Horse's arse!
Oh lord...
Thy mercy has brought me to the dawn of another day.
Vain shall be thy gifts if I do not grow with grace,
increase with knowledge and ripen for spiritual harvest.
Oh ever watchful Shepherd,
lead and guide me this day
for without thy restraining rod
I do err and stray.
Defend me from assailing foes,
and from evil circumstance,
but most importantly from myself,
for my enemy is within the citadel.
Come with almighty power and cast him out,
Pierce him to death
and abolish in me
every particle of carnal life this day.
Amen.
Well don't just stand there, give thy mother help.
Go fetch a rake and fill the trough.
Handsome boy.
Where's my stick? I can't find it!
"Twas where you left it, sir.
Arthur?
Arthur, where did you put my coif?
Get a move on.
- Else we'll be late for worship. - Arthur, you go on...
And don't forget that cauldron.
I don't understand it.
I'm sure I left it on the chest...
Why!
Ah, but it's filthy! Oh, Arthur!
- Do you wanna try me, eh? - Father! Father!
Hey! Ol! We'll have none of that.
What do you think you're playing at, girl? Get a move on.
Go on.
Never let a woman best you, boy. Have I taught you nothing?
You've got to show the lord more spirit than that, you know.
Yes, sir.
Good boy.
Fanny!
J my god deliver me
> from those that are mine enemies
j and do thou me defend
j from those that up against me rise.
Come on, Arthur.
J do thou deliver me from them
j that work iniquity
j and give me safety from the men
j of bloody cruelly...
Did you leave that fire burning?
I don't reckon.
Come on. Good lad.
Who goes there?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, sir.
Begging your pardon. I don't mean no harm.
What the devil are you doing in my barn, eh?
Why, you arrant thief! Those are my clothes you're wearing!
I'll teach thee manners!
Please, sir, begging your pardon. It sure an't what it looks like.
I'll send thee back to Satan!
Sir, if you give me a chance to speak.
We was beset upon the road.
Do you believe you can dance into a man's farm and make like home?
A man's home is his castle!
I've every right to put you down.
Please, my wife, sir. Please, my wife.
- I can explain. - Let him speak, sir!
Well, stop babbling, boy.
What's this about a wife?
My wife, sir, er...
You see...
Last Eve, we was travelling on the road to gloucester,
headed from there to Bristol and a boat to the new world.
We was carrying all our savings, all we had in the world,
looking to make a fresh start, see? A new beginning.
But alas, it was not to be.
You see, as the dusk fell,
we was beset by villainous highwaymen.
It's a true misfortune, woe betold.
They stripped us of all we had, our horses, every last groat,
down to the shoes on our feet and the shirts on our backs.
Since then, we've been moving all night, sir, no idea where we was headed,
when we comes upon this fine home, quite by chance, like.
Well, if there'd been an answer when I knocked, but...
My wife, sir, she's exhausted and cold and...
She couldn't take it no more.
And without clothes, you understand.
I am sorry for the Liberty, sir. Truly, I am.
Never would I wish to impose upon another.
But... given these rare and unhappy circumstances,
we was left with no other choice in the matter.
Where's your wife now?
She's, er... she's resting up there in the perch. Apologies.
Fanny.
You be careful now.
Come and look, sir.
Arthur, give me my stick.
You try it, anything,
and I'll slit your gullet from ear to ear
- before you can draw breath. - Understood, sir.
- I promise, my intentions is fair. - Yeah.
You sure she's not sick?
No. Just exhausted, like I told it.
Well, she looks healthy enough.
It's like I told it.
You watch where you feast your eyes, John lye.
You mind your mouth, girl.
Them marks might turn nasty.
- I'll go make up a salve. - That's awful good of you, ma'am.
- We much appreciate it. - Go on, now.
- What's your name, boy? - Thomas ashbury. Pleased to meet you.
Newlyweds, are you?
Aye. Well, yeah, we been married four month.
"Tis a trial for a married man to lay eyes on such a creature!
And on the lord's day no less.
Just shows you,
a man can never let his guard drop against Satan's wiles.
In you go.
Sit.
Where do you hail from, Thomas?
I'm from Salisbury. Born and bred.
And your wife?
Oh, a...
A village near Westchester, name of nettlebred.
Husbandman? Artisan?
I am... well, I was...
A travelling Cooper.
And a soldier, for a time, in general cromwell's army.
Ah, the good old cause!
I played my part against the scots and the Irish.
Putting down the popish swine.
You served too, sir?
