WE read the Skipper column each week and have come to think that it is the rantings and ravings of a very bitter and twisted person. In last week's case, he was talking on a subject of which he has no knowledge.

What is wrong with the people of Cornwall being given the chance to once again speak their native language? It was not by choice that it ceased to be spoken, but was a decision made by the English that the English language was to be used. The Court of Human Rights stipulates that we must respect the culture of people from other countries, so where is the wrong in us also enjoying the same rights? As for Skipper mentioning the educational officials not knowing which of the three versions of the Cornish language to teach, this is sadly through them not recognising the fact that the reason for there being three versions is partly through the way it was written down by the scribes and why different regions had their own versions, caused mainly by the fact that different regions pronounced the same word differently, so was copied differently.

We have in our library attached to our London lodge over 2,500 books written in the Cornish language and we know that there are within our county of Cornwall several thousand that are gathering dust in some pretty impressive private libraries, as we have in the past made many purchases from some of the larger homes for safe keeping, and you have a Robbie Wright, of Carharrack who, along with some of his friends, produced a most authentic aid to learning the Cornish language which we can verify as being correct, and spoken with the true Cornish accent it gives it a more authentic way of learning than from someone with a more upmarket accent.

Lastly, we would like to say that, sadly, Skipper must be lost somewhere in the past, as we converse with people from many countries, writing to them in their native language, all through the wonder of our age called a computer and the use of programs which enable us to print in English and, hopefully, one day also in Cornish, and at the touch of a button converts to the language we wish to send it in.

The secretary, on behalf of the Grandmaster and Officers of the Lodge, Cousin Jack Society, London