We recently discovered the word coddiwomple in a travel guide. It enchanted us - to the extent we’ve compiled a Tom’s Cottage guide to wanderlust vocab…
Have you ever longed to capture a fleeting moment? That yearning is morri.
Unfamiliar with Tom’s Cottage and pondering what’s wonderous about Cornwall? Selcouth is the old English word for such reflection.
We’d grown up using these next (related) terms and mistakenly presumed them to be Cornish dialect; turns out they’re just archaic English: gadabout is a person who travels often or goes to many places for pleasure, while gadden is wandering without specific aim or purpose. Coincidentally, ‘out on the gad’ is the universal Cornish term for being away from home kicking up one’s heels.
And coddiwomple is to travel purposefully toward an as yet unknown destination. We wonder if newcomers to Tom’s Cottage might be coddiwomplers?
Everyone surely is a thalassophile to some degree! For the uninitiated: that's someone who loves the sea or feels an indescribable urge to be by the ocean.
If relaxing in tranquil countryside is your thing, we, and these are for you: -
- Nemophilist – one who loves woods for their beauty and solitude
- Psithurism – the sound of wind in trees and rustling of leaves
- Petrichor – the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil
- Salutiferous – conductive to good health
With spring in the air, there comes the seasonal collective nouns: a bunch of daffodils become a clump when unpicked, or a host as a massed yellow carpet. The Cornish love their narcissi and often refer to a cluster of them. Most will be familiar with a brood of chicks and a clutch of eggs, but a fluffle of wild rabbits is new to us.
Easter
In 1873 the first chocolate eggs were sold in England by Fry’s (what a stroke of genius) while Easter egg hunts originated from Germany and came into English fashion with Queen Victoria. These early scamperings would have been for coloured hard-boiled eggs, but the glee of discovery (and pleasure in cracking open there and then) would have been as wonderful as today’s version.
The Westcountry hatched its own seasonal gift long before chocolate eggs came into being: Easter biscuits. Home-baked with spice and sultanas these are a delicious munch and a terrific excuse to gadabout distributing amongst friends, family and neighbours. Various recipes can be found online (or buy in local bakeries).
Spring at Tom’s Cottage
Dipping in and out of the garden, lingering lunches and gatherings around the fire. These are the evocative recollections we hold as a family. Each retelling brings enraptured echoes. No morri or selcouth, just: when is the next rerun?
Of course there’s the days out roaming the coast path and visiting magnificent gardens - often with an historic house chucked in. The most memorable excursions are often borne from the unexpected – be they amazing discoveries or adventurous diversions.
Add a sprinkle of family dynamic and sit back… Years of reminiscing will follow – an immortalised gift of memories.
Local spring events
March
3rd Camelford Show's Tractor Run 10am Hill Top Farm Shop – lunch Wilsey Down pub
5th St Piran’s Day National Day of Cornwall
9th Mothers’ Day high tea Boscastle Farm Shop
10th Mothering Sunday
17th Tretawn Farmers Market St Kew Highway, 10am – 12.30
29th Good Friday (Bank Holiday)
29th – 30th Antiques Fair Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge
29th – 31st Kernow K9 Agility Easter Show Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge
30th March – 7th April St Endellion Easter Festival
31st Easter Sunday
April
1st Easter Monday (Bank Holiday)
1st Pengenna Manor Easter Egg Hunt & cream tea 10am & 2pm starts
6th – 7th Cornwall Spring Flower Show (Cornwall Garden Society) Royal Cornwall Showground
19th – 21st Port Isaac Shanty Festival
Follow @tomscottagecornwall for more local events as they're announced (f & IG)
