BBC Folk Award-winning singer-songwriter Sam Carter is set to release The Oakham Poacher (December 5th – pre-order via Bandcamp), his first solo collection of traditional songs, many captured on record for the very first time. Known for his narrative-rich songwriting and expressive guitar work, Carter delves into a piece of history from his own childhood backyard.
The EP’s title track tells the true, tragic story of the Perkins brothers from Northamptonshire. In 1833, they were tried at Oakham Castle after shooting a gamekeeper in what was then known as Oakham Woods. The trial resulted in John Perkins becoming the last man to be hanged in Oakham.
This history is deeply personal for Carter, who grew up in Rutland and attended school less than half a mile from the historic castle. “The poacher is often cast as a kind of folk hero; someone who lived off the land when the land had been taken from ordinary people,” Carter reflects. “There’s something shared between the spirit of the folk singer and the poacher; both acts reclaim what was always ours to begin with.”
Sam Carter on the story behind the EP:
The name of my new EP was inspired by the traditional title track, The Oakham Poachers. It’s one of the very few folk songs I’ve found from my home county of Rutland, and it tells the story of the Perkins brothers from Easton on the Hill, just over the border in Northamptonshire. They shot and injured a gamekeeper in Empingham Old Wood – known in the song as Oakham Woods. The three brothers were tried at Oakham Castle; John Perkins was hanged there in 1833, the last hanging to take place in Oakham.
I had no idea about this song or the story behind it until a few years ago. As a teenager, I used to smoke and chat with my mates in the grounds of Oakham Castle, completely unaware of the drama that had unfolded there two centuries earlier. I was left wondering why I was never told about it at my school, which was less than half a mile away.
The poacher is often cast as a kind of folk hero; someone who lived off the land when the land had been taken from ordinary people through the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries. There’s something shared between the spirit of the folk singer and the poacher; both acts are an attempt to reclaim what was always ours to begin with. There’s no fence between us and the songs; but when they’re forgotten or neglected, they are silently out of bounds.
The Oakham Poachers isn’t especially obscure; it’s a classic ballad, recorded by many great singers including Emily Portman, Shirley Collins, John Kirkpatrick, and Martin Carthy. There are a few different versions of the lyrics around: some closer to the broadside printed by Roy Palmer in The Folklore of Leicestershire and Rutland, others follow the shorter version sung by Wiggy Smith. My version draws together the bits I liked best in a way that made the
story flow. I’ve also put the brothers’ names back in – many versions leave them out – and
added some of the darker details I found about their eventual fates.
And so, The Oakham Poacher felt like the right title for my first EP of traditional songs. It’s a nod to my home county of Rutland, to the poacher’s rebellious heroism, and to the work of those who’ve kept this song alive long enough for me to encounter it.
SOLO AUTUMN TOUR • 2026
Jan 25 – Hitchin Folk Club*
Feb 27 – Ruskin Mill, Stroud
Mar 5 – Corn Hall, Diss
Mar 7 – Southside Arts, Lincoln
Mar 9 – Colchester Arts Centre
Mar 20 – Doncaster Brewery & Tap
Apr 16 – Bishop’s House, Sheffield
Apr 17 – Horse and Farrier, Otley
Apr 18 – The Met, Bury
May 7 – St Helen’s Church, Abingdon**
May 8 – Kalamazoo Club, London
May 10 – Riverhouse Barn, Walton-on-Thames
*double header with Joe Topping
** double header with Jon Wilks