IN HIS popular solo show Darkest Dorset, international and local folk musician Graham Moore explores some remarkable events, hardships and beliefs of 19th century Dorset, challenging the idyllic Victorian picture-postcard image of village life.

Through a captivating mix of original and traditional songs, Graham accompanies himself on guitar or English concertina, presenting the darker side of Dorset’s fascinating social history – including stories of the Captain Swing riots, Tolpuddle Martyrs’ oath, Bridport dagger, village witchcraft and more.

Although the subject matter is dark – as the show’s title suggests – it is lightened by Graham’s interaction with his audiences and his ability to create powerful and addictive songs. His historical works such as Tom Paine’s Bones and Tolpuddle Man have been enthusiastically adopted by the folk community around the world and recorded by the best of British folk performers such as Roy Bailey, Dick Gaughan and The Shee.

Graham said: “In the past 20 years I have done a lot of different productions focussing on different things, such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, Hardy and the Enclosures Act and here I’m picking up songs from a range of materials about Dorset’s social and political history.

“I use the music to paint what it was like for ordinary Dorset people in the 19th century.

“If you look at archives of The Times from back then, you can see a massive correspondence on the subject of the conditions of the poor in Dorset, which at that time was ruled by the big families such as the Welds and Strangways.

“It was the poorest county in the country and the situation was almost as bad as the potato famine in Ireland, because the potato blight came here too.

He added: “It is good to look back at where we have come from in a short time.

“I remember my late mother telling me that when she was a girl in the 1920s she went with the Guides to sing at Portwey Hospital in Weymouth when it was still a workhouse.

Catch Graham at Broadoak village hall on Saturday, March 12 at 7.30pm (call 01308 424922 for tickets and details) and The New Inn, West Knighton on Saturday, March 19 at 8pm (call 01305 854205).