THE annual Gorsedh Kernow’s bardic ceremony was this year held in a rain soaked St Keverne Church.

Gorsedh Kernow exists to maintain the national ‘Celtic Spirit’ of Cornwall and to encourage the study of Cornish history, literature and the language, as well as promoting the study of various other Cornish traditions and connections with other Celtic countries.

In the Grand Bard Merv Davey’s, Telynor an Weryn, address to the fellow bards, visiting dignitaries and members of the public, during the ceremony held in St Keverne Church, he said: “This is the parish that holds the spirit of Cornwall. It was from this parish some 500 years ago that Michael Joseph the Smith led the Cornish host to London in protest at the destruction of our way of life.

“Throughout the centuries the people of Cornwall have asserted their distinct identity and heritage.”

Mr Davey stood alongside delegates from the Welsh and Breton Gorseddau and reminded the crowds who had managed to squeeze into St Keverne church of the importance of retaining the border between Cornwall and the rest of Britain.

Speaking on the proposal of placing parts of Cornwall into Devon, the Grand Bard Mr Davey said: “The spirit of Michael Joseph and St Keverne are seen in our success with the recognition of the Cornish Language, our National Minority Status and the Devolution Deal for Cornwall Council, but the time has come now to campaign to keep our land whole.”

He urged his audience to recognise Cornwall as a place apart with its own political history and cultural heritage. The Grand Bard insisted that to place parts of Cornwall into Devon for the purpose of Parliamentary Constituencies would be a serious denial of history.