The phrase Tre, Pol and Pen is used to describe people from or places in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
UK. The full rhyming couplet runs: ''By Tre Pol and Pen / Shall ye know all Cornishmen'', a version of which was recorded by
Richard Carew in his ''Survey of Cornwall'', published in 1602. Many
Cornish surnames and place names still retain these words as prefixes, such as the surname
Trelawny and the village
Polzeath. ''Tre'' in the
Cornish language
Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...
means a settlement or homestead; ''Pol'', a pond, lake or well; and ''Pen'' (also
Welsh and
Cumbric
Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...
), a hill or headland. Cornish surnames and placenames are generally pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Examples in Cornish surnames
Tre
*
Squire Trelawney, character in ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...
''
*
Sybill Trelawney
The following is a list of Hogwarts staff in the ''Harry Potter'' books written by J. K. Rowling.
The staff and their positions
Teachers and staff members
The following teachers and staff members do not have their own articles or are not ...
, character in ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
''
*
Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet
*
Petroc Trelawny
*
Arthur Tremayne
*
Henry Trengrouse
*
John Trevaskis
*
Marcus Trescothick
*
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886) was an English people, English civil servant and British Empire, colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Kolkata, Calcutta, In ...
*
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He ...
*
Richard Trevithick Tangye
Pol
*
Ross Poldark, fictional character in series of the same name
*
James Polkinghorne
*
Richard Polwhele
Pen
*
Edward William Wynne Pendarves
*
David Penhaligon
*
Charles Penrose
*
Guy Penrose Gibson
*
Dolly Pentreath
Dorothy Pentreath ( 16 May 169226 December 1777) was a Cornish fishwife. She is one of the last known fluent speakers of the Cornish language. She is also often credited as the last known native speaker of Cornish, although sources support th ...
*Sir Humphrey Pengallan, character in ''
Jamaica Inn''
Examples in Cornish place names
Tre
*
Tregony
*
Trematon
*
Trethevy
Trethevy () is a hamlet in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
It is midway between the villages of Tintagel and Boscastle in the civil parish of Tintagel. Trethevy has a number of historic buildings and is an early Christian site. The ha ...
*
Trevose
*
Treyarnon
Pol
*
Polzeath
*
Polperro
*
Polgooth
Pen
*
Penzance
Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
*
Penryn
*
Penponds
See also
*
Cornish surnames
Cornish surnames are surnames used by Cornish people and often derived from the Cornish language such as Jago, Trelawney or Enys. Others have strong roots in the region and many in the UK with names such as Eddy, Stark or Rowe are likely to hav ...
*
Cornish language
Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...
References
{{Cornish language
Cornish-language surnames
Cornish words and phrases