Is Cornwall still a nation?

[Indyjoe]

I remember Pearse once writing something along the lines that once a country loses its sense of identity and self-respect it is lost forever.

Is there any future for the nation of Cornwall, or has it become merely a county of England?
What defines a nation?

The Cornish language is effectively dead, and there is little desire at all for self-determination.
There is however support for devolution or even a Cornish parliament as a part of Britain.
The 5 Cornish MPs are Liberal democrats, however they support some sort of devolution.

In November 2000 the Cornish Constitutional Convention was formed and has received alot of support. A petition in support of a Cornish parliament can be signed here

[Thar an Phail]

Is there any future for the nation of Cornwall, or has it become ... a county of England?

Cornwall is a part of England. It is as English as Manchester. IMO it is one of the best English counties.

There is however support for devolution

I would like to see greater powers for local government across England.

[Bogwarrior]

Met one abroad once. I innocently asked if he was English, and he replied,"Well no. I'm from Cornwall." I couldn't be arsed debating, so I put on my Father Dougal expresion and said "Aw Right, then".
I know little of their history only of a failed attempt to march and maraud on London centuries ago.

[Bogwarrior]

Interestin piece here.
http://www.phoblacht.net/som2312055g.html
O Bradaigh also mentioned Cornwall in his 99 Ard Fheis address, when he included it in his aspiration for a Celtic League, as a counter to the Commonwealth.

[forest]

Cornwall is now basically England however it did at some time exist as a separate nation.
It did a tone time have its own language (Gaelic i think) but the last person to speak this language has died
The first ever Cornish language film came out last year or the year before
In saying all this it is in effect England and unlike Scotland and Wales there is no serious independence drive

I guess its like Breton in France

[Jozer]

The thing that stands out politically is the strength of the Liberals, who nationally have been very much third place behind labour & the tories since 1920/30's. Connected to that is the strong position of non-conformist protestantism. In these respects Cornwall is similar to Wales. It does have a Gaelic past, but so does all of Britain if you go back far enough.

Today, the thing that makes them anti-establishment is poverty. Cornwall is the poorest county in England, and has the usual problems (again see Wales) of locals being priced out by second home owners, agricultural decline and over-reliance on tourism. local tin mining also became obsolete, and fishing is fast going the same way.

The language fell out of use years ago. I really can't see there ever being a serious independance movement. There was some Cornish Liberation Front nonsense in the 1970's, but it made the Welsh version look like PIRA at their peak.

[apkavanagh]

Nations are generally defined as such either by using a checklist or a self-definition approach.
With the checklist approach, a group of people will form a nation if they share a number of specified attributes, such as:
1) Common language;
2) Common culture (literature, folk traditions, etc.);
3) Common ideology (e.g. religion);
4) Common history – especially against a common external threat;
5) Integrated economy;
6) Identity with a common territory. (cf Pringle, One Island, Two Nations)

The self-definition approach allows nations to define themselves – a group is regarded as a nation if believe themselves to be a nation: ‘a nation exists when a significant number of people in a community consider themselves to form a nation, or behave as if they formed one.’ (Seton-Watson, 1977). A sense of common identity is essential: a nation as a type of community in which group cohesiveness is provided by a nationalist ideology (Pringle, 35).

Nations are territorial communities – people identify themselves with other members of the group, and with a particular territory; what is important is that they seek to maximise their political control of that territory.

[MikeW]

I guess its like Breton in France

Actually the Bretons have quite an active nationalist movement going, though strictly peaceful. If you drive around Brittany you will see a lot of cars with stickers in the window with something like BZH on it, which is the name of the independance movement.

Then you have St Malo, which is currently trying to become independant of Brittany before trying to become independant of France!

[holdini]

The thing that stands out politically is the strength of the Liberals, who nationally have been very much third place behind labour & the tories since 1920/30's. Connected to that is the strong position of non-conformist protestantism. In these respects Cornwall is similar to Wales. It does have a Gaelic past, but so does all of Britain if you go back far enough.

It has a Brythonic past, not a Gaelic one. Interestingly a genetic survey was done in Cornwall a few years ago that apprently showed that the majority of the population are infact not Brythonic Celt but Germanic; this would suggest that the Germanic settlers adopted the Cornish tongue when they settled. Cornwall was formed the same way Wales was; ancient Brythons pushed to the extremities of Britain by Roman invaders, and Brython refugees taking refuge in North Western France; hey presto, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.

[MikeW]

It has a Brythonic past, not a Gaelic one. Interestingly a genetic survey was done in Cornwall a few years ago that apprently showed that the majority of the population are infact not Brythonic Celt but Germanic; this would suggest that the Germanic settlers adopted the Cornish tongue when they settled. Cornwall was formed the same way Wales was; ancient Brythons pushed to the extremities of Britain by Roman invaders, and Brython refugees taking refuge in North Western France; hey presto, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.

As well as that, the Copper Coast in Waterford has quite a large genetic Cornish genepool (presumably this Brythonic/Germanic one) from the mining operations and the movement of the Cornish mineworkers. Also has a largish Protestant population, but don't know if these two things are directly connected.