Dolly Pentreath
Dolly Pentreath, born in Cornwall, England, is often recognized as one of the last fluent speakers of the Cornish language. While her exact birth year remains uncertain, she is believed to have been born around 1675 and lived until 1777. Pentreath was the daughter of a fisherman and spent her early years selling fish in Penzance. Not only was she known for her colorful personality—characterized by her love of drinking, smoking, and cursing in Cornish—but she also had a reputation for engaging in witchcraft and astrology.
Throughout her life, Pentreath displayed remarkable resilience and intelligence, helping to save a man from execution by cleverly hiding him from authorities. Her interactions with the local fishermen at the Keigwin Arms pub are part of her legacy. Following her death, she became a symbol of the Cornish language, leading some to claim that its decline coincided with her passing. Although there is debate regarding whether she was truly the last native speaker, her impact on the cultural memory of Cornwall is significant. In 1860, a monument honoring Pentreath was erected, emphasizing her importance in the history of the Cornish language and culture.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Dolly Pentreath
Cornish witch
- Born: c. 1675
- Birthplace: Cornwall, England
- Died: December 1, 1777
- Place of death: Cornwall, England
Cause of notoriety: Known for her drinking, smoking, cursing, and witchcraft, Pentreath is also considered to be the last known native speaker of the Cornish language.
Active: c. 1687-1777
Locale: Paul, Cornwall, England
Early Life
The year in which Dolly Pentreath (DAHL-ee PEHN-treeth) was born has been debated. The register for the parish of Paul has her year of death as 1777, and the legend claims she lived to be 102. Therefore, her birth year would be approximately 1675. However, she was baptized in 1714, and some scholars claim she was ninety when she died.
Throughout her life, Pentreath lived in the parish of Paul, near the fishing village of Mousehole in Cornwall, England. She was the daughter of Nicholas Pentreath, a fisherman. At the age of twelve she was sent to sell fish on the streets of Penzance and took advantage of the naïve. Pentreath later married a fisherman named Jeffery.
Legendary Career
Pentreath lived in a small hut on a narrow lane in Paul. She sold fish, drank beer, smoked a pipe, and cursed loudly in Cornish. She was also known for performing witchcraft and having knowledge of astrology. Pentreath once saved a man from being hanged by hiding him in her chimney and fooling the naval officers when they came to question her. Pentreath would sit at a table by the window at the Keigwin Arms pub, drink, smoke, and yell to the fishermen when they came into port.
Pentreath is considered to be the last person who spoke fluent Cornish. Cornish is a part of the Celtic language family, which also includes Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cumbric, and Breton. Cornish is most similar to Welsh and Breton. Pentreath was discovered by Daines Barrington, who interviewed her in 1768 and subsequently wrote an article published in Archceologia, volume 3. At the time of the interview Barrington claimed Pentreath was about eighty-two years old. Some say that the Cornish language died with Pentreath and that any revival of the language is actually a synthetic language that only resembles original Cornish. Others have disputed the idea that Pentreath was the last living native Cornish speaker, citing that William Bodener, John Nancarrow, and John Davey also spoke Cornish and lived after Pentreath’s death in 1777.
While she was short in stature and partially deaf, even at an advanced age Pentreath had an excellent intellect and memory, and she could walk six miles in bad weather. The English translation of Pentreath’s last words before dying is, “I will not speak English, you ugly black toad!”
Impact
Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoleon, visited Paul to research the disappearance of the Cornish language. While there in 1860, he erected a monument in Dolly Pentreath’s honor in the churchyard at Paul Church. The gravestone was a granite obelisk with a Maltese cross on top. Inscribed in both Cornish and English was the biblical Fifth Commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” The monument was purportedly placed by the wrong grave and was subsequently moved to its present location in 1882.
Bibliography
Harris, J. Henry. Cornish Saints and Sinners. 1906. Reprint. Kila, Mont.: Kessinger, 2003. A collection of fascinating stories about three men traveling through the Cornwall region and the people and places they experience along the way.
Nettle, Daniel, and Suzanne Romaine. Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World’s Languages. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. A documentation of the extinction of many world languages (including Cornish) and a tribute to their last speakers.
Trenhaile, John. Dolly Pentreath, and Other Humorous Cornish Tales. 1854. Reprint. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: F. Graham, 1968. A collection of Cornish stories attributed to both Dolly Pentreath and Trenhaile.