When Gormbard returned to the Mathom House Baldwin was overjoyed at getting the book but when Gormbard mentioned the other Hobbits his mood changed drastically.
It appeared that the Hobbits in the Thain's library belonged to a group of Mathom hunters and these Mathom Hunters had caused Master Foxtail a good deal of trouble of the years. Unlike the Mathom House, which displayed all it's finding for the whole Shire to appreciate, this group set about to find their own Mathoms and keep them at their Hall in the village of Songburrow. Master Foxtail had lost a great amount of Mathoms to this group and this had meant that important links and clues to the Shires history could not be studied at the Mathom House.
Master Foxtail paced the room looking quite worried; he was convinced that they had been in the library looking for the same book. He had a large amount of Mathoms dating back to the Battle of The Greenfields and he did not want the exhibits spoiled because items were missing. Then he turned to Gormbard thanked him again for getting the book first and that he could take a day or two off whilst it was studied.
Gormbard spent a day or two out and about walking to Little Delving, to see the view over the waterfall. He also spent some time in Hobbiton, which was almost as big as Michel Delving but a little more rural. It did however have a couple of good Inns, the most popular of which was called The Green Dragon. It was at this Inn that Gormbard noticed a flyer pinned to the bar advertising a local group of musicians called the Songburrow Strollers. Gormbard stared at the small picture below and instantly recognized one of the Hobbits from the Great Smials a few days ago. He quickly pulled the note off the bar and tucked it into one of his cloaks pockets and headed back to Michel Delving.
Master Foxtail was very interested in the flyer. He had heard of the musicians but now he had proof that at least one of them was a member of the Mathom Hunters, maybe even all of them. What better cover for their clandestine activities than a traveling group of musicians. The location for their next event was in Buckland. Master Foxtail told Gormbard to go to the event and see if he could find out anything more.
Gormbard decided to stop off at The Golden Perch as he passed and as he arrived he saw a great line of ponies in the stables and a good many folk entering the Inn. Inside The Golden Perch was full; a big crowd had turned up to see the musicians even a few dwarves were there. Gormbard quickly spotted two of the rogue Mathom Hunters as he made his way through the crowd to the bar. The Innkeeper instantly recognised Gormbard and asked if he wanted to join the rest of the regulars in the private snug. Gormbard declined and pulled up a stool on the end of the bar. The evening passed off with out anything significant happening. The crowd did get a little boisterous, one of the dwarves had to be carried out by one of his friends and at one point the Bounders had to eject another Hobbit for disturbing the peace. The Hobbits he had recognized as the ones from the library were joined by more of their friends throughout the night but other than that there was nothing note worthy to report.
On the day of the Songburrow Strollers concert Gormbard made his way across the Brandywine Bridge early to check out the route to and from Buckland. The Buckland gate was surprisingly well guarded but Gormbard found a way round where the hedge met the river. The location for concert was in an exposed hilltop ruin and there was next to no cover for Gormbard to remain hidden so he decided to use the expected large crowd as his cover and quickly changed his clothing to blend in with some of the local fishermen. Again a large crowd turned up this time there were Men as well as Dwarves in attendance. The Strollers arrived and played a long set that went down well with the crowd; some of the same faces that had been at the Golden Perch were there on the front row. The rest of the concert went without event; Gormbard did how ever give into some of his old ways, when he found he was low on pipeweed. It was quite amusing to see a nearby Dwarf crawling around trying to find the pouch of pipeweed that he was he must have dropped and was now surely being crushed by bouncing Hobbit feet. As Gormbard lit his now full pipe the Strollers made an announcement that they would be traveling to Bree. Gormbard was sure that they were defiantly up to something now as the Strollers had never before left the Shire. But he was also filled with trepidation, he knew Master Foxtail would want him to follow them to Bree but Gormbard would have to run the risk of coming face to face with both the Lowbanks and the Town Watch.
