Troy,
I knew as I wrote ``How do you tell a Cornish man,`` that it would bring forth a comedian First of all, of course there is a Cornish identity. Anyone born in Cornwall is Cornish.

I had a cousin in Australia but unfortunately he died tragically before I got round to visiting him. Most of my distant family are Mormans in Canada, who I have not visited yet either, but they traced our family tree on my mothers side for us. That is how I know that my g. g. g. grandmother was Cornish. But I was born in Dorset (2 counties from Cornwall) so I am not Cornish and cannot become Cornish even if I moved to Cornwall and have Cornish ancestry, I am and always will be a Dorset man, that is how it works in England.

My mothers family lived in the Chanel Islands since the 12th century and there are a lot of French type names in the family tree. Some are from Normandy but as the Chanel Islands are closer to Brittany than any part of the British coast, there is probably some Breton blood as well, but I don`t know and probably never will.

there are many diverse areas of England where people are very proud of their heritage like the Geordies, Yorkshire men, Suffolk men, Men of Kent and Kentish Men to name a few. They are all proud of their individuality and they are all proud Englishmen, which is partly what gives England its rich heritage.

Anyway to get back to the thread: I have found that for a non celt, the best way to enjoy the Irish culture is with Irish friends, and they always make everone welcome. So if they want to wear a kilt to celebrate their culture, so they should, wherever they are in the world, God Bless Em!

And Colin from Canada, I think you are right to think that tartan kilts came from Scotland, but we are all enjoying them and the Scots don`t mind.
God Bless Them Too!

Peter