Chapter One
Marcho & Blanco
The deeds of these two brothers have faded through time and now exist in the minds of many merely as songs and rhymes. But it was they who first established our people in what we know as the Shire – our home that seems almost native to us, as though we have always lived here and always will. But there was a time when this was not so. It is true that few records exist of these distant years, yet I will make what I can out of the scarce scraps of lore that I have studied.
Marcho and Blanco were brothers, of unknown parentage. What is known of them is that they possessed Fallohide blood - which may explain why they became such bold leaders. They were what we would call, Bree-hobbits, who dwelt in the lands in and around the village of Bree. In a time before our Reckoning began, it is likely that these two lived in Staddle – a small settlement to the south-east of Bree. Many claim that this village is the oldest settlement of hobbits, though there is no solid evidence of this. But what is true is that Bree-hobbits, Marcho and Blanco included, lived peacefully among Big Folk.
For reasons that are still disputed today, Marcho and Blanco led a group of hobbits westwards from the Bree-lands until they came to the Brandywine River, where stood the Bridge of Stonebows, which today is more commonly called the Brandywine Bridge. A possible reason that I present is that in the Bree-land where Big Folk and hobbits lived together, there may have been some inequality between them with Big Folk as the dominant people. Perhaps Marcho and Blanco wished the establish a land where hobbits would live alone away from and manage their own affairs. In response to this westward migration, King Argeleb the Second of Arthedain granted the land west of the river, that would become known as ‘The Shire’, to Marcho, Blanco and those who followed them. This new land covered forty leagues from the Brandywine River in the east to the Far Downs in the west, and fifty leagues from north to south. Whether or not the King and Marcho and Blanco ever personally met is not recorded. It is also unknown why the King granted the migrators the land, for it was at the time an unpopulated area used only for hunting. Whatever the reasons, the king’s only order to them was to keep the bridges and roads in order and recognise his authority. In this year the Shire Reckoning began at Year One. That was, as I write now, one thousand four hundred and eighteen years ago. Whilst the hobbits in their new land accepted the rule of the king, they were left well alone and did not trouble themselves with the outside world.
Marcho and Blanco, being the leaders of the migration from Bree, most likely became chieftains of the settlers. If this is true, then it was they who set out the first Shire-laws, which in many respects remain to this day. What is disputed among historians is where the two brothers dwelled after they founded this new country. Some believe that they went on to establish the town of Michel Delving in the Westfarthing, whereas others claim that they remained in the Marish region of the Easfarthing. Whilst they had travelled with a great many hobbits from Bree-land, many others who were spread across foreign lands caught word of this new haven for hobbit-kind founded by Marcho and Blanco. In time it is said that all hobbits from across the distant parts of the world had found their way to the Shire – except for those who remained in the Bree-lands.
Marcho and Blanco, although sparse in terms of solid records, are certainly important to all hobbits. For they were the first to step into the country that we call home, for all things require a beginning – good or bad. Without the leadership of these two brothers who boldly set out from their own home to find one for all, our people would be scattered across terrains that are now unknown to us. Genealogical records at the time are also rather lacking at the time, and the descendants of Marcho and Blanco are not recorded. What I would guess is that other leading figures in the Shire throughout history can be traced back to these two. I am fairly certain that Bucca of Marish, who shall be written of next, is descended from the brothers, which means that the Brandybuck family can too claim them as an ancestor.
Today, a large statue honouring the two brothers can be found in the centre of Michel Delving - though many do not realise that it is Marcho and Blanco who are commemorated there.