Captain John lye, for Henry ireton,
regiment of horse.
Well, I suppose I should salute.
Arthur! Come away from that door!
Seven years honest service, from edge hill to drogheda.
If it weren't for this leg...
- Drogheda, you say? - That's right.
Come on!
It was an unfortunate business, if ever I laid eyes.
I don't believe god doth view it so.
Sit there and mind your business, boy.
Spirited lad.
Aye, well, you've got to teach them by the lord's example.
Psalm and prayer.
Spare the rod at your peril.
So...
To the matter at hand.
We're at thy mercy, sir.
Well, seeing as it's the lord's day,
and with the girl, and you being a brother-in-arms and all,
I'll allow you to stay.
- "Til the morning. - Thank you very much, sir.
We're much obliged.
Course, you have to spend the night in the barn with the mice.
That'll be just fine.
Thank you, sir. One night is all we ask.
And tomorrow, after breakfast, we'll ride on to ludlow,
which is eight miles east of here,
and you can report your misfortune to the constable.
Oh...
Well, er, thank you, sir, but, erm...
It wouldn't be right to impose on you such a journey.
We'll be fed and on our way in the morning, no bother.
It is no bother. Think nothing of it.
To speak frankly, sir,
I don't know what no constable can do for us.
Can he magic back our savings?
Our horses?
No, I think not.
Therefore, I don't quite see the benefit.
It isn't just yourself, now, is it? "Tis a matter of law and order.
And as the good lord says,
"he that hath friends must show himself friendly."
So that's my offer.
And we accept gratefully. Thank ye.
Aye.
- What? - Hello.
Who be...?
Where am I?
You're safe now, sweetheart. Don't fret.
You've been in the wars, you have.
Where's Thomas?
Your husband?
1...
Look.
- Here he comes now. - Rebecca.
Thomas.
I'll leave you two alone.
There's some clothes on the beam.
Thank you, ma'am.
How's my darling girl, eh?
- Tired. - Hmm?
Are they coming?
No. No. We got away.
It's just us now. You and me.
We've got to look out for each other.
Have you got it?
What?
On.
Don't you worry. It's safe.
Show me.
Thank the lord.
A spirit of holy watchfulness and...
Godly jealousy over myself...
Poor sweet lad, eh?
Oh, leave him alone...
Except grieving and offending thee,
the blessed lord.
Might I be of help?
Thank ye kindly, sir, but no.
"Thomas", please.
You quite sure of that?
Well, sir Thomas,
you may pick the medlars from the hayloft, if you so desire.
All right. What number?
Come.
Now, pick only the overripe,
and we need, ooh, I'd say... 40 for the tart.
Let's see, erm...
No.
No, no... ah.
There we are. Look.
I need to get back to my roast.
Of course.
Hey, boy?
One for you, boy?
It's your loss.
- Thomas, what did I say? - Shh-shh.
Whoopsie! Sorry about that. Sorry.
That's it.
Come on, then. Come on.
Get me back. Throw one back.
Go on. Yeah, that's it.
Come on!
Wahey-hey!
That's a boy! Come on, have another.
That's the way.
Come on.
Whoops! Sorry!
Prithee, peace.
Prithee, peace!
Arthur!
Yeah!
Let me be!
Thomas!
On!
- Arthur. - Your boy's fine.
Nothing to worry about.
Captain John,
truly, it's all my fault.
And you, Fanny.
Sir, truly, if it's a villain you seek, then I'm the one.
Truly. Sir, if I may say,
don't be hard on the young lad because if I...
Captain John...
Captain John, I... I... Really beg your pardon...
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
- Five. - Don't get involved.
- Six. - He took us in.
- Seven. - We don't want no trouble.
Eight.
Thomas, take a walk, eh?
Right, Fanny.
One!
Two!
Three!
Four!
Fivel
six!
Seven!
Eight!
Ninel
ten!
Let us pray.
We consecrate this meat to lord almighty god.
Thanks be to thee for this food you put before us...
Enter.
The wanderers return.
I didn't know we'd see you again.
Oh, no, sir, you must be japing.
The thought of all that roast.
We haven't had beef in over a month, have we, Thomas?
- Er, no, that's right. - Hmm. Fanny.
Thank ye, ma'am.
Thomas has something he'd like to say.
Don't you, Thomas?
That's right, yeah.
Captain John lye,
for not respecting the rules of thy house,
and for spoiling the fruits of thy labour,
I do humbly and sincerely apologise.
Well... tisn't me you have to settle with, lad,
but the lord Jesus Christ.
