Original subtitles

[Birdsong]

[Insect buzzes]

[He blows softly]

[Crunching]

[He breathes shakily]

[Bird calls in distance]

[He grunts]

[Ruminative music]

[Music continues]

[He splutters]

[Music continues]

[Music concludes, bells clang]

[Wings flutter]

[Furious clamouring, yelling]

[Walt] It's okay. It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay.

It's okay. It's okay, come on.

- [Kent] Willowjack! - [Walt] Come on!

[Kent] Thank God, thank God. Thank you. Thank you, Walt.

[John] Walt! Let's save what we can! Move!

[Tense, drone-like music]

[Furious clamouring, yelling]

[Manic whooping, laughter]

Have you lost your wits?!

[Frenzied cackle]

Youse are high.

[Spluttering]

Come on, here you go. That's it.

That's it, that's it...

You!

Is this your doing?!

Playing with fire again?

'Shrooms.

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Distant clamouring, yelling]

[John] Why are you standing there, Master Kent?! Come on!

It's your barn!

[Furious clamouring, yelling]

[Horses snort]

[Horse whinnies]

[Music continues]

[Music stops]

[Kent] What sparked this fire?

Hm?

There was no lightning overnight, was there?

Was there?

It looks like someone was intending to make off with the master's doves.

[John] Christopher.

It's harvest end today.

Aye, why would anyone steal a dove

when Master Kent's promised us a calf tonight?

Could be no-one.

No-one among us.

[Walt] I understand that this is the moment

when I should raise my own hand and say my piece.

Or at least take the boys aside and nudge them in the ribs.

But I hold my tongue.

Besides...

my hand is too damaged to be raised.

[Coughing, spluttering]

[No audible dialogue]

[No audible dialogue]

[Kent] Walt.

[Horse whinnies]

[Kent] How's your hand?

[Walt] It's okay.

I'm fine.

[Kent] Does it hurt?

Hm?

No?

No?

Everyone...

it's been a long night...

and you've done well, very well.

Why don't you go home and get some sleep, yes?

[Walt] In any other place, arsonists would be on hooks in common view.

[Spluttering]

[Walt] But our fields are far from anywhere.

Two days by post horse,

three days by chariot,

before you find the market square.

We have no magistrate or constable,

and Master Kent is kind.

He's always taken care of us.

We've always taken care of him.

Maybe it is better for the bachelors to hold their nerve,

and hope that everyone will take the blaze to be an act of God.

Bad luck, in other words.

And not a soul to blame.

Let's have a look.

Let's see.

Let me do it.

[Sharp exhalation]

[Shears snip]

[Distant singing]

[Singing continues]

[Scythes scrape, wheat rustles]

[Singing continues]

[Singing continues]

Why's he finger-wagging?

He's counting.

What's he counting? And what are his scratchings for?

He's counting us.

[Singing continues faintly]

[Singing concludes]

[Soft chatter]

- [Kent] How is your hand today, Walt? - Master Kent.

- It's healing, no concern. - [Kent] Let's see.

[Walt] Ah, you don't want to look at it.

- Philip! This is Walter Thirsk. - [Philip] Uh-huh.

He was my childhood friend and my manservant,

but then he fell in love with a local lass...

and he preferred to attend to her furrows.

So you are a wise man, eh?

- [Walt] I don't know. - Mm.

[Laughter]

Look. I'm just recording and marking the lie of the land.

So, you see these lines here?

These are your woods, your fields, the loch.

This is your village, and...

these small dots here,

these are your people.

[Walt] What's that?

- [Philip] This is the sea. - [Philip] The sea?

I've never been there before.

You must go.

- What are these? - This is the compass rose.

Norte, sud.

Mm-hm. That's the loch, then?

- That is right. - The oak wood?

- Yes, so now you see it, eh? - [He chuckles]

What's that?

Mm. It is a smudge.

Imperfections.

Can be fixed.

It's magical.

Thank you. It's not finished.

It's a beginning.

[Eerie music]

[Indistinct conversation]

[Walt] Is this what it feels like to take wing?

[Villager] Master Kent?

Master Kent!

The loch?

[Kent] Oh, no.

Hello? There seems to be a problem.

Everyone, stay calm,

but I think there's something down there.

See to the last of the harvest, Walt!

Come on, hurry up!

[Music continues]

[Faint whooping, clamouring]

[Music continues]

[Music fades]

[Furious clamouring, yelling]

[Man] You fuckin' want it?! You?! You?!

[Indistinct shouting]

Eh!

Are you fuckin' mad?

- Fuck you! - [Furious clamouring, yelling]

This is fucked, man! We've got the right to be here!

Who are you to come from nowhere to our land?!

- It's not your fucking land! - Technically, it's my land.

[Man] We know the custom and the law!

We put up walls and made a fire! We're at liberty to stay!

Fucking walls? That was sticks and twigs, mate!

Fuck off!

Let us go!

Move!

Get down, get down!

Get your hands off of her!

- How do you lock this thing? - We'll take your punishment!

- Let her go! - [Muffled yelling]

Back away! Away. Let the women do it.

- Come here. - [Villagers strain]

[Villagers groan]

You already have one gash. Nobody wants to give you another.

Um...

- Listen! - [Clamouring subsides]

Listen! Eyes on me.

Hello. Keys?

Right.

One week!

Yes? One week.

