Of all the things to come of this Age, the invention of paper is the most welcome development. To see the hobbits make use of this, you would think ink and paper have always been a part of the Shire’s culture. Certainly, only the wealthier hobbits have the time to learn letters, but the ones that do make use of it almost every day. The paper fibre is pressed here in Nobottle from flax grown in Tighfield, which I believe has made the role of postmaster here an important one to this region of the Shire.
I arrived at the village looking for Hubo Clayhanger, a bookkeeper of sorts whom I had been told spent some of the day at the local inn. I had followed the course of the river down from Gamwich south through the forest to Nobottle. Here where the forest of Arassien comes to a sudden end, to be replaced with cleared farmland. The hobbits can hardly be blamed for this, the clearing took place in the time of the Men of Arthedain. In spite of Elendil’s decree of protection.
And then of course you might say my own endeavours at the forest’s other end would not be so different. But I believe in the end that will come to more good than ill. For surely it is better to have an agreement decided between dwarves, hobbits and elves on the care of the groves than to leave them abandoned and forgotten.
Nobottle is somewhat larger than Tighfield or Gamwich, although still a small village. Being closer to the hills than the forests, some of the homes are the infamous ‘hobbit-holes’. These are not buildings of wood or brick but burrowed into the hillside in the manner of the dwarves. It is likely a tradition formed from those times the hobbits hid themselves from the world, and kept more for aesthetic reasons.
Outside the largest of these delvings there was an equally large gathering of villagers who had convened to discuss some new emergency. At first, I was concerned that the troubles at the edges of the Shire may have spread as far as here. But after hearing several long and inconsistent accounts of recent events from the townsfolk I could gather that the danger consisted only of a small company of bureaucratic officials come from down south. Either that, or an army of dwarves were preparing to invade from a place called Needlehole.
For certain, some group of important-seeming hobbits had arrived this morning to ask loudly about unsettling news that had come down to the rest of the Shire. The people of Nobottle were quite confident this was all wild rumour spread by their neighbours, and had said as much to their visitors. And if they had any further questions about the Yonder-watch they had best take them up with the Reeve of Long Cleeve. This seemed to the inhabitants of Nobottle to underscore the importance of having a Reeve, for most complaints from the ‘Hithershire’ could be directed north where most enquirers would choose to return home than take the steep hilly climb. At any rate, it kept such problems out of Nobottle. What had them anxious were other rumours of demands to institute an ‘acting shirrif’ for the Yondershire. The villagers were undecided on whether this was the purpose of the new arrivals, if a new shirrif would be a good or bad thing for the village, and what part outsiders such as dwarves (and now elves) had in all of it.
Now, here I must remind you that when visiting the Shire it is custom to keep a distance from the little folk and their dwellings for they are not used to dealing with larger peoples. Another reason, as I soon discovered, is that however big their buildings may seem from outside, they are not built to accommodate those of taller height. The Fox and the Fiddle was even more crowded inside than it was without, which naturally made it yet more difficult to move around. I did manage to overhear Mr Clayhanger at a table engaged in the same discussion as the rest of the townsfolk.
On the walk to his home he strongly recommended to me a copy of ‘The Travelers Guide to the Inns of the Shire’ so that I might be more familiar with such establishments in future. To which I acquiesced, if only so that I might never have to enter one in person again.
