Episode 35. The Copper Family

SYNOPSIS

When the folk song collector, Kate Lee, visited the eminent lawyer Edward Carson QC at his home near Rottingdean, Sussex in November 1898, she stumbled upon a living archive of traditional melodies. This was courtesy of two brothers, James “Brasser” Copper, the bailiff of a Quaker farm, and Thomas Copper, the landlord of the Black Horse pub, who were summoned to ‘the big house’ to sing through their repertoire, assisted by copious quantities of whisky. One song, Claudy Banks, was the first to be reproduced, in 1899, in the Journal of the Folk Song Society, of which James and Tom were made honorary members.

Knowledge of the Coppers and their singing tradition was revived in 1950, when Brasser’s son, JIm, heard a family song being performed badly on the BBC’s Home Service. Encouraged by his son Bob, Jim contacted the BBC who immediately sent a team down for an interview and photographic session - for which Jim wisely donned the clothing, reflective of a romanticized image of the farm worker, which is shown on the thumbnail image to this episode. A radio series, The Life of Jim Copper and a concert at the Royal Albert Hall duly followed, and since that time the Copper Family have brought their inter-generational stories and songs of Rottingdean life to a wide and appreciative audience.

GUESTS

John and Jill Copper are the son and daughter, and Jon Dudley the son-in-law, of the late Bob Copper, whose writings and personality have done so much to further the esteem in which the family is held within folk circles and beyond. The conversation covers farming life in Victorian times and the history of smuggling in Sussex. It moves on to discuss the eminent Rottingdean residents, Georgina and Edward Burne-Jones, the painter, and their nephew, Rudyard Kipling, the most famous writer in England, who was harried our of the village by the unwelcome attention of local tourists. John and Jill provide an affectionate portrait of their father Bob, before discussing with Jon how the family has surfed the various waves of the folk revival in England, finally rounding off the interview with a performance of Claudy Banks.

For more information about the Copper Family, please visit their website https://www.thecopperfamily.com/

John, Jill and Jon’s interview with Simon Machin was recorded in Peacehaven, Sussex on 26 September 2023.