‘The language is part of my life’: Gwenno shares songs in Cornish to inspire new generation

Among the songs Gwenno performed for the Mevagissey primary children was Den Heb Taves, meaning ‘a tongueless man’. Gwenno said: ‘It’s about losing your language and how that contributes towards losing your grounding.’ Photograph: Heligan Homecoming Festival/Heligan Homecoming festival

The Mercury prize-nominated Cornish/Welsh singer Gwenno Saunders has said that Cornish should be more widely taught to children in the far south-west of Britain to protect the language and preserve local culture.

Gwenno spoke after visiting a school in the fishing village of Mevagissey on the south coast of Cornwall before a performance at the nearby Lost Gardens of Heligan.