St Columb Green Book is a very rare 16th century handwritten manuscript, bound in green leather detailing the parish records of St Columb Major, Cornwall. It was kept with a few intermissions from 1585 onwards.[1] It gives a rare glimpse in day to day life in 16th century Cornwall. The original is very fragile and is now kept at the Kresen Kernow. A reprint of selected passages was published in 1912 by Thurstan Peter, in a Supplement to Journal of Royal Institution of Cornwall, vol. 19.
The book dating back to Elizabethan times covers just the Parish of St Columb Major. It is important, as it contains one of the earliest references to Morris dancing[2] in the United Kingdom. Another entry gives the earliest written reference to the ancient sport of Cornish Hurling[3] Also contained is an early reference to Robin Hood plays that existed in Cornwall.[4]