John Davey Cornish speaker

John Davey (1812–1891), a Cornish farmer and schoolmaster from Boswednack in Zennor parish, is noted for his limited but traditional knowledge of the Cornish language. He inherited a copy of William Pryce's 1790 work *Archaeologia Cornu-Britannica* and reportedly learned some Cornish from his father. A song attributed to him, the "Cranken Rhyme," is considered one of the last surviving examples of Cornish literature, though its origins are unclear.

John Hobson Matthews, in his 1892 history of Zennor's parishes, described Davey as able to understand local place names and speak a few phrases in Cornish. However, it remains uncertain whether Matthews directly heard him or relied on others' accounts. None of Davey's relatives or neighbors recorded his knowledge, leaving some doubt about its extent.

Robert Morton Nance later amended the "Cranken Rhyme," providing a translation that humorously compares rocky fields to a road. Davey is commemorated with a memorial plaque at Zennor Church, which hails him as the last traditional Cornish speaker. While others, including Jacob Care, Elizabeth Vingoe, and John Mann, retained some knowledge of Cornish after his death, Davey is celebrated alongside figures like John Marchant and Mary Pentreath as one of the last keepers of the language's traditions.