The Waltons (1971–1981): Season 8, Episode 18 - The Remembrance - full transcript
Zadok Walton visits the mountain. He seems eccentric, but turns out he is held in esteem by Boatwright University for his work. He leaves his land to the university. Jason meets Toni, who in later episodes, begins a relationship.
This is your cousin Zadok.
Well, actually, he's Pa's cousin. He'd
be your first cousin, twice removed.
Oh, more or less.
Who am I to tell?
Hope you can stay for a spell.
Well, there's a lot to
be did up at the farm,
but I expect I can
stay through the picnic.
I do not care who he is.
He is crude and backward.
If there are any telephone calls
or anybody drops by to see me,
you just tell them I'll
be back in a whipstitch.
We'll sure tell them.
He told me a
lawyer was after him.
He told me he was getting an honorary
degree from Boatwright University.
Well, his hearing's gone, his
eyesight, too, for all we know.
His mind wanders. His
memory just turns on and off.
I think he's got
hardening of the arteries.
We're the only relatives within 1000
miles. I think he's come here to die.
You're absolutely crazy.
You've poisoned my baby.
On Walton's Mountain,
as everywhere else on Earth
in the later years of World War Il,
there was a constant feeling
of dislocation and change.
Until one weekend in 1944,
in the midst of the
chaos and confusion,
we unexpectedly
found a bright, sturdy link
between ourselves and the way
of life we were so swiftly losing.
A rich reminder of who we
were, what we were, and where.
Good afternoon, sir.
I swear to my soul, young woman,
you a Walton if ever I seen
one, and I have saw considerable.
Sir?
- You one of Zeb Walton's girls?
- No, I'm one of John's.
My name's Elizabeth.
Oh, that's nothing, honey.
They named me Zadok.
Mr. Zadok, would you care
for a glass of lemonade?
Elizabeth, I'd be
proud, mighty proud.
That's prime lemonade,
it is, Elizabeth.
Mr. Zadok knows a lot about
us. He's come a long way.
How long a way, Mr. Zadok?
Well, I've hoofed it all the way from home,
and I'd hate to do it twice in one week.
Got me a little patch of scratch-gravel
farm across Methodist Creek.
That's way up yonder behind
Big Spruce Knob, Boone County.
That's miles from here.
I computated about 44
miles as the crow flies,
if anybody's got a crow that don't
especially care where he's going.
- Do you have much farther to go?
- Well, I devoutly hope not.
Where I started out for, I'm at.
Fellow told me to meet him at
Walton's house on Walton's Mountain.
Here I am and here he ain't.
Who's that, Mr. Zadok?
- Who's what?
- The man you're meeting here.
Oh, I'm meeting your
grandpa, Zeb Walton.
Mr. Zadok,
our grandpa passed away
almost three years ago.
Well, I expect I
oughtn't to be surprised.
Where's Zeb resting?
- Up there on the top of the mountain.
- It's where he wanted to be.
Zeb and I growed up together,
he being a mite younger than me,
and I'd hate to tell
you how old I am.
What about your grandma?
Where's little Esther at?
Well, she had a stroke a
while back, but she's doing fine.
Well, I thought so.
You know, them little-bitty women,
they just as tough as whitleather.
Grandma's visiting some relatives
over in Buckingham County.
Oh, she always was
traipsing about and caucusing.
Yeah, she was always that a way inclined,
if Zeb hadn't kept her on a short string.
Well, now, who else we got?
Well, if that ain't the beatinest!
He don't even know who I am!
Cousin Zadok, I'd recognize
your old hide in a tan yard.
- Good to see you. How you been?
- Oh, tolerable, tolerable.
This is your cousin Zadok.
Well, actually, he's Pa's cousin. He'd
be your first cousin, twice removed.
Oh, more or less.
Who am I to tell?
Hope you can stay for a spell.
Well, there's a lot to
be did up at the farm,
but I expect I can
stay through the picnic.
Is there a picnic?
Well, that's what
your grandpa said.
And I've never knowed him
to drop back on a promise.
And that's a date you
made. That's why you're here.
When did you and
grandpa make this date?
Oh, I guess it was
along late spring, 1923.
He come up to Boone County
and spent the whole day with me.
The last thing I ever
said to him, I said,
"Zeb, now, it's been 10
years since we saw each other.
"Now, let's don't make
the second time 15."
And he gave me
that little look of his,
you know, butter wouldn't melt in
his mouth. Good, old Zeb Walton.
Well, cheese wouldn't
choke him, either, you know.
And he said that, "If I'm not here in
20 years, Zadok, you come to visit me,
"and we'll give you a picnic."
Well, and, by George, he
was right. Let's have a picnic.
Colonel Usselbury,
sir! Are you all right, sir?
Why don't you watch
where you're going?
Oh, Sergeant, I'm sorry. I thought
you were the Post Commander.
Are you all right?
If you had been thinking
anything, you dumb dogface,
I wouldn't be driving all
over the county, now would I?
I guess not.
And if I had had the
Colonel in my car,
you'd be peeling the
stripes off your sleeves!
Absolutely. Now, is
there anything I can do?
Sure, you can get lost.
You bet.
You raise all these apples?
Well, me and the good
Lord had a hand in it together.
They're better for
taste than looks.
That's a telephone.
Oh, I've saw three or
four of them in my time.
I just ain't never
talked through one.
Oh, it's easy. When it rings,
all you do is pick it up and talk.
I'll memorize that
when that fellow...
Cousin Zadok?
There's a fellow after me.
If he rings that telephone, you
come and get me and I'll talk on it.
- What's the man after you for?
- Me, my land, my apples.
Calls hisself a lawyer.
- You memorize that.
- I'll try.
Cousin Zadok, we gotta
find you a place to sleep.
I already found
one, Cousin John.
All right.
You sure you wanna do this, now?
Well, when I was growing up
on this mountain, Cousin John,
any time the house
was full of company,
they packed up all the little boys and put
them out in the barn to sleep on the hay.
Now, I've been missing this
Walton's Mountain hay for 75 year.
- And I can tote my own budget, too.
- No, you've carried it long enough, now.
Well, it ain't as heavy
as it was when I left home.
I brung some apples
for the young'uns.
They in there in the kitchen
if you get a hankering for one.
All right.
Hello.
Oh, not again.
I didn't know there was anybody in
here. They let me use the piano sometimes.
Wouldn't you know it.
In case I forgot to mention,
my name is Jason Walton.
Now that we've got that
settled, let's both forget it.
You probably don't have a name,
huh? Just rank and serial number?
- Tony Hazelton.
- That's Tony like in Anthony A dverse?
Like in Marie Antoinette.
"Let them eat cake."
That's better.
You're much more an
Antoinette than a Tony.
I'm really thrilled
you think so.
Look, if you're gonna
play the stupid piano, play.
Wouldn't you rather go out to a
movie or something, Antoinette?
I wouldn't be sitting here
in the first place if I did.
What are you doing, Walton?
Composing, Antoinette, a song.
Sounds more like decomposing.
What's wrong, Daddy?
Thought I heard some music, fiddle
music. Coming from the mountain. Spooky.
