A SHREWD INVESTMENT ?

Quite a few years ago we had a two or three holidays in Carbis Bay in West Cornwall.  We stayed in a nice bungalow in Treloyhan Park Road which looked out across the bay towards Godrevy Lighthouse.  It was a pleasant stroll from there to St. Ives one way and to Carbis Bay itself the other way and just up the road there was a Tesco store in the most agreeable location imaginable - it also had a view of the sea and the neighbouring countryside - so all in all it was a good place to stay.

This week of course Carbis Bay is being taken over by the G7 meeting of heads of state from across the world and I have been catching up on events leading up to the summit by watching the BBC`s Spotlight programme for the south west each evening (channel 967 on Sky.)  And it is quite remarkable what`s going on down there - a ring of steel (literally) has been erected around the most sensitive bits of Carbis Bay and the two hotels which will be accommodating the world leaders;  there are navy vessels patrolling St. Ives Bay;  bits of the south west coast path are blocked off;  the railway service from St. Ives to St. Erth via Carbis Bay has stopped working and 5,000 police and hundreds of security personnel are guarding the area.

One wonders why on earth the G7 summit is being held in this idyllic holiday destination in the midst of the holiday season as well as the pandemic.  The question having been duly begged, it turns out that Boris Johnson used to go on holiday in his grandparents house in Carbis Bay, his Dad was born there and anyway Boris likes it.  But one wonders too what the native Cornish residents think of it all.

I guess some are putting up with it for the economic benefits it will bring but I suspect that the majority of Cornish folk simply view it as yet another invasion by `emmets.`  I first came across the `emmet` label on another visit to Cornwall - this time to the fishing village of Cadgwith where I saw the sign pictured above on one of the cars in the village car park.  It struck me that a Cornishman was making it clear that he (it could have been she of course) was from those parts and was proud to confirm his independence.   Good for him (or her) I thought along with the notion that how good it must be to originate from a place with such tradition, history and unique culture.

So, what does the word emmet really mean?  Well, ironically, it`s not even Cornish but is commonly thought to derive from the Cornish language word for `ant.`  Tourists and visitors to the area are often red in colour and they mill around in large gatherings - you get the analogy - but the use of emmet is actually derived from the Old English word aemete, from which the modern English word `ant` comes.  The Cornish word for ant is moryenenn, the plural of which - moryon - is still used in the very far west of Cornwall instead of emmet and it`s not too far away from sounding like moron - for yet another analogy.

For decades, if not for centuries, Cornish folk have used `emmet` often in an affectionate way.  However in more recent times there seems to be a growing feeling that the term is derogatory, divisive and even racist.  Well, we do live in a wokey world but the world leaders and their entourages, the zillions of police, security and media people attending the G7 event might be well advised to invest in a stock of non-emmet stickers, just in case.