Sightlines askew in scallywag land

Adventurers' Land, Cambridgeshire Everything is straight, the ploughs, dykes, roads, below a horizon flat as a planed edge

On the map two words lie in a flat-calm place. They cutlass-hook a drifting eye with an unlikely promise: Adventurers' Land. Adventure means something different in fenland.

The 17^th century investors who suggested draining this wetland for agriculture were called adventurers. It could have been worse: those who did the draining were called undertakers. Scallywag names nearby suggest maybe the darker word should have won. Rogue's Alley, Hook Drove, Bleak House.