It would have to be,
there's nobody up there.
- Maybe you just thought you heard it.
- No, I heard it.
It's a tune I haven't heard since I
was a little older than John Curtis.
Strange.
- What's going on?
- I thought I heard something.
What?
I don't know, but if I
believed in ghosts...
Now, you're not supposed to be in here,
you know. That's my job this weekend.
You don't look like you was
qualified for this kind of work.
Well, I'd like to know just why.
- Morning, Daddy.
- Morning.
Howdy, John. A woman
as well-favored as you
ought to just sit on a
cushion and sew a fine seam.
Well, that's ridiculous, because
my sewing is worse than my cooking.
Now, where does that leave me?
Just sitting there, looking pretty as
red shoes with blue strings in them.
Zadok, is something going on
between you and my daughter?
Well, that's what she'd like me to think,
but soft words never buttered no biscuits.
Your cousin Erin is a speaking likeness
of another lady that I fell in love with
when I was five years old.
Her name was Aunt Sula Walton.
She was Zeb Walton's mama.
She's where all that
red hair comes from, too.
Really?
Ben, what are you doing home?
A weekend pass I didn't expect.
Got in around 1:00 this morning.
Had to get up for 4:00 feeding.
I want you to meet your
cousin Zadok. Zadok, this is Ben.
Just let him wake up, John,
and then I'll meet him proper.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
Mary Ellen, I thought
you'd be gone.
I overslept.
John Curtis was fussy again all
night. I left him bothering Elizabeth.
Well, Elizabeth can handle any
three kids in the neighborhood.
Yeah, but I'm sure she had
things of her own to do today.
Everybody's that way these
days, except me, I expect.
Thank you.
I'd take John Curtis with me,
except he's been acting colicky.
Well, I ain't got no big plans for today
except sit around here and dilapidate.
Now, I can put up with that little
feller if he can put up with me.
Oh, if you're sure it wouldn't be
a bother. Thank you very much.
- Bye-bye, Daddy.
- Bye, honey.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye.
Finished that painting, Son?
Taking a break from
that turpentine smell.
You know, Zadok, you're
a bad influence on me.
I'm supposed to be running all
over this county this weekend,
yelling at my suppliers.
War Department wants twice
as much lumber twice as quick.
Well, I calculate the
Second World War
come to a grinding
stop about an hour ago,
waiting for you to get out and start
mallyhacking them poor working people.
I'd hate to think the war's
stopping on my account.
This is the fourth big
war I've sat through.
And if you've seen
a-one, you saw them all.
What are you up to, honey?
Just keeping an
eye on Cousin Zadok.
Well, you're gonna have to
stand back a ways for that.
'Cause when I finish this
rocking, I'm just gonna get up
and start callyhooting all over this
mountainside, sightseeing and such.
I don't think you should. You've
done enough walking for a while.
You really should take
better care of yourself.
I don't see why. It ain't as if
they're saving me up for something.
Or as if I was gonna get
lost on Walton's Mountain,
that being where I learned
to walk in the first place.
Try this.
It's not very pretty.
That's an apple.
They're what you
call a hybrid apple.
It's a cross betwixt
a wild apple tree
and two tame ones I got
growing up on my farm.
I thought I knew every apple
that grows in these parts.
Well, every kind that will I got
growing up there on my farm.
Yeah, I got 12 different kind
of apples growing on one tree.
- Sure you do.
- You're joking.
Jim-Bob, you and Elizabeth go
keep an eye on Cousin Zadok.
He's supposed to be
keeping an eye on John Curtis.
Cindy will do that.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Hi!
I keep seeing it,
but I don't believe it.
- Got you working overtime, huh?
- Sergeant Walton...
Jason.
When the Colonel works overtime,
then the Colonel's driver works overtime.
I hope that's not too
hard for you to understand.
- Sergeant.
- Colonel, sir. Good morning, sir.
When you finish with my car,
Sergeant, and with my driver,
then we can get on
with the war effort.
I was just coming up, sir, to
let you know the car is here.
- Sergeant Walton, isn't it?
- Yes, sir.
Do you have any duties to
perform, Walton? Because I do.
As a matter of fact, sir, I
have a pass for the weekend.
- Use it.
- Yes, sir!
He took us up to the old chimney
where Rome Walton and
Rebecca Lee used to live.
Uh-huh.
He knew exactly where it was, and he was
telling us how it was in the olden days.
Then, all of a sudden, he
looked at me and Jim-Bob
and said he'd forgotten our names.
Do you suppose his mind's going?
Honey, you know how some
folks get when they get old.
Remember your grandpa?
He could recite 76 verses
of Horatius at the Bridge,
but he could never
remember where his hat was.
'Cause it was on
top of his head.
At any hour of the day, his mind
was as brisk as a tick in a tar pot.
Well, I hope you're right. He
sure hasn't forgotten the picnic.
Needs more salt.
Well, how is my grandson?
Oh, he's asleep, thank goodness.
I finally got a hold of the doctor,
and he said that it sounded pretty
routine. Just a minor digestive disorder.
Sounds like a stomachache.
- Where's Cousin Zadok?
- Oh, he went down to the Godsey's store.
He said he wanted to see if
it's changed any since 1908.
I think I'll go see if
he's changed any.
You haven't noticed anything
different about him, have you?
Well, he's deaf in his left ear,
and he has a terrible weakness
for well-favored redheads.
Who doesn't?
Still, in all, it is a most unusual name,
Zadok. From whence does it originate?
The First Kings, Second Samuel.
The crowning of King Solomon.
Zadok the priest and
Nathan the prophet.
I been away from
here ever since 1880.
Some of my mama's people left
me a farm up beyond Big Spruce.
If I'd have known how little the
farm it was, I wouldn't have went.
I could've had
them send it to me.
I surmise that Big Spruce is a
considerable distance from here.
Distance ain't no
name for it, Sis Godsey.
Why, it's so far back in them
hills, they use wolves as watchdogs,
and the hoot owls
mate with the chickens.
I do not care who he is.
He is crude and backward.
There's nothing
backward about him.
And also suggestive.
Oh, come on, Corabeth, he's just a
hillbilly, the way the good Lord made him.
And you might as well face up to
it, we're all hillbillies around here...
Speak for yourself.
- Morning.
- Oh, hi, John. How are you?
- Seen my cousin Zadok around?
- Ha!
Yeah, he's back there in
the seed catalog department.
Cousin Zadok?
You back here?
Must have gone outside.
You see an old fellow come
out here a couple of minutes ago?
Yup, I seen him. He
come and he went.
Went where?
Well, a young fellow drove up here.
He was lost, asking his way to Westham.
The old man, he volunteered to show him
the way, and then he drove off with him.
Funny your cousin would leave
without saying a word to anybody.
Reckon I'd better go find him.
Cousin Zadok.
Well, you go traveling, you
never know who you're gonna find.
- Oh, what are you doing here?
- Oh, just looking the place over.
They got one whole big school here that
don't teach nothing but farming and such.
You think you might enroll as a
freshman, or just take it up as a hobby?
