A couple of weeks back one of the "Would You Rather" questions on the blog was whose parents out of Biggles' four team members that you would rather meet. This week, let's turn the question on its head:
Whose parent would you rather be, out of the four?
For me, it would be Biggles, who strikes me as a fairly quiet (if occasionally doing the unexpected) child, although it might worry me a lot that he was so sick so often. I don't think Algy would make a great kid for me to have; he'd be forever turning my hair gray by doing something I'd never thought he'd do.
Ginger is wild and rebellious (never the best traits to have in a child).
I can't see Bertie as a kid. Did he have a monocle in from birth? Creepy.
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I never thought I would find myself saying this but I would have to be Algy's mother - mostly because I would then get to live at the gorgeous sounding Merioneth Towers in the lovely Welsh countryside.
ReplyDeleteI once looked up pictures of Merionethshire on the Web - and it's stunning.
On the down side Algy's dangerous antics as a young boy probably would tatter my nerves a bit but, on the upside I could always get my revenge by dressing him up in velvet and ribbons ;-)
On top of that, Algy's mother also seems to wield quite a bit of power. She has friends in high places; she can pull strings and make things happen. Even Biggles himself seems to hold her in awe - could be fun....
Being the parent of 2 boys who got up to all sorts of mischief and turned mhy hair prematurely grey I would go for being the parent of Biggles. As Soppy said, fairly quiet, an honest, open child. I'd probably be worried about that,too, that he'd turn out to be isolated and withdrawn.
ReplyDeleteAs for Bertie, well, at one point, he did end up with a back full of lead shot which the gamekeeper had to dig out so I'm guessing he was a bit of a handleful as well.
That should read handful!
ReplyDeleteWhat? Ouch! Poor Bertie! Which book was that in? I must have missed that one.
ReplyDeleteBiggles and the Lost Sovereigns. Although having read that bit again, it doesn't sound as though he was up to too much mischief.
ReplyDeleteThat is, the reference is in 'Lost Sovereigns'. The incident happened when Bertie was a child.
ReplyDeleteSince I certainly can't get my head around thinking of myself as Biggles or Algy's mother, it falls between Ginger and Bertie. I suspect Bertie may have been a bit of a handful as a child, somehow (not that wej give us too much insight - apart from Lost Sovereigns I can't think of anything outstanding) so I'm opting for Ginger. This is so I could take him into the bush and teach him how NOT to get lost, how NOT to be wild-eyed with fear and horror when something unusual (say, a Drop Bear) tried to scare the living daylights out of him. After all this, of course, he'd be ready to run screaming off to the UK in time to meet up with Biggles....
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that most people would rather NOT be the parents of their favorite characters! I suppose there is a difference between lovers and families after all :)
ReplyDeleteI should think that really all of them were something of a handful in their youth. Biggles with his worrying bouts of fever (and lack of social skills where other kids were concerned), Algy's craziness, Ginger and his Americanisms and dreams of becoming a pilot in mining town, and Bertie...well...Bertie was the chap who was a Flight Lieutenant chasing his dog with a hunting horn....
Bertie wasn't chasing his dog with a hunting horn. The dog was chasing cats instead of foxes. Bertie's hunting horn was one he'd have used when doing the real thing! But I know where you're going with this, Soppy! **heavy frown** Bertie probably wasn't any more crazy than any other little boy with an absolutely HUGE garden to play in. Ample opportunities to get up to lots of mischief. Oh,, wait1 Yes, just like a certain little boy at Merioneth Towers.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to be Biggles' mother. She died too soon! Maybe his father, but he died in WWI. On the whole, Algy's father would be a better bet as then I'd probably know both of them for several years. That's if they ever went home to see Algy's folk rather than sending telegrams to say expect us when you see us
ReplyDelete"a certain little boy at Merioneth Towers" probably didn't bring his dog and his musical instruments in his kit bag when going off to war, and despite all his crazy antics, would hardly allow his pet to run around the CO's office chasing a cat!!!
ReplyDeleteSA said: "That's if they ever went home to see Algy's folk rather than sending telegrams to say expect us when you see us"
I don't think Algy would have gotten away with sending telegrams. Mummy Lacey would definitely have insisted on a visit at Christmas, at the very least....
Ah, but Bertie did say that he was told no one had yet arrived. And as for taking pets, some officers did take their dogs with them.
ReplyDeleteThere's a nice article on that, 'In praise of the Squadron dog'...
ReplyDeleteLots of pilots still have them.
Wonder if Bertie took the dog in his Spit as well...? Wouldn't put it past him...
ReplyDelete