[…] My right eye has gone bung, and my left one is pretty dicky.

Pity implies the assertion of superiority in the pitier; and it is a gratification of a man's pride to go about pitying those who are perhaps a great deal better than himself.

Her cooking ability, while mentioned, was unqualified by her.

In looking further south, to Aotearoa/New Zealand, the forward march of the British is in full show.