Oh, nary a one. Albeit one of
them professors I was a talking with
proffered to get me a piece of
paper I could put a frame around
and put up over my fireboard.
He done say I got all the
education I can chamber.
They call that an honorary degree.
You think he might give it to you?
Not by a long stitch. He come
right out and said he's joking.
Said them papers was for folks
who give them a football field.
- You ready to go home?
- You know the way?
Have you people been callyhooting
again, or just traipsing this time?
Oh, we neighbored a bit,
and then we was out
doing a little caucusing...
Easy, easy.
- Hell fire and damnation.
- Are you all right?
If they put my brains in a bird's
head, he'd have flied backwards.
Well, he sounds all right.
Old and brickly-boned, and don't
evenly watch where I'm a-going.
Why, you'd thought I'd
busted my dad-blistered hip,
it'd have been Katy
bar the door, I'll tell you!
Ain't got the time
for such as this.
Cousin Zadok, let me
help you in the house.
Cousin Zadok can help
hisself right out to the barn.
You know, I hate to say it, but he
really does seem pretty far gone.
Hitting on about
three cylinders, I'd say.
Oh, come on!
Well, his hearing's gone, his
eyesight, too, for all we know.
His mind wanders. His
memory just turns on and off.
I think he's got
hardening of the arteries.
We're the only relatives within 1000
miles. I think he's come here to die.
Why would you say
something like that, Ben?
But suppose he did come
here for that, what would we do?
What can we do?
We can do exactly what Cousin
Zadok would do if someone came to him.
Invite him in and make
him feel comfortable.
And when that ram was butchered
There was an awful flood
Singing fal-de-rally,
raldy Dolly do-dum-do
And when that ram was
butchered There was an awful flood
And 14,000 people got
a-drownded in the blood
Singing fal-de-rally,
raldy Dolly do-dum-do
Now the wool upon that ram's
back It hung down to the ground
Well, if you think that's bloody, you
should let Mary Ellen come in here
and hear a few verses.
It's been a strange weekend.
We haven't heard any war news
since yesterday morning.
Well, Cousin Zadok
doesn't listen at all.
He says that good news will keep
and bad news will hunt you down.
I thought you were painting
Grandma's room while Rose was away.
Well, I was till
Erin kicked me out.
She said that I was getting more
paint on me than on the walls.
You know, sometimes I think
she's got some shingles loose.
What kind of talk is that?
Cousin Zadok talk. You know,
he reminds me of Grandpa.
He's fun to be around.
Yeah, you know, it's something like a
dish of mustard greens after a long winter.
- Just what the system needs.
- Yeah.
You know, with this war being so
unreal you feel like you've been sick
three or four years and then
something like this old man comes along,
reminds you that there's
sunshine and fresh air and...
- Vitamins?
- Vitamins.
I got a hunch that there's
nothing wrong with Cousin Zadok.
It's the world that's got
some shingles loose.
Cousin John?
Well, I thought you'd be out
peltering them lumber people,
telling them where the
bear set in the buckwheat.
You stop peltering me. I've
got to be in the right mood first.
Little John Curtis dropped
off to sleep for a while.
He don't appear to be as pert,
though, as he was this morning.
It just appears to me that, that
poor little sprout be addled in his gut.
The doctor says not to worry.
He'll get here as soon as he could.
Well, I thought I'd
go projecting around
and see what's
alongside the roadside.
If there are any telephone calls,
or anybody drops by to see me,
you just tell them I'll
be back in a whipstitch.
We'll sure tell them.
He told me a
lawyer was after him.
Told me he was getting an honorary
degree from Boatwright University.
It must be awful to get old.
Small world, but
I was here first.
Wherever I go,
you're there first.
I'm studying two very hard courses
in the Armed Forces Institute,
and tests are coming
up in both of them.
You think if I went to
my barracks to study...
It's a WAC barracks, Walton.
All enlisted personnel
of the feminine gender.
You think you can try and
not be there ahead of me?
I'll make it a promise.
You're all heart.
You know what might do you
a whole lot of good, Sergeant?
Go back to your WAC barracks, and
when you get there go soak your silly head.
I may just do that!
Then give the rest of
the world the day off.
You're a vain, spoiled,
egotistical brat, Hazelton.
Moping around, creeping into a
corner when somebody says hello.
You come into the U.S.
Army for privacy or something?
Absolutely none
of your business!
You're a crabby,
sneering, sarcastic shrew.
You're narrow-minded, you're
ill-mannered, and furthermore...
Furthermore what?
Furthermore, I'm
crazy about you!
Zadok, what is going on
here and what is that stuff?
The baby's forehead
is soaking wet.
Oh, he's a mite sweaty,
but he ain't fevered.
It's the catnip part
that does it for him.
Catnip?
Yeah, I brewed the little
chap a mess of catnip tea.
Then I took a sizeable
chunk of rattleweed root,
boiled that with it. Oh,
it'll fix it meek as Moses.
You're absolutely crazy.
You've poisoned my baby.
Oh, I bet I ain't. He only
taken a middle-sized cupful.
Daddy, the old man is dangerous.
He fed John Curtis catnip
tea laced with rattleweed root.
Did he throw up?
No. While I was talking to the
doctor, John Curtis fell asleep.
What did the doctor say?
He said if it worked that
well he'd try it himself!
- Cousin Zadok?
- That's his bad ear, Daddy.
Cousin Zadok?
Great day in the
morning, Cousin John.
Whatever are you and
all them gentlemens
doing up here at
this time of the night?
We came up here to ask you that.
Oh, I just came to say
goodbye to an old, old friend.
Hi. I'm looking
for Jason Walton.
- He's in there.
- Thank you.
Antoinette. Come in.
Thank you.
First, don't bother
to apologize.
Is that supposed to
be some kind of joke?
Because it's my turn anyway. I
know what you think of me, Jason,
because you very
kindly explained it to me.
I just want you to know that if I'm crabby
and all that, there's nothing personal.
Okay. Fine.
I've been a long time
getting over something and...
Like I said yesterday...
It's none of my business.
Thank you.
Nothing at all.
- You forgot your music.
- I what?
Your song or whatever.
You forgot it in the Day Room.
- Thanks. I'd sure hate to lose this.
- No offense, but parts of it you should.
- Yeah?
- I don't mean to start another fight
or anything but, may I?
There's a couple of places where
I don't think you were watching
where you were
going. I'll show you.
Here.
Okay.
For instance, where you have...
Maybe you could have
done something like...
Play that again.
I hate to say this, but I
think you're absolutely right.
I thought I was.
And where you had...
I could have gone, maybe...
Yeah, something
like that, in my opinion.
Okay. Well, let's try it your
way and see what we've got.
- It's supposed to have words.
- Oh, words I can't do.
I'm so glad. Move over.
Let's try it from the chorus.
Antoinette, Antoinette
You're kidding!
You're not kidding.
Antoinette
You sing. Antoinette
- You're the kind of woman
- You're the kind of woman
- Who's not easy to forget
- Who's not easy to forget
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay, Antoinette
- Won't you say you'll stay, Antoinette
- Good morning.
