Celtic solidarity

Bill Jamieson (Perspective, 13 March) finds links between Cornwall and Scotland. Valda, the Cornish wife of Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid (the pen name of Christopher Grieve) asserted her national identity.

As a student in the 1950s I provided her with Cornish flags (a white cross on black), imported from Brittany – where flags of the countries now considered Celtic are available.

I visited Brittany with a speaker of the Cornish language who could converse with speakers of Breton, each in their own (closely related) Celtic language.

We should encourage a wider understanding of the national identity of Cornwall. If the Duchy of Luxembourg can have six members in the European Parliament the Duchy of Cornwall should have at least one of its own.

David Stevenson

Edinburgh