Fer Cornish laadz er feshermen
And Cornish laadz er miners too.
But wen tha fesh an ten er goan
Wot er tha Cornish boys ta doo?

Frum Newlyn town we used ta sayl
Droo raen an haag an laashen gayl,
Tha breeal shoals we oapd ta find
An soon we’ve left Lands End beind.

Weev searchd tha Sebm Stoans oll arown
But not a gick or shoal weev fown.
Rown Ilan Lite es now en site,
But Sellees ar a barrun grown.

An tha wim engens used seng
A maelodee ta Cornish ten,
An Geevor Laadz they oll wud gren
At paey dae oan a Frydae.
 Tha waater now recaems tha mine
An yoang men coos a ol mens time,
Er goa ta wurk en gold er cull
er faas a life upon tha dull.

Tha ammer a tha awkshun maan
Es tha ownlee troaz we soon well ear,
An vesteters well maek tha noys
An oorder drenks frum Cornish boys.

Will do as we av doan befer
Goa owt to traaps tha wild world o’er,
Wer ever say er sheps er fown
Er thers a oal down hundergrown.

Fer Cornish laadz er feshermen
And Cornish laadz er miners too,
So wen tha fesh an ten er goan
Thats wot tha Cornish boys ul doo. 

Many thanks to Roger Bryant for permission to include his fine song Cornish Lads - also something of an anthem for many Cornishmen. His original words can be found in the Cornwall Songwriters’ book Silver Harvest.

Although a modern work, this song really captures the loss of hard rock mining and offshore fishing so keenly felt by Cornish people. It only seems fitting that this song is included as it has become a classic among Dialect speakers since it was written in 1991, and already we can see ‘the folk process’ in action. The changes found in vocabulary are listed here and in the glossary; breeal for mackerel, haag for mist, gick for sign, wim engen for winding engines, coos for talk, troaz for sound, traaps for roam.
 

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