- Aye, well, that I shall do. - Hmm. Well, come, then. Sit.
Let us pray.
We consecrate this meat to lord almighty god.
Thanks be to thee for this food you put before us.
May it provide us with the sustenance we require
to continue to serve thy holy name.
Amen.
Good boy.
Come on then, Arthur.
- Morning, mr ashbury. - Morning.
You want to lend a hand here? Here.
Come here.
So this here's your family estate?
Oh no!
I acquired it from a popish yeoman between the wars.
Sizeable place to keep all by yourself.
Well, Fanny was a servant here and I raised her up.
I've never had need to wage another, not outside of harvest time.
You've done well for yourself.
Well. Every day I thank the lord
for my talent with a sword and horse
and the general for recognising that talent
and raising me up above my station.
His plain, russet-coated captain I shall always be.
So, Rebecca, where you be headed after you see the constable?
Oh, on to gloucester or hereford.
Looking for work, I guess. I've been a servant,
so I know my way around a pail of milk or a pair of britches.
Such a misfortune befell you two.
Gives me the shivers.
We'll get by, like we always do.
Don't you worry about me.
Have you no family you can go home to,
help you out in your hour of need?
Aye, well...
I suppose mr ashbury's your master now.
Thomas an't my master. No man is.
I go where I likes, with whom I likes.
Strange to think,
back in drogheda, we was fighting side by side and never knowed it, eh?
Course, back then, it was skulls we was chopping, not wood.
And none that weren't a head too tall, eh? Off you go.
Wish I could be so bold.
All them women, children, old folks,
they didn't do nothing to me.
Trampled in a bloody contest not their own.
Well...
"He that believeth in him shall not perish,
but have everlasting life."
"God sent not his son into the world that he should condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved."
John 3:18.
I don't think I understand.
So you and mr Thomas,
you be not...?
Why...
Why, that mean you must be living in sin!
An't you afraid?
Afraid of what? The size of his member?
His is a good-size prick, I'll Grant, but not so big that it hurts!
Afraid of hell, young lady!
Of fiery hell and torment!
And not to mention the law.
And such talk...
Oh, my.
The devil will set upon you with furious industry.
My poor, sweet girl!
You'll not tell your husband, I hope?
I thought we was speaking in confidence.
I must consider your eternal soul.
I have to believe it's never too late for a sinner.
Mr lye could help you on the path to righteousness,
- 1 do believe so. - I don't need no righteousness!
Mrs lye, I beg you,
don't bring us no more trouble and woe.
I suppose so.
I'll bet righteousness an't the only thing he's skilled at finding!
L... I... I don't know what you mean.
Why, your husband.
I'd say he's quite handsome for a man of his age.
My John?
I do declare you be teasing me, miss Rebecca.
I never met a girl so naughty in my life!
I do try.
Psst.
There. Hello, porker.
Thomas...
Thomas, get down!
Father! Father!
Cease your noise. I see 'em.
Keep ye calm. Betray nothing.
- Friends of yours, eh? - What's that, captain?
Stay back.
No, I've never seen them before.
That one on the black's quite the popinjay, eh?
Why, if that's not the constable walking with 'em!
Well, that's the constable, all right.
But what in god's will is he doing over here?
You really have no idea, mr ash... mr a...
Why, you miserable brigand!
Now, you just stay where you are and hold your peace.
I'm sorry to do this to you,
but them men out there, they mean us harm.
And I can't let them come in here. Understand?
Please, sir. Don't hurt my son.
Ma'am, that is not my desire.
Now, you both... You both keep your temper
and do as you're asked,
and this'll all be over soon, I give you my word.
I knew you were a villain the moment I laid eyes on you.
I promised I'd slit you from ear to ear
- and by god, that's what I'll do. - John, no!
Stay back! Drop that blade or the boy dies.
Father!
- I'll do it if you force me to! - You haven't got the belly for it.
I've done worse in my time.
So have you.
Please, sir, do as he says.
Heed your wife, sir.
She's got an 'ead on her.
Lay it on the table.
Now get back to the door.
You take a seat, mrs lye.
- Rebecca. - You won't walk away from this.
Now, you've not seen us.
Your ears have heard no thing,
so you just send them on their way.
And make them believe it or the boy dies first.
I'll watch you hang... slow.
Morning, Henry.
John.
Good day to you, sir.
Sir.
Of whom do I have pleasure?
