The "Cranken Rhyme" is a

Cornish-language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, k ...

song known by farmer John Davey or Davy (1812–1891), who was one of the last people with some knowledge of the tongue. It was recorded by J. Hobson Matthews in his ''History of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack, and Zennor'', and is probably the latest known traditional Cornish verse. Matthews records the song in a chapter on the Cornish language and the evidence for its late survival. It is not clear whether he ever met Davey, or if he was relying on second-hand testimony. Jenner, Henry
''A Handbook of the Cornish Language''
page 23. Either way, the song is unknown from any other source, demonstrating that Davey had knowledge of some original Cornish in the late 19th century. Matthews himself thought the song to be merely a jumble of place-names, which Davey was reputed to be able to decipher. However,

Robert Morton Nance Robert Morton Nance (1873–1959) was a British writer and leading authority on the Cornish language, a nautical archaeologist, and joint founder of the Old Cornwall Society. Nance wrote many books and pamphlets on the Cornish language, inclu ...

respelled the song into a recognizable form and provided an English translation. It is evidently a bit of humour claiming that even the Penzance-

Marazion Marazion (; kw, Marhasyow) is a civil parish and town, on the shore of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, UK. It is east of Penzance and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore. At low water a causeway links it to the town and ...

road was more fertile than Cranken's stony fields.

References

{{reflist Cornish-language literature English poetry