Origins

From the 20th Anniversary Programme: Lowender Peran The Cornish festival of Celtic music dance and culture Origins Philosophy Lowender Peran is a registered Charity set up to encourage recognition of Cornwall’s heritage and Celtic links as a vibrant, living tradition that people of all ages and backgrounds can participate in and enjoy. To recognise and value your own and roots and identity is an essential first step in recognising valuing and respecting other peoples. If Cornwall is to survive as a distinct entity in the future then each generation must show the next that our culture has something to offer them that is worth carrying forward into the future. Lowender Peran provides the ideal medium through which to do this. Roots The seventies heralded a new era of Celtic awareness in Western Europe, fuelled by the driving force of traditional music and dance. This was marked by the emergence of a number of Celtic Festivals such as the Pan Celtic festival in Killarney , the Festival Interceltique in L`Orient and The Isle of Man’s Yn Chruinnaght. The strengthening revival in Cornish traditional dance and music resulted in the Duchy being increasingly well represented at these festivals. Brenda Wooton achieved international recognition at this time and firmly put Cornwall on the Celtic map. At a time when Cornwall is marching, flag waving and celebrating self awareness and identity in defiance of the political and economic odds it is difficult to look back and remember the apathy and disinterest of 20 years ago. One person who did not share this apathy was the late Betty Pitman, one of Perranporth’s more colourful characters. Performers returning from the excitement and large audiences of the major festivals felt Cornwall was not yet ready, not big enough, or did not have financial support for such events. Betty, however, was caught up in the enthusiasm she found in Ireland and Brittany, decided that we ought to go for it and totally ignored the learned advice around her. Lowender Peran’s roots can be found in an article in the Falmouth Packet in May 1978 revelled in the success of Cornish group Kemysk at the Pan Celtic Festival earlier that month in Killarney. Encouraged by Brenda, Kemysk had entered the traditional singing competitions and came away with the top award. Betty had organised this trip and this success made her even more determined that Cornwall should have it’s own Celtic festival. The result was a week long Kernow Pan Celtic festival that October, which also became known as the Bettyfest. The festival was a mixture of sporting activities, processions , concerts and ceilis which spilled out from the Ponsmere hotel. Betty’s success lay in her limitless energy and ability to completely ignore people who tried to say "no" or "it won’t work". A short while after the first festival Betty booked up the dates and venues for the next year and called a meeting of interested parties, committed them to running the event and then promptly resigned ! The festival was renamed In recognition of St Peran and Lowender Peran was born. The Celtic Connection Although a real figure from the sixth century, St Peran is surrounded by myth and legend that tell us as more about the generations of Cornish people that perpetuated his memory than the Saint himself. He is likely to have been an Irish Christian of noble stock was expelled from his homeland by a pagan chieftain because of his preaching. He landed on the shore of what is now the Parish of Perranzabuloe and fulfilled his destiny by setting up a Christian community in Cornwall and building one of the first Chapels in Britain. Legend insists that he was thrown off the cliffs in Ireland with a millstone around his neck which miraculously carried across the Celtic sea to Cornwall rather than dragging him to his death in the depths. In all probability this was in fact the small stone altar that Christian missionaries habitually carried in the Dark Ages. " P" sounds in the Cornish branch of the Celtic languages are replaced by a hard K or C sound in Gaelic, for example Pentire becomes Kintyre. It is natural therefore to speculate that Peran or Piran might be the Cornish form of the Irish name Keiran and interestingly, the place name Peranarworthal could translate as Peran the Irishman. St Peran was one of many missionaries and religious travellers who journeyed between Brittany, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland in the Dark Ages leaving their mark in the form of the common place names. Symbol of Cornish Identity St Peran is high in the pantheon of Cornwall’s saints and the patron saint of Cornish tinners as well as the Duchy itself. He is supposed to have discovered tin by accidentally heating tin ore in a rock until it melted and ran to form a silver or white cross against the black background of the rock giving rise to the symbol that became the national flag for Cornwall. History does not support the idea of St Peran discovering tin but the whole story underlines the deeply rooted association between Tin, St Peran and the Cornish Identity. In fact St Perans flag is possibly one of the oldest heraldic symbols in Europe and at some stage there was even a conspiracy theory linking it with the Roman Legions and Ambrosius. A focus of Cornish culture Peran provides us with another focus for Cornish cultural identity a little way in land at Rose in the form of Perran Round. At one time there were as many as 80 "rounds" known in Cornwall, some like that of St Just and Perran round survive intact, others survive in place names such as "Plain an Gwary" or the English translation "Playing Place". We all recognise the magic of these places and their origins are quite rightly lost in the mists of time but some, Perran Round included may have started out as Iron age forts, later adopted by the Celts and our medieval ancestors to become amphitheatres. The shallow trench and pit just off centre in the round is known as the Devils frying pan and is likely to have been a device used in the Cornish Miracle Plays. At one time it may have been deeper and with the use of covers allowed players to suddenly materialise during a performance. The Cornish Language enjoyed a renaissance in the middle ages and the miracle plays and round provided a focal point for this together with music dancing and of course Cornish wrestling. As Drunk as a Perraner Legend has St Peran figured as a person who enjoyed what pleasures life had to offer, especially a drop of the hard stuff. Cornish miners of old were sometimes called Peraners because of their association with the Saint and also had a reputation for fondness of strong liquor. So much so that the day