Jim Wearne is a Cornish- American singer-songwriter who is an excellent lyricist which his book “Out Of Tune” shows.
A link to purchase the book on Amazon is below after one of his song lyrics.
This write up is taken from his website http://www.jimwearne.com/
My name is Jim Wearne, and I am a Cornish-American folk singer. That is, I perform songs, stories and singalongs from and about Cornwall. The music I perform consists mostly of traditional songs of Cornwall. I also include some that are not traditional, but celebrate some aspect of Cornwall from a contemporary viewpoint.
Cornwall was once a separate land with its own king. There is a Cornish language similar to Welsh. There are many aspects of Cornwall that to this day mark it as an entity distinct from England.
It is nearly an island. It is a long peninsula which is cut off almost entirely from the mainland by the river Tamar at the east. The western end of Cornwall is Land’s End, with the Isles of Scilly just off the coast.
There is much more to learn about Cornwall, and I will try to include links that will take you to many web sites that will fascinate you with the history, traditions, and living appeal of this enchanted and enchanting place.
This Isn’t England by Jim Wearne
We welcome you to Cornwall,
Feast your ears and eyes.
You’ve just departed England.
Aren’t you surprised?
You’ve crossed the mighty Tamar.
And now you’re over here.
This isn’t England.
Let’s get that very clear.
See the fields and hedges.
Hear the way we talk.
Those are cliffs of granite,
Not of bloody chalk.
Mine stacks on the hilltops
Fishing boats at sea.
If you think that you’re in England,
Then listen here to me.
This isn’t England
You stupid twit.
This land is Cornwall
We’re proud of it.
It’s part of Britain
Not the UK.
But this isn’t England.
Let’s get that straight, OK?
Have a proper pasty.
And some clotted cream.
Have a jar of scrumpy.
You’ll see what we mean.
“It’s like a different country.”
You’ll say if you’re not dull.
That’s what we’re trying
To drive into your skull!
Here comes a sunburnt Yankee
From the USA.
He’s touring “Merrye England”
In his Chevrolet.
He’s crossed o’er the Tamar
But he doesn’t know.
He thinks he’s still in England cos
The guidebook tells him so.
This isn’t England
No, not a bit.
This land is Cornwall
We’re proud of it.
It’s part of Britain
Not the UK.
But this isn’t England,
No matter what they say.
We had a mighty country.
We had a mighty king.
We had a lovely language.
We had everything.
We had farms and fishing
And the tin mines too.
Now all we’ve got is tourists,
No thanks to you-know-who.
Here come the English Emmets.
They’re all swarming down
To jam us up with traffic
In every lane and town.
“How quaint are the people,
How sweet is the scene.”
Well, we’re not some exhibit–
Go tell that to your queen.
This isn’t England
You silly git.
This land is Cornwall
We’re proud of it.
It’s part of Britain
Not the UK.
But this isn’t England.
That’s up the other way.
Some say that we’re silly
To love our ancient land.
But we’re in deadly earnest
Please try to understand.
They’ve lined their English pockets
With our Cornish gold.
Now we’re reclaiming
The land they’ve bought and sold.
So while we’re up here singing
The chorus of this song,
Please don’t sit there silent.
Won’t you sing along?
We will not keep quiet.
We won’t go away.
We are the Cornish.
We’re in the fight to stay.
This isn’t England
You must admit.
This land is Cornwall
We’re proud of it.
It’s part of Britain
Not the UK.
But this isn’t England.
There’s nothing more to say.
To buy this excellent book on Amazon please CLICK HERE
