Page:The ancient language, and the dialect of Cornwall.djvu/75

 55 There is a difference between Launceston and Liskeard, -" nt in both the English accent among the educated is very /cod, so also in Bodmin: in St. Austell there is more of the miners' accent, but it is not very perceptible without close attention. In Truro the English accent has been noticed even by the old writers to be remarkably pure, and so it conti- nues to this day. This is rather surprising when we remember how short a distance separates Truro from the mining popu- lation. The Cornish idiom can be understood by a stranger to the County by reading such tales as those by Tregellas, Forfar, &c., &c., but of course to understand the accent it must be heard ; perhaps it is only a genuine Cornishman who, in in what looks like simple fun, can discover, or appreciate the very spirit and humour of the tale. The Cornish sometimes attend their funerals in great crowds, and it is a custom to sing hymns as the coffin is being borne along. When all are silent, and walking slowly along, the aspect of the crowd is, of course, sad, or, as we say in Cornwall, ^^wisht." As some, in deepest grief, break out into laughter as if defying sorrow, so this trait in human nature is seized upon, for some other occasion, ^ by Tregellas, who, in two simple but humorous lines gives the signal for cheer- ing up with singular felicity, " To shaw our sperrits lev us petch The laast new berrin-tune.^^
 * See " The St. Agnes Bear Hunt," by Tregellas.