‘Slave No More’ (Evaristo Muchovela) from The Sorrow Songs : Folk Songs of Black British Experience

This song is part of my research and preparation for my forthcoming album The Sorrow Songs : Folk Songs of Black British Experience. This album idea was born out of the fact that whilst we have a historic Black presence in these islands that dates back to at least Roman times, Black voices and experiences seem to be absent from our folk song. We have no tradition of song to give voice to our experience and presence, no sort of equivalent to the Spirituals that sing Black experiences in the USA.
I’ve been lucky enough to receive Arts Council and FEAST Cornwall funding for this, and I’m very absorbed in the research and composition phase at the moment.
It is fascinating. There is so very, very much evidence and so very many stories of historic Black British experiences that I can never read all of it. And it’s all in the public domain and freely available... and still hardly anyone knows about any of it.
This is the grave of Evaristo Muchovela. He is buried with his former master, Thomas Johns of Porkellis, in Wendron Churchyard, Cornwall. Johns had made enough money in copper and tin mining in Cornwall to travel to Brazil and try his luck there. He purchased the then 7-year old Evaristo, originally from Mozambique, whilst in Rio de Janeiro. Johns appears to have been good to his slave. When Johns’ health began to fail and he decided to return to Cornwall, he gave Evaristo a choice. Either he could remain in Brazil as a free man, or accompany him to Cornwall as a servant. Evaristo chose the latter. The two men are buried together. I like to think this suggests that against the odds, there was a real human relationship between them...
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