- Good morning, sir.
Mr. Zadok Walton said
I might find him here.
I'm Arthur Harrington
from Charlottesville.
- I've heard that name before.
- I'm serving as Zadok Walton's attorney.
I have a paper here that he
asked me to draw up for him.
You're a pretty expensive lawyer
for an old dirt farmer from
Boone County, aren't you?
Well, if I am it's his fault. I told him
my fee would be one bushel of fruit,
and he refused to settle for less
than two. He's a feisty old character.
That he is.
These gentlemen have known
my client a lot longer than I have.
Dean Beck and
Professor Bohannon,
both of the School of
Agriculture at the university.
Well, come on out. We'll
see if we can find him.
Thank you.
Now, if you'll
just look that over.
If you'll now just peruse all that,
John, I ain't got my right spectacles.
Be glad to, Cousin Zadok.
It's an old-fashioned form of conveyance,
and so is some of the language,
but so is my client and
you can't argue with a mule.
Now, if there's anything
you don't understand...
If we ever get to it.
Briefly, it's a deed
of gift inter vivos,
between the living, by
which Zadok Walton,
in consideration of the
goodwill and esteem
he bears for
Boatwright University,
and for the furtherance of its
work in the field of agriculture,
hereby gives and
grants unto said university
a certain plantation and
parcel of land in Boone County
containing 21 acres...
Being the same more or less.
With all buildings, orchards,
watercourses, privileges and profits,
after my death, to
have and to hold.
And certain restrictions to it.
And the next
three-quarters of the page
tells precisely what
this said university
can or cannot do
with his 21 acres,
if and when said Zadok
ever decides to die.
Let me tell you
something, Mr. Walton.
This dirt-farmer cousin of yours is
the most opinionated, unreasonable...
- Obstinate.
- Cantankerous old man
this neighborhood has
seen since Thomas Jefferson.
Anyone else would have
let us buy the damned farm!
Well, it's more than just a
farm. It's a remarkable workshop.
A laboratory for an untrained,
natural-born horticultural wizard.
We've learned as much up there about
fruit and trees as we've been teaching.
Have you ever seen a tree with 10
or 12 different kinds of apples on it?
Or an apple tree with
pears growing on it?
We've often said we'd like to
have Zadok on the university faculty,
if he could speak English.
You could have went
further and did worse.
Oh, this is a big day for
the school, Mr. Walton.
We're going to use the
farm, study it, preserve it,
long after Zadok is gone.
You mean sort of as a
remembrance museum or something.
No, no, no. Something very alive,
and busy. Sentimental only to us.
It's a very rich gift your cousin Zadok
is giving to the people of this state.
Just part of it is one little
stand of apple trees up there,
worth a small fortune
to Virginia agriculture.
Well, I'd admire to think so.
Because I never got a
pure-D dime off in it myself.
This old coot has developed the
most promising new strain of apple
since the Albemarle Pippin.
It's not an awfully big
apple, and not very pretty.
Well, neither was
the Albemarle Pippin.
Back off. It's still my apples,
and I've still got work to do on it.
This is mighty generous
of you, Cousin Zadok.
Now, if you'll just sign there.
And if you'll sign
there as witness.
I still think you should
let us give you the money.
I'd hate to have it on my
books at the Day of Judgment.
What I got, and what I learnt, the
good Lord never charged me for it.
We're having a little
picnic for Cousin Zadok.
We'd be happy to have
you gentlemen join us.
Oh, thank you.
Well, you did a real good thing and it
was a pleasure meeting you gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
I'm not sure I believe
about this pear...
Elizabeth.
Who are those people?
They're just professors and
such from Boatwright University,
friends of Cousin Zadok.
Friends of Zadok?
Hmm-mmm. People from
the university are really excited.
He's giving them
a big endowment.
I find that scarcely credible.
What could he give them?
Just an apple. Try one.
All right. Okay, if you say so.
All right, everybody! I've got
an important announcement.
Come on over. Come
on, gather around.
Jason.
Cousin Zadok decided he wants
to make a little speech after all.
That's good. I was worried
he was going to play the fiddle.
Dog my cats,
Elizabeth, I heared that.
Now, come on, you young'uns,
settle down. I got
something to tell to you about.
You know, it's a proud thing being back
here on the mountain where I growed up,
meeting all you fine
kinfolks I never seen before.
I had a hankering to see what
the back-home Waltons was like,
after all this long time.
Well, I ain't met a
one of you I didn't like.
Another thing.
Since I'm about four years
older than Methusalem,
I calculated I'd better settle
my affairs before the bell rings.
Now, I got rid of most of my worldly
goods since breakfast this morning.
Well, while we're
all here together,
I wanted you to meet the oldest
friend I've got on God's green earth.
Jason, hand me my music.
Yeah.
This old fiddle, it
don't belong to me,
but I've looked after
it for quite a while.
Now, I think it's about time
somebody else looked after it.
Zadok, I'm not
sure what you mean.
Well, if you hold your tater a minute,
Cousin John, I'm gonna tell you.
This old fiddle is 108 year old.
It belonged to an old
gentleman named Rome Walton.
He's my granddaddy,
your great-granddaddy.
Well, I'll be damned.
Yeah, he made
it and he played it.
During the time of
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.
And then he died.
And my grandma said
he wanted me to have it.
And whilst I'm still around to see that it
don't go to just any branch of the family,
here.
Cousin Zadok.
We're mighty proud to get this.
I reckon I'll just turn it over
to the musician in the family.
Cousin Jason, can you
play Rosin the Beau?
That was the favorite
ballad of my old granddaddy.
Is everybody ready?
I've lived for the
good of my nation
And my sons are all growing, Io
But I'm hoping
the next generation
Will be more like
old Rosin the Beau
Join the chorus.
Be more like old Rosin
the Beau, my boys
Be more like old Rosin the Beau
I'm hoping the next generation
Will be more like
old Rosin the Beau!
Oh, when I was
youthful and handsome
The girls, they all
called me their beau
But now that I'm
old and I'm ugly
They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
The girls, they call
me old Rosin the Beau!
The girls, they call
me old Rosin the Beau!
- But now that I'm old and I'm ugly
- But now that I'm old and I'm ugly
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
When I'm dead and
laid out on the counter
And the people all
come for the show
Pour sassafras tea
and corn whiskey
All over old Rosin the Beau!
All over old Rosin the Beau,
whiskey All over old Rosin the Beau
- Pour sassafras tea and corn whiskey
- Pour sassafras tea and corn whiskey
All over old Rosin the Beau!
Cousin Zadok had the picnic
that had been pledged
to him 21 years before.
And ha ving found our family
suitable custodians for the fiddle,
he left it with us when he
departed on Monday morning.
My father wanted to give him
a ride back to Big Spruce Knob,
but he set out on foot. He said, "It's
such a pretty day, I think I'll walk."
- Daddy?
- Yes, Elizabeth?
You reckon Cousin
Zadok's home by now?
I don't expect it matters, honey. He
just seems to enjoy traipsing around.
Caucusing.
And callyhooting.
It was almost as good as having
Grandpa back with us, wasn't it?