[Muffled groaning]

Youse two must pay for dining out last night

on fowl that don't belong to you.

- Look, look. You burned my barn? - [Muffled grunt]

You burned my barn.

You ate my doves.

One week will help you contemplate better manners!

[Muffled groaning]

Better manners!

[Shaky breathing]

[Muffled groaning, straining]

- [Kitty] You got her? - [Villager] Aye.

- [Kitty exhales] - Hold still.

Okay, still, still.

[Scissors snip]

[Kitty exhales]

[Muffled yelling]

[Scissors snip]

[Muffled yelling]

[Scissors snip]

[Snipping continues]

[She sniffles]

[Scissors snip]

[Shaky breathing]

[Furious roar; Horse whinnies]

[Soft chatter]

[Tense, drone-like music]

[Soft chatter]

[Laughter]

Youse fucking sick magpies.

[Keys rattle]

[Music continues, dogs bark]

It's not right, what happened. It's not right.

[Villager] Oh, shut up!

[Villager 2] Doesn't matter if it's not right or not.

Well, I think she looked pretty.

- I think all the men did, too. - Well, that was obvious.

[Music continues]

[Music fades]

[Walt] We're too small, and getting smaller, John.

What?

The crops. They're quite pathetic.

Some more able hands would make welcome help in the coming days.

We should let the men loose.

Why don't you say that a wee bit louder so the whole village can hear you?

[Walt] I'm only talking to you, John.

This lot are suspicious of anyone

who's not born with local soil under their fingernails, you know this.

Aye. But we do need help.

I know we need help.

It's just no' right, what they're doing.

Why don't you ask your pal? Kent?

It's not my place.

- [John] You scared? - No, I'm not scared.

- Your hogs. On the loose again? - [Walt] I know, I'll take care of it.

[John] I don't think Gorge likes me.

[Walt] That's George.

See, that one's Gorge, and that one's George.

[John] How can you tell?

[Lively whistle]

[Chickens cluck]

[Rowdy chatter]

[Villagers sing]

[Singing continues]

[Singing concludes; Cheering]

[Rowdy chatter]

Everybody! Everybody!

Hey, hey, hey! Bit of quiet!

- To Master Kent! - [Cheering, banging]

[Cheering, banging continue]

- Thank you. - [Villager] Quiet!

- [Cheering, banging subside] - Thank you very much. Um...

[Rowdy yelling]

Hope you are enjoying the food.

[Cheering, banging]

Now, if I just may introduce my friend...

Mr Earle.

- [Villager] I thought his name was Quill! - [Villager 2] Me, too!

You'll see him about in my employ, because he's making a map,

of all our common land.

[Chatter]

[Villager 3] Let the man speak!

[Chatter subsides]

Here's the dream that I've had.

Safe from vagabonds and longbows,

you walk about your fenced-in fields.

You sit in meadows and you merely watch.

You're not freezing to the bone,

or tugging out weeds until your backs are stiffer than a plank.

No, we are sitting warm at home,

weaving fortunes for ourselves from yarn.

Now, somewhere, too far away to name,

a man puts on a coat that we've shepherded

and then woven with our hands.

A woman pulls a scarf around her head

and smells our heathers in its weave.

We start off... with the fleece on the backs of our sheep,

and, with your willing consent,

end up with garments on the backs of noble folk!

[Soft chatter]

It's a stirring prospect. Isn't it?

What do you say?

Yes? I think so.

He means to throw a halter around our lives.

[Applause]

[Kent] Sheep! Sheep!

- [All, chanting] Sheep! Sheep! - I need a piss, John.

- Our... lives. - Sheep! Sheep! Sheep! Sheep!

Sheep! Sheep! Sheep! Sheep!

[Chanting continues]

[Kent] You are me and me is you.

[Kent] Thank you. Enjoy yourselves tonight! Enjoy yourself!

[Pipe drone]

[Rowdy chatter]

[Lively whooping, cheering]

Right, everybody! Ready?!

Bow!

One, two, three, four...

[Lively whooping, cheering]

[Group plays upbeat traditional music]

It's harvest day. We can do it today.

[Lively whooping, cheering; Music continues]

People are watching, Kitty.

Doesn't matter! Just today.

Wee baby!

[Music continues]

I only wish our wives were here this night, eh?

[Lively whooping, cheering; Music continues]

You should have told me.

[Music continues; Aggressive chanting, thumping]

[Whooping, cackling]

[Villager sings]

[Music, singing continue]

[Walt] Master Kent has timed his revelation well.

The veal is his. The ale is his, too.

We are no longer hungry.

We're certainly not sober.

At least for now.

[Traditional music subsides; Muffled panting]

We have become like animals.

Goat-drunk and lecherous.

Dog-drunk and barking mad.

[Eerie music]

[Guttural, rhythmic chanting]

[Chanting intensifies]

[Chanting quickens, grows louder]

[Chanting continues faintly]

[Walt] We do not dare to say

we count ourselves beyond the Kingdom of God.

But certainly, we do not press too closely to His bosom.

Rather, we are at His fingertips.

He touches us...

but only just.

[Chanting continues]

[Chanting stops, music continues]

[Flames crackle]

[Villager, softly] It's her.

Mistress "Belle Dame."

Beautiful Mistress Beldam.

[Uneasy music]

[Music concludes]

[Wind rushes]

[Walt, softly] Mistress Beldam?

Master Kent offers you shelter for the night.

Mistress?

Don't be afraid.

Master Kent and I, we want you to be safe, Mistress.

[Villagers] Keep her safe, Walt! Keep her safe, Walt!

Keep her safe, Walt! Keep her safe, Walt!

- Keep her safe, Walt! - [Laughter]

[Frenzied whooping]

[Whooping gradually recedes]

[Walt] I didn't do nothing.

I didn't do nothing at all.

I'm no rat.

My name is Walter.

Walter Thirsk.

Do you hear that, mate?

He says he's Walter Thirsk.

The fucking fat pig-fucking fuckface!

Walter Thirsk fucks little piggies!

I see you're struggling.

Do you want me to find you a stone to stand on, ease your night?

Is this cunt for real? Is he trying to say I'm fucking totty?

Nae short-arse up here, pal!

[Man 2] Did you find her, Walt?

[Walt groans]

Did you get her shelter, Walt?

- [Man] Put your back into it, Walt. - [Man 2] Where is she, Walt?

Do you like her, Walt, eh?

[Thud]

- [Man 2 groans] - Oh, for fuck's sake.

[Man] Pathetic!

I'm sorry.

I'll come back at first light and bring help, okay?

Some hero you are, Walter Thirsk.

Hey, Walter.

Walter!

Walter Thirsk has got a tick in his dick,

and a spoon up his arse, 'cause he fucks little piggies!

Good night.

[Man] No-one sleeps tonight!

[Man 2] No-one gets to sleep tonight!

[Both] No-one gets to sleep tonight!

- [Man] Wakey-wakey! - [Man 2] Rise and shine!

- [Man] No-one sleeps tonight! - [Man 2] No-one gets to sleep tonight!

- [Man] I'm gonna party! - [Man 2] Party in the fucking pillory!

[Heavy rainfall roars]

[Rainfall softens]

[Birdsong]

[Insect buzzes]

[Bell clangs; Dogs bark]

[Walt] John!

John!

Help me drag a stone for twinkle-toes, there.

- What? - Bring a stone up to the wee man, there.

- [He scoffs] - You broke your cup of hospitality, mate.

What does it cost you?

It's right there.

- How much does it cost you, fucker? - What does it cost you, big man?

I know. They don't know what they're saying, man.

You're not breaking bread with them, Walt, are you?

Don't you look a beggar for the day?

I'm supposed to be the quill-carrier for the week.

[Man] I've got a quill for you here! Right in my scants!

Master Kent asked me personally to show the gentleman around.

It's not like I want to!

We were thinking you'd make the perfect Gleaning Queen!

[Mocking chuckles]

And what a perfect Gleaning Queen you'd make...

eh, Walt?

Are youse too blind to see that I'm the only one fucking helping you?

- [Man 2] Trying to help us? - What's this, then?

Do you want this?

Fuckin' bunch of tadgers, look at youse all!

- State of youse! - [Laughter]

It's not working.

- Maybe just hold the string. - I think that'll be fine.

[Rustling]

[Eerie music]

[Gentle music]

Hello!

- [Man 2] Fuck off, princess! - [Man] Fud!

I know, Willowjack... I know.

[Horse whinnies, snorts]

This... is a noble day.

Anything you glean is yours to keep.

For your kitchen pots, your stews,

or most likely I know, John...

your ales!

In keeping with tradition,

after you will come the cattle, and then the geese...

Willowjack, come on, now. Here we go.

[Horse snorts]

As I was saying, after you will come the cattle,

and then the geese for fattening,

and finally... the hogs.

[Villager] And the oxen next!

We'll need to plough soon, Master Kent, or we'll starve!

Mr Earle! It would be a pleasing courtesy

if you were to choose our Gleaning Queen.

[Hushed chatter]

We count on you to be an even-handed judge. Yes?

[Hushed chatter]

You...

will be the Gleaning Queen.

[Gentle music]

Your crown, my queen.

Ready?

On we go.

- [Kent whistles] - There we go. Whoops-a-daisy!

This here belonged to my wife. Many years ago.

But now, I think... it needs a new home.

I think it should...

[Music fades]

- belong to you. - [Lizzie] Thank you.

Our Gleaning Queen!

[Applause, cheering]

- [Man 2] Fucking knob-ends! - [Gentle music]

[Man groans in pain]

- You okay? - I'm fucking fucked.

I'm struggling.

[Applause continues]

[Applause subsides]

[Applause, cheering]

[Music continues; Soft chatter]

[Music fades]

[Birdsong; Pigs grunt]

[Pained grunt]

[Man] Fine place, this, to end up.

I'm fucking sick of these red roofs.

I wish we did burn their fucking barn!

[Man 2] Off, get off!

Look at this, man!

They're fucking humiliating us. Look at this!

Look at the state of my boot. Look! Fucking hell!

These bastards knew what they were fucking doing with the apples.

Fuck off, piggy! Get to fuck!

[Man groans in pain]

[Pig grunts]

[Man] Fuck off!

[Pig squeals; Man gasps]

[Dog barks in distance]

[Birdsong]

South field, west field...

east field.

[Earle] Unimpressive.

We give directions to where we need to go, Mr Earle.

Mm.

- [Walt] The Oak Wood. - [Earle] Uh-huh.

- [Walt] The Loch. - [Earle] Yes.

[Walt] The Marsh.

And the Moor.

- Better. - [Walt] Better.

Yes.

I have a pair of pigs called George and Gorge.

[Earle snickers]

I want to find better names for everything.

We're plain folk, Mr Earle.

Meadowsweet.

- Meadowsweet. - Good for heartburn.

Dock leaves. Very good for nettle stings.

- Have you had any yet? - I have.

- [Walt] Here's roughhawk. - [Earle] Roughhawk.

[Walt] Hawkbit.

- What's it for? - Jaundice.

Okay.

- Rushes. - Rushes.

We use them to weave and make baskets.

You can also dip them in oil, use them for candles.

- What do we call them? - Rushes.

[Walt] Very good, Mr Earle.

- [Earle] And what is this? - [Walt] Rowan tree.

Wards off witches' spells, protects our beasts from evil.

- [Earle] Mm. - [Walt] Also cleans your insides out.

Everything here will either give you the shits...

- or keep you from getting it. - [Earle chuckles]

[Walt] Writing their names is your way of knowing them?

[Earle] Naming things is knowing them.

Good morrow, Mother Derby.

Good morrow, Walter.

[Children] Good morrow.

Tom.

[Thud]

Lauren.

[Thud]

Esme.

[Thud]

Sorley.

[Walt] Today's the day we walk the commons.

Bump the children's heads against the boundary stones.

So they know where they belong.

[Thud]

[Thud]

[Thud]

[Thud]

But you needn't worry.

You don't belong.

[Rhythmic rustling, slapping; Indistinct chatter]

[Villager] Here, Agnes! Agnes!

Did he really try and touch your wee lassie back there?

Aye!

So close!

How dare he take the liberty to touch my daughter!

I would have snapped his hand off.

I don't trust that man.

I don't trust Master Kent for bringing that man in.

I don't trust him with his charts and his pen.

And picking our Gleaning Queen?

That's not right.

[Birdsong]

Where are you taking me?

- The bottom. - [Earle] The bottom?

[Walt] Hey-ho, is anyone there?

Walt.

Matthew, Liam.

[Lively whistle]

Your world is humbling in its beauty.

How shall I name this place?

- Turd and Turf? - [Languid guitar music]

[Earle] The Blossom Marsh.

[Music continues]

[Earle] You make good company, Walt.

I can use an assistant.

Come up to the manor with me.

[Walt] I haven't been there for a long time.

[Music continues]

Walter.

Mind your hand.

It should be light enough for the light of a candle to shine through.

But mind your hand.

[Rattling]

[Scraping]

[Scraping]

[Birdsong; Music continues]

[Earle] Can I share something with you?

Okay, this...

is my true account.

You see circles in the same way I do.

- You see eyes everywhere, like me. - [Earle] Yes.

[Walt] Everything is made up of circles, isn't it?

Yeah.

[Walt] Or beautiful... breasts.

[Earle chuckles]

- I can see where your mind is. - [Walt chuckles]

- So, you like it? - Very much.

It's a map of dreams.

[Earle] I'm proud of this one.

[Music continues]

[Earle gasps, chuckles]

Wow! A small frog.

Let me.

[Music continues]

[Walt] He is as snug and personal with his colours...

as I have learned to be with clouds.

[Music continues]

[Walt] I have my blues.

This blue betokens harvest days.

It will not rain.

And that one promises a crack in the frost.

Another, darker...

reveals itself only silently

when the sun has withdrawn into his bedchamber,

but the windows of his heavens are not yet quite closed.

This is the blue...

that says we're free to finish work...

and rest.

[Music continues]

[Music fades]

When I was greener and less timid...

I used to eat them.

[Earle] Mm.

[Walt] They are beyond forgetting, Mr Earle.

Fairy caps.

Come on, Mr Earle!

[Earle] So, how did you come to be here?

- [Walt] You really want to know? - [Earle] Yes.

[Walt] Master Kent.

My mother was his milk nurse.

We were playmates almost of an age.

Sometimes, he let me borrow his books,

so I was led to read and write and calculate.

I managed these less clumsily than he, I dare say.

[He chuckles]

He brought me with him when Lucy Jordan agreed to be his wife,

took charge of this estate.

I tumbled into love with everything I saw this first season.

You know, I don't wish to beat a drum, but there is something of myself

I see in you, Mr Earle.

Something that is being lost.

Each dawn was like a genesis, I wanted to immerse myself in it.

I was more of an angel than a beast.

Such...

unexpected solace for a man most used to market towns.

When I discovered my own wife,

my Cecily,

Master Kent was friend enough to

let me go from his employment as his service man.

I confided in him my love for her.

Her hearty laugh...

her sturdiness...

and for the very crumble of this earth.

He said, "Then you should go plough this earth."

And that is my history.

Not a product of these commons, just a visitor who stayed.

And you had babies?

That chance was taken from us. Snatched.

She died too soon.

- [Bird chitters] - Bee-stung.

I'm sorry, Walt.

[Softly] Give me a slap, Mr Earle.

Excuse me?

Give me a slap, Mr Earle.

[Earle] I don't want to slap you.

Please, give me a slap, Mr Earle.

[Walt breathes shakily]

A proper slap. Come on.

- Harder. - [Earle] Walter...

I need to feel it.

Harder!

Walter...

[Walt grumbles]

[Walt breathes shakily]

This is her burial ground. My Cecily's.

Shared with Mistress Lucy.

They were taken from us that spring, same spring.

'Tis a sorrow we share...

Master Kent and I.

Don't forget to mark that on your map, Mr Earle.

- Was all this hers? - [Walt] Her inheritance.

But we have the common right to graze and glean...

to cut wood and peat, to draw water...

and grow food.

This is our land.

This is our land.

Walter, there is a gentleman who is making a claim upon your freehold.

But she died during stillbirth. Her parents produced no sons.

Master Kent is Mistress Lucy's single heir.

By law, the husband is not blood.

There is a cousin. Edmund Jordan.

The changes Master Kent employed for me to make...

they are not his own.

The sheep, the charts... they are demanded by the cousin.

And he will arrive soon to claim his entitlement.

Master Kent is keen that I share this with you,

and with no other.

You cannot think it is he who wishes them.

We don't even have a name for all this, Mr Earle.

It's just the village...

surrounded by the land.

[Tense, drone-like music]

[Bell clangs]

[Man 2] Come on, then. Take a good look!

Look at what you've done! Look at him!

[Kent mutters prayer]

- [Man 2] He did nothing to you! - [Kent] not only for the living...

[He mutters prayer]

We pray for sinners... for Your mercy...

[Man 2] Look at him! What did we do?!

No, no, no. You get away! You get away.

You and your fucking pigs!

You could have saved him. He's dead because of you and your hogs!

- The keys... Charles! - [Kent] Keys, keys...

[Man 2] You did this! You and your fucking hogs!

[Walt] Mr Earle!

[Music continues]

[Man 2] You, Walt, this is you!

[Walt] Shut up!

[Man 2] This is your fault!

- [Man] Oh, the leg! - [Chain rattles]

[Pillory creaks]

- [Walt] Here we go. - [He strains]

- [Walt] John! John! - [Kent] John!

- John! - Oh, God...

- [Walt] It was the pigs... - What?

- Is he gone? - [Kent breathes shakily]

[Walt] Mind his leg!

[Music continues]

[Horn blares]

[Suspenseful music]

Hide him! Hide him!

- Why? - Hide him where?

[Panicked clamouring]

- Hide him! - Hey, what's going on?!

[Walt] I'm sorry...

[Music continues]

[Music concludes]

Hello, cousin.

Hello, cousin.

[Kent] Well, uh...

as you can see, we've had quite the week.

[Horse whinnies]

We didn't expect you today, to be honest. So...

What are you wearing?

[Kent] Ah, that's better.

[Kent groans]

- [Jordan] Charles? - [Kent] Yes.

How has my cousin Lucy's fine manor house

ended up as shabby and as threadbare as a beggar's sack?

Um...

Please, forgive the neglect, cousin.

After...

my wife's passing, I...

I simplified life.

It is my judgment, that you...

make problems for yourself by being too lenient.

A fire-setter should expect to have his ears chopped off!

And then be hoisted to the gibbet.

And the younger man must still serve out his sentence.

I will personally see to the burial of this wretched man.

My men will see to his disposal. Cousin, sit.

I'm a little bit concerned...

about your role... in the community.

Well, I like to think of it as... as one big family.

And every one of us has a role to play... for the good of the whole.

Yes. It's not by design this land has fallen into my hands.

I have no desire to be a country mouse.

Also, agriculture without profit is absurd.

Personally, I much prefer

to live in my house in town, and simply check the figures.

What wool has arrived to my warehouse,

what cloths my hired women have woven in their looms,

what profits have been made and lost...

to middlemen.

You, sir.

Cousin Charles's friend.

Finish your map-making before the week is out.

This gentleman, Mr Baynham, is adept at preparing land for sheep.

This is not the first community to benefit from his stewardship.

He will be guided by your charts.

Before the first fall of snow, we will be structuring everywhere.

Fences, dykes, walls.

- Reclaiming forestry. - [Jordan] Yes.

'Cause how can it profit us, that there are trees...

producing...

shade?

[Baynham] We will be requiring a grid map.

- You are familiar with the latest styles? - Oh, certainly.

A record of the land, notated...

quite independent of anything alive.

Excellent.

The commons will be cleared and privately enclosed.

These lands are pasture now, they will never need another plough.

[Kent] Um, cousin, about that...

There's about 50 souls to feed, thereabouts...

They can't... They gotta eat something. They can't just eat grass.

Yes. Uh, there will be a place for a few shearers and sheep boys.

Mr Baynham will employ what hands he needs,

but we will sadly need to make... cuts on labour if...

[Earle chuckles]

Forgive me.

It's Mr Earle, I think,

who should be grateful that he has no duties other than with maps.

It's a little late to begin to grow a conscience

about the land that you have already drawn out of existence.

Don't you think?

[Rainfall patters]

No?

- [Pipe clacks] - [Gentle guitar music]

[Door opens]

[Music fades]

[Music resumes]

[Music fades]

[Music resumes]

[Creaking]

[Faint, indistinct conversation]

[Wind howls]

[Door shuts]

[Walt] When I first started calling at the Widow Gosse's cottage...

she and I would hardly look each other in the eye.

Truly, I can only guess what she sees in me.

And I suppose it is the same for her.

[Music continues]

[Walt] She finds me inexplicable.

It's not finished yet, but...

[Walt] I've been too schooled, she says.

I made this for you.

[Music continues]

[Walt] I'm not even sure if she and I are friends.

That is the state of widowhood.

We have no idea.

[Soft, shaky breathing]

[Softly] No scratch of wool next to your skin.

[Music fades]

[Door creaks; Nearby clamouring]

Willowjack's dead.

[Birdsong; Frogs croak]

[She groans sharply]

[Sombre music]

[Chicken clucks]

[Hushed chatter]

[Door creaks]

Right... That's it, show's over.

I mean you, Abel. Go.

Have your breakfasts.

Show some respect.

[Music continues]

Everything's going...

and I don't know how to stop this.

[Music continues]

- [Music fades] - [Birdsong]

[Insects buzz, chirr]

Walter Thirsk.

Cousin Charles's serviceman.

And closest friend, apparently.

My name's Edmund.

I'm here to make improvements on our estate.

It's tragic, isn't it, what happened to Cousin Lucy's mare?

Do you know who did it?

Well, then, we must find out.

Charles seems to trust you.

Would you help me ease his pain?

[Walt grumbles softly]

Fantastic.

[Sombre music]

[Music continues]

[Hushed chatter]

Horses have enormous, pumping hearts.

So, blood would have fountained...

[Music fades]

from the animal's head...

the minute that blade went in.

So, whoever's responsible has not escaped dry.

None of you shall stray a step beyond the threshing barn today,

while my men, accompanied by one of your own,

search for the spoiled garments.

And one of you...

cannot expect to walk these lanes tomorrow,

but will be dragged, by his heels...

to join the carcass...

[Softly] Willowjack.

The carcass of...

Willowjack, the horse...

that he killed.

And his brother scoundrel,

who thought he could set fire to his master's doves.

Sorry, Charles. Had to be done, you understand.

Let's have a drink.

[Sombre music]

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Music fades, chicken clucks]

And whose is this?

Kitty Gosse.

[Door creaks]

[Rummaging]

[Indistinct chatter; Hay rustles]

How could he help pull our cottages apart?

Even yours.

He was caught between a nettle and a thorn.

Quit defending him. He's spineless.

That sorceress is behind it all. She's put a curse onto our land.

See that fancy shawl she had? She's a thief.

- Should have never let her go. - You don't even know her!

And can you blame her?

Did you see our men gawking at her...

each with a lock of her hair in their lusty pockets?

We are all fair game.

The freehold of our fathers, then our husbands, then our sons.

No.

The curse started with that chart-maker... that gentleman.

[Wind howls softly; Flames crackle]

[Owl hoots]

[Dog barks in distance]

[Door creaks]

[Crackling]

[Scraping]

[Earle] Walter! Go soft, eh?

You'll rip it.

Remove the skin for me, please.

[Tool clacks]

This one is the grid map Master Jordan demanded.

As you can see, I have plaited-in the boundary line.

You may as well have painted the yellow teeth

of a thousand sheep surrounding us, Mr Earle.

I have walked this thousands of times.

It's easy going...

till you get up to this ridge here.

This field has a slope, so it drains well...

but the soil keeps.

You have to use the cow track there...

at the ridge...

all the way over here...

until you get to here, which is an open gap.

As you pass along the lane of thorns,

into the field, where, on a normal harvest day,

you'd find our cattle gleaning grain.

See this point? This is when you're too closed-in.

Have to climb a tree for that, or be a hawk.

Your account of our land is not as honest as you'd hoped.

You've flattened us.

Your land is effortless.

A lie.

And yet, I can tell you exactly where we are upon it.

But not where we will be in the days to come.

Excuse me.

Have I offended you?

Mr Earle?

Have I said something to hurt your feelings?

Mr Earle?

[Soft clacking]

You know those people.

- The ones you call "Beldam"? - [Walt] Aye.

Yes...

Three or four maps ago...

They are from a village not unlike your own.

A village that you flattened.

[Earle] Walter...

I am a chart-maker.

But I am not a fool.

I ply my trade, I make my living...

and when my job is complete, I move on.

How do you sleep?

How do you silence your demons?

[Birdsong; Wind rushes softly]

[Uneasy music]

[Sideman] Hello.

Hi.

So, where did you find that shawl?

[Walt] Whose version of events should I believe?

Lizzie Carr was bound to be noticed by Master Jordan's men,

sporting such a fine cloth upon her shoulders.

You're making it up as you go along.

[Walt] Anne Rogers is the fiery sort.

And Kitty is mulish when she wants to be.

[Kitty] We're coming! We're coming! With Lizzie!

[Walt] I can't imagine them standing aside.

We're done for!

[Walt] And I'm sure our arsonists judged this the moment to pack up and go,

before their foolish secret was uncovered.

[Music continues]

- [Deirdre] Kitty! What's going on? - Deirdre.

Here. Take her.

Where are you off to?

- Very pretty, aren't you? - Who are you?

- Let's have some fun. Come on. - Get off me, you creep!

[Music continues]

- Not you, horse-man! - [Kent] Excuse me.

What's all this ruckus about? What's going on here? Who's in there?

[Music continues]

[Walt] I cannot condemn my neighbours for closing ranks...

Gervase? Agnes?

- What's happened? - [John] Who wants to know?

You're not the man we trusted.

Not one of us after all.

- [Walt] Excuse me? - Helping them!

[Alice] Traitor.

If you've kept secrets from us...

I don't keep secrets.

Some want to march to the manor house, like maddened geese.

But they are only honking.

Others say let the evening run its course.

The master's bound to intercede.

- [Muffled yelling] - [Kent] Get Cousin!

This is my house, god-damn it!

This is my house!

[Music continues]

- Comfy? - Yes, thank you.

[Sideman] We've had enough of this! Who killed the horse?

[Villager] We haven't done anything.

- [Sideman] Is she the ringleader? - [Villager] Ringleader of what?

[Sideman] Who are the witches?

- Are you the witches? - [Villager] What are you talking about?

We're witches?!

[Sideman] The girl. Is she the sorceress?

- Is she the one to blame? - Come on, ladies!

- No, no, no! It's that woman... - Gentleman! It's that gentleman.

[She breathes heavily]

[Sideman] Which gentleman?

That chart-maker.

[Music continues]

[Sideman] Tell him, little girl. Tell him!

About the chart-maker.

[Music continues]

[Lizzie] He was the one that made me queen.

[Jordan] So, he gave you the shawl?

Knew it.

[Music continues]

Alchemy.

Do you play chess?

No.

- I'll teach you. - [Chess piece clacks]

The queen is the most powerful.

- [Distant clamouring] - [Villager] Master Kent!

[Music, clamouring continue]

- We've come to see Master Kent. - He's unavailable.

- Is he hiding? - Master Jordan, then.

Master Jordan is also... unavailable.

[Villager] We've come to fetch our women!

[Sideman] First, the names of all complicit.

I hear there's witchery about.

[Villager] That's a charge we don't even let our children make!

[Distant yelling, clamouring]

[Villager 2] Listen! Do we believe it to be coincidence

that fucking chart-maker turns up,

and then those couple of cunts in the pillory at the same time?

Aye, him and Walter Thirsk!

- They've been in each other's pockets. - Aye, they're as thick as thieves.

And he's not even here with us now.

Why's that? When his own sweeting is in there?

[Unnerving music]

[Walt] They have to take care of their own.

It's no surprise.

I'm not included in "our own."

I almost welcome it.

[Music continues]

[Walt] And I, the chart-maker's assistant...

his vellum-maker...

I can be of no use to him now.

[Music continues]

- Go home. - [John] What?

[Jordan] If you go home, everyone will be safe, including your women.

- Let's see them first. - [Villager] Aye.

[Villager 2] Why did you take them?

You seem like a reasonable man.

What are you gonna do?

Storm your master's house?

I wouldn't advise it.

Take them home.

Tomorrow.

- Tomorrow, what? - [Jordan] Tomorrow.

You have my word.

- [Villager] How good is your word? - [Villager 2] Aye, how good is your word?

As good as my handshake.

[Music continues]

Tomorrow.

[Concerned chatter]

He gave us his word.

[Music continues]

[Earle] Brother, I brought you some water.

Listen...

I'm sorry about your friend.

[Music continues; Indistinct chatter]

We trust him, John?

[John] Let's go. They've got until tomorrow.

Let's go, Agnes. Come on. Let's go.

- Let's go. - [Villager 3] Tomorrow!

[Walt] Master Jordan must think there's none more pitiful than us.

None more meek.

He's not wrong.

He will replace us with nobler stock.

[Sombre music]

[Music continues]

Not one of our people came to help us.

Not even Walt.

We both know he was never going to come anyway.

[Music continues]

[Music fades]

[Uneasy music]

[Music stops]

[Tense music]

[Earle] Wait!

Wait!

[Music stops]

[Man 2] You're never gonna catch her!

[Tense music]

[Earle] Wait!

Don't be scared.

Wait, eh!

[Music stops]

[He breathes shakily]

[Heavy breathing]

[Earle breathes shakily]

You destroyed our village.

Tomorrow, this village is gone.

I...

Your maps...

they ruin lives...

Mr Quill.

[In Portuguese] Mr "Pity".

[Tense music]

Pity for what?

You don't feel sorry for anything.

[In English] You think...

it is easier...

to invent names for things,

when you know they are already gone?

[Earle groans, strains]

Philip Earle?

[He groans, splutters]

[She breathes shakily]

[Earl gags, splutters]

[Spluttering intensifies, music stops]

[Low buzzing]

[Buzzing grows louder]

- [Kent] Walter. - [Buzzing subsides]

Walter.

Charles.

- [Kent] He, um... - [He clears throat]

He means to shear us all.

Master Jordan?

[Kent] Mm-hm.

Well, stop it, then, Charles.

He dressed me.

You going somewhere?

No.

Uh...

I fear that, um...

the women have, um...

endured a night of punishment.

[Walt] Surely you defended them?

I mean, they locked me in my room.

I was... I was confined.

I was left toothless.

What could I do, you know?

You did nothing?

I did nothing.

And you did nothing, too.

[Wooden floor creaks]

I don't deserve her, do I?

Probably not.

[Walt] And what do we do now?

I don't know.

And Mr Earle?

Well, he was named ringleader.

My cousin's men are looking for him just now.

[Door creaks]

- Who's that man? - What's he even doing here?

- I don't like him. - I don't know, ignore him.

What's he doing here?

Ripe as apples, you are.

Move!

- Creep. - Feisty!

[Belt cracks]

[Disquieting music]

Where do you suppose that chart-maker might've found some secret refuge?

[Gervase] Where's my daughter, you son of a bitch?

It's Lizzie Carr I'm talking of.

You've seen her, haven't you?

