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The Honourable Frederick Threepwood (“Freddie”)
McAllister is Lord Emsworth’s head gardener, having worked at the estate for over 10 years. In contrast to his bumbling, upper-class employer, McAllister is an intelligent and dignified working-class man, if “a bit short on sweetness and light.” Despite his lower placement in the social hierarchy, McAllister is entirely unafraid of standing up to Emsworth’s more irrational demands, and he refuses to follow orders unless given good reason to. McAllister’s principles are so strong, that when he is asked to banish his own cousin, he simply resigns from his position and refuses to return until given adequate incentive to do so. McAllister is an exceptionally talented gardener, and it seems that he is singlehandedly responsible for the success of Lord Emsworth’s pumpkin at the Shrewsbury Show.
Angus McAllister Quotes in The Custody of the Pumpkin
The The Custody of the Pumpkin quotes below are all either spoken by Angus McAllister or refer to Angus McAllister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Custody of the Pumpkin Quotes
And, though normally a fair-minded and reasonable man, well aware that modern earls must think twice before pulling the feudal stuff on their employés, he took on the forthright truculence of a large landowner of the early Normal period ticking off a serf.
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After the castle’s head gardener, Angus McAllister, refuses Lord Emsworth’s unreasonable order to banish Aggie, Emsworth responds with a desperate attempt to pull rank on his employee. This attempt highlights Emsworth’s frustration over his decreased authority as a 20th-century aristocrat. The Lord directly acknowledges that as a “modern earl,” he should know better than to expect unquestioning obedience from his employees, and by comparing his own attitude to that of a “large landowner of the early Norman period” (which occurred nine centuries prior), he admits that this is a comically outdated way for an aristocrat to behave. However, despite this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt d
A curious expression came into Angus McAllister’s face—always excepting the occupied territories. It was the look of a man who has not forgotten Bannockburn, a man conscious of belonging to the country of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.
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In this passage, McAllister resists his employer’s inappropriate attempt to flaunt his power. Whereas Lord Emsworth represents the modern nobility, here the story establishes Angus McAllister as a symbol of the modern working class, who as of the early 1900s had begun to take back some control from the nobility. During this period, the lower classes had seized primary control over the House of Commons, and the rise of trade unions saw workers demanding better rights and greater respect from their more wealthy employers. The comparison between McAllister’s refusal to follow orders and Bannockburn—a battle during the First War of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedi
In an age of rush and hurry like that of today, an age in which there are innumerable calls on the time of everyone, it is possible that here and there throughout the ranks of those who have read this chronicle there may be one or two who for various reasons found themselves unable to attend the last Agricultural Show at Shrewsbury.
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In this final scene, Emsworth, having reconciled with Angus McAllister, attends the Shrewsbury Agricultural Show with his titular winning pumpkin. Though this is indeed a success for Lord Emsworth, Wodehouse’s narration acknowledges that for many, such successes will go unnoticed, as the majority of people are too preoccupied by the modern world and its “innumerable calls” to so much as acknowledge the monarchy. This once more highlights the triviality of the upper classes, whose achievements are now so minor that the general public simply ignore them. The story ends with a suggestion that in this “age of rush and hurry,” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidu
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Angus McAllister Character Timeline in The Custody of the Pumpkin
The timeline below shows where the character Angus McAllister appears in The Custody of the Pumpkin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Custody of the Pumpkin
...She’s an American, and a “sort of cousin” of the estate’s Scottish head gardener, Angus McAllister. This information rattles Emsworth even further. While he had imagined many “unpleasant visions” of his...
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Following this conversation, Emsworth rushes across the terrace to confront McAllister. Despite being “well aware that modern earls must think twice before pulling the feudal stuff...
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...the Shrewsbury Show. Emsworth feels this mark on his family’s history deeply. Ten days after McAllister’s departure, the Lord suffers a terrible dream in which King George himself arrives to view...
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...wakes with the “Sovereign’s disappointed screams ringing in his ears,” and decides that while reinstating McAllister would mean “surrender,” he needs the gardener back for the pumpkin’s sake. The following morning,...
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It is at this moment Emsworth glances at his spectators and finds among them McAllister and Mr Donaldson. The Lord appeals to McAllister for help, and despite what has passed...
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With this conversation done, Emsworth turns his attentions to McAllister. Though Emsworth’s “tongue seem[s] to cleave his palette,” he puts aside his pride and begs...
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Some time later, Emsworth and McAllister attend the Shrewsbury Show. Lord Emsworth’s sworn enemy, Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, offers the Earl his...
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