Cornish clung on as living language beyond Dolly Pentreath, says writer

Author of new book suggests Kernewek continued to be spoken in the 19th century, albeit in tiny numbers'

The legend that Cornish vanished as a living language with the death of the fish seller Dolly Pentreath in the late 18th century is being challenged by one of the world's leading experts on the Celtic culture of the far south-west of Britain.

Pentreath, from the harbourside town of Mousehole on the Cornish south coast, died in 1777 aged 85 and the narrative developed that she was the last true speaker of Kernewek.