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Letter of William Bodinar
prose
Bodinar (William)
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Bodinar (William)
(fl. 18th century)
William Bodinar (previously misread as Bodener), a fisherman of Mousehole, known today for a (partially) bilingual English-Cornish letter, dated 1776, which he wrote to the lawyer and antiquary Daines Barrington and bears witness to a remnant of the Cornish language.
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A short letter dated 3 July 1776 and written by fisherman William Bodinar to the antiquary Daines Barrington, who had apparently inquired after the state of the Cornish language. The letter is partly bilingual, providing 12 lines in Cornish, along with English renderings. Although he was not a native speaker, Bodinar relates that he was a boy when he learnt it (Me rig deskey Cornoack termen me vee mawe) from fishermen with whom he went out to sea and that he is still a competent speaker. He also observes that in his day, there are no more than four or five Cornish speakers in his town (Mousehole).
Late CornishEnglish language
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