I am the most high sheriff of the council of state,
charged with the suppressing
of atheistical, blasphemous and execrable opinions
derogatory to the honour of god and destructive to humane society,
whether they be expressed through horrid preach or damnable practice,
so that god may be truly glorified
and all might in well-doing be encouraged.
Sir, I... the warrant.
Sire.
Surprised to see you over this way, Henry.
I'm more than a little surprised myself, John.
Ma'am.
"Tis upside down.
It is?
My mistake.
- All seems to be in order. - Of course.
So to the matter at hand.
We are in pursuit of a pair of licentious heretics,
a young man and a young woman,
who did partake in profane display this Saturday past
at a tavern less than five miles from this ground.
What he means to say is, there was a full-blown ranting orgy
at the hopton alehouse.
No depravity or deceit is beneath a man in pursuit of coin or carnal appetite.
This has been my finding.
They should've closed that den of iniquity years ago.
- Didn't I tell you, cousin Henry? - Aye. That you did, John.
Hmm. And this is what it's come to.
Ranting orgy, you say?
Blasphemous oaths and execrations,
drunkenness, licentiousness, swearing and sodomy,
unmarried men and harlots fornicating in full public view.
Well, I'm stouned.
It's them high attainers.
They preach that good is evil and evil is good.
I mean, I've heard tell of such things in London,
but never did I think in our own fair county.
"Tis but a fortune that these men put them to rout when they did.
Well, what can I say? I'm shocked.
But let us hasten to the cusp of this distasteful dialogue.
In following these rotten escapees, we did discover footprints.
Footprints that led us from that horrid alehouse
and to your very property.
What say thee to this, captain lye?
Sir, you must be mistaken.
I haven't seen or heard a thing.
It's just me and Fanny and the boy getting ready for the winter.
It's a simple life we live here on blackhill farm.
Nevertheless, I'd be most obliged if we might take a look inside, eh?
Sir, I've given you my answer.
No man comes on my land without my sanction.
And I'll thank thee to take me at my word.
Well, in that case, we have no cause to trouble you further.
I apologise most sincerely for the disturbance.
No, no disturbance.
I pray you catch them and drag them to the deepest, darkest pit on earth.
That will be the least of their sufferings.
Thou may rest assured.
Come.
- Henry. - John.
Them men... They Ben't what they look to be.
We was at the alehouse,
that much is true, but we was causing no harm to no one.
And then them men, they fell upon us,
fell upon us with fanatical violence,
visiting terrible pain and hurt on man and woman alike.
Our friends lay dead and brutalised.
Only Rebecca and I escaped the slaughter.
A likely tale.
- Sir, it is the truth. - Yeah?
Where'd they find the warrant?
Perhaps a witch's cauldron.
That an't worth the parchment it's written on.
For fools and feeble-minded only.
You knave! I ought to...
Ought to what? Stick a bag over my head and tan my hide?
Yeah, I know men like you.
Sir, we've done all you ask of us.
Now, I humbly ask of you, leave us be.
Nah.
Nah, it's not so simple no more.
Them men could be out there waiting.
Rebecca, get that rope there.
Secure this man. You, move, now, there.
Kneel down.
There.
Mrs lye, we'll be here just a short while longer.
I do apologise.
Bind him tight, now. Make sure he can't get loose.
Go on. You go see your ma.
No!
Now you behave yourself like a good little missus.
Get away from my father!
Captain John.
- I can't allow that again, I'm sorry. - No, not his good leg!
- You hurt? - I'm fine.
It's all true, isn't it? Every word.
You're a degenerate.
A fornicator. A high attainer.
You use that name again, I'll smite your ears.
What, high attainer? That is what you are, isn't it?
You and your ranting harlot there.
There'll be no inheritance for thee in the kingdom of Christ and god.
No!
You call me a high attainer.
But the opposite is true.
For I do not look up to the skies for god or heaven.
Here.
Here your treasure lies.
God and devil, they're both servant unto me.
And her.
And even you, great captain.
If only you open up your insides to earthly possibility.
I can but open up the gate
and point... to a new Jerusalem.
A land where sin and transgression are no more.
A land where every man and every woman,
and all from nature,
is shared in common.
A land where Christ,
the king of glory, lies dead and buried in his grave.
Aye. Aye.
Christ, I say, he did not rise.
He died and rotted back to nature
so that sin, so that all our sin,
might be forgiven for eternity.
So every thing and every act might become, from darkness, light.
So we might learn that heaven, hell, these are but earthly realms.
There is no afterlife awaiting.
- I know thy thoughts, great captain. - Yeah?
