WEBVTT 00:30.000 --> 00:40.640 This is the story about the wooden tops. 00:40.640 --> 00:46.400 There was Mummy Wooden Top and the baby, and Daddy Wooden Top. 00:46.400 --> 00:51.680 Then there were Willie and Jenny the twins, and Mrs. Scrubbit who comes to help Mummy 00:51.680 --> 00:59.800 Wooden Top, and Sam who helps Daddy Wooden Top, and last of all, the very biggest spotty 00:59.800 --> 01:02.560 dog you ever did see. 01:02.560 --> 01:07.320 And they all live together in a little house in the country. 01:07.320 --> 01:13.080 One day the children, Willie and Jenny, had been out in the field with Sam. 01:13.080 --> 01:16.760 They had been helping him to toss some hay for the animals. 01:16.760 --> 01:20.360 Cows and pigs and horses like hay. 01:20.360 --> 01:25.680 Nearby Dobbin was picking out the kind of grass he liked best, and every now and then 01:25.680 --> 01:29.160 he took a little hay, just for a change. 01:29.160 --> 01:32.440 Each time he did so, Sam drove him off. 01:32.440 --> 01:34.720 No Dobbin, you be off. 01:34.720 --> 01:39.000 You got plenty of good fresh grass all round you, so you leave my hay alone. 01:39.000 --> 01:41.000 Go along now, be off. 01:41.000 --> 01:43.000 Be off with you Dobbin. 01:43.000 --> 01:46.760 Horses, give them fresh grass and they want hay. 01:46.760 --> 01:48.760 Give them hay and they want grass. 01:48.760 --> 01:54.440 Sam, tell us about your uncle's horse that went so slowly you could hardly see him move. 01:54.440 --> 01:57.800 Oh yes Sam, you tell such lovely stories. 01:57.800 --> 02:01.240 But you know that story, heard it dozens of times. 02:01.240 --> 02:02.920 Oh but tell us again Sam. 02:02.920 --> 02:03.880 Yes do. 02:03.880 --> 02:07.880 Oh alright, I can feel you there. 02:07.880 --> 02:09.880 Oh dear Dobbin. 02:09.880 --> 02:11.880 Go on Sam. 02:11.880 --> 02:18.360 Well, I don't know if this is a true story, but it's what my uncle John told me. 02:18.360 --> 02:21.880 He used to work on a farm a long way away from here. 02:21.880 --> 02:23.720 Ploughman he was. 02:23.720 --> 02:28.680 He used to get the fields already every year for planting seed and an old horse... 02:28.680 --> 02:30.680 Called Bob. 02:30.680 --> 02:33.320 Yeah, he used to pull the plough. 02:33.320 --> 02:35.880 Do ploughs go fast Sam? 02:35.880 --> 02:38.920 Well this one didn't, especially with Bob pulling it. 02:38.920 --> 02:41.960 He just went as slow as he could. 02:41.960 --> 02:43.960 Stop tickling me. 02:43.960 --> 02:48.040 The old Bob, you know, he never went fast at the best of times. 02:48.040 --> 02:53.800 But show him a plough and he'd creep along so you couldn't tell he was moving hardly. 02:53.800 --> 02:57.480 Oh Dobbin, he's not eating the straw. 02:57.480 --> 03:00.280 Let him stay, he wants to hear the story. 03:00.280 --> 03:01.640 Don't you Dobbin? 03:01.640 --> 03:02.920 Alright then. 03:02.920 --> 03:04.920 Go on Sam, go on. 03:04.920 --> 03:10.760 Alright, well one day my uncle John was just standing holding the handles of his plough... 03:10.760 --> 03:14.280 Because old Bob was stopping to think things over for a bit. 03:14.280 --> 03:23.080 When he saw a field mouse run up Bob's leg, over his shoulder and sit on his back just by the saddle. 03:23.080 --> 03:25.080 Oh! 03:25.080 --> 03:27.080 Oh! 03:27.080 --> 03:29.080 Dobbin made me jump. 03:29.080 --> 03:31.080 Me too. 03:31.080 --> 03:33.080 Sounded as if he was laughing. 03:33.080 --> 03:35.080 Well, my uncle John, he laughed too. 03:35.080 --> 03:41.080 Before you could say knife, up came another mouse and sat down beside the first one. 03:41.080 --> 03:43.880 And they began to talk to each other. 