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they're going to get scared in an unfamiliar/war-like situation.
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Bingo! Maggot and Gaffer are both very tough indeed... on their own ground. Most if not all folk are exactly the same way. It's called homecourt advantage. The Travellers, and partly Bilbo, are the really brave ones, because they go out to take on evil at its source. Frodo especially so, for having to try and stand up to The Ring and to himself in the Sammath Naur (with mixed results at best).
A Shortcut to Mushrooms, then, provides an excellent contrast for The Scouring of the Shire. All of a sudden, the Hobbits' world is in danger of falling down around their slightly-pointed ears. The former toughness of the Gaffer amounts to nothing much, while some few others such as Lobelia are actually strengthened by the situation.
Whatever happened to Bamfurlong and Farmer Maggot during the Scouring of the Shire??