Honest words may cause the strongest man to tremble,
but do not be afraid.
For there is a spark in thee
his boundless love shining forth in you, in her, in me.
If you but listen to his voice, listen to that inner voice
of love, of unity,
then thou shall find true freedom.
The kingdom of heaven on earth shall be yours this very day.
But to those who deny the godly impulse,
those who live by law of priest and tyrant, beware!
For a great levelling is coming.
The sword of the holy spirit brought forth in fire and vengeance
upon all who oppose the god of perfect freedom and pure libertinism.
As king Charles and the lords have had their turn,
so cromwell and his great ones are next in line,
for they have made themselves as tyrannical
as ever the king in his reign.
Those whose every care and industry is to get and keep their god money,
to plump their purse through laws of property and tithes
upon the back of the poor, I say unto thee now,
thy gold and silver shall be consumed.
L, the lord, shall come as a thief in the night
with my sword drawn in hand.
And like a thief, I shall say, "deliver your purse."
"Deliver, sir. Deliver, or I'll cut thy throat."
Sir, end this blasphemy, I implore you.
Consider the woman and child.
But I rejoice, sir! I rejoice,
in delivering the truth with all my heart,
howsoever it might be received by you.
Wishing only to advise and warn, to deliver you and yours
from the coming plague and fire!
And with your wicked words, you do crucify your saviour a second time.
You're a very great sinner, sir.
And the fire and plague about which you speak
shall be upon your house.
Your bones shall lie dashed to pieces at the bottom of the mountain of error.
- Sin, you say? - Hm-hmm.
Sin? 'Tis but a word.
An imposture of the rich to keep poor men in order.
Lies!
You turn the grace of god into...
Wantonness.
But mere excuse for drunken adultery, thievery
and all that Christ, Moses and the apostles
have thoroughly denounced.
What you call adultery, I call honesty.
Honesty to the voice of god within,
that which, by reason, must be fulfilled, not opposed
as by the churches and the saints. We must awaken from our sleep,
shake off the coverings, take away the veil
and discover the truth:
That to the pure, all things are pure.
There is no act impure in god.
Love is god and god is love.
And thou art fair, my love,
there is no spot in thee.
By what heinous, hellish, impudent authority
do you presume to be the judge of sin?
Man should be as a Reed shaken in the wind, for it is written.
Aye, a Reed.
To his own inner majesty each must answer, for you see,
whatever act is done in light and love
is light and lovely,
whether it be that act you call drunkenness or adultery or the like.
Oh, aye, to thee, to thee, it is a sin.
And for so sinning, thy imagination will pursue thee and arraign thee
and condemn thee as a drunk or an adulterer or a thief.
But that self-same act committed instead without a grain of fear or guilt,
committed instead in light, in honesty...
Why then, it is a blessed truth!
The mind of god apparent.
You but affirm without one reason of scripture
to demonstrate your point.
Such bare assertion holds no weight with me.
And with the text so plain and clearly speaking contrary.
Isiah 42:16:
“I will make the darkness light before them.”
Aye. You the darkness, he the light.
On that we must agree.
You mind is like a worm to the light of day.
Consider carefully:
“He shall take the darkness away...”
“And in the room thereof he shall place light.”
That in scripture called darkness and by thyself believed to be darkness
he shall make light.
For the light and darkness are both of god. Not two, but one!
Isiah 45:5: “For there is no other god but me.”
Isiah 45:7: “I form light, I create darkness.
“L form peace, I create evil.” what, sir, do you say to that?
I am but a simple man of arms.
I lay claim to no great intellect.
Nor can I begin to twist the truth
to mean its very opposite, as is your most devilish skill.
But something I do know:
In the name of god all mischief has its seed!
For there is no surer way for a villain to bring his evil to maturity
than by mixing in god and religion therewith.
Now on that point our minds are truly one!
You speak of the tyrant Charles
and general cromwell and the army
all in none but the damnedest of terms.
Now I ask,
how does thou reconcile thy scorn with thy philosophy?
I see no contradiction.
By your creed, was not king Charles the very greatest of libertines?
Murder, torture, popery... All was fine and justified
so long as his whim did deem it so.
From the defiled all things defiled.
Your meaning changes with the wind!
I say it is you, sir. You who's the hypocrite.
Picking and choosing your sin as a bee in a flowering Meadow.
You do swell from envy as a toad swells from poison!
Flowing from pride and arrogance, and they in turn from ignorance,
and ignorance from the devil.
And to think we once did serve like cause...
