Cruel Coppinger
Encyclopedia
Cruel Coppinger is a semi-legendary figure in Cornish
folklore
. Coppinger was a real person, but various legend
s grew up around him, lending him near superhuman
powers and a fearsome reputation. He is portrayed as huge and fearsome Dane who after being shipwreck
ed off Cornwall
became the leader of a feared band of smugglers.
, the composer of the Cornish anthem The Song of the Western Men
, who collected the existing legends and, with a few additions of his own, published them in Charles Dickens
' magazine Household Words
in 1866.
His story was prefaced with the verse:
Will you hear of Cruel Coppinger
He came from a foreign land;
He was brought to us by the salt water,
He was carried away by the wind!
According to the legend, one night, during a great storm, a ship got into trouble near the shore of Cornwall. The local inhabitants turned out to the beach as they often would when there was a chance that a ship would be wrecked and valuable commodities washed up on shore.
On the deck of the ship they saw the lone figure of huge man, who, leaping into the sea, waded through the surf until he reached the shore. There he grabbed the cloak of an old woman and leapt up on the horse of a young woman who had come down to the shore. Shouting something in a foreign tongue, later held to be the language of the Viking
s, he rode off with the girl and made his way to her house where he installed himself, uninvited. He announced himself as Coppinger from Denmark
, and little-by-little secured the favour of Dinah Hamlyn, the girl he had carried off.
Eventually he secured her hand in marriage. He mysteriously raised enough money to buy himself a house and lands, and set himself up as the leader of a feared band of smuggler
s, wreaker
s and pirates
in Cornwall. He controlled a number of bridle path
s and footpath
s which converged at a steep cliff, at the foot of which was a cave where he kept his booty and stolen livestock
.
To discourage surveillance by the Revenue Officers, one of his gang beheaded one of them. Among the ships used by the "Cruel" gang was the Black Prince, a ship built to Coppinger's own design in the shipyards of Denmark, with which he terrorised the English Channel
. Using his knowledge of the waters of the Cornish coast he lured a Revenue cutter into the shallow waters of a cove and wrecked her.
When his father-in-law died Coppinger was eager to secure the remainder of his money, and to force his widowed mother-in-law to hand it over, he would threaten to whip his wife with a cat-o-nine-tails.
His son was born a deaf-mute
. It was said that because of his father's crime, he was born without a soul
. He was known to be mischievous and cruel, and one day was found laughing at the top of cliff, at the bottom of which was the body of a neighbour's child.
Coppinger is said to have disappeared one night when the pressure from the Revenue Officers finally became too much. A lone man saw him put out in small boat to a ship anchored off shore, which raised its sails and disappeared into the night. Coppinger was "carried away with the wind" and never seen again.
John Coppinger was of Danish stock, but his family had established itself in Ireland
. Reports in his family history suggest he left Cork
in about 1760, and moved to Roscoff
in Brittany
where he had estates. His property in Brittany was destroyed during the French Revolution
in 1793 and around this time he moved to Cornwall where he bought an estate named Trewhiddle
, near St Austell
. It is likely that he supplied contraband from Brittany to Cornwall
Daniel Coppinger is closer to the version of Cruel Coppinger in the legend. Shipwrecked in 1792, he married a woman named Hamlyn, though she was much older than the young girl featured in the legend and was called Ann rather than Dinah. He had property in Hartland
and was known to be a "Free Trader" (a pirate or smuggler). He claimed to be a former Navy surgeon; a Coppinger did serve in the Royal Navy
as a surgeon around that time, but whether these two were the same person is unknown.
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. Coppinger was a real person, but various legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s grew up around him, lending him near superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
powers and a fearsome reputation. He is portrayed as huge and fearsome Dane who after being shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
ed off Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
became the leader of a feared band of smugglers.
Legend
The legend of Cruel Coppinger recognised today, is that recorded by Rev. Robert Stephen HawkerRobert Stephen Hawker
Robert Stephen Hawker was an Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian of Cornwall and reputed eccentric. He is best known as the writer of The Song of the Western Men with its chorus line of And shall Trelawny die? / Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / will know the reason why!, which he published...
, the composer of the Cornish anthem The Song of the Western Men
The Song of the Western Men
"The Song of the Western Men" was written by Robert Stephen Hawker. It is also known by the title of "Trelawny".Hawker wrote the song in 1824, telling of events that took place in 1688. When the song first appeared many thought it to be a contemporary record of events, although in fact the song...
