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Here's an interesting coincidence. For the last couple of days I've had the Shakin' Stevens song "This ole house" stuck in my head. Today I come across this story in the local press:
Shakin' Stevens - the Welsh Elvis - discovers he's actually Cornish
By WOCornwall | Posted: September 20, 2016
By Kirstie Newton
When the Cornish mining industry fell into decline in the late 19th century, workers scattered across the globe in search of employment. Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa all saw Cousin Jacks in search of employment as, closer to home, did Wales.
So it was that singer Shakin' Stevens, upon delving into his family history, discovered that he was part of what is known as the Cornish diaspora, with family not only in Kernow but also Mexico and Canada.
"I've come to a time in my life when I want to know more about my family," says the man fondly referred to as Shaky (real name: Michael Barratt). "I realised I didn't know anything at all, so we started looking – going on Ancestry.co.uk, calling in full birth certificates. That's how I found out that my forefathers came from Gwennap, where they worked down the tin and copper mines."
Indeed, this Welshman born in Cardiff traced his Kernow relations to the village near Redruth in 1760. At that time, Methodism was strong in Cornwall and Gwennap was at its very heart, with preacher John Wesley visiting its open air amphitheatre 18 times between 1762 and 1789. But by the 1880s, things were changing.
"The mines were closing, so my grandfather left Cornwall," he explains. "I had no idea. When I was growing up, the baby of 13 children, we were seen and not heard. My mother used to send us into another room if she wanted to talk about family matters. I spoke to my eldest brother, who was 94, and he gave us lots of information, but when I mentioned Cornwall, he said, 'No, really?' This a family that we never thought moved out of its own backyard, and it went around the world."
Shaky and partner Sue visited Gwennap, taking in the pit and also Trefula Farm, where his great-grandfather once lived. "It was a great feeling to walk down the path and wonder what it was like to live there," he says. Photographs taken there have been used to promote his new album, Echoes Of Our Times, inspired by the stories he collected.
The opening track, Down In The Hole, is an obvious reference to the hard life the miners endured; a promotional video features images supplied by the Royal Cornwall Museum, who were more than happy to give Shaky a pictorial flavour of how his ancestors would have lived and worked.
...
A studio recording of the final track, the eco-anthem Last Man Alive, can be seen online and prove that Shaky still has the moves, even at the age of 68. In the meantime, he'd love to write an autobiography, and is planning a tour (with Cornish dates) in spring 2017. He'll be happy to return west of the Tamar: "When I come to Cornwall now, I do feel that link. My family was there, and my heritage is there. I'm a part of it, no doubt about that."
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/shakin-...ally-cornish/story-29733933-detail/story.html
I don't think I even knew Shakey was supposed to be Welsh, although I did live in Wales for a few years. Now I'm in Cornwall, and I learn he's really Cornish! I've visited Gwennap church, and posted a pic of the churchyard here:
http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/gravestones-and-epitaphs.9679/page-7#post-1017631
None of which answers why Shakey should come into my mind just before I find this article. I don't listen to radio or watch much TV, so I don't think I heard about him that way.
Time to finish with a song:
Shakin' Stevens - the Welsh Elvis - discovers he's actually Cornish
By WOCornwall | Posted: September 20, 2016
By Kirstie Newton
When the Cornish mining industry fell into decline in the late 19th century, workers scattered across the globe in search of employment. Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa all saw Cousin Jacks in search of employment as, closer to home, did Wales.
So it was that singer Shakin' Stevens, upon delving into his family history, discovered that he was part of what is known as the Cornish diaspora, with family not only in Kernow but also Mexico and Canada.
"I've come to a time in my life when I want to know more about my family," says the man fondly referred to as Shaky (real name: Michael Barratt). "I realised I didn't know anything at all, so we started looking – going on Ancestry.co.uk, calling in full birth certificates. That's how I found out that my forefathers came from Gwennap, where they worked down the tin and copper mines."
Indeed, this Welshman born in Cardiff traced his Kernow relations to the village near Redruth in 1760. At that time, Methodism was strong in Cornwall and Gwennap was at its very heart, with preacher John Wesley visiting its open air amphitheatre 18 times between 1762 and 1789. But by the 1880s, things were changing.
"The mines were closing, so my grandfather left Cornwall," he explains. "I had no idea. When I was growing up, the baby of 13 children, we were seen and not heard. My mother used to send us into another room if she wanted to talk about family matters. I spoke to my eldest brother, who was 94, and he gave us lots of information, but when I mentioned Cornwall, he said, 'No, really?' This a family that we never thought moved out of its own backyard, and it went around the world."
Shaky and partner Sue visited Gwennap, taking in the pit and also Trefula Farm, where his great-grandfather once lived. "It was a great feeling to walk down the path and wonder what it was like to live there," he says. Photographs taken there have been used to promote his new album, Echoes Of Our Times, inspired by the stories he collected.
The opening track, Down In The Hole, is an obvious reference to the hard life the miners endured; a promotional video features images supplied by the Royal Cornwall Museum, who were more than happy to give Shaky a pictorial flavour of how his ancestors would have lived and worked.
...
A studio recording of the final track, the eco-anthem Last Man Alive, can be seen online and prove that Shaky still has the moves, even at the age of 68. In the meantime, he'd love to write an autobiography, and is planning a tour (with Cornish dates) in spring 2017. He'll be happy to return west of the Tamar: "When I come to Cornwall now, I do feel that link. My family was there, and my heritage is there. I'm a part of it, no doubt about that."
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/shakin-...ally-cornish/story-29733933-detail/story.html
I don't think I even knew Shakey was supposed to be Welsh, although I did live in Wales for a few years. Now I'm in Cornwall, and I learn he's really Cornish! I've visited Gwennap church, and posted a pic of the churchyard here:
http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/gravestones-and-epitaphs.9679/page-7#post-1017631
None of which answers why Shakey should come into my mind just before I find this article. I don't listen to radio or watch much TV, so I don't think I heard about him that way.
Time to finish with a song: