Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron
As master of his lands, Farmer Maggot had complete authority to drive trespassers off his lands, with dogs or with weapons, for matter. Up until very recent times in Britain, poachers were summarily shot or hanged. Property rights trumped personal liberties for centuries, laws supporting landlords were harsh, and considering Maggot lived on the marches of the Shire, there was practically no law save for what he considered proper to protect his interests.
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Maggot is what I would like to think of as a gentleman, and not a brutal enforcer of punishment. His friendship with Bombadil would go out of the window if the dogs were used to effect as he threatened to on hobbits or the big folk unmercifully. Sooner or later the tables would turn and his own farm would be attacked by a greater enemy and all his kindred slain if he had killed a trespasser previously. Did he have the right to protect his land? Yes. Did he have the right and authority to kill trespassers at unawares with his dogs? In my book absolutely not.