Or is that another of your imaginary tales?
Oh no, I served general cromwell true.
Led forth to sentence and murder at pleasure.
To trample on the blood of our enemies in the name of glory and triumph,
paying scant regard to the sighs and groans,
the tears of poor widows
and the curses in every corner.
And when they cut off the old cunt's head,
like many I did applaud.
But tell me, captain, in honesty,
when you reflect upon the past,
upon our Irish exploits, upon drogheda...
The maidens ravished, the babies skewered,
swords sheathed in bowels and bellies, you tell me...
Do you not feel an holy shame?
Aye, there be your answer.
Only in a pack or in a feverish mind do men behave so mean and cruel.
Deaf to the loving voice of majesty that cries within.
No...
No! "Tis you who's deaf
to man's true nature.
The dyings of the lord are in us daily manifest.
Now if you were to ask me,
has our every action been just and true?
Then I must concede that in war men make fast decisions
and, sad to say,
there may be times when his baser instinct wins the day.
For man is not perfect.
And he is not god and he doesn't claim to be.
And if you were to ask me, have I, John lye, erred and strayed
then I will answer in the affirmative.
And of these transgressions the good lord will sit in judgement.
But I cannot and will not accept that our cause was not righteous.
We've transformed this england!
We've built a fair Republic with our own bare hands.
The seeds of that new Jerusalem.
An england where no king nor lord may rule as if divine
and where he who holds an interest shall have a voice of equal weight and share.
And in return, of course, he must abide by the law of man,
as he abides the law of god,
for the opposite is unholy anarchy.
And yet, for all our progress,
on the edge of a blade our victory rests,
harried on all borders by papists and monarchists in league.
And then we come upon your kind,
who strike not from foreign shores but from within.
Offending god, prating fear and beastliness,
and feasting on general cromwell's remarkable good will and tolerance.
I do fear that by your dissent you will destroy all that we have built
and return this england to a state of Norman vassalage.
I have no more belly for your meanderings and excuses.
Nor I thy vile heresies!
Well, rather a mighty angel swear than a hypocrite preach and pray.
Just a normal day, going about your business.
Hello, my friend.
So, the hour comes sooner than you thought, eh?
But you can't complain, for it is the way of nature.
What you done?!
Go fetch a saucer.
There, there. There, my friend.
Shhh...
There, there, my friend. Shh-shh-shh-shh-shhhh...
There, there...
There, there, my friend. Shh-shh-shh...
Shh-shh-shh-shh-shhhh...
Your knife.
Come and hold him.
Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh...
What you doing with my husband's Bible?
This book interests you greatly, don't it?
No.
I mean...
Scripture an't for a woman to touch.
Pious nonsense.
See.
What says that?
Well, I don't know.
J-o-h-n.
"John."
That's your husband's name.
And that?
- That says "John" as well? - Right.
See! Tan"t so difficult, is it?
You're wasting your time, mr ashbury.
I'm far too set in my ways.
You are as you feel yourself to be.
I see you have mead.
We do. For special occasion.
Go on.
Your husband...
I don't like how he treats you.
Mr lye has done good by me.
I was but a lowly servant girl and he raised me up.
Tell me, have you not swapped one old yolk for another?
Except this one tans your hide
and demands carnal service for the honour.
Really, sir.
It is the very opposite of that you speak.
The opposite?
Oh.
Oh, I see...
By which you mean he fails to tend to your womanly needs!
- Sir! - Well, 'tis no less of a crime.
Which is not to say I'm surprised.
Sir... this is no fit conversation betwixt man and woman,
let alone two strangers of least acquaintance.
Oh, but I say that it is,
because my nature tells me so.
- Mr ashbury... - Fanny...
May I call you Fanny?
Mr ashbury,
there is something that I feel that I must say.
You do not strike me as a cruel man.
I see good in you.
I see it in your eyes.
What you see
is the eternal majesty in each and every one of us.
Oh, well, I don't know about that.
Such matters are beyond my womans' understanding.
Who tells you so? Eh?
There's a place in the new Jerusalem for women
equal to that of any man.
Why, Christ, I've seen girls stand up in church
and raise more hell than ever I be capable.
- Oh, my. - What is it?
You are new to me, mr ashbury, that is all.
"Thomas", please.
You make a fine brew.
Mr ashbury... Thomas.
An't please you, might I humbly ask a kindness?
Well, that really depends on what it is you mean to ask.
Well,
Thomas,
an't it true we served our purpose?
Mightn't you find it in your heart
to go from here and...
