| Mr. McGregor | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Jonathan McGregor |
|
First Appearance |
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) |
|
Original Publisher |
Frederick Warne & Co. |
|
Created by |
Beatrix Potter |
Origin[]
Mr. McGregor is an elderly Scotsman who owns a vegetable garden and dislikes pests trying to steal his vegetables, particularly rabbits. According to Peter Rabbit's mother, Mr. McGregor captured Peter's father and Mrs. McGregor put him in a pie.
In The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter (who was the oldest of the four young rabbits --Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-Tail, and Peter) disobeys his mother and trespasses into Mr. McGregor's garden. (That is, while his three younger sisters --Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-Tail-- were good little bunnies. And they went out into the lane to gather blackberries.) Peter is nearly captured by Mr. McGregor but manages to escape leaving, behind his blue jacket and slippers which were used by Mr. McGregor to create a scarecrow.
In the Tale of Benjamin Bunny, Mr. McGregor plays a very minor role. He’s seen only a few times driving his horse and cart to town with his wife. Due to their absence, this allowed Peter and his cousin Benjamin to sneak back into the garden and reclaim Peter's clothes, though they end up being trapped in a basket by the McGregors' pet cat. Fortunately, Benjamin's father (named Old Mr. Bunny) arrived to the rescue by locking the cat in the greenhouse and returns home with Peter and Benjamin, leaving a returning Mr. McGregor to wonder what happened to his scarecrow and how the cat got locked up in the greenhouse.
Mr. McGregor plays a much bigger role in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, where he captures Benjamin and Flopsy's children while they're asleep in his rubbish heap. Mrs. Tittlemouse saves the day by chewing the strings on the sack. To fool Mr. McGregor, they put rubbish of dirty vegetables in the sack.
As it turns out, Mr. McGregor wanted to sell the rabbits for tobacco, but his wife intended to skin them to make a cloak. When they discover the sack has old rubbish, Mrs. McGregor (who was furious) believes her husband tricked her on purpose. (That is, as the narration of the page --in the book-- reads, "When she felt the vegetables, she became very, very, angry. She said that Mr. McGregor had 'done it on purpose'".) Mr. McGregor tries to convince his wife that he wasn't fooling her, but this only resulted in a nasty argument between the two.
Before that, Mr. McGregor (who was furious too) threw one of the rotten vegetables out the window. And one of the rotten vegetable marrows hit the youngest Flopsy bunny (who was eavesdropping on the McGregors). (The next narration line reads, "And Mr. McGregor was very angry too. One of the rotten vegetable marrows came flying out the window. And it hit the youngest Flopsy bunny. It was rather hurt".) Before throwing the rotten marrow at one of the youngest Flopsy bunnies, he says to his wife (Mrs. McGregor) that the Flopsy bunnies have "gotten the better of him again". An angry Mr. McGregor returns to the rubbish heap looking for the rabbits to no avail. (That is, after his wife --Mrs. McGregor-- demands him to go back outside and get the Flopsy bunny babies back.)
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Mr. McGregor from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Literary appearances[]
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter (1902)
- The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, by Beatrix Potter (1904)
- The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, by Beatrix Potter (1909)