Almost.
Good night, Daddy.
Good night, honey.
Good night, everybody.
English -SDH
Well, actually, he's Pa's cousin. He'd
be your first cousin, twice removed.
Oh, more or less.
Who am I to tell?
Hope you can stay for a spell.
Well, there's a lot to
be did up at the farm,
but I expect I can
stay through the picnic.
I do not care who he is.
He is crude and backward.
If there are any telephone calls
or anybody drops by to see me,
you just tell them I'll
be back in a whipstitch.
We'll sure tell them.
He told me a
lawyer was after him.
He told me he was getting an honorary
degree from Boatwright University.
Well, his hearing's gone, his
eyesight, too, for all we know.
His mind wanders. His
memory just turns on and off.
I think he's got
hardening of the arteries.
We're the only relatives within 1000
miles. I think he's come here to die.
You're absolutely crazy.
You've poisoned my baby.
On Walton's Mountain,
as everywhere else on Earth
in the later years of World War Il,
there was a constant feeling
of dislocation and change.
Until one weekend in 1944,
in the midst of the
chaos and confusion,
we unexpectedly
found a bright, sturdy link
between ourselves and the way
of life we were so swiftly losing.
A rich reminder of who we
were, what we were, and where.
Good afternoon, sir.
I swear to my soul, young woman,
you a Walton if ever I seen
one, and I have saw considerable.
Sir?
- You one of Zeb Walton's girls?
- No, I'm one of John's.
My name's Elizabeth.
Oh, that's nothing, honey.
They named me Zadok.
Mr. Zadok, would you care
for a glass of lemonade?
Elizabeth, I'd be
proud, mighty proud.
That's prime lemonade,
it is, Elizabeth.
Mr. Zadok knows a lot about
us. He's come a long way.
How long a way, Mr. Zadok?
Well, I've hoofed it all the way from home,
and I'd hate to do it twice in one week.
Got me a little patch of scratch-gravel
farm across Methodist Creek.
That's way up yonder behind
Big Spruce Knob, Boone County.
That's miles from here.
I computated about 44
miles as the crow flies,
if anybody's got a crow that don't
especially care where he's going.
- Do you have much farther to go?
- Well, I devoutly hope not.
Where I started out for, I'm at.
Fellow told me to meet him at
Walton's house on Walton's Mountain.
Here I am and here he ain't.
Who's that, Mr. Zadok?
- Who's what?
- The man you're meeting here.
Oh, I'm meeting your
grandpa, Zeb Walton.
Mr. Zadok,
our grandpa passed away
almost three years ago.
Well, I expect I
oughtn't to be surprised.
Where's Zeb resting?
- Up there on the top of the mountain.
- It's where he wanted to be.
Zeb and I growed up together,
he being a mite younger than me,
and I'd hate to tell
you how old I am.
What about your grandma?
Where's little Esther at?
Well, she had a stroke a
while back, but she's doing fine.
Well, I thought so.
You know, them little-bitty women,
they just as tough as whitleather.
Grandma's visiting some relatives
over in Buckingham County.
Oh, she always was
traipsing about and caucusing.
Yeah, she was always that a way inclined,
if Zeb hadn't kept her on a short string.
Well, now, who else we got?
Well, if that ain't the beatinest!
He don't even know who I am!
Cousin Zadok, I'd recognize
your old hide in a tan yard.
- Good to see you. How you been?
- Oh, tolerable, tolerable.
This is your cousin Zadok.
Well, actually, he's Pa's cousin. He'd
be your first cousin, twice removed.
Oh, more or less.
Who am I to tell?
Hope you can stay for a spell.
Well, there's a lot to
be did up at the farm,
but I expect I can
stay through the picnic.
Is there a picnic?
Well, that's what
your grandpa said.
And I've never knowed him
to drop back on a promise.
And that's a date you
made. That's why you're here.
When did you and
grandpa make this date?
Oh, I guess it was
along late spring, 1923.
He come up to Boone County
and spent the whole day with me.
The last thing I ever
said to him, I said,
"Zeb, now, it's been 10
years since we saw each other.
"Now, let's don't make
the second time 15."
And he gave me
that little look of his,
you know, butter wouldn't melt in
his mouth. Good, old Zeb Walton.
Well, cheese wouldn't
choke him, either, you know.
And he said that, "If I'm not here in
20 years, Zadok, you come to visit me,
"and we'll give you a picnic."
Well, and, by George, he
was right. Let's have a picnic.
Colonel Usselbury,
sir! Are you all right, sir?
Why don't you watch
where you're going?
Oh, Sergeant, I'm sorry. I thought
you were the Post Commander.
Are you all right?
If you had been thinking
anything, you dumb dogface,
I wouldn't be driving all
over the county, now would I?
I guess not.
And if I had had the
Colonel in my car,
you'd be peeling the
stripes off your sleeves!
Absolutely. Now, is
there anything I can do?
Sure, you can get lost.
You bet.
You raise all these apples?
Well, me and the good
Lord had a hand in it together.
They're better for
taste than looks.
That's a telephone.
Oh, I've saw three or
four of them in my time.
I just ain't never
talked through one.
Oh, it's easy. When it rings,
all you do is pick it up and talk.
I'll memorize that
when that fellow...
Cousin Zadok?
There's a fellow after me.
If he rings that telephone, you
come and get me and I'll talk on it.
- What's the man after you for?
- Me, my land, my apples.
Calls hisself a lawyer.
- You memorize that.
- I'll try.
Cousin Zadok, we gotta
find you a place to sleep.
I already found
one, Cousin John.
All right.
You sure you wanna do this, now?
Well, when I was growing up
on this mountain, Cousin John,
any time the house
was full of company,
they packed up all the little boys and put
them out in the barn to sleep on the hay.
Now, I've been missing this
Walton's Mountain hay for 75 year.
- And I can tote my own budget, too.
- No, you've carried it long enough, now.
Well, it ain't as heavy
as it was when I left home.
I brung some apples
for the young'uns.
They in there in the kitchen
if you get a hankering for one.
All right.
Hello.
Oh, not again.
I didn't know there was anybody in
here. They let me use the piano sometimes.
Wouldn't you know it.
In case I forgot to mention,
my name is Jason Walton.
Now that we've got that
settled, let's both forget it.
You probably don't have a name,
huh? Just rank and serial number?
- Tony Hazelton.
- That's Tony like in Anthony A dverse?
Like in Marie Antoinette.
"Let them eat cake."
That's better.
You're much more an
Antoinette than a Tony.
I'm really thrilled
you think so.
Look, if you're gonna
play the stupid piano, play.
Wouldn't you rather go out to a
movie or something, Antoinette?
I wouldn't be sitting here
in the first place if I did.
What are you doing, Walton?
Composing, Antoinette, a song.
Sounds more like decomposing.
What's wrong, Daddy?
Thought I heard some music, fiddle
music. Coming from the mountain. Spooky.
It would have to be,
there's nobody up there.
- Maybe you just thought you heard it.
- No, I heard it.
It's a tune I haven't heard since I
was a little older than John Curtis.