And leave us be?
What think you?
I like it.
Hmm, a bit dour for my taste.
A sober woman's dress.
How's that?
Better? No?
Adds a touch of gaiety, I reckon.
You're a good boy, Arthur.
Nothing like your father, if I might say.
What's that? Don't speak bad about my father.
He's the bestest man in the world, he is.
Every child thinks that, I reckon. Oh, aye.
No matter if he whips your hide for walking on the common on a Sunday
then come Friday, he's off whoring and drinking like every man.
- Not my father. - Perhaps.
See,
folks, they prate one thing
and then do another.
That's something you learn as you get old.
Now, my Thomas,
he does it like he says it.
That's rare.
Still not learned, eh?
We need water for the braise. Right, Fanny?
No, not you.
But his leg! He can't...
He can do whatever I say.
Isn't that right, captain?
Unbind him. Go on.
Bit of fresh air might clear his head.
You'll not try nothing stupid this time, will you, captain?
Truth is, I hope you do.
Ah...
Not so hard after all, eh?
The body of Christ.
The blood of Christ.
Drink.
Deeper.
Rebecca.
- Oh! - You go too far.
Tell me you do not feel the urge to make one with this fine flesh.
"Give not thy strength unto woman,
nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings."
Thou must arise, great captain.
Arise.
Out of flesh and into spirit, out of form and into power,
out of signs and into the thing signified.
"Til thou has acted out thy sin, thou art not delivered from its power,
and may only tremble and fear the reproach of thy body.
Thou worships a two-faced janus!
Yield! For it is the lord in you inhabiting his secret place.
Arthur, avert your eyes!
Do not heed this devil!
Boy, open up yourself to his eternal majesty within.
- Avert your eyes! - But he is near a man.
He is no such thing!
Therefore, he must make the choice himself.
Cover his eyes, I say!
Arthur.
What say you, Arthur, hmm?
How does your inner voice intone?
Arthur,
it is your decision to make.
Avert your eyes, I say!
Hmm?
L... 1 do believe it's way past the boy's bedtime.
Yeah!
Yes.
Yes, I do.
Aye.
Aye. We must protect
our precious little boy from all the nasty, filthy things
going through his precious little mother's mind, eh?
Go on. Join her.
Embrace the eternal majesty in thee.
Don't you dare.
I always knew you were a no-good harlot.
I'm not in the least surprised.
Come here, sweetheart.
Good girl.
It delights thee, don't it? It feels right.
You think I don't know the baseness of a woman?
You think there's anything you can teach me?
I don't care to teach you nothing!
I couldn't, even if I wanted to...
Kiss her on the lips.
Make one with thy flesh.
Yay, yay...
Yield to the eternal majesty in thee.
Without such act,
there is no life.
Without life, no perfection.
Without perfection, no eternal peace
and freedom in thy everlasting majesty,
ruling, conquering,
and dancing all into itself without end forever.
Amen.
The devil will punish thee in eternity,
crushing your bones,
only to put you back together and crush you again a thousand times!
A thousand devils piercing every orifice...
I breathe the spirit of god into thee.
A holy relic of our order.
Over a thousand year old.
- It's beautiful. - Oh, aye.
It's more than that.
This here's the proof of Christ's earthiness,
belying the very myth of the resurrection itself.
You like to beat on a woman, don't you, John?
Does it make you hard?
It makes me hard.
Tell me you want it.
For you. All for you.
Tell me you want it so much you're gonna die.
Tell me you want my prick inside ye.
I want...
What do you want?
I want your prick inside me.
All in good time...
On your knees, captain.
Come. Rise.
Don't be afraid.
My present to thee.
Years of debt that must be repaid.
Steel thyself, woman!
Break free of thy bonds!
Good. Again.
Good girl. Harder!
Go on, now!
Go on, now! Yes!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Yes!
God speaks.
Go on! Yes!
And now you're gonna watch me fuck your wife.
- No, no. - Hey, hey, what's the matter?
What's wrong? Huh?
What I said to you before...
I was mistaken.
A crueller, more self-serving man I have never met.
Go on, then.
Take me.
Do what you will.
I've never forced myself on a woman in my life.
Do you think we can outrun them if they find us?
We can try.
I'll fight them to the death if I have to.
They'll not get their hands on you.
Hey.
Wait!
Thomas ashbury!
Give up thy sword and come out and kneel upon the ground!
Can't do that!
You'll do as I tell you,
or I'll open up this whore like Autumn swine!