03:43.880 --> 03:45.880 Oh! 03:45.880 --> 03:47.880 Mice can't talk. 03:47.880 --> 03:49.880 Well, my uncle John thought they could. 03:49.880 --> 03:53.480 He got so as he could understand them in time. 03:53.480 --> 03:55.880 And the mice came again, didn't they Sam? 03:55.880 --> 03:57.880 Every day? 03:57.880 --> 03:59.880 Yes, every day. 03:59.880 --> 04:06.680 Every day at the same place, old Bob would creep along so slowly that the two mice had plenty of time to run up his leg... 04:06.680 --> 04:08.680 Come. 04:08.680 --> 04:10.680 And sit down for a little chat and a nice ride up the field and back. 04:10.680 --> 04:14.680 Your uncle John liked the mice to come, didn't he Sam? 04:14.680 --> 04:16.680 Yes, he did. 04:16.680 --> 04:18.680 He's breathing down me neck again. 04:18.680 --> 04:22.680 You know, you get sort of lonely sometimes out in the fields all by yourself. 04:22.680 --> 04:24.680 Some men talk to their horses. 04:24.680 --> 04:30.680 But it wasn't much use talking to old Bob, because he was asleep half his time. 04:30.680 --> 04:32.680 Yes. 04:32.680 --> 04:34.680 Dobbin, isn't he funny when he laughs? 04:34.680 --> 04:36.680 Yes. 04:36.680 --> 04:38.680 What happened then Sam? 04:38.680 --> 04:46.680 Well, one day when they came to the place where the mice got on, as you might say, only one of them came running up. 04:46.680 --> 04:52.680 Uncle John waited, and the mouse waited, and old Bob, he waited. 04:52.680 --> 04:56.680 That was easy for him, because he'd gone to sleep. 04:56.680 --> 05:00.680 After a time there was a little squeak somewhere down by Bob's foot. 05:00.680 --> 05:04.680 And there was a second mouse, calling out to her friend. 05:04.680 --> 05:06.680 What did she say, Sam? 05:06.680 --> 05:08.680 What she said? 05:08.680 --> 05:12.680 She said, I can't come for a ride up the field today, because I'm in a hurry. 05:12.680 --> 05:14.680 So... 05:14.680 --> 05:16.680 I'm going to walk! 05:16.680 --> 05:20.680 Fancy a mouse going faster than a horse! 05:20.680 --> 05:22.680 Hello? 05:22.680 --> 05:24.680 Where's Dobbin? 05:24.680 --> 05:26.680 Hey, hey Dobbin. 05:26.680 --> 05:28.680 Dobbin, come here lad. 05:28.680 --> 05:30.680 What's the matter, Sam? 05:30.680 --> 05:32.680 Oh, Dobbin, he's lame. 05:32.680 --> 05:34.680 Must have lost a shoe. 05:34.680 --> 05:36.680 Have a look. 05:36.680 --> 05:38.680 Oh, poor Dobbin. 05:38.680 --> 05:40.680 Come on, lift it up, boy. 05:40.680 --> 05:42.680 What's the matter, Sam? 05:42.680 --> 05:44.680 Come on, up, up. 05:44.680 --> 05:46.680 Oh dear, oh dear, what a nuisance. 05:46.680 --> 05:52.680 Here, you young'uns run up to Daddy Woodentop and tell him that I'll have to take Dobbin over to the blacksmith's. 05:52.680 --> 05:54.680 Oh, Sam, may we come too? 05:54.680 --> 05:56.680 Yes, if you like. 05:56.680 --> 05:58.680 Oh, God! 05:58.680 --> 06:00.680 I'll just fix it up good enough to get there. 06:00.680 --> 06:02.680 Hurry up now. 06:02.680 --> 06:04.680 Oh, John's horse. 06:04.680 --> 06:06.680 Quick, let's go and look for Daddy Woodentop. 06:06.680 --> 06:08.680 I know where he is, Willy. 06:08.680 --> 06:10.680 Well, let's hurry. 06:10.680 --> 06:12.680 Oh, look, there he is. 06:12.680 --> 06:14.680 Daddy! Daddy! 06:14.680 --> 06:16.680 Daddy Woodentop! 06:16.680 --> 06:18.680 Daddy! 06:20.680 --> 06:26.680 So Sam fixed Dobbin's shoe on well enough for him to walk into the village to see the blacksmith. 06:26.680 --> 06:30.680 And by the time the twins got back, he'd nearly finished. 