Book of Condolence

Ray Edwards: 1924–2008

Ray Edwards, KDL’s founder and the author of the KDL teaching materials, died on 2 April.

From taking up Cornish in 1980, Ray devoted much of his time to the study of the Cornish language and was keen to give others the opportunity to learn Cornish wherever they were in the world.

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Name:

Roger Henley

Location:

Sherborne, Dorset

Comment

Although I never met Ray, I am aware of the debt that the Cornish Language Revival owes to him. The wealth of literature and learned texts that he produced will serve as his memorial. He truly was one of the great figures of the language movement.
Most of all, though, I thank him for founding KDL, thus enabling those of us not resident in Cornwall to learn the language of our forefathers. It is a testament to the success of KDL that I was taught, not by Ray himself, but by Symon Harner, who was one of Ray's students. Now I am teaching another generation, thus building on the firm foundations laid down by Ray.
May God bless Ray, and bring comfort to his family at this sad time.
Cornwall, and the Cornish language that he so loved, are so much the poorer with Ray's passing.

Name:

Tim Saunders

Location:

Caerdydd

Comment

Bwlc'h bras war y lergh. Ny'vydh y bar arta.

A big gap after him. His like will not be again

Name:

Rostislav Hasa

Location:

Brno, Czech Republic

Comment

We, Jarmila Coufalova, Drahomira Presserova and I, from the Czech Republic, are very sorry to hear that Ray Edwards has passed away. He was our KDL teacher and we remember him as a very nice and clever person who was patient enough to explain to us every problem that we encountered in our Cornish lessons. Without his help we could never have learned Cornish properly and reach as far as we did.

I will always remember my meeting him in person at the Gorsedd in 1999 when the three of us were made bards. He was a good-humoured, nice and enthusiastic man.

We greatly respected him and he will always remain in our hearts beating for Cornwall.


Best regards,
Rostislav

Name:

Symon Harner

Location:

Málaga, Spain

Comment

Ray will be remembered by Cornish speakers for his incredible work in the many things he did for them. His achievement was huge as teacher, course creator, editor, publisher, scholar, researcher, author and speaker... and not let's forget crossword compiler extraordinaire!

I'm not a natural scholar, so the fact that I passed my Cornish exams with distinction is largely down to Ray's skill, support and enthusiasm. As a teacher he was second to none. Those qualities he also had as a colleague at Kernewek dre Lyther, his vast knowledge, wisdom and patience were a tower of strength. He was a good friend.

He was greatly respected and, I'm sure, will be remembered as one of the true greats of the Cornish Language Revival, a memory richly deserved.

I'm very sorry for his passing.

Name:

Stephen Smith

Location:

Tamworth, Staffordshire, UK

Comment

I think I was first aware of a Cornish language when my Uncle Ray brought with him on a visit a children's game he had made, consisting of wooden tiles with Cornish words burnt onto them, which he wanted me and my two sisters to try out. Later, we saw him barded at St Just, in 1982, and much later someone invented the Internet, and Ray requested my help to move Kernewek Dre Lyther online.

This seems like the end of an era, but Ray was always determined that, through the website and a broad team of teachers, KDL would continue after him because he didn't want to "leave anyone in the lurch"!

My part in this website is now dedicated to the memory of my uncle.

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