Strange.
- What's going on?
- I thought I heard something.
What?
I don't know, but if I
believed in ghosts...
Now, you're not supposed to be in here,
you know. That's my job this weekend.
You don't look like you was
qualified for this kind of work.
Well, I'd like to know just why.
- Morning, Daddy.
- Morning.
Howdy, John. A woman
as well-favored as you
ought to just sit on a
cushion and sew a fine seam.
Well, that's ridiculous, because
my sewing is worse than my cooking.
Now, where does that leave me?
Just sitting there, looking pretty as
red shoes with blue strings in them.
Zadok, is something going on
between you and my daughter?
Well, that's what she'd like me to think,
but soft words never buttered no biscuits.
Your cousin Erin is a speaking likeness
of another lady that I fell in love with
when I was five years old.
Her name was Aunt Sula Walton.
She was Zeb Walton's mama.
She's where all that
red hair comes from, too.
Really?
Ben, what are you doing home?
A weekend pass I didn't expect.
Got in around 1:00 this morning.
Had to get up for 4:00 feeding.
I want you to meet your
cousin Zadok. Zadok, this is Ben.
Just let him wake up, John,
and then I'll meet him proper.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
Mary Ellen, I thought
you'd be gone.
I overslept.
John Curtis was fussy again all
night. I left him bothering Elizabeth.
Well, Elizabeth can handle any
three kids in the neighborhood.
Yeah, but I'm sure she had
things of her own to do today.
Everybody's that way these
days, except me, I expect.
Thank you.
I'd take John Curtis with me,
except he's been acting colicky.
Well, I ain't got no big plans for today
except sit around here and dilapidate.
Now, I can put up with that little
feller if he can put up with me.
Oh, if you're sure it wouldn't be
a bother. Thank you very much.
- Bye-bye, Daddy.
- Bye, honey.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye.
Finished that painting, Son?
Taking a break from
that turpentine smell.
You know, Zadok, you're
a bad influence on me.
I'm supposed to be running all
over this county this weekend,
yelling at my suppliers.
War Department wants twice
as much lumber twice as quick.
Well, I calculate the
Second World War
come to a grinding
stop about an hour ago,
waiting for you to get out and start
mallyhacking them poor working people.
I'd hate to think the war's
stopping on my account.
This is the fourth big
war I've sat through.
And if you've seen
a-one, you saw them all.
What are you up to, honey?
Just keeping an
eye on Cousin Zadok.
Well, you're gonna have to
stand back a ways for that.
'Cause when I finish this
rocking, I'm just gonna get up
and start callyhooting all over this
mountainside, sightseeing and such.
I don't think you should. You've
done enough walking for a while.
You really should take
better care of yourself.
I don't see why. It ain't as if
they're saving me up for something.
Or as if I was gonna get
lost on Walton's Mountain,
that being where I learned
to walk in the first place.
Try this.
It's not very pretty.
That's an apple.
They're what you
call a hybrid apple.
It's a cross betwixt
a wild apple tree
and two tame ones I got
growing up on my farm.
I thought I knew every apple
that grows in these parts.
Well, every kind that will I got
growing up there on my farm.
Yeah, I got 12 different kind
of apples growing on one tree.
- Sure you do.
- You're joking.
Jim-Bob, you and Elizabeth go
keep an eye on Cousin Zadok.
He's supposed to be
keeping an eye on John Curtis.
Cindy will do that.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Hi!
I keep seeing it,
but I don't believe it.
- Got you working overtime, huh?
- Sergeant Walton...
Jason.
When the Colonel works overtime,
then the Colonel's driver works overtime.
I hope that's not too
hard for you to understand.
- Sergeant.
- Colonel, sir. Good morning, sir.
When you finish with my car,
Sergeant, and with my driver,
then we can get on
with the war effort.
I was just coming up, sir, to
let you know the car is here.
- Sergeant Walton, isn't it?
- Yes, sir.
Do you have any duties to
perform, Walton? Because I do.
As a matter of fact, sir, I
have a pass for the weekend.
- Use it.
- Yes, sir!
He took us up to the old chimney
where Rome Walton and
Rebecca Lee used to live.
Uh-huh.
He knew exactly where it was, and he was
telling us how it was in the olden days.
Then, all of a sudden, he
looked at me and Jim-Bob
and said he'd forgotten our names.
Do you suppose his mind's going?
Honey, you know how some
folks get when they get old.
Remember your grandpa?
He could recite 76 verses
of Horatius at the Bridge,
but he could never
remember where his hat was.
'Cause it was on
top of his head.
At any hour of the day, his mind
was as brisk as a tick in a tar pot.
Well, I hope you're right. He
sure hasn't forgotten the picnic.
Needs more salt.
Well, how is my grandson?
Oh, he's asleep, thank goodness.
I finally got a hold of the doctor,
and he said that it sounded pretty
routine. Just a minor digestive disorder.
Sounds like a stomachache.
- Where's Cousin Zadok?
- Oh, he went down to the Godsey's store.
He said he wanted to see if
it's changed any since 1908.
I think I'll go see if
he's changed any.
You haven't noticed anything
different about him, have you?
Well, he's deaf in his left ear,
and he has a terrible weakness
for well-favored redheads.
Who doesn't?
Still, in all, it is a most unusual name,
Zadok. From whence does it originate?
The First Kings, Second Samuel.
The crowning of King Solomon.
Zadok the priest and
Nathan the prophet.
I been away from
here ever since 1880.
Some of my mama's people left
me a farm up beyond Big Spruce.
If I'd have known how little the
farm it was, I wouldn't have went.
I could've had
them send it to me.
I surmise that Big Spruce is a
considerable distance from here.
Distance ain't no
name for it, Sis Godsey.
Why, it's so far back in them
hills, they use wolves as watchdogs,
and the hoot owls
mate with the chickens.
I do not care who he is.
He is crude and backward.
There's nothing
backward about him.
And also suggestive.
Oh, come on, Corabeth, he's just a
hillbilly, the way the good Lord made him.
And you might as well face up to
it, we're all hillbillies around here...
Speak for yourself.
- Morning.
- Oh, hi, John. How are you?
- Seen my cousin Zadok around?
- Ha!
Yeah, he's back there in
the seed catalog department.
Cousin Zadok?
You back here?
Must have gone outside.
You see an old fellow come
out here a couple of minutes ago?
Yup, I seen him. He
come and he went.
Went where?
Well, a young fellow drove up here.
He was lost, asking his way to Westham.
The old man, he volunteered to show him
the way, and then he drove off with him.
Funny your cousin would leave
without saying a word to anybody.
Reckon I'd better go find him.
Cousin Zadok.
Well, you go traveling, you
never know who you're gonna find.
- Oh, what are you doing here?
- Oh, just looking the place over.
They got one whole big school here that
don't teach nothing but farming and such.
You think you might enroll as a
freshman, or just take it up as a hobby?
Oh, nary a one. Albeit one of
them professors I was a talking with
proffered to get me a piece of
paper I could put a frame around
and put up over my fireboard.
He done say I got all the
education I can chamber.
