Nowt so insecure as name-callers
P. Maher's complaint under 'Suing the Cornish racists' (July 23) prompts me to point out that the dubbing of newcomers as emmets or other exclusive names is not just a Cornish phenomenon.
Locals of long-standing throughout Britain - and even overseas - erect these barriers because the veritable invasion of settlers into attractive, peaceful rural areas, often upsets the local status quo. I believe the situation is even worse in the Lake District.
Emmet is not even a Cornish word, but a provincial English term for ant. In Dorset, they use the word grockle. I am glad to say that there is not, in fact, any equivalent term in the Cornish language itself.
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In 330 #BC, the Greek explorer Pytheas remarked upon the courtesy shown by the inhabitants of Cornwall in receiving foreigners. Perhaps we who would like to be thought of as Cornish might bear this in mind.
It is, alas, a sad situation about which nothing can be done, the name-calling being simply a sign of defensiveness and insecurity which does not, indeed, do anything for those who indulge in it.
RICHARD GENDALL
Menheniot