Tribute to Dolly Pentreath - so-called last monoglot Cornish speaker

That’s interesting. Isn’t Bonaparte’s name on this stone? If so how does he fit into the story?
NB -- must remember 'kronek hager du!'

It was Prince Lucien Bonaparte who was a philologist (a grand-nephew - or something I shall check out - of Napoleon and a lover of languages, who had made investigations into Breton and Basque among others) who tracked down the village of Mousehole and decided to erect a monument to Dolly Pentreath's memory. Why is it so often people from outside Cornwall that show more interest in Cornwall and its heritage than many of its natives? Like the other day when online, so many of those living in Cornwall complained on false grounds about the policy of One Cornwall to put up bilingual placenames. Fortunately, more praised the idea.

@ tpp. Just as a bit of useless information. Did you know this is not the original site of the memorial? I have a postcard that clearly shows it was sited further up the road. I have asked around as to why it was moved, but no one seems to know.

I have not heard that, CW!

It’s news to me. Are you sure you’re not confusing that with the fact that this monument is said not to be situated where Dolly Pentreath was buried!

According to a fisherman, Bernard Victor, (born in Mousehole in 1817) writing to Dr Jago, author of an English/Cornish dictionary in 1881/2, Dolly died in 1777 not 1778 as the monument says. His grandfather , George Badcock, who died in 1834, aged 84, had been the undertaker who had interred Dolly. Victor was no ‘thicky’ as he wrote a winning essay on Cornish at the time. He said that no memorial had been erected to Dolly at the time of her death and that eight chosen fishermen from the village had taken her to her last resting place.

In May 1882, Dr WTA Pattison, a colleague of Jago, visited Victor to pinpoint the site of her grave but Jago was annoyed as Jago and Pattison carefully checked all sources and did not simply take his word for it. He was so annoyed that he wrote, “ It is not to be said that the monument is not in the right place because it was put there by order of Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte or by Rev. John Garrett – the one a Frenchman and the other an Irishman!” Jago replied, implying that he was only being scrupulous in his research and did not doubt Victor’s statements.

This info is from a great out-of-print P. Berresford Ellis book, 'The Cornish language and its Literature' (1977)

Just checked my picture again tpp. The monument was definitely situated further up the church wall. You can see in my picture the porch entrance with the sundial behind the monument.

I am a fairy and my name is Nuff: Fair enough! How old is your picture?

It is a Frith Series card about 1905, unfortunately that does not give an accurate date of the photo. There are cobbles at the base of mine which puts it roughly at the opposite the pub car park entrance. Yours shows an etched granite slab (similar to Market Jew Street).

Thanks, CW!

@ tpp. Also on checking my monument does not have the rough piece of stone at the bottom like the one in your shot.

I think I have a more recent postcard of the monument myself. I'll look it out some time. At the mo it's difficult to get at.