Mr. McGregor
Encyclopedia
Mr. John McGregor is a fictional character in three children's books by author and illustrator Beatrix Potter
. He is an elderly, serio-comic villain of Scots background intent upon keeping hungry rabbits out of his vegetable garden. Potter denied the character was based on a real person but her mentor in mycology
, Charlie McIntosh, may have been the inspiration for McGregor's physical appearance and her landlord in 1893, Atholl McGregor, may have been the source for the character's name. Mr. McGregor appeared in two episodes of an animated BBC television series based on Potter's books in 1993.
Atholl McGregor was a minor laird
who sublet Eastwood, a large dower house at Dunkeld
, Scotland belonging to the Duke of Atholl, to the Potters for their summer holiday of 1893. He would likely have been about the place some time during the last days of their occupancy when Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit
on 4 September for child friend Noel Moore. Her fictional character's deerstalker
cap and sleeveless waistcoat
are the sorts of garments a minor laird would have worn to advertise his status.
Potter's fellow mycologist
and mentor Charlie McIntosh was examining rare fungi in the grass at Eastwood on the day before the Peter Rabbit letter was written. His thin face, rimless spectacles, and flowing white beard were more than likely the models for those of the fictional McGregor. In Pierre Lapin (1921), the first French edition of the tale, McGregor became "Mac Grégor".
(1902). He was originally intended to share title honors with Peter. Potter's manuscript title was The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden but McGregor and his garden were dropped when Potter privately published the book in 1902. In the tale, Peter's mother has forbidden her four children to enter McGregor's garden (their father met his end there and was made into a pie by Mrs. McGregor) but Peter does so once his mother leaves on an errand for the bakery. McGregor chases Peter about the garden but Peter escapes after losing his jacket and shoes. McGregor dresses a scarecrow with Peter's clothing.
McGregor next appears in the sequel, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
(1904). Peter returns to McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve his jacket and shoes. McGregor has a small role in the tale and appears only in the closing pages where he is mystified by tiny footprints in the garden, the disappearance of the scarecrow's clothes, and a cat locked in his greenhouse. In spite of his limited role in the action, the effect that he had in the previous story makes Peter very nervous about staying in the garden for too long, though it is McGregor's cat who almost seals the bunnies' doom.
In The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
(1909) McGregor has a substantial role in the story and is even given some dialogue. Finding the six sleeping children of the adult Benjamin Bunny, he puts them in a sack and makes plans to sell them for tobacco. His wife, however, wants to skin them and line her cloak with their fur. The two are disappointed in their plans when they discover the bunnies have escaped the sack and have been replaced with old vegetables and a brush.
In the 2002 edition from publisher Frederick Warne, the youthful portrait of Mrs. McGregor was returned to the tale opposite the text, "Your Father had an accident there; he was put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor." Behind the youthful Mrs. McGregor is a child holding a spoon and at her left hand is a black dog. Three other illustrations dropped in 1903 for the endpapers were also returned to the tale in the 2002 edition.
In Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. McGregor leaves home in her best bonnet to ride in a gig driven by Mr. McGregor. In The Flopsy Bunnies, she wants to skin the bunnies to line her old cloak with their fur and scolds her husband when she discovers the bunnies have escaped. Her back appears in the 23rd illustration of The Flopsy Bunnies.
as The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
. In an episode that integrates The Tale of Peter Rabbit
with The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
called "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny", Mr. McGregor is voiced by Richard Wilson and Mrs. McGregor by June Watson. In "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
and Mrs. Tittlemouse
", Mr. McGregor is voiced by Andrew Robertson and Mrs. McGregor again by June Watson. In this episode (with no basis in Potter), Mr. McGregor's first name is given as John.
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
. He is an elderly, serio-comic villain of Scots background intent upon keeping hungry rabbits out of his vegetable garden. Potter denied the character was based on a real person but her mentor in mycology
Mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...
, Charlie McIntosh, may have been the inspiration for McGregor's physical appearance and her landlord in 1893, Atholl McGregor, may have been the source for the character's name. Mr. McGregor appeared in two episodes of an animated BBC television series based on Potter's books in 1993.
Background
On 4 September 1893, Beatrix Potter addressed a story and picture letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her former governess Annie Carter Moore. The letter told of a humanized lagomorph called Peter Rabbit and his adventure in Mr. McGregor's garden. In the following years, Potter continued to send story and picture letters to Noel and his siblings. Mrs. Moore recognized their literary and artistic value and urged the author to publish them. Potter borrowed the original Peter Rabbit letter from Noel, copied it out, and developed the tale. Attempts to find a publisher for the tale were unsuccessful, and Potter privately published the tale to great success among family and friends. In 1902, Frederick Warne & Co. expressed their interest in the tale, persuaded Potter to colour the illustrations, and published the book in October 1902. The book was wildly popular and Potter's career as a children's author and illustrator was launched.Sources
In 1940, Potter wrote, "I never knew a gardener named 'Mr. McGregor'. Several bearded horticulturalists have resented the nickname; but I do not know how it came about". In a letter of February 1942 to her publisher, Potter claimed McGregor "was no special person", but she may have taken inspiration for the fictional character from two different men of her acquaintance: Atholl McGregor and Charlie McIntosh.Atholl McGregor was a minor laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
who sublet Eastwood, a large dower house at Dunkeld
Dunkeld
Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...