They call that an honorary degree.
You think he might give it to you?
Not by a long stitch. He come
right out and said he's joking.
Said them papers was for folks
who give them a football field.
- You ready to go home?
- You know the way?
Have you people been callyhooting
again, or just traipsing this time?
Oh, we neighbored a bit,
and then we was out
doing a little caucusing...
Easy, easy.
- Hell fire and damnation.
- Are you all right?
If they put my brains in a bird's
head, he'd have flied backwards.
Well, he sounds all right.
Old and brickly-boned, and don't
evenly watch where I'm a-going.
Why, you'd thought I'd
busted my dad-blistered hip,
it'd have been Katy
bar the door, I'll tell you!
Ain't got the time
for such as this.
Cousin Zadok, let me
help you in the house.
Cousin Zadok can help
hisself right out to the barn.
You know, I hate to say it, but he
really does seem pretty far gone.
Hitting on about
three cylinders, I'd say.
Oh, come on!
Well, his hearing's gone, his
eyesight, too, for all we know.
His mind wanders. His
memory just turns on and off.
I think he's got
hardening of the arteries.
We're the only relatives within 1000
miles. I think he's come here to die.
Why would you say
something like that, Ben?
But suppose he did come
here for that, what would we do?
What can we do?
We can do exactly what Cousin
Zadok would do if someone came to him.
Invite him in and make
him feel comfortable.
And when that ram was butchered
There was an awful flood
Singing fal-de-rally,
raldy Dolly do-dum-do
And when that ram was
butchered There was an awful flood
And 14,000 people got
a-drownded in the blood
Singing fal-de-rally,
raldy Dolly do-dum-do
Now the wool upon that ram's
back It hung down to the ground
Well, if you think that's bloody, you
should let Mary Ellen come in here
and hear a few verses.
It's been a strange weekend.
We haven't heard any war news
since yesterday morning.
Well, Cousin Zadok
doesn't listen at all.
He says that good news will keep
and bad news will hunt you down.
I thought you were painting
Grandma's room while Rose was away.
Well, I was till
Erin kicked me out.
She said that I was getting more
paint on me than on the walls.
You know, sometimes I think
she's got some shingles loose.
What kind of talk is that?
Cousin Zadok talk. You know,
he reminds me of Grandpa.
He's fun to be around.
Yeah, you know, it's something like a
dish of mustard greens after a long winter.
- Just what the system needs.
- Yeah.
You know, with this war being so
unreal you feel like you've been sick
three or four years and then
something like this old man comes along,
reminds you that there's
sunshine and fresh air and...
- Vitamins?
- Vitamins.
I got a hunch that there's
nothing wrong with Cousin Zadok.
It's the world that's got
some shingles loose.
Cousin John?
Well, I thought you'd be out
peltering them lumber people,
telling them where the
bear set in the buckwheat.
You stop peltering me. I've
got to be in the right mood first.
Little John Curtis dropped
off to sleep for a while.
He don't appear to be as pert,
though, as he was this morning.
It just appears to me that, that
poor little sprout be addled in his gut.
The doctor says not to worry.
He'll get here as soon as he could.
Well, I thought I'd
go projecting around
and see what's
alongside the roadside.
If there are any telephone calls,
or anybody drops by to see me,
you just tell them I'll
be back in a whipstitch.
We'll sure tell them.
He told me a
lawyer was after him.
Told me he was getting an honorary
degree from Boatwright University.
It must be awful to get old.
Small world, but
I was here first.
Wherever I go,
you're there first.
I'm studying two very hard courses
in the Armed Forces Institute,
and tests are coming
up in both of them.
You think if I went to
my barracks to study...
It's a WAC barracks, Walton.
All enlisted personnel
of the feminine gender.
You think you can try and
not be there ahead of me?
I'll make it a promise.
You're all heart.
You know what might do you
a whole lot of good, Sergeant?
Go back to your WAC barracks, and
when you get there go soak your silly head.
I may just do that!
Then give the rest of
the world the day off.
You're a vain, spoiled,
egotistical brat, Hazelton.
Moping around, creeping into a
corner when somebody says hello.
You come into the U.S.
Army for privacy or something?
Absolutely none
of your business!
You're a crabby,
sneering, sarcastic shrew.
You're narrow-minded, you're
ill-mannered, and furthermore...
Furthermore what?
Furthermore, I'm
crazy about you!
Zadok, what is going on
here and what is that stuff?
The baby's forehead
is soaking wet.
Oh, he's a mite sweaty,
but he ain't fevered.
It's the catnip part
that does it for him.
Catnip?
Yeah, I brewed the little
chap a mess of catnip tea.
Then I took a sizeable
chunk of rattleweed root,
boiled that with it. Oh,
it'll fix it meek as Moses.
You're absolutely crazy.
You've poisoned my baby.
Oh, I bet I ain't. He only
taken a middle-sized cupful.
Daddy, the old man is dangerous.
He fed John Curtis catnip
tea laced with rattleweed root.
Did he throw up?
No. While I was talking to the
doctor, John Curtis fell asleep.
What did the doctor say?
He said if it worked that
well he'd try it himself!
- Cousin Zadok?
- That's his bad ear, Daddy.
Cousin Zadok?
Great day in the
morning, Cousin John.
Whatever are you and
all them gentlemens
doing up here at
this time of the night?
We came up here to ask you that.
Oh, I just came to say
goodbye to an old, old friend.
Hi. I'm looking
for Jason Walton.
- He's in there.
- Thank you.
Antoinette. Come in.
Thank you.
First, don't bother
to apologize.
Is that supposed to
be some kind of joke?
Because it's my turn anyway. I
know what you think of me, Jason,
because you very
kindly explained it to me.
I just want you to know that if I'm crabby
and all that, there's nothing personal.
Okay. Fine.
I've been a long time
getting over something and...
Like I said yesterday...
It's none of my business.
Thank you.
Nothing at all.
- You forgot your music.
- I what?
Your song or whatever.
You forgot it in the Day Room.
- Thanks. I'd sure hate to lose this.
- No offense, but parts of it you should.
- Yeah?
- I don't mean to start another fight
or anything but, may I?
There's a couple of places where
I don't think you were watching
where you were
going. I'll show you.
Here.
Okay.
For instance, where you have...
Maybe you could have
done something like...
Play that again.
I hate to say this, but I
think you're absolutely right.
I thought I was.
And where you had...
I could have gone, maybe...
Yeah, something
like that, in my opinion.
Okay. Well, let's try it your
way and see what we've got.
- It's supposed to have words.
- Oh, words I can't do.
I'm so glad. Move over.
Let's try it from the chorus.
Antoinette, Antoinette
You're kidding!
You're not kidding.
Antoinette
You sing. Antoinette
- You're the kind of woman
- You're the kind of woman
- Who's not easy to forget
- Who's not easy to forget
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay
- Won't you say you'll stay, Antoinette
- Won't you say you'll stay, Antoinette
- Good morning.
- Good morning, sir.
Mr. Zadok Walton said
I might find him here.
I'm Arthur Harrington
from Charlottesville.
- I've heard that name before.
