board, 1993

The New Standard Cornish Dictionary (GK98)
			Dr Ken George		Cornish Language Board, 1998 

The Legend of the Rood	F. E. Halliday		Duckworth, London, 1955

Gwryans an Bys (Hooper)	E. G. Retallack Hooper (ed.)
						Dyllansow Truran 1985

A New Cornish Dictionary (Nance 90)
			R. Morton Nance		Dyllansow Truran, 1990

The Creation of the World (Neuss)
			Paula Neuss (ed.)	Garland Publishing Inc. 1983

Bewnans Alysaryn	Dr Peggy Pollard	Spyrys a Gernow 1998

The Creation of the World (Stokes)
			Whitley Stokes (ed)	Williams and Norgate London 1864

Cornish Today (CT)	Dr Nicholas Williams	Kernewek dre Lyther 1995


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