06:30.680 --> 06:32.680 There you are, nearly ready. 06:32.680 --> 06:34.680 Does it hurt him, Sam? 06:34.680 --> 06:36.680 No, not a bit. 06:36.680 --> 06:38.680 Quiet now, boy. 06:38.680 --> 06:42.680 Oh, he just wonders why he's got to stand still, that's all. 06:42.680 --> 06:44.680 Steady there. Steady, boy. 06:44.680 --> 06:46.680 Whoa there, Dobbin. 06:46.680 --> 06:48.680 Good boy. 06:48.680 --> 06:50.680 Does he know he's going to have a new shoe, Sam? 06:50.680 --> 06:52.680 Well, I don't know about that. 06:52.680 --> 06:54.680 But he'll soon know when he gets it. 06:54.680 --> 06:58.680 Why does he have to have a new shoe? 06:58.680 --> 07:00.680 Oh, he's lost a nail. 07:00.680 --> 07:02.680 Look, that one there. 07:04.680 --> 07:06.680 Oh, yes. 07:06.680 --> 07:08.680 So the shoe's loose. 07:08.680 --> 07:10.680 It's worn, too. Look. 07:10.680 --> 07:12.680 So it is. 07:12.680 --> 07:16.680 Do all horses have to have shoes, Sam? 07:16.680 --> 07:18.680 Oh, no. No, not little ones. 07:18.680 --> 07:21.680 They only run about in the fields and play on the grass. 07:21.680 --> 07:24.680 That's soft, you see, and doesn't hurt their feet. 07:24.680 --> 07:28.680 But when they have to walk on rough ground or go on the roads like Dobbin, 07:28.680 --> 07:30.680 they need iron shoes. 07:30.680 --> 07:34.680 And if they didn't have iron shoes and had to walk over stones, 07:34.680 --> 07:36.680 they'd hurt their feet, wouldn't they, Sam? 07:36.680 --> 07:38.680 Yes, my dear, they would. 07:38.680 --> 07:40.680 Then they couldn't walk properly. 07:40.680 --> 07:44.680 I'd rather be a little horse and run about in the fields without any shoes at all. 07:44.680 --> 07:46.680 Like in the song. 07:46.680 --> 07:50.680 Shoo the little horse and shoo the little mare 07:50.680 --> 07:54.680 And let the little coat run bare, bare, bare 07:54.680 --> 07:58.680 Shoo the little horse and shoo the little mare 07:58.680 --> 08:02.680 And let the little coat run bare, bare, bare 08:02.680 --> 08:04.680 What's a coat, Sam? 08:04.680 --> 08:08.680 A coat? Well, it's just another name for a baby horse. 08:08.680 --> 08:10.680 Now, we're all ready. 08:10.680 --> 08:12.680 Come on, Dobbin. 08:12.680 --> 08:14.680 Gee up, Dobbin. Gee up, Dobbin. 08:14.680 --> 08:16.680 Gee up. 08:16.680 --> 08:19.680 Shoo the little horse and shoo the little mare 08:19.680 --> 08:22.680 So off they went to the blacksmith's, 08:22.680 --> 08:24.680 and they'd hardly got as far as the lane 08:24.680 --> 08:28.680 before Spottydog came rushing along. 08:32.680 --> 08:35.680 When he saw no one, he was quite surprised. 08:35.680 --> 08:40.680 And he was rather cross to think they'd all gone off without him. 08:40.680 --> 08:49.680 So he sat down on the grass and lifted up his head and began to howl. 08:57.680 --> 09:03.680 He went on howling until suddenly he saw Mummy Woodentop putting Baby down on the grass. 09:03.680 --> 09:07.680 And he came running up to her. 09:07.680 --> 09:13.680 And she said, Spotty, whatever's the matter? 09:23.680 --> 09:28.680 Oh, poor Spotty. Did they go off and leave you? 09:28.680 --> 09:33.680 Never mind. You stay here and look after Baby for me. 09:33.680 --> 09:35.680 There you are. 09:35.680 --> 09:38.680 Now, don't let him crawl away, Spotty. 09:38.680 --> 09:40.680 I shan't be long. 09:40.680 --> 09:43.680 Be a good boy. 09:43.680 --> 09:46.680 So Mummy Woodentop went away again, 09:46.680 --> 09:51.680 and Baby Woodentop began to shuffle after Spotty. 