, Scotland belonging to the Duke of Atholl, to the Potters for their summer holiday of 1893. He would likely have been about the place some time during the last days of their occupancy when Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea...
on 4 September for child friend Noel Moore. Her fictional character's deerstalker
Deerstalker
A deerstalker is a type of hat that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the hat's popular association with Sherlock Holmes, it is also a stereotypical hat of a detective.-Construction:...
cap and sleeveless waistcoat
Waistcoat
A waistcoat or vest is a sleeveless upper-body garment worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear, and as the third piece of the three-piece male business suit.-Characteristics and use:...
are the sorts of garments a minor laird would have worn to advertise his status.
Potter's fellow mycologist
Mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...
and mentor Charlie McIntosh was examining rare fungi in the grass at Eastwood on the day before the Peter Rabbit letter was written. His thin face, rimless spectacles, and flowing white beard were more than likely the models for those of the fictional McGregor. In Pierre Lapin (1921), the first French edition of the tale, McGregor became "Mac Grégor".
Books
Mr. McGregor is an elderly gardener who makes his first appearance in The Tale of Peter RabbitThe Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea...
(1902). He was originally intended to share title honors with Peter. Potter's manuscript title was The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden but McGregor and his garden were dropped when Potter privately published the book in 1902. In the tale, Peter's mother has forbidden her four children to enter McGregor's garden (their father met his end there and was made into a pie by Mrs. McGregor) but Peter does so once his mother leaves on an errand for the bakery. McGregor chases Peter about the garden but Peter escapes after losing his jacket and shoes. McGregor dresses a scarecrow with Peter's clothing.
McGregor next appears in the sequel, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to The Tale of Peter Rabbit , and tells of Peter's return to Mr. McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve...
(1904). Peter returns to McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve his jacket and shoes. McGregor has a small role in the tale and appears only in the closing pages where he is mystified by tiny footprints in the garden, the disappearance of the scarecrow's clothes, and a cat locked in his greenhouse. In spite of his limited role in the action, the effect that he had in the previous story makes Peter very nervous about staying in the garden for too long, though it is McGregor's cat who almost seals the bunnies' doom.
In The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1909. After two full-length tales about rabbits, Potter had grown weary of depicting lagomorphs, and initially did not want to create another rabbit...
(1909) McGregor has a substantial role in the story and is even given some dialogue. Finding the six sleeping children of the adult Benjamin Bunny, he puts them in a sack and makes plans to sell them for tobacco. His wife, however, wants to skin them and line her cloak with their fur. The two are disappointed in their plans when they discover the bunnies have escaped the sack and have been replaced with old vegetables and a brush.
Mrs. McGregor
Mrs. McGregor appears (or is mentioned) in the same three books as her husband. In The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the reader learns Mrs. McGregor baked Peter's father in a pie some time before the story opens. Potter created two illustrations of Mrs. McGregor – one, aged and one, youthful – for the first trade edition of the tale. Her publisher rejected the aged portrait and published the youthful Mrs. McGregor (which Potter hinted in 1939 was a caricature of herself). The aged portrait survived three early printings until the fourth printing of 1903 when it was dropped altogether to make way for illustrated endpapers.In the 2002 edition from publisher Frederick Warne, the youthful portrait of Mrs. McGregor was returned to the tale opposite the text, "Your Father had an accident there; he was put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor." Behind the youthful Mrs. McGregor is a child holding a spoon and at her left hand is a black dog. Three other illustrations dropped in 1903 for the endpapers were also returned to the tale in the 2002 edition.
In Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. McGregor leaves home in her best bonnet to ride in a gig driven by Mr. McGregor. In The Flopsy Bunnies, she wants to skin the bunnies to line her old cloak with their fur and scolds her husband when she discovers the bunnies have escaped. Her back appears in the 23rd illustration of The Flopsy Bunnies.
Adaptations
In 1993, several of Potter's tales were adapted to animation and televised by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is an animated television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. It was originally shown in the UK on BBC between 1992 and 1995 and subsequently broadcast in the USA on...
. In an episode that integrates The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother who puts him to bed after dosing him with camomile tea...
with The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to The Tale of Peter Rabbit , and tells of Peter's return to Mr. McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve...
called "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny", Mr. McGregor is voiced by Richard Wilson and Mrs. McGregor by June Watson. In "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1909. After two full-length tales about rabbits, Potter had grown weary of depicting lagomorphs, and initially did not want to create another rabbit...
and Mrs. Tittlemouse
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1910. The tale is about housekeeping and insect pests in the home, and reflects Potter's own sense of tidiness and her abhorrence of insect infestations. The...
", Mr. McGregor is voiced by Andrew Robertson and Mrs. McGregor again by June Watson. In this episode (with no basis in Potter), Mr. McGregor's first name is given as John.