This piece was inspired by the story Born Of Thorns, which my good friend Hannah has just finished drafting. We shot the video on location, at a place we call Paradise Hill (scroll down for a short and dramatic history of the place).
While we were shooting, a herd of wild boar ran across in front of the camera. Wild boar can symbolise confronting situations you have been avoiding. This fits wonderfully with the storyline, so we kept it in.
A Brief History of ‘Paradise Hill’
A castle belonging to a robber baron was once situated next to the chapel on this hilltop. One day this baron saw from his window a procession of wealthy people approaching. After sending his men ahead of them to lay an ambush, he disguised himself and went to the house of a farmer on the road, where the wealthy people would have to stop.
When the noble lady and her servants arrived the baron claimed to be a foreigner going on a pilgrimage. He asked the lady to make a slight detour and come to the chapel with him. She agreed to this and the farmer joined as their guide, but when they arrived at the chapel the baron’s men leapt out, killing the farmer and many servants. The lady’s maid escaped to the village, raising the alarm. Help came speedily and they were able to save some of the servants but the lady was never found. It was assumed the baron also killed her.
In their wrath the villagers burnt the baron’s lair and it fell into rubble. People began to avoid the chapel, and later it was said that the chapel was haunted. Some said it was the noble lady, others said it was the knight who could find no rest, not even in his own chapel.
Roughly translated from: https://sagenpfa.de/sage.php?stat=682
The tale bears some striking resemblances to events that took place on Paradise Hill, in Elizabeth Goudge’s outstanding novel The Little White Horse (1946), for which she was awarded the Carnegie Medal. Hence the name we have given it.