John Keigwin (1641–1716) was a Cornish

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

, born at

Mousehole Mousehole () is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies about offshore fro ...

, Cornwall. He was a leading member of a group of antiquaries in west

Penwith Penwith (; ) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former Non-metropolitan district, local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one ...

: this group also included

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and

Thomas Boson Thomas Boson (1635–1719) was a writer in the Cornish language and the cousin of Nicholas and John Boson. Thomas helped William Gwavas in his Cornish language research, and wrote an inscription in Cornish for Gwavas's hurling ball. He also made t ...

, William Gwavas,

Thomas Tonkin Thomas Tonkin (1678–1742) was a Cornish landowner and historian. Early life He was born at Trevaunance, St Agnes, Cornwall, and baptised in its parish church on 26 September 1678, was the eldest son of Hugh Tonkin (1652–1711), vice-warden o ...

William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) a ...

, Oliver Pender, and James Jenkins of

Alverton :''Alverton can also be a variant of Alverston or Alton (disambiguation), Alton.'' Alverton is an English Hamlet (place)#United Kingdom, hamlet and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire. It is joined by neighbourin ...

. His teacher was John Boson. In addition to Cornish and English, Keigwin had a command of the French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages.

Family background

Keigwin was the son of Martin Keigwin and his second wife, Elizabeth, Scawen. This made him the nephew of

William Scawen William Scawen (1600–1689) was one of the pioneers in the revival of the Cornish language. He was a politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Life Scawen was the son of Rob ...

, another scholar of the Cornish language.

Works

Keigwin undertook translations of '' Pascon agan Arluth'' and ''Creacon of the World''. These were later published by

Davies Gilbert Davies Gilbert (born Davies Giddy, 6 March 1767 – 24 December 1839) was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as its President from 1827 to 1830. He changed his name to ...

in 1826 and 1827 respectively. He also translated into Cornish King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

's letter to the people of Cornwall, written at

Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed castle in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some within a estate nestled within th ...

in 1643.

Criticism

Henry Jenner Henry Jenner (8 August 1848 – 8 May 1934) was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornwall, Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival. Jenner was born at St Columb Major on 8 August 1848. H ...

said there were "extraordinary mistakes" in Keigwin's translations of ''Pascon'' and ''Creacon''.

(1904). ''Handbook of the Cornish Language.'' Elsewhere, Jenner and

Peter Berresford Ellis Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a British historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 98 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 10 ...

said that, in his translation of King Charles's letter, Keigwin used the Hebrew word for war, ''milchamath'', instead of ''bresel''. Keigwin's reputation in Cornwall was good. His work was neglected until it was reexamined by Whitley Stokes and others.

Legacy

John Boson John Boson was a cabinet maker and carver whose work is associated with that of William Kent. It is said that if he had not died at such a relatively young age then his place would have been assured in the history of furniture making in the Unit ...

wrote Keigwin's epitaph in 1716, given here in a later orthography: :En Tavaz Greka, Lathen ha’n Hebra, :En Frenkock ha Carnoack deskes dha, :Gen ol an Gormola Brez ve dotha :Garres ew ni, ha Neidges Ewartha. Or in English: "In tongue Greek, Latin and Hebrew / In French and Cornish, learned well / With all the Glory of Mind was to him / Has left us, and fled is he on high." Keigwin's manuscripts are divided between the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

and the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. They include a transcription of the ''Ordinalia'' written about 1707, which is accompanied by an English translation and a Latin preface.Ellis (1974); p. 91 & fn

Footnotes

External links

* Texts of:
the letter of King Charles
**

' {{DEFAULTSORT:Keigwin, John Cornish language English antiquarians 17th-century antiquarians 18th-century antiquarians People from Mousehole 1641 births 1716 deaths