after a public holiday acquired the name "Mazey Day" because people were totally unfit for work ! To be a Celt All cultures are ultimately self defining, the term Celt has fairly ancient origins, but in the 19th Century it was popularly used to describe the group of peoples in western Europe who shared linguistic origins - the Bretons, Cornish , Welsh, Irish, Manx and Scottish. It is with this definition that it entered the Oxford Dictionary . In modern usage those same people use the term to describe themselves, their languages and culture in a wider sense. The fact remains, however, that it is to do with language and cultural identity and not any particular biological features such as the shape of your nose, feet or blood group. In other words, from a Cornish perspective, it doesn't matter if you were not born here of ancient Celtic stock as long as you identify with Cornwall, `think` Cornish and, of course, got here as soon as you could! Kernewek The Cornish Language has close affinities with Breton and Welsh, it is slightly more distant from the Gaelic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Scotland but still shares the same linguistic roots and has many words in common. These are the Celtic group of European languages and quite distinct from the Germanic languages which include English and the Romance languages which include French. As a spoken medium the Cornish Language has enjoyed a popular revival during the 20th Century and there will be various stalls around the festival with a wide range of information and published material in and about the language. Some presentations during Lowender Peran will be bilingual in Cornish and English and the festival provides an opportunity for speakers to share their love of the language. What does tend to be overlooked, however, is the extent to which Cornish is all around us and part of our everyday lives. How many place names would we recognise if they were all translated into English ? How many Cornish surnames do we come across and use regularly without thinking "hey I'm using an ancient Celtic Language". There is also the more subtle influence of Cornish that we have inherited with our dialect and folk customs. If dialect use is in decline (which is debatable) then it is more than compensated by an increasing enthusiasm for Cornish personal names, house or business names and the opportunity taken to use it in connection with cultural activities and festivals. Festival Features Gwary Dons This is the Dance Spectacular, a showcase of dances from the Celtic world which has been a popular feature of Lowender Peran since the early days. Concerts In addition to the Gwary Dons we have concerts each evening with a variety of choirs, pipe bands, folk groups, rock bands and dance groups. Raccas Racca – a meal time entertainment with minstrels. This is our `Celtic Cafe` and held in the Sunset Bar each evening and on Saturday and Sunday lunch times. We have everything from rock to singers sessions with one evening devoted to Cornish performers. Troyls Troyl is dialect word of almost certain Cornish language origins, older written references describe it as a tinners feast but it was used in living memory to refer to a party involving dance, music, singing etc. In Newquay , for example, troyls were held on the fish cellars and included spots of competitive mens step dancing. To all intents and purposes this is the equivalent of a ceili ( or ceilidh) and how we use the term in Cornwall word today. The festival has a number of venues used for troyls which can carry on to the early hours of the morning. Pageant The pageant that was held at the very first festival was re-introduced four years ago when Narraghmore Pipeband unexpectedly marched out of the Ponsmere and straight on to the main street followed by about 400 performers and the sound of screeching breaks. Perranporth was brought to a standstill for the better part of half an hour but seemed to quite enjoy it so have made it a feature of the festival along with a few formalities like arranging with the Police for the traffic to be stopped. Lowender Peran Walk As we have seen the area around Perranporth is immersed in history and one of the most popular innovations of recent years has been Chris Eastons guided walk. A bit of fresh air, gentle exercise(?) culture and convivial company on Friday afternoon before launching the hectic festival weekend. Outreach Our first concert with Cornish schoolchildren was in 1980 and this event has gone from strength to strength ever since. Thursday afternoon now sees several hundred Cornish school children descending upon the festival for a delightful pandemonium of concert where they perform themselves and a Troyl where that have the chance to try dances from Cornwall and elsewhere. We also take the festival out to a wider audience by sending groups out to secondary schools and other venues in various parts of Cornwall on Thursday and Friday. Celtic Market Lowender Perans Celtic Market is another feature that has grown on us over the years. Starting with one or two stalls with books a few years ago demand has now outgrown the room we have and many people are disappointed each year to find they have not booked up in time. This year we have stalls in displays in the entrance foyer, the Television room and also the adjoining room connected with the Sunset Bar. Lowender Peran : what now? " I’ve seen the future and the future is Celtic" Pol Hodge poet and Cornish Bard at Lowender Peran 1998 Changes in attitudes, media and communication technology and the opening up ( or re discovery?) of the Cornish world in America and Australia provide us with opportunities we could not have dreamed of in the early days of Lowender Peran. Dance is here to stay but there is an increasing interest in events focussed more on instrumental music and singing which we can develop venues for. There are many more Cornish performers now with a wide variety of styles which will give us the opportunity to provide a bigger platform for Cornish music and performing arts in future. Cornish wrestling remains a challenge, this is a living tradition going back beyond recorded history in Cornwall which has strong links with Brittany and something we would dearly like to support at Lowender Peran. Cornish wrestling is done on grass and we are out of season but there must be a way around this – and the insurance problems. Another challenge is to persuade Cornish Choirs and Bands to develop a concert repertoire of Cornish material so that we can book them for Lowender Peran. This has proved very difficult in the past but times may change. Opportunities and challenges, the ideal mix, looks good!