, who collected the existing legends and, with a few additions of his own, published them in Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' magazine Household Words
Household Words
Household Words was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s which took its name from the line from Shakespeare "Familiar in his mouth as household words" — Henry V.-History:...
in 1866.
His story was prefaced with the verse:
Will you hear of Cruel Coppinger
He came from a foreign land;
He was brought to us by the salt water,
He was carried away by the wind!
According to the legend, one night, during a great storm, a ship got into trouble near the shore of Cornwall. The local inhabitants turned out to the beach as they often would when there was a chance that a ship would be wrecked and valuable commodities washed up on shore.
On the deck of the ship they saw the lone figure of huge man, who, leaping into the sea, waded through the surf until he reached the shore. There he grabbed the cloak of an old woman and leapt up on the horse of a young woman who had come down to the shore. Shouting something in a foreign tongue, later held to be the language of the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s, he rode off with the girl and made his way to her house where he installed himself, uninvited. He announced himself as Coppinger from Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and little-by-little secured the favour of Dinah Hamlyn, the girl he had carried off.
Eventually he secured her hand in marriage. He mysteriously raised enough money to buy himself a house and lands, and set himself up as the leader of a feared band of smuggler
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
s, wreaker
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
s and pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in Cornwall. He controlled a number of bridle path
Bridle path
A bridle path is a thoroughfare originally made for horses, but which these days serves a wide range of interests, including hikers, walkers and cyclists as well as equestrians. The laws relating to permissions vary from country to country...
s and footpath
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
s which converged at a steep cliff, at the foot of which was a cave where he kept his booty and stolen livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
.
To discourage surveillance by the Revenue Officers, one of his gang beheaded one of them. Among the ships used by the "Cruel" gang was the Black Prince, a ship built to Coppinger's own design in the shipyards of Denmark, with which he terrorised the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. Using his knowledge of the waters of the Cornish coast he lured a Revenue cutter into the shallow waters of a cove and wrecked her.
When his father-in-law died Coppinger was eager to secure the remainder of his money, and to force his widowed mother-in-law to hand it over, he would threaten to whip his wife with a cat-o-nine-tails.
His son was born a deaf-mute
Deaf-mute
For "deafness", see hearing impairment. For "Deaf" as a cultural term, see Deaf culture. For "inability to speak", see muteness.Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was both deaf and could not speak...
. It was said that because of his father's crime, he was born without a soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
. He was known to be mischievous and cruel, and one day was found laughing at the top of cliff, at the bottom of which was the body of a neighbour's child.
Coppinger is said to have disappeared one night when the pressure from the Revenue Officers finally became too much. A lone man saw him put out in small boat to a ship anchored off shore, which raised its sails and disappeared into the night. Coppinger was "carried away with the wind" and never seen again.
History
Little is known of the real Coppinger. Two possible models are John Coppinger who arrived in Cornwall in around 1793 and Daniel Coppinger who was shipwrecked in 1792. It is likely that the Cruel Coppinger of legend is based on an amalgamation of the two.John Coppinger was of Danish stock, but his family had established itself in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Reports in his family history suggest he left Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
in about 1760, and moved to Roscoff
Roscoff
Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
where he had estates. His property in Brittany was destroyed during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1793 and around this time he moved to Cornwall where he bought an estate named Trewhiddle
Trewhiddle
Trewhiddle is a small settlement in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It lies in the civil parish of Pentewan Valley and the ecclesiastical parish of St Austell. The nearest town is St Austell, approximately one mile to the north.-Manor of Trewhiddle:...
, near St Austell
St Austell
St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...
. It is likely that he supplied contraband from Brittany to Cornwall
Daniel Coppinger is closer to the version of Cruel Coppinger in the legend. Shipwrecked in 1792, he married a woman named Hamlyn, though she was much older than the young girl featured in the legend and was called Ann rather than Dinah. He had property in Hartland
Hartland, Devon
The town of Hartland, which incorporates the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county of Devon, England....
and was known to be a "Free Trader" (a pirate or smuggler). He claimed to be a former Navy surgeon; a Coppinger did serve in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
as a surgeon around that time, but whether these two were the same person is unknown.