09:51.680 --> 10:06.680 And then Spotty pretended to hide and went behind the box. 10:06.680 --> 10:11.680 He was really playing peep-bo with the baby, 10:11.680 --> 10:16.680 but he had to bark because he couldn't say peep-bo. 10:16.680 --> 10:24.680 Then Baby Woodentop thought he'd like to hide, and he started off as fast as he could go. 10:24.680 --> 10:29.680 And he went on and on and on and on. 10:29.680 --> 10:34.680 And he went on and on and on and on. 10:34.680 --> 10:39.680 And he went on and on and on and on. 10:39.680 --> 10:44.680 And he went on and on and on and on. 10:44.680 --> 10:50.680 But Spotty ran round and stopped him from going too far. 10:50.680 --> 10:54.680 So the baby turned another way. 10:54.680 --> 10:58.680 But it didn't matter which way he turned, 10:58.680 --> 11:03.680 Spotty Dog was always there to stop him from getting lost. 11:03.680 --> 11:09.680 Mummy Woodentop had come out to see what all the noise was about, 11:09.680 --> 11:14.680 and when she saw how happy they were, she went away. 11:17.680 --> 11:21.680 Spotty Dog thought it was time to have a rest, 11:21.680 --> 11:26.680 so he sat down and began to sing to the baby in a doggy sort of voice. 11:26.680 --> 11:29.680 And this is what he sang. 11:29.680 --> 11:33.680 There was a poor dog and they left him alone. 11:33.680 --> 11:40.680 They didn't so much as leave him a bone. 11:40.680 --> 11:47.680 Poor Spotty Dog, poor Spotty Dog. 11:47.680 --> 11:51.680 They all went away and left him alone. 11:51.680 --> 12:10.680 He'll never come out again. 12:10.680 --> 12:13.680 Poor Spotty Dog, poor Spotty Dog. 12:13.680 --> 12:25.680 When Mommy Woodentop came back, she said, 12:25.680 --> 12:28.180 Thank you for looking after baby Spotty. 12:28.180 --> 12:30.680 You're a very good dog. 12:30.680 --> 12:33.680 And she sat down and sang too. 12:33.680 --> 12:38.680 There was a poor dog and they left him alone. 12:38.680 --> 12:45.680 They didn't so much as leave him a bone. 12:45.680 --> 12:51.680 Poor Spotty dog, poor Spotty dog, 12:51.680 --> 12:55.680 They all went away and left him alone. 13:03.680 --> 13:07.680 Then Mommy Woodentop stayed and played with baby and Spotty. 13:07.680 --> 13:10.680 I can see you baby. 13:10.680 --> 13:13.680 There you are. 13:13.680 --> 13:17.680 There's baby Woodentop. 13:17.680 --> 13:20.680 Go wee baby. 13:20.680 --> 13:24.680 Pee, poo. 13:24.680 --> 13:28.680 Pee, poo. 13:28.680 --> 13:33.680 Pee, poo. 13:33.680 --> 13:38.680 And while they were playing, they heard tramp, tramp, tramp. 13:38.680 --> 13:42.680 And there was Dobbin with the children riding on his back. 13:42.680 --> 13:43.680 Here we are. 13:43.680 --> 13:44.680 Here we are. 13:44.680 --> 13:47.680 We rode all the way back from the blacksmiths. 13:47.680 --> 13:48.680 How did you get on? 13:48.680 --> 13:49.680 We had a lovely time. 13:49.680 --> 13:51.680 Sam lifted us up. 13:51.680 --> 13:52.680 Where is Sam? 13:52.680 --> 13:53.680 He's just coming. 13:53.680 --> 13:55.680 He's talking to Daddy. 13:55.680 --> 14:00.680 We can't turn around because Sam said we weren't to move in case we fell off. 14:00.680 --> 14:05.680 One day soon, Daddy Woodentop is going to teach you how to ride. 14:05.680 --> 14:06.680 Both of us? 14:06.680 --> 14:07.680 Yes, of course. 14:07.680 --> 14:10.680 I expect baby will want to learn too. 14:10.680 --> 14:13.680 He's too little. 14:13.680 --> 14:15.680 And there we must leave them. 14:15.680 --> 14:18.680 Willie and Jenny riding on Dobbin, 14:18.680 --> 14:20.680 Mommy Woodentop watching, 14:20.680 --> 14:23.680 and Spotty still looking after the baby. 14:23.680 --> 14:52.680 Goodbye, Woodentops, until next time.