"The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill..." Quiz

Answer: Jones the Prize Cabbage

Because so many folk have the same name, they use descriptive phrases or occupations to identify individuals. Some of the other names mentioned are Williams the Petroleum (Robert Pugh), Williams the Death, Jones the Bottle, Evans the Bacon and Evans the End of the World (Fraser Cains). Jones the Prize Cabbage is pictured standing by a garden with a beautiful and large cabbage.

The narrator says that he was ten when he asked his grandfather (Jack Walters) about the longest and most enigmatic name "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain". The grandfather agreed to tell the epic story, accomplished with flashbacks to the events of 1917.

Answer: Morgan the Goat

Morgan the Goat (Colm Meaney) opens an upper story window when Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) knocks on the door. George Garrad (Ian McNeice) is ready to move on when Morgan descends to the front to ask "Well, do you want to come in or don't you?"

When the scene cuts to chapel we learn that the Reverend Robert Jones (Kenneth Griffith) and Morgan the Goat are at odds. Later, when they run into each other the Reverend asks "Have you no shame?" and Morgan responds "No. I can't think where I've left it!" It isn't clear until later in the film that the issue between them is that Morgan the Goat, who runs the local pub, doesn't attend the services.

Answer: Thomas Twp and Thomas Twp Too

As Anson and Garrad ascend and measure the mountain, Thomas Twp (Tudor Vaughan) and Thomas Twp Too (Hugh Vaughan) follow them silently, without identifying themselves. Anson learns their identity from Morgan the Goat after their return to the pub.

The brothers approach the cartographers on their second day and introduce themselves with "We've no learning, and most people say we're twp. But we're not so twp as to not know that we're twp." The brothers want to know how the mountain will be measured and to help. Since the cartographers need help carrying the equipment, their offer is accepted.

Answer: Davies the School

Davies the School (Garfield Morgan) had already placed one bet, and was told he couldn't change his bet, so he said he'd place another. However, Morgan wouldn't take his second bet of 980 feet, saying "I'm not taking any bets under a thousand feet... traitor!"

Anson delivers the results to the villagers: 984 feet. The town is dispirited and Reverend Jones calls a town meeting. The grandfather narrator sums it up with "It was a sad time. Our friends had been taken - ours sons, our husbands. Our once close community was slowly being destroyed. How could we face those who survived if they returned to find no mountain? While they had fought the Germans, we had lost the mountain to the English?"

Answer: Johnny Shellshocked

And so it was decided that the villagers would take soil from their gardens to build up the mountain. Johnny Shellshocked (Ian Hart) spoke at the meeting saying "In France, we dug trenches ten miles long. We took earth from here and made hills there. We moved entire fields. You wouldn't believe what we did. It's possible. It's just hard work."

Johnny Shellshocked had returned from the war whole in body, but he didn't talk to others. So it was a surprise to all when he stood to speak at the town meeting.

Answer: sugar in their car engine

Ivor is asked for two pounds of sugar, and the next day they cannot get the car started. The Reverend Jones punctures the left front tire.

Williams the Petroleum admits to Morgan the Goat that he has no idea how to fix the car. While working on it with the English cartographers watching, he surreptitiously takes out a part and breaks it and claims that he's found the problem. Williams says "Well I don't know the English word, but in Welsh we call it a be'chi'ngalw", which is the Welsh word for "thingamajig".

Garrad is suspicious of the villagers and tries to get a train, but is told there are only coal trains, no passenger trains.

Answer: flag pole

When the cartographers ask what happened to the flag pole, they are told "dry rot". Meanwhile, the flag pole has been marked and raised at the top of the mountain so that the villagers will know when they reach their goal.

As the villagers deliver one bucket of dirt at a time, we can see by the measurements on the pole that the height of the mountain is steadily increasing.

Answer: rain storm

From the start of the endeavor, Thomas Twp and Thomas Twp Too predict rain. The rain comes down in torrents from Thursday night until Sunday morning. Williams the Petroleum and Johnny Shellshocked take tarps up the mountain to cover the dirt, but when the rain stops, over five feet of dirt has been washed away.

Meantime, Betty (Tara Fitzgerald) quits her job and comes back to keep the Englishmen occupied so that the time would pass more quickly for them.

Answer: Reverend Jones

The villagers' last opportunity to raise the mountain is on a Sunday, and the Reverend is adamant that chapel will be held at the normal time. While preparing for his sermon he opens the Bible randomly to Psalm 99, Verse 9: "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his...holy...hill." He tells the congregation that he expects to see all of them working to raise the hill.

Anson and Betty also get involved in shoring up the mound with sod. Daylight is going when the Reverend falls down exhausted. He had trekked up the mountain five or six times during the day. The villagers do not realize that he is eighty-two years old. He dies and is buried at the top of the mound.

Answer: Yes

The villagers have succeeded in raising the hill to 1002 feet, high enough so that it is now classed as a mountain. Anson and Betty also announced their engagement after their descent.