The Rape of Our Land - The Big Hewer from The Radio Ballads, and Lost Cornwall.

IMG_5999 (Photo credit: foto_mania)

The Radio Ballads are widely regarded as one of the great triumphs of radio, made by Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger, they recount through song and word the history of some of the working class peoples of these islands. A few months ago I posted the first episode, of a series of four adapted for film, on mining and include the next three episodes here. On later posts I hope to include some of the others about fishing, travellers, the fight game and other topics.

 The Big Hewer - Part 2 of 4.

The Big Hewer - Part 3 of 4.

 The Big Hewer - Part 4 of 4.

 I live in a part of Cornwall close to what was once the biggest copper mine in the world at Devon Great Consols and like most of the mines around here the capitalists moved out leaving their spoil heaps to contaminate the area and their mines shafts to collapse and ruin homes and roads. Once they have ripped their money out of the rock, it is no use to them and they move on leaving a trail of destruction and unemployment. Down here many of the miners emigrated to Australia (in particulr Tasmania),  South Africa, Canada and other parts of North and South America to find work. Those miners in far off parts of the world were often refered to locally as Cousin Jacks and this song records some of the bitterness that still exists over the rape of my county.