Poetry: The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond

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Charlotte Dymond was a domestic servant who worked at Penhale Farm near Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Matthew Weeks, a crippled farm hand, also worked there and was Charlotte’s boyfriend. She disappeared after walking out across the moors with Matthew and her body was found several days later by a search party. Her throat had been cut. Matthew, who had fled to Plymouth, was arrested there, tried and hanged for Charlotte’s murder. Her ghost was reputed to haunt the moors. The crime has always excited interest and given rise to theories (some very far-fetched!) about who could have killed her if in fact it wasn’t Matthew, jealous because of her flirting with another man.

Charles Causley, a Cornishman himself, wrote the Ballad of Charlotte Dymond. The poem is still in copyright but can be found here:

Activites based on the poem

Share the poem with pupils, there are a number of activities that could be undertaken:

  1. Print out the ballad and cut it up into sections, each containing a verse or two. Ask pupils to arrange them in order.
  2. Ask pupils to write additional verses from the point of view of Thomas Prout, who was the person Matthew was jealous of, or Mrs Peter, the owner of the farm and Matthew and Charlotte’s employer.

For less able writers, here are some half finished verses:

When I came home that evening

I learned my Charlotte was dead

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

 

Charlotte was a dainty girl

Who liked to dress her best

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

 

Or, perhaps, the judge or a member of the jury:

 

There was no doubt within my mind

About who was to blame

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

And of course, other verses by Matthew or Charlotte could be invented.

  1. For discussion, draw attention to Causley’s lines: ‘Ask which of these two lovers/ The most deserves your prayers.’ How would they answer the question – and why does Causley ask it? Why would a 20th Century poet write about a 19th Century crime?
  2. List the evidence against Matthew. Is it sufficient or is there room for doubt. Can anyone argue a case for the defence?
  3. There are a number of videos made by students which can be viewed on YouTube or Vimeo. Pupils might like to discuss how effective they are in telling the story. Who knows, they might be moved to make one themselves.

Download The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond activities here.

 

By Trevor Millum for Smart Learning