༄ Of Fallohides and Stoors ༄ 

Winibert "Berty" Boggs is the only son of Winibald Boggs and Amarilla Mirecott. Through his father, he is descended down a long line of Fallohides, most of whom have lived for many generations in the village of Frogmorton in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. Here they made a name for themselves as willow weavers of some skill. Using willow withies that they harvested in winter from their garden of willows, they made baskets, chairs, walking sticks, wreaths and more. It became a profitable business, and through it they earned some standing in the Shire. 

It wasn't until Winibert's great-great-grandfather Winifred Boggs married Berylla of the Bolgers that they started to earn their seat at the gentlehobbit table. Through this marriage, the Boggs attained not only kinship with the wealthy Bolger line, but also the necessary support to expand their business, becoming what one would call 'new money'. They bought up more land around Frogmorton and built a new hobbit hole to accommodate their larger family. Winibert's grandfather Winigar eventually decided to use some of their land for the building of several hobbit holes for renting on Brookbank street. This secured a new line of income for the Boggses who rose to gentlehobbit status. To the older families of the Shire, however, they remained a family of lesser import. Even the Bolgers — with whom the Boggses claim kinship — still thought them queer and uncouth. Being thus looked upon by the Bolgers, Winigar sought a wife south of the Water in Tuckborough. He married Begonia of the Tooks and henceforth claimed kinship with two affluent families. When Winigar died, his only son Winibald came into his inheritance and became the new landlord of the hobbit holes on Brookbank street.

Winibald was less known for being a respectable landowner, nor indeed a skilled tradesman, but more for being a notorious glutton. Whenever the Messenger Service was in need of voluntary postmen, he would be the first to volunteer. He would invite himself into people's homes while delivering their mail and coax them into sharing anything from their pantry. Some hobbits went as far as to put locks on their doors just to keep Winibald out.

This same notorious behaviour eventually brought Amarilla Mirecott, Winibert's mother, onto his path. He met her at a farmer's market in Stock while visiting the Golden Perch for a beer — oh yes, he was no stranger to walking miles just for a pint of ale. Amarilla was selling her parents' produce at a stand when he came strolling over. It is said that he fell for her mushrooms first and courted her after just so he could get his greedy hands on more.

Amarilla Mirecott is much less voracious when it comes to the dinner table. She hails from a more prudent family who live in the Marish, not far south from Stock and about 3 miles West from the Causeway. She is the daughter of Eladac Mirecott and Anemonia Puddifoot, two hard-working farmers from Stoor ancestors. They live a quiet life in their hedge-enclosed farm, growing mushrooms, turnips, and blackberries. While not quite as well-to-do as the Boggses, they are nonetheless a respected bunch, or at least in the Marish. Folk north of the Water think them queer. 

Winibald's own parents were far from amused at the prospect of seeing their son take up with someone from the Marish, having worked so hard to be reckoned among the Shire's more influential families. But Winibald could not be swayed, and whether it was the promise of endless servings of mushrooms or seeing fair Amarilla again, he eventually took it upon himself to move across the Water and settle in the Marish. He quite liked the lay of the land, for it reminded him of Frogmorton, although he found it less easy to traverse.

Winibald and Amarilla married in the summer of 1384 in Shire-reckoning. Less than one year later on May 4, S.R. 1385, Winibert was born.

༄ A Curious Hobbit ༄ 

Unlike the Bolgers or even those of his own family who came before him, Winibert is uncommonly curious. Some would say it is due to "that Stoorish blood he got from his mother's side". Most hobbits north of the river felt like folk south of the river were queer and Berty seemed to them no different. Others would argue that he is simply "cracked like his father." Though he has not yet become such a glutton. More knowledgeable gentlehobbits would attribute it to his Tookish descent through his grandmother Begonia. Tooks are quite adventurous after all.

Despite his oddities, Berty makes friends easily, both north and south of the Water. He is also no stranger when it comes to talking to foreigners like dwarves. And he has even met Elves in the woods as they passed on their way to the Havens in the West. He loves to listen to their stories and songs, even if he is incapable of truly comprehending them. It is this same curiosity that has left him with an obsession over Mad Baggins from Bag End. Ever since the old fool's remarkable dissappearance during his birthday party, Berty has been pondering what actually happened to him. His father tells him plainly not to concern himself with such outlandish affairs. "It's that old conjurer Gandalf. He's always up to no good. Hobbits have no business taking up with the big folk. So don't you go gallivanting where you see that pointy hat of his appear, Winibert. Or he'll make you dissappear too!"

As Berty recently came of age and his grandfather Eladac Mirecott, the head of the Mirecott family, died before producing a male heir, hobbit custom has it that he, being the eldest son of the eldest daughter, is now Eladac's rightful heir. Hence Berty will inherit not only his father's land north of the Water, but also the Mirecott's estate in the Marish. Yet despite his undeniable heritage and wealth, Berty remains a peculiar hobbit.

༄ Of Truffles and Troubles ༄ 

While Berty needs not work the field to earn a livelihood, he takes great delight in farming nonetheless, though he approaches it somewhat whimsically. When he's not trying to grow the largest gourd or breeding the fairest chicken of them all, he's building a hay bale maze to amuse tweens or teaching tricks to a pig. Only when it comes to growing mushrooms is he completely unwavering, ever hoping to outdo the renowned mushrooms of Farmer Maggot who lives down south in Bamfurlong. He also goes out truffle hunting in the Woody End with his trusty hound Snuffles who functions as much as a truffle-seeker as well as a guard dog – though he does neither very well.

It must be said that Berty is not without care. For all who live in the Marish learn to be more wary than their in-land relations. It is for this reason that Berty relies on a hound for a companion and why the fields of his estate are fenced and surrounded by a thick hawthorn hedge that turns white in spring and red in autumn. The ditches dug about his fields are also thick with brambles, serving not only to hinder trespassers but also to furnish Berty with blackberries, of which he is exceedingly fond at elevenses.

"Trouble gives no notice before supper", old Eladac always warned. For the Mirecotts and Puddifoots of whom Berty descends on his mother's side, remember well the Fell Winter of 1311 when white wolves crossed the frozen Brandywine. Among their store of mathoms are still to be found old weapons that saw use in those times, including a club Berty has now inherited from his great-grandfather Adalric Mirecott. Berty grew up on the stories of his great grandfather who smote a great white wolf with one stroke of his club while carrying a torch in the other. It is a figure that has left a profound impression on Berty.