Crow Fair

Ella (23) is a struggling DPhil student at Oxford whose luck changes when she wins a bursary enabling her to continue her studies in the comfort of private college rooms. When asked about the benefactor, her tutor, Andrew (39), a specialist in present-day pagan rituals and the object of her youthful desires, knows only that the bursary comes up once every thirteen years on the thirteenth day of Christmas and is believed to be from a college alumni; he encourages her to travel and experience rather than pore over dusty tomes in the college library. Ella chooses Padstow, for the feast of Bealtaine and the quest of the Obby Oss to capture young virgins, but unimpressed by the fact that the Obby Oss is only used to herd people to different bars, Ella finds herself in an old bookstore where the owner tells her of an unusual Punch and Judy show. Intrigued, she watches the macabre show of Punch and the crows. Back at Oxford her research and the discovery of a cryptic puzzle in a concealed painting, lead her to the Cornish island of Collane and a little know Lammas Day celebration, the Crow Fair. Determined to investigate further she meets with unexpected opposition from Andrew who reveals that his birth mother, Hazel, lives on the island and if such an event existed she would surely have told him. Undeterred, Ella persuades Andrew to accompany her to Collane, under the pretence of visiting Hazel to announce their engagement. Hazel must obtain permission for the visit from Lord Collane. At their meeting Hazel reveals that Andrew is his illegitimate son whom she gave birth to on the mainland and never spoke of his existence, fearful that the Crow Fair tradition of sacrifice would claim her only child after the islanders demanded that one of his bloodline should be next. With the realisation that he has an heir, Lord Collane, to the dismay of Hazel, insists that Andrew and Ella be his honoured guests at the Crow Fair. Upon arrival Ella is invited to the castle to meet with Lord Collane where he reveals that he is the mystery benefactor of the college bursary and proceeds to tell her about the Crow Fair whilst insisting that she take the part of the scarecrow in the day’s proceedings. Hazel is concerned when Andrew is ordered to join Lord Collane on the day of the Crow Fair. The festival procession begins with the blackbird children surrounding the scarecrow. Ella playfully chases the children as they head towards the cornfield, but the events take a sinister turn as the blackbird children are frightened away by the appearance of 13 human crows. Ella and Andrew are about to discover that their search has been a trap from the outset, set to ensnare the next human sacrifice.