St Columb Green Book is a very rare 16th century handwritten
manuscript, bound in green leather detailing the parish records of
St Columb Major,
Cornwall. It was kept with a few intermissions from 1585 onwards. It gives a rare glimpse in day to day life in 16th century Cornwall. The original is very fragile and is now kept at
Cornwall Record Office. A reprint of selected passages was published in 1912 by Thurstan Peter, in a Supplement to Journal of
Royal Institution of Cornwall, vol. 19.
The book dating back to Elizabethan times covers just the Parish of St Columb Major. It is important, as it contains one of the earliest references to
Morris dancing in the United Kingdom. Another entry gives the earliest written reference to the ancient sport of
Cornish Hurling Also contained is an early reference to
Robin Hood plays that existed in Cornwall.
Extracts of note
*1585: (Early evidence of Morris dancing) coats for dancers, a friars coat, 24 dancing bells, a streamer of red mocaddo and lockram, 6 yards of white woolen cloth
*1588 (In the year of the
Armada
Armada is the Spanish and Portuguese word for naval fleet, which also adopted into English, Malay and Indonesian for the same meaning, or an adjective meaning 'armed'; Armáda () is the Czech and Slovak word for armed forces.
Armada may also refe ...
) - Stock of money for the trayned (sic) soldiers
*1589 Rec. for the lont of Robbyn Hood clothes
*1593 Parish Carriage available for hire. Built by Remfray Rowse and Harry Hawke
*1595 'sylver ball gylt' (earliest record of the Hurling game at St Columb which still exists)
*1678: ffor ye burying of Peter the son of Sir John SeyntAubyn 13s 4d
*1715: Pd Mr Robert Creeper in full for transcribing the Kings Letter £2 10s
References
Further reading
* The St Columb Green Book', Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall, 19 (1912) Covers period 1585 to 1687.
External links
Description of the Green Book held by Cornwall Council''Morris and Guize Dance traditions in Cornwall'' from the 'An Daras' webpage
Includes a mention of the Green Book
16th-century manuscripts
17th-century manuscripts
St Columb Major
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