The Gallows Pole: This Valley Will Rise

Awaken.

Awaken, David Hartley.

Fear not.

The body is asleep, but thy soul is awake.

Ugh...

Why have you not looked inside?

Looked inside of what?

The sack.

The sack you dragged behind you like a crucifix, David.

Well, I didn't really want to.

It's full of bad memories.

Aye.

But in it lies your salvation...

..you and your community's future.

So inside, you must look.

The army of salivating men are fast approaching this valley, David.

So it's time to gather up our kith and kin.

Right. Please elaborate a little bit.

Just help me out.

Get me friends and family, kith and kin. Aye.

Gather them up, bring them together. Yep.

Then what?

Gather all thy kith and kin

Repair all wounds, repent all sin

Then spill the corpse of dead man sack

Your kith and kin will take you back.

All right, go again. Say that again.

Oh, God. You need to bring your friends and family together, David.

You need their help to get the community

behind your philanthropic venture.

And all the crimes you must commit,

you may never take food from the mouths of babes

and take only that which you can replace.

Fear not their laws.

Fear not their wrath.

Fear not their king.

For you are their king, David Hartley.

Yet you know it not.

I tell you no more than that.

But why not?

Cos you're a lazy bastard.

Very nice.

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

# I had a drink with the devil

# He's looking for new slaves

# He told me that my life

# Could be the one he saves

# What happens when you turn the devil down?

# I waited at the crossroads

# The devil stood me up

# Is it that he's just afraid

# Or am I not good enough?

# What happens when you turn the devil down?

# Woo!

# I had a drink with the devil

# He's looking for new slaves

# He told me that my life

# Could be the one he saves

# What happens when you turn the devil down?

# What happens when you turn the devil down? #

HE SIGHS DEEPLY

FAINT CHATTER

You're not a bad person, David. You're not a bad person, David.

You're not a bad person, David.

Not any more.

Greetings. I am David.

I am...

I am one of you.

I've come before you to talk about stuff.

Morning...

Afternoon.

Morning, afternoon and evening,

depending on how long this is going to be, I...

I'm happy that you're amongst me.

I've got things to talk to you about that aren't very...normal.

FAINT CHATTER CONTINUES

Do you know what's happening?

I know what you know.

Wants to have a chat with yous all.

About what?

Don't know.

I hope he's not going back to Birmingham.

No.

That's how to make an entrance.

HEAVY FOOTSTEPS

All right, pal? Heyup.

All right.

You all right, love?

Hi, Dave.

All right, James.

What's up with you?

Uh, sorry, I just didn't expect to see thee.

I thought you hated me from the other day.

Well, I do hate you, but you invited me, so I came.

I can't remember inviting you.

No, you invite... You asked everyone to come.

Isaac told me to come.

Well, I thought you meant everyone, so...

All right. No problem, you're here now. Thanks for coming.

I'm glad to see you. You look lovely.

All right.

I didn't really want to talk about this at Father's wake, so,

I think now's the right time.

I'm going to start by... I just want to tell you the truth.

I've had a vision,

a not very nice vision, a diabolical vision.

It's like a drawing of, I suppose, huge buildings, massive buildings.

And, like...

..rivers that don't meander, they're straight, man-made rivers.

And of childer crying and dying in those rivers, and...

..I were in me dying pit and, and these stag men gave me

some sort of, like, spiritual elixir.

And I thought I were going to float, I didn't float.

And once I've got alive again - if I were dead,

I don't even know if I were dead.

Maybe, I can't say, not definite dead,

but in between or in like this state of limbo between...

I don't think it were ever....

I don't think, I know it weren't...

Well, they definitely guaranteed and reassured me that I wasn't dead.

So...

Sorry, you're going to have... You had a vision?

Aye.

What do you mean?

Not like a sight vision,

more like a head vision where you just...

I can't really explain it.

Well, you have to explain.

You actually invited everyone here to explain it.

Not really. That weren't me main... That weren't me main...

Well, you've opened with that... Grace. ..so you have explain it.

Just let him explain, then. Well, yeah, but I am. OK, then.

I-I appreciate y-your, um, I suppose inquiry,

but at the moment, I can't explain, Grace, exactly what's up.

Then you shouldn't have brought it up.

If you didn't want to explain, you shouldn't've brought it up.

You brought it up, you'll have to explain it.

Where were you? What did you see?

Stag men. I saw stag men,

and they showed me lots of devastation.

They sort of...with me eyes closed... You saw stag men?

Aye, you know, the fucking story of stag men?

So you seen these stag men when you were dead or...

Nearly dead. Nearly dead. Aye. Right.

You really put me off, Grace.

I put you... What, just for sitting here?

Grace, let him speak, will you? Please.

I am letting him speak. Please. Please, Grace.

Isaac, you're the one who told me I was invited.

Yes, but you're not helping, are you?

Go on, Dave.

All right. Thank you, Isaac.

I started walking home.

I came home...

..via visions of future and the help of these...

..I mean, I could only describe as stag men.

And I know that sounds fucking mental,

and I'm reet sorry if I've offended you,

if you're religious, I get it.

But I suppose these are more important

than the Bible to me now that...

Dave, this doesn't sound mental at all.

This doesn't sound mental at all? No.

Did you just say that, Isaac? Grace.

That didn't sound mental to you?

Abe's taught us that God shows himself in many different ways.

Oh, come on! What you've ha... Grace, just shut up, will you?

What you've had is a spiritual experience.

Go on, tell us about the stag men. You've got us all here, not me...

Grace, you're ruining what I've got going on here.

I'm not ruining it. You're ruining it. You are.

Please, Grace, give him a chance.

Anyway!

So these have led me home,

and they've told me to turn my life around.

I were a bad bastard before I went... We know.

..I were a bad bastard when I went.

I've done some awful things - fighting, gambling.

I were with prostitutes pretty much all the time.

Some of them are really pretty.

Oh, God. Probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen,

just had to pay for the privilege of being inside them.

I was thinking about settling down with them, or...

You can't do that with prostitutes.

You wouldn't have had enough money, would you?

The life I led was something I'm not proud of. Obviously.

And I think I've been given the opportunity, I don't know why,

why me, why I've been chosen by these men of stag.

I don't expect thee to comprehend what I'm saying,

and I fucking hate doing this sort of stuff,

but I've fucking hurt people badly,

and I'm reet sorry for it.

These have told me I can turn my life around and do good -

instead of all t'bad I were doing, I can do good now.

What if they change their mind?

I'm under their spell, Grace.

So we just see what happens? Aye, we'll see what fucking happens. OK.

How are you going to do good, then? Right. Let's get to that bit.

I've carried a bag with me.

It came with me all the way from Brum,