George Bernard Shaw wrote, Our country has produced millions of blameless greengro- cers but not one blameless monarch.In the current edition of Tatler, Victoria Mather describes Daniel Day Lewis as a remark- able actor but an arch-bounder.Then Dar- ns Guppy, a different kind of arch- bounder, resurfaced after his spell in the clink with a book which I for one wont be reading.Bounder and its peaches-and-cream part- ner cad returned from virtual extinction as insults about five years ago.
Perhaps we should also exhume scoundrel, wastrel, rotter and blighter. The cad was almost singlehandedly revived recently by the doings of one Brod- erick Munro-Wilson. ![]() Brod revels in the sobriquet and even had his own cad slot on morning television. And why Because he was sued for harassing his former fiance Samantha Bleby, whom he described as a tired old mare. Mr Justice Ottons words were: With your background, social standing and education even now I would expect You to behave like a gentlemen and not a cad. As the founder member of the new Cads club, Brod qualifies admirably, being a merchant banker, gentleman jockey, polo Player, occasional television broadcaster, socialite and not short of a bob or two either. In the dictionary, a cad is someone who behaves in an ungentlemanly way and a bounder one who behaves in a way beyond the bounds of society. There are three classes of men, wrote Plato, lovers of wisdom, lovers of honour and lovers of gain. As Brod says, like to have a good time but I also give a good time. They may be dishonourable and untrustworthy but there is often some- thing disturbingly likable about them. To conform implies dullness, inadequacy, grey suits, alarm clocks, brief cases, rictus smiles and saying Very well, thank you when asked how we are unlike The Spectators Jef- frey Bernard, who replied to that question put by Germaine Greer, How do you think I am, you fing stupid cow A conformist is also a team player with deep-rooted values implanted by someone he respects or finds in authority. Cads are individualists, which is why they earn a grudging respect even if their nonconfor- mity has been at your expense. Equally, the cads transgressions enable the out- raged to tut together happily because pushing against the boundaries by one helps to define the rules for others. The cad will point out that this is the perfect example of the truism that rules are made for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. Geniuses like Tolstoy and Lord Byron have been cads, while Mozart, Picasso and Freud have been bounders. The true cad has a very high opinion of himself and despises those he deceives, justifying his deeds with a dis- dainful they got what they deserved atti- tude. Feeling totally secure in his social position, he has no trouble with cocking a snook. Arrogance is a prerequisite, self- doubt an unknown idea to the cad. When Brod was asked how his first television programme went, he said, They say Im a natural, that the camera loves me, that I was terrific everybody there loved me. As George Eliot would say, He was like a cock who thought that the sun had risen to hear him crow.
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