Ernest George Retallack Hooper (1906–1998), also known by his

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...

Talek (broad-bowed), was a British writer and journalist from

St. Agnes Agnes of Rome () is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. St. Agnes is one of several virgin martyrs comm ...

. Hooper was taught the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

from A.S.D. Smith (Caradar). He qualified in horticulture at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

and became a bard in 1932.E. G. Retallack Hooper
In the 1930s, he was one of the more political members of Tyr ha Tavas, a youth movement formed to promote the Cornish language. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Hooper was based in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. He was encouraged by his wife to enter teaching in the post-war period, during which he ran the Mount Pleasant House School in Camborne, where he pioneered the teaching of the Cornish language and was featured on BBC's Tonight programme, interviewed by Alan Whicker. Two additional schools were opened - one at Wendron and another, Brandon College, in Truro. Hooper became the third Grand Bard of the Gorseth Kernow, serving from 1959 to 1964. During his time as Grand Bard, Hooper maintained close links with the Gorseddau of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

and he was a member of both. Hooper was a founding member of

Mebyon Kernow Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and s ...

, a Cornish nationalist party, in 1951 and he participated in its election campaigns during the 1960s; he was elected the party's honorary president in 1973. For 17 years, Hooper edited the Cornish language newsletter ''An Lef Kernewek'' (The Cornish Voice). He produced a Cornish language revised translation of St Mark’s Gospel in 1960, and a translation of St Luke's Gospel in 1989.

References

External links

List of Grand Bards
* Retallack Hooper
Photo
1906 births 1998 deaths People from St Agnes, Cornwall Grand Bards of Gorsedh Kernow Bards of Gorsedh Kernow Writers from Cornwall Cornish language Cornish-speaking people Cornish nationalists Translators of the Bible into Cornish Mebyon Kernow politicians 20th-century translators 20th-century English writers {{cornwall-stub