The Victorian Way

[Music] ready [Music] sit down ah Mr Barker just the man I'd like to discuss this week's menus with you of course Mrs kroen now as you know we like to roast something every day of course I'm partial to a roast myself but uh to be honest my wife uses A Clockwork bottle jack so I doubt it'll hold a candle to yours Mrs kroen still it's better than a bit of string off a poth hook I suppose oh absolutely now the thing to note is that we aren't changing the presentation so we will need the heads and the feet on ah so you'll be after a goodlooking game then exactly well once Mr Nichol and the other young gentlemen start their socializing while they're at it and all the hip flasks come out I don't suppose you're going to want anything they've given both barrels to H well young Miss braybrook is a decent shot but it's not often she goes off with the shoot so well if it's been a Penny Dreadful of a shoot Mr Apprentice Sam and Alfred and I we can go out afterwards and maybe bag you a few better looking ones how's that I know that presentation is the thing I promise you you won't even know they've been shot Alfred's new isn't he new this year but he's a marker my nephew it's in the blood and he's been brushing for us since he was little but he's going to be loading for Lord de this time so he's going to have to keep up de is Keen as mustard even after he's got a few whiskies in him oh and we've done a beautiful job with the Partridge this year so you can expect plenty of them this season oh well the menu will be guided by what is shot uh although being well we could do with a couple of hairs for hair soup one of Mr str's favorites and a few more duck with applesauce oh and that pigeon pie went down well wood pigeon please and do you think we could have a few less rabbits the lower servants are starting to complain I've got to keep them down otherwise Mr vert's going to be after me about why his Garden's been stripped bare but I have heard that the poor house down in town has had another bout of influenza so I doubt they turned down a few extra rabbits such a dreadful shame that the local harvests have been down again this year still it's a good thing that Lord Brave book can provide fresh meat to the poor and needy there's plenty in want at the moment it is awful and how is it affecting the gamekeepers Mr Barker poaching is on the rise I hear terrible business the plague of the countryside I know there are those in need but do you think that's the only thing driving it well people are in need but the needy get arms don't they and there's no cause to be going out poaching breaking the law all my fences for that matter endangering his lordship's livestock and causing all kinds of damage I mean Lord broer puts a good deal of money into Estate Management it's no good taking the game after all of that time and effort's gone into raising the birds is it of course not to mention that business last year I mean Mr pri's family are still in mour and Mr Apprentice still has nightmares over it oh yes I read about it in the newspaper I didn't go to the court what were the details again it was Tom prince who saw it all happen he's the one who had to stand up there in court and tell them all about it so Mr apprentice and Mr prior were out in the middle of the night looking for poachers it was dark it was late it was about past 3 in the morning and that's when poaches are out now Mr prin is he hears a gunshot go off and he looks around and sees John Pryor isn't with him so he goes off on his own to investigate now this lot were after hair so they're down by the hunters well Plantation and as Tom gets close that's when he sees him John is just sitting there on the ground with blood all down his trousers and all down his Gators well there's a man standing over him with a batted old shotgun in his hands one of the Hammers down and he whips it up quick smart and he shouts out come any closer and I'll ser you the same so John PRI calls out and says go off for help and that's exactly what Tom does and he's quick when he wants to be anyway by the time he gets back John's lying there on the ground in a old puddle of his blood and he's he's dead and gone and did Mr PR to see the man with the old shotgun he did even though it was dark it was William Wright he's a regular poacher the police know him they picked him up quick enough he's not someone who's trying to look after his family he makes a tidy profit out of poaching and he'd run off to try and hide that gun of his but he'd left plenty of evidence behind that they brought out in court he dropped his hat and he dropped a homemade ram rod that he'd make for that old gun of his and just by or John's blood they found a button that had come off of wri's waste coat it doesn't sound like Mr Wright was the sharpest tool well he wasn't and he was protecting others actually his brother and a friend who' been out there brushing and poaching with him anyway he was going to hang and they appealed the sentence didn't they they said oh it had all been an accident he just heard a noise and he'd shot off into the darkness so they commuted his sentence to a lifetime of penal servitude well if it was an accident then he didn't deserve to hang but on the other other hand Mr prior is dead and it sounds like he was a lifelong criminal a harsh punishment should stop these things happening the rope's not going to stop them not when there's money to be made and it's more likely to make them shoot at my Keepers and dead men tell no tales and we can't go off reporting to the police well let's hope we never see this terrible business again I suppose The Lure of free meat is too much for some meat is expensive but this is about making money off of something everyone wants I mean canned Australian meat is quite cheap it doesn't come with the risk of killing somebody or lifetime of prison sentence does it so I know which one i' choose well yes I suppose it's a good thing that we have worked hard all these years Mr Barker and haven't had to lead a life of crime I don't think it'd suit either of us Mrs kroen I can't imagine you in the dock well not unless Marana burnt one of your teacakes oh well she's come close to it once or twice but you you should take care of yourself out at night chasing poaches Mr Barker we'll do maybe all those extra rabbits the servants have fed up with will uh make all the difference in the village perhaps well thank you very much for coming to see me and please send my best to the rest of your family oh and on your way out help yourself to some of those Queen drop biscuits Sylvia is practicing for the servants table they aren't one of maryanne's teacakes thank you Mrs kroen [Music] come [Music]