This dialect series has been in my head for over 20 years so I thought ‘twas about time I got it out there!
It’s written with tongue firmly in cheek and while it is mildly risqué in places, I hope that it causes no offence.
The location is a little mining village on the north coast of Cornwall, a place where I was privileged to spend many years and where our children were brought up.
The hero of my story, Sidney Penpraze, was born in 1900, when the Second Boer War was at its height and the country was gripped with patriotic fervour. His family ran the village shop and by the standard of the time they were what can be described as ‘comfortably off’.
The village had a pub, a couple of dozen houses, a chapel and a fairly straight-laced set of residents where everyone was tagged as being either ‘Church’ or ‘Chapel’. An early introduction to Methodism meant that Sidney’s Sundays were full of services, Sunday school and teas with the local preachers.
Growing up in this community was a bit restrictive for this mischievous young boy and perhaps the hint of his future rebellious leanings should have been spotted. He was not above a bit of scrumping here and there and the swapping of items on washing lines was a constant cause of annoyance, not to mention embarrassment. His parents were in denial for a while but they gradually came to realise that they had raised a boy who, while not the devil incarnate, was the cause of most of the misdemeanours around the village.
But that was all in the future and I now invite you to join him on his wanderings through life. He will exasperate, delight, maybe even cause some envy as he manages to avoid life’s arrows as he jogs his way through his adventures.
The titles in red have been published and can be accessed by clicking on them.
- The Early Years
- Tigers and Rabbits
- The Calling
- Fanny Trevethan’s Ghost
- The Village Do
- Jan’s Getting Married
- The Valentine Card
- The White Winged Chough
- The Calendar Affair
- The Reluctant Host
- So Where Does Yours Go?
- Congratulations Sid
- The Garden of Eden
- The Beautiful Game
- Ringing in the New Year
Are there more to come? Who knows.
What I can say is that Sid, and Jan of course, continued to cause havoc in this Cornish village for many more years.
I hope that you find their escapades enjoyable, some of which have an element of truth attached to them.
The others: well just like the old Cornish saying, If tidn true then it oughta be.
Tony Mansell is a Cornish historian with a diverse interest in Cornwall’s past and present. He is a Cornish Bard (Skrifer Istori), a researcher with the Cornish National Music Archive and Co-editor of Cornish Story.
