Dave Clemo- Camborne Hill

This is another track from my as yet unreleased Cornish album that we recorded back in 2015. I have to give credit to Graham Hart, whose rock version of the song was the inspiration for the arrangement.
The song celebrates the exploits of Richard Trevithick the inventor of the first successful steam powered road vehicle. On Christmas Eve 1801 his ‘Puffing Devil’ successfully carried six passengers along Fore Street in Camborne, continuing up Camborne Hill towards Beacon. The terrible state of the road contributed to them setting another record- the first recorded wheel slip by a powered vehicle. The engine ended up in a ditch, so Trevithick and his friends went to a local hostelry to celebrate. Alas, when they returned to the engine, the unattended fire had all but destroyed it.
The other verses appear to describe the sexual morals of the local landowner’s young wife.
On the recording I played guitar, bass and mandolin. Vince Gorman added some guitar; Rai Clews played cajon and our good friend Stevie Poole (RIP) added some button accordion.
A few years ago, the Trevithick Society constructed a full-size replica ‘Puffing Devil’ and the video shows footage of it travelling through the streets of Camborne on the annual Trevithick Day.
Hope you like it!