Surprise....

This kindly Gentleman lives in our little village. He can usually be seen riding an old fashioned racing bike in his shorts and always wears his long white socks. Today he was on his way by bus to Truro. He is wearing a kilt of Cornish Dress tartan, his sporran sports the inner emblem of Cornwall's shield, 15 golden roundels or bezants. (Explanation from Cornwall CC website) The kilt pin is standard, he doesn't wear his Skean Dhu as he would probably be tazered as a threat to the community. Doh!!! 

PS The Old School Pub and Kitchen behind him. Highly recommended.


Like Cornwall itself, the shield is enclosed by waves and its heart is the history and mystery of the golden roundels or bezants. Many guesses have been made about their origin, although no-one is really certain how Cornwall came to adopt such a bold graphic symbol. Nowadays 15 bezants appear arranged in an inverted triangle, but earlier Cornish emblems show them used as a border or arranged to fill a whole shield.
Among the more colourful conjectures is the tale of the King’s eldest son, captured by Saracens during the crusades. Loyal Cornishmen, it is said, helped to raise the ransom of 15 golden coins, named bezants after Eastern Europe’s Byzantium. The shield is thought to commemorate this King’s (or more properly, Prince’s) ransom, with the legend “one and all” noting a splendid joint effort by Cornishmen to save their Duke of Cornwall.


Extra: A Horses eye and eyelashes?