Brandybucks
The Oldbuck clan, those descendants of Bucca of the Marish, held the office of Thain for over twelve generations between 379 and 740. The Marish, a boggy yet fertile region of the Eastfarthing, which was also the birthplace of their ancestor Bucca, was the ancestral home of this family for over three centuries. They were, as the name might suggest, the oldest clan in the Shire. Some genealogists have claimed that Bucca was descended from Marcho and Blanco, the brothers who founded the Shire. For reasons that are debated among scholars, Gorhendad Oldbuck abdicated the thainship and departed the Shire. With his people, Gorhendad founded the country of Buckland on the eastern banks of the Brandywine River. H family was thereafter called the Brandybucks, in honour of the river and their oldest ancestor.
Gorhendad and his descendants, although no longer Thains, now became the Masters of Buckland. The Brandy Hall of Bucklebury, first excavated by Gorhendaded and subsequently expanded by his descendants, serves as the seat of the family. Bucklebury, the chief village of Buckland, is predominantly populated by Brandybucks. All of Buckland recognises the authority of the Master of the Brandy Hall, as do many farmers still living in the Marish region of the Shire. Their shared heritage has led many in the Marish to consider themselves closer to the Brandy Hall than they do to Tuckborough (in more than a geographical sense).
Despite their great esteem throughout Buckland and parts of the Eastfarthing, the Brandybucks (and indeed most Bucklanders) are considered rather queer in the Shire. They are, unfortunately, prone to adventuring and other mischief such as boating in the Brandywine River. Given that they live in such close proximity to the Old Forest, many hobbits are uneasy at the thought of Brandybucks going about their day living in its shadow. Many consider the forest to be haunted, or worse.
