Granite moor 6 miles NW of Penzance on the north-western slope of the furthest promontory of Land's End, Cornwall, containing distinctive megaliths, which was formerly the site of a Lughnasa-like August festival. Morvah's most distinctive feature is the doughnut-shaped Men-an-tol [Cornish, holed stone], which originally formed the entrance to a chambered tomb and which acquired a reputation for healing powers in oral tradition. In the 19th century three acres of the moor were set aside for the Morvah Fair on 1 August, a time for horse-racing, merrymaking, courtship games, and storytelling, featuring the hero Jack the Tinkard. The Morvah legend begins when Tom, a local giant, uses an axle-beam and cartwheel to overcome an evil giant whose uprooted tree cannot save him in combat. Tom moves into the evil giant's castle, assumes his great wealth, marries, and has a family. Soon Tom is joined by yet another giant, Jack the Tinkard, who is initially hostile but eventually becomes an ally. Like the Irish hero Lug Lámfhota, Jack is the master of many skills, which encourages Tom to allow him his daughter's hand. To make a home for his bride, Jack kills the giant of Morvah by taking the cover off an old mineshaft and letting his opponent fall into it. Jack's wedding and the union of Jack and Tom's families takes place on 1 August.
Morvah
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Coordinates: 50°09′40″N 5°38′20″W / 50.161°N 5.639°W
| Morvah | |
.png)  Morvah
Morvah shown within Cornwall |
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| Population | 79 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Unitary authority | Cornwall |
| Ceremonial county | Cornwall |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PENZANCE |
| Postcode district | TR20 |
| Dialling code | 01736 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | St Ives |
| List of places: UK • England • Cornwall | |
Morvah (Cornish: Morvedh) is a hamlet and civil parish in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the settlements of Chypraze and Rosemergy and is bounded by the parishes of St. Just to the west, Zennor to the north-east, Madron to the south and by the sea in the north. The parish consists of 1,270 acres (5 km2) of land, 1-acre (4,000 m2) of water and 14 acres (57,000 m2) of foreshore. The settlement of Morvah consists of several houses and a church and is situated approximately five and a half miles (8.6 km) north-west of Penzance along the B3306. An art gallery and a dairy farm are also located in Morvah.
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Antiquities
Evidence of a settlement at Morvah in the early Middle Ages is in the form of an inscribed stone, a memorial to one 'Rialobranus son of Cunovalus', located in a field on a moor about three kilometers from the village. It was first described in a letter written by the antiquary Edward Lhwyd. The inscription has been dated from the fifth to the eighth century.[1]
Morvah Gold Hoard
In 1884 during quarrying for building materials at Morvah, on the north-western coast of the Penwith peninsula at Carne Farm, (which lies about half a mile north of Chûn Castle and quoit), a hoard of gold ornaments was found dating from the late Bronze Age. The hoard of gold bracelets discovered here consisted of six large bracelets, three with distinctive trumpet-like ends. One also has engraved geometric designs on it. These bracelets were almost certainly either made in Ireland or made from Irish gold, and made their way, probably through trade in exchange for tin, to Cornwall. They now reside in the British Museum but are a vivid reminder of how relatively well-off Cornwall was in prehistoric times.[2] In 2007 there have been calls in the local Cornish press for the gold hoard to be returned to Cornwall from the British Museum.
Local government
For the purposes of local government Morvah is a civil parish. Morvah does not hold elections to a parish council but instead, holds a statutory meeting of electors of the parish every 12 months known as a parish meeting. The principal local authority in this area is Cornwall Council.
Parish Church
The church is dedicated to St Bridget: see St. Bridget's Church, Morvah
Morvah Fair
Morvah was prior to the 20th century the home of the Morvah Fair (held on August 1 every year) which has been described as the biggest Lughnasadh celebrations outside Ireland. The fair was attended by a large number from across West Cornwall. The fair was also associated with the legend of "Jack the Tinkard". In the late 19th century the then priest of Morvah lead a successful campaign to ban the celebrations due to the excess of drunken behaviour. In a proclamation he stated
"The Church-Town of Morvah has for many years past been much resorted to on the First Sunday in August by disorderly persons of every description, much to the annoyance of the parishioners, he hereby cautions all such persons from assembling on that day for idle and profane amusement, so revolting to that great command of the Law of God - "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" Strict orders have been given to the Constable and Officers of the Parish to take into custody any person who shall be found desecrating the Lord's Day."
Morvah now celebrates pasty day on the same date.
External links
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References
- ^ See the discussion and bibliography in Elisabeth Okasha, Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain (Leicester: University Press, 1993), pp. 174-177
- ^ The Morvah Hoard at the British Museum
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 | Carn Galver |
| John Mayow (English physiologist and chemist) |
| Lughnasa |
Copyrights:
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 | Celtic Mythology. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Copyright © James MacKillop 1998, 2004. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Morvah". Read more |
Mentioned in
- Carn Galver
- John Mayow (English physiologist and chemist)
- Lughnasa
- St. Bridget's Church, Morvah