She's just a wee twig of a girl.

Your master has her up at the big hoose.

She owned up to all her wickedness.

And if she's just a twig...

she'll burn nicely like those other she-devils.

We'll have a bit of charcoal from her yet...

[Agnes shrieks]

[Gervase] What have you done? You touch her, I will kill you!

[Agnes shrieks]

[Sideman groans, strains]

[Villager] Creepy bastard!

[Clamouring]

[Sideman groans]

[Villager 2] Look at him now.

[Blade slices, Sideman groans]

[He groans]

[Clamouring]

[Music continues]

[He groans]

[Softly] May God forgive me.

[Blade slices, wound squelches]

- [Horn blares] - [Music builds]

He's bringing soldiers.

- There's no misunderstanding now. - We're done for.

- I'm dead. - The world outside the village

cannot be as frightening as Master Kent claims it.

But no matter what...

- it will be new for us. - [Music fades]

I want to see this world.

[Pained gurgling, groaning]

[Sideman gags, splutters]

[Tense, deep beats]

[Music stops]

[Horse snorts]

[Coarse metallic scrape]

[Horse snorts]

[Deep beats continue]

[She groans]

- [Music continues] - [Insects chirr]

[Music continues; Horse whinnies]

- Ready? - Ready.

Here.

[Both panting]

[Delicate piano music]

[Kitty] Thank you!

[Joyous whooping; Rapid hoofbeats recede]

- [Music concludes] - [Pigs snort]

[Bird caws in distance]

[Eerie music]

Liam!

Liam!

Where are you going?

Nobody knows!

[Walt] John!

What about Kitty, huh?

Anne Rogers?

Your wee niece Lizzie Carr?

You're gonna leave them behind?

Our staying won't save them.

And little Lizzie?

At best, she'll be orphaned.

Her mum and dad set upon that man.

They can't expect to live.

Nor can any Carr.

You backed a broken horse.

Your names will be forgotten in towns.

Your faces won't ring a bell, John.

It's better than being hunted down...

and left to clog up the rivers.

[Music continues]

Save yourself, Walt.

Take care of yourself.

- [Music continues] - [Birdsong]

[Music continues]

- [Music stops] - [Jordan] Ah!

Just the man I'm looking for.

Come in, help yourself.

[Kent] What happened to your face, Walt?

You can't have gotten much sleep last night, eh?

And counting sheep is not the remedy.

So, firstly, since you still have your tongue,

an account of what happened in the village this morning.

- Has anyone remained? - No-one has stayed who's born here.

[Jordan] Did they speak of their return?

No.

[Jordan] What frightened mice your neighbours are.

- [He clicks tongue] - Well...

we leave today, also.

With Cousin Charles in our good company.

So, you are leaving?

- [Jordan] Yes. - Yes.

Yes.

[Jordan] Yours has been a village of enough.

Soon, it will be a settlement of plenty.

Wouldn't that be nice, Walt?

My steward Baynham has already ridden off to organise the purchase of the sheep.

So, in the coming months, you can expect the arrival of hired hands,

who will lodge in your empty cottages, while trees are cut and stalls are built.

And then, when the autumn comes, the shepherds will arrive,

and they will carry with them coins for your wage.

So, you want me to stay, Charles?

[Jordan] Unfortunately, you can rely only upon yourself...

for company, in the beginning.

Yourself and Mr Pillory.

To my reckoning, the man has three more days to serve, so...

don't show him lenience, otherwise you really will be on your own.

[He chuckles]

I have your word?

Set him free only when the hour lets him free?

I'll need the keys.

Keys.

[Footsteps]

[Bird calls in distance]

[Ruminative music]

I, um... I spoke to Cousin...

and I promise you, Walt...

the women, they will be released...

when we reach our new home.

It is my demand to see Kitty, Anne and Lizzie,

to see them walk freely on the streets.

I promise you.

[Music continues]

[Keys rattle]

- Do you remember this game? - Aye.

- [Kent] Huh! - [He chuckles]

Ha!

What about this game?

[Kent groans, strains]

- [Kent exclaims, laughs] - [Delicate, melancholic music]

- No! - [He strains]

[Kent laughs]

Ha! Yes!

Yes! Yes!

I win!

You win, Charles.

[He exhales]

[Music continues]

[Indistinct conversation]

[Music fades]

[Uneasy music]

- [Music continues] - [Birdsong]

[Shaky breathing]

- [Music continues] - [He breathes heavily]

[Tense rattle echoes]

[Insects buzz]

[Tense rattle echoes]

[Uneasy music]

[Music continues]

[Shaky, reverberant breathing]

[Music continues]

[Music fades]

[Walt] There's no-one left except me.

You can walk among our cottages

and help yourselves to whatever you want.

What's your name?

That's mine to keep.

[Keys rattle]

[Pillory creaks]

[Man grunts]

[Man exhales]

[Plough scrapes, thuds]

[Delicate piano music]

[Walt] Ploughing is our sacrament.

Our solemn oath.

And not to mark our future in the soil, before the winter comes,

is to say there's no next spring.

Master Jordan said...

"You'll never need the plough again."

[Stirring music]

To this I say,

I will defend the coming spring.

[Music continues]

[Music builds]

[Music continues]

[Music concludes, reverberates]

[Flames crackle]

[Thud]

[Gentle, melancholic music]

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Music continues]

[Music concludes, resonates]