Did JRRT encourage new ME stories?

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by davem

It seems to me that, unusually, some posters have taken such umbrage with my posts that they are ignoring what I consider to be a very interesting little insight into class differences in The Shire.

I am curious, who can point to the very existence of classes in the Shire, before we go into the finer points of language?