Ben Boucher

Ben Boucher (1769-1851) was an English poet who described life in Dudley in the Black Country during the nineteenth century.

Biography

Ben Boucher was born in 1769 at Horseley Heath and was a collier by trade.^[1]

He wrote a poem in 1827 describing in detail Dudley Market.^[2]

A number of his poems are included in the book The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country by C.F.G. Clarke published in 1881. According to Clarke, he was commemorated with the rhyme:

Oh! rare Ben Boucher, Boucher Ben; The best of Poets, but worst of men.

Clarke also adds:^[1] 'the greater part of his singular and irregular life was spent in Dudley, at certain favourite public house haunts, where his talents were appreciated, and his songs admired and read by the curious.'

He died in the workhouse in 1851.^[3]

Works

Ben Boucher sold his poems around the Dudley area, reportedly charging a penny a sheet.^[1] A few of his poems have been preserved such as: ^[1]

On the death of Dr. Luke Booker, Vicar of Dudley (which happened away from Dudley):

St. Luke is dead—a Poet and Divine—

I hope his spirit doth in glory shine.

To save expense, and the roads being ugly,

Or the Doctor would have come to Dudley.

Written after the old St. Thomas’s Church, Dudley was demolished (and some furnishings sent to nearby Gornal):

The seats and the windows, ah, and the clock too,

Were sent on to Gornal, to their Gornal crew;

For the sand men and asses, for to go to church,

And the people of Dudley were left in the lurch.

Opening of "Lines On Dudley Market", 1827:

At Dudley Market, now I tell,

Most kind of articles they sell;

The women take the greatest care

To buy up crocks and earthenware,

Milkpans, and colliers’ tots,

Coloured cups and chamber-pots.

Old shoes to sell, there stands close by,

With shabby strings—the same they tie;

If in those shoes you walk about,

The bottoms soon will tumble out—

Commemoration

As part of the refurbishment of Dudley Market, a bronze statue of Ben Boucher, designed by artist Steve Field, was placed on a bench near the fountain at one end of the marketplace in 2015. ^[4]

References

1. Clarke, C.F.G. (1881). The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country. Birmingham: Buckler Brothers.
2. Workman, John (28 April 2014). "Historically the Market Place has always been at the heart of our Black Country towns". Black Country Bugle. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
3. "Dudley aims to be a Black Country seat of culture with striking street furniture". Dudley News. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
4. "Tribute to Dudley poet unveiled". www.dudley.gov.uk/. Dudley MBC. Retrieved 24 November 2015.