Camden's rhyme is more comprehensive:—
By Tre, Ros, Pol, Lan, Caer, and Pen,
You may know most Cornish men.[1]
The names compounded of Tre, Pen, Pol, Bo, Ros, Car, Lan, and Nan are without doubt the most numerous. Between 400 and 500 forms of surnames with the prefix Tre are given in the present volume; about 106 names occur under Pen. None of the other prefixes will give 60 surnames. The least frequent is Nan, the names compounded with which are under 30.[2] As it is quite clear that neither of the above couplets of Carew and Camden is strictly accurate, a friend proposes to substitute—
Tre, Pen, Pol, Bo,
Ros, Car, Lan, Nan,
Will make you know
The Cornish man.
I will also hazard the following:—
By Tre, Pol, and Pen,
'Tis said you know the Cornish men;
Yet you may know a Cornish man
Sometimes by Ros, Car, Bo, Lan, Nan.
It is not always possible to explain the Celtic Surnames of Cornwall by reference to the local dialect singly. Gilbert, indeed, speaks of the necessity of consulting the kindred British dialects for this purpose. Examples will be found in the following pages.
