A band from Cornwall want to release a CD of Beatles songs, but translated into the Cornish language. Skwardya say they've already translated four and are working on another six. The duo, Matthew Clarke and Dave Miller, add that they began the project for fun, but that it's generated so much interest that they've contacted Sony to see if they can release a CD. They say they'll give up, however, if it turns out to be a pricy process.
Clarke says: "It would be great for the Cornish language to have a CD of Beatles songs. The group is not a folk band, we perform pop songs in Cornish and English. My whole raison d'etre is to prove that the Cornish language is alive and well and not just for a folk-singing, pasty-eating environment."
The Cornish language, formally recognised by the EU in 2002, is from the same family, as it were, as Welsh and Breton. Only a few hundred people still speak it, but Clarke says that a revival is gathering speed.