Page:The ancient language, and the dialect of Cornwall.djvu/47

Cornish language is a work of great labour and learning, and has supplied to a very great extent the want so much lamented by Pryce ; viz., in Lhuyd having died before a second volume of his great work the ^'Archseologia Brit- annica was printed. Whether any manuscript of Lhuyd's intended second volume still remain, it seems hopeless to inquire, perhaps a copy may be lying hid somewhere even now. However this may be, the Cornish Dictionary by Williams is indeed a great advance towards the preservation of the ancient tongue. So instructive is the preface to Williams's Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum that it seems very necessary to include it in this little book, for after the list of the Gwavas Manuscripts, just given, Williams's remarks appear to be all that are required to complete this division of the subject. The object of the Editor of the Lexicon Cornu- Britannicum " was to collect and explain all the remains of the ancient British language of Cornwall." The book contains about 9000 Cornish words, with an immense number of quotations to render the meanings clearer, also the first chapter of Genesis, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's prayer, &c. in the orthography of the Cornish dramas. It is published in quarto, and contains 400 pages. Perhaps an enthusiastic student by the help of Williams's Dictionary, a Cornish grammar, and the trans- lations of old Cornish into English now in print, might actually learn the language, and even get at the pronun- ciation, by observing how Cornish words are still spoken.