- I'm serving as Zadok Walton's attorney.
I have a paper here that he
asked me to draw up for him.
You're a pretty expensive lawyer
for an old dirt farmer from
Boone County, aren't you?
Well, if I am it's his fault. I told him
my fee would be one bushel of fruit,
and he refused to settle for less
than two. He's a feisty old character.
That he is.
These gentlemen have known
my client a lot longer than I have.
Dean Beck and
Professor Bohannon,
both of the School of
Agriculture at the university.
Well, come on out. We'll
see if we can find him.
Thank you.
Now, if you'll
just look that over.
If you'll now just peruse all that,
John, I ain't got my right spectacles.
Be glad to, Cousin Zadok.
It's an old-fashioned form of conveyance,
and so is some of the language,
but so is my client and
you can't argue with a mule.
Now, if there's anything
you don't understand...
If we ever get to it.
Briefly, it's a deed
of gift inter vivos,
between the living, by
which Zadok Walton,
in consideration of the
goodwill and esteem
he bears for
Boatwright University,
and for the furtherance of its
work in the field of agriculture,
hereby gives and
grants unto said university
a certain plantation and
parcel of land in Boone County
containing 21 acres...
Being the same more or less.
With all buildings, orchards,
watercourses, privileges and profits,
after my death, to
have and to hold.
And certain restrictions to it.
And the next
three-quarters of the page
tells precisely what
this said university
can or cannot do
with his 21 acres,
if and when said Zadok
ever decides to die.
Let me tell you
something, Mr. Walton.
This dirt-farmer cousin of yours is
the most opinionated, unreasonable...
- Obstinate.
- Cantankerous old man
this neighborhood has
seen since Thomas Jefferson.
Anyone else would have
let us buy the damned farm!
Well, it's more than just a
farm. It's a remarkable workshop.
A laboratory for an untrained,
natural-born horticultural wizard.
We've learned as much up there about
fruit and trees as we've been teaching.
Have you ever seen a tree with 10
or 12 different kinds of apples on it?
Or an apple tree with
pears growing on it?
We've often said we'd like to
have Zadok on the university faculty,
if he could speak English.
You could have went
further and did worse.
Oh, this is a big day for
the school, Mr. Walton.
We're going to use the
farm, study it, preserve it,
long after Zadok is gone.
You mean sort of as a
remembrance museum or something.
No, no, no. Something very alive,
and busy. Sentimental only to us.
It's a very rich gift your cousin Zadok
is giving to the people of this state.
Just part of it is one little
stand of apple trees up there,
worth a small fortune
to Virginia agriculture.
Well, I'd admire to think so.
Because I never got a
pure-D dime off in it myself.
This old coot has developed the
most promising new strain of apple
since the Albemarle Pippin.
It's not an awfully big
apple, and not very pretty.
Well, neither was
the Albemarle Pippin.
Back off. It's still my apples,
and I've still got work to do on it.
This is mighty generous
of you, Cousin Zadok.
Now, if you'll just sign there.
And if you'll sign
there as witness.
I still think you should
let us give you the money.
I'd hate to have it on my
books at the Day of Judgment.
What I got, and what I learnt, the
good Lord never charged me for it.
We're having a little
picnic for Cousin Zadok.
We'd be happy to have
you gentlemen join us.
Oh, thank you.
Well, you did a real good thing and it
was a pleasure meeting you gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
I'm not sure I believe
about this pear...
Elizabeth.
Who are those people?
They're just professors and
such from Boatwright University,
friends of Cousin Zadok.
Friends of Zadok?
Hmm-mmm. People from
the university are really excited.
He's giving them
a big endowment.
I find that scarcely credible.
What could he give them?
Just an apple. Try one.
All right. Okay, if you say so.
All right, everybody! I've got
an important announcement.
Come on over. Come
on, gather around.
Jason.
Cousin Zadok decided he wants
to make a little speech after all.
That's good. I was worried
he was going to play the fiddle.
Dog my cats,
Elizabeth, I heared that.
Now, come on, you young'uns,
settle down. I got
something to tell to you about.
You know, it's a proud thing being back
here on the mountain where I growed up,
meeting all you fine
kinfolks I never seen before.
I had a hankering to see what
the back-home Waltons was like,
after all this long time.
Well, I ain't met a
one of you I didn't like.
Another thing.
Since I'm about four years
older than Methusalem,
I calculated I'd better settle
my affairs before the bell rings.
Now, I got rid of most of my worldly
goods since breakfast this morning.
Well, while we're
all here together,
I wanted you to meet the oldest
friend I've got on God's green earth.
Jason, hand me my music.
Yeah.
This old fiddle, it
don't belong to me,
but I've looked after
it for quite a while.
Now, I think it's about time
somebody else looked after it.
Zadok, I'm not
sure what you mean.
Well, if you hold your tater a minute,
Cousin John, I'm gonna tell you.
This old fiddle is 108 year old.
It belonged to an old
gentleman named Rome Walton.
He's my granddaddy,
your great-granddaddy.
Well, I'll be damned.
Yeah, he made
it and he played it.
During the time of
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.
And then he died.
And my grandma said
he wanted me to have it.
And whilst I'm still around to see that it
don't go to just any branch of the family,
here.
Cousin Zadok.
We're mighty proud to get this.
I reckon I'll just turn it over
to the musician in the family.
Cousin Jason, can you
play Rosin the Beau?
That was the favorite
ballad of my old granddaddy.
Is everybody ready?
I've lived for the
good of my nation
And my sons are all growing, Io
But I'm hoping
the next generation
Will be more like
old Rosin the Beau
Join the chorus.
Be more like old Rosin
the Beau, my boys
Be more like old Rosin the Beau
I'm hoping the next generation
Will be more like
old Rosin the Beau!
Oh, when I was
youthful and handsome
The girls, they all
called me their beau
But now that I'm
old and I'm ugly
They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
The girls, they call
me old Rosin the Beau!
The girls, they call
me old Rosin the Beau!
- But now that I'm old and I'm ugly
- But now that I'm old and I'm ugly
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
- They call me old Rosin the Beau!
When I'm dead and
laid out on the counter
And the people all
come for the show
Pour sassafras tea
and corn whiskey
All over old Rosin the Beau!
All over old Rosin the Beau,
whiskey All over old Rosin the Beau
- Pour sassafras tea and corn whiskey
- Pour sassafras tea and corn whiskey
All over old Rosin the Beau!
Cousin Zadok had the picnic
that had been pledged
to him 21 years before.
And ha ving found our family
suitable custodians for the fiddle,
he left it with us when he
departed on Monday morning.
My father wanted to give him
a ride back to Big Spruce Knob,
but he set out on foot. He said, "It's
such a pretty day, I think I'll walk."
- Daddy?
- Yes, Elizabeth?
You reckon Cousin
Zadok's home by now?
I don't expect it matters, honey. He
just seems to enjoy traipsing around.
Caucusing.
And callyhooting.
It was almost as good as having
Grandpa back with us, wasn't it?
Almost.
Good night, Daddy.
Good night, honey.
Good night, everybody.
English -SDH