Great-Grandpa and the Bully (14 September)

Granny recalled that at the Reigate summer festival, a pugnacious bully had mocked a young girl’s singing, but Great-Grandpa Barnaby would not stand for it. From the front row, “he glared down to the back of the tent” in which the performances were taking place. “He very deliberately took off his blazer. Then he rolled up his white shirtsleeves and loosened his collar. The brute at the rear was a muscular eighteen-year-old. He got to his feet with a confident-looking sneer, but almost at once he began to wilt” as Great-Grandpa sized him up.

“‘Young man’, he barked. ‘We have something to settle.’”

When they both came back into the tent, “Great-Grandpa’s cheeks were flushed, but his opponent had a smear of blood on his lip and a swollen eyebrow. There was no doubt about the outcome.”

Simpler times in those days, I guess. For when the confrontation was over, “no one said anything more about it”

Pp. 141-2

But in more general terms—with or without fisticuffs!—most of us appreciate stories where the rights and dignity of less imposing participants like that young singer are upheld. Quite likely you can remember similar episodes, either in your own experience or in novels you have read. If so, please share an example as a Comment below.

(Illustration generated by AI)