The "Cranken Rhyme" is a Cornish-language

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

 song known by John Davey

John Davey (Cornish speaker)

John Davey or Davy was a Cornish farmer who was one of the last people with some traditional knowledge of the Cornish language. Jenner states that he level of his ability in the language is unclear, but was probably restricted to a few words and phrases...

, one of the last people with some knowledge of the tongue. It was recorded by J. Hobson Matthews in his History of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack, and Zennor, and is probably the latest known traditional Cornish verse.

Matthews records the song in a chapter on the Cornish language and the evidence for its late survival. It is not clear whether he ever met Davey, or if he was relying on second-hand testimony. Either way, the song is unknown from any other source, demonstrating that Davey had knowledge of some original Cornish in the late 19th century. Matthews himself thought the song to be merely a jumble of placenames, which Davey was reputed to be able to decipher. However, Robert Morton Nance

Robert Morton Nance

Robert Morton Nance was a leading authority on the Cornish language, nautical archaeologist, and joint founder of the Old Cornwall Society....

 respelled the song into a recognizable form and provided an English translation. It is evidently a bit of humor claiming that even the Penzance

Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...

-Marazion

Marazion

Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mount's Bay, two miles east of Penzance and one mile east of Long Rock.St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion...

 road was more fertile than Cranken's stony fields.

Original form

A Grankan,a grankan,

A mean o gowaz o vean,

Ondez parc an venton,

Dub parc an venton,

Dub trelawza vean,

Far Penzans a Maragow,

Githack Mackewee,

A githack Macrow,

A mac trelowza Varrack,

English translation

O Cranken, O Cranken!

Beyond the field of the well,

you give but little,

-only three shoots by the stone.

The road between Penzance and Marazion

is very green,

and a whole lot fresher,

- three shoots grow for every passing horseman,

Standard Written Form

Standard Written Form

The Standard Written Form or SWF of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthography"...

A Grankan, A Grankan,

War'n men a gawas saw vyan,

Yn hans dhe Bark an Fenten,

Neb try lows a ven.

Fordh Bensans dhe Varhas Yow,

Hag uthek moy gwer,

Hag uthek moy cro,

A mag try lows a varhak,