You'll watch her bleed out in front of you.
God's my witness you shall!
Hold your sword, Thomas!
All right! All right!
Don't hurt her!
Thomas!
Boy.
Rebeccal
It's a flesh wound. It's a flesh wound, it's not fatal.
- Just lay very still. - Mmm.
- No, John, no! - Harlot!
I'll deal with you later.
Try it, I dare you!
Bind 'em, boy.
Move your hand.
Your hand!
Enough. The constable's waiting.
You can't move her. She'll bleed to her death.
She should've minded that fore she trifled with Satan.
John.
You're a good man.
- Please show some mercy. - Oh!
One whore defends another, eh?
Well, you've shown your true nature, as if I didn't know it before.
No, I didn't!
I did as I was asked.
I was afraid!
All right.
Don't you take your eyes off her.
I'll come back with the surgeon
and a rope to hang her with when he's done.
Get up.
Go on.
Come on, help me sit her up.
Arthur, come and help me!
Get on.
She's just a girl, you know.
Just a poor dumb girl from a poor family,
didn't know no better.
You want your revenge on me, that's fair.
But Rebecca, she never hurt a fly.
An't like you made no mistakes in your time.
Not done things to make the lord angry.
What would this world be without a second chance, eh?
You want them to hang her, is that what you want?
Really?
'Cause that's what'll happen.
And they'll do it in a heartbeat.
Not 'cause it's right, not 'cause the lord tells them so, no.
You know why?
They'll do it for fun.
'Cause it delights them
to watch a young girl swing and suffer so,
and shit herself before she's done.
Aye, a right good show.
You know it's that sheriff who's the liar,
not me, not Rebecca.
He an't no sheriff, I'll stake my life.
He killed them all in the alehouse, you know that?
Oh, yeah. Man and woman.
Ravaged 'em first, like.
Just like drogheda.
Oh, yeah. He don't answer to no one.
Not he.
Not no council of state, nor no higher power.
You want the devil,
he's the one.
Just you wait and see.
Christ!
I told ye so...
Their lives are in great danger!
Let me up. We must return.
Oh, dear god!
Whoa!
Unbind me.
Oh, lord!
Walk!
Arthur?
Oh, dear lord, no! Arthur!
Arthur, boy!
Oh, god, no! Arthur!
My boy!
Lord, no, please, no!
Arthur, boy?
Boy?
Oh, dear lord, no!
Unbind me!
Unbind me, for the love of...
Well, hello!
John! John, we're in here!
Fanny?
Oh, soldier boy!
I thought you might like to know that your boy died
crying like a woman.
Weeping in pain.
He thought it would never end.
But end it did, of course,
as do all things.
Your wife is next,
I think you know.
The harbouring of heretics is a very grave offence
and she must be punished.
But it won't be over for her so quickly. Oh, no.
And when I'm done,
I'm going to sell her.
Do you hear?!
Every vagabond, sailor and leper in Bristol
will have a sniff of that country cunt!
Within a year, she'll die of the pox.
Usually the way...
- Let's go flush him out. - No.
It's not worth it.
You see? He's bleeding out like a pig.
Just let nature take its course, eh?
Fuck me, it's here!
I've found it!
Feast your eyes at that.
If that's not the toenail of Christ himself!
This here will bring us seven years' good luck, no question.
Didn't do him much good, did it?
Yeah, well...
I guess his seven years were up.
Well, as long as you're happy.
Oh, yeah. I'm fucking merry, too right!
Good, good.
Let's get him on the bonfire.
Sir?
Tell me,
what will become of us?
You'll be brought to the tower until you recant.
Or earn your freedom.
I've earned my freedom more times than I can count.
I'd lose the attitude if I were you, ma'am.
Is that so?
It might not be good for the health, don't you know?
Oh, I know all too well...
I was 17 when the war started.
Been soldiers through here more times than I can remember.
Back and forth, back and forth.
Each Victor claiming his spoils.
My John, he knowed it.
Though we never did speak of it.
An't nothing you can do to me
I an't already suffered.
Good.
Then we needn't waste time with the niceties.
Persistent bugger, aren't you?
Get out here!
Oh, I've peed down me trousers!
Look what I just caught.
What are we gonna do with him?
Hung, drawn and quartered, perhaps.
The treasonous whoreson deserves no less.
On second thoughts,
just...
Tie his hands up and put his head on a block.
Get on with it.
Get an axe.
Fanny?
Fanny...
Fanny?
Fanny...
Subtitles: Bti studios and pull back camera