Of Fallohides and Stoors

Baldawin "Baldy" Gobbs-Bolger is the only son of Adalbald Bolger and Amarilla Gobbs. Through his father, he is descended down a long line of well-to-do Fallohides who have ever lived and farmed north of the Water in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. Baldawin's grandfather Balderic Bolger married Begonia of the Tooks. Through this marriage he attained the necessary wealth to buy land around Budgeford, on which he built several hobbit holes for renting. When Balderic died, Adalbald came into his inheritance and became the new landlord.

But Adalbald was less known for being a respectable landowner and 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 Adalbald out.

This same notorious behaviour eventually brought Amarilla, Baldawin's mother, onto his path. He met her at a farmer's market in Stock while visiting the Golden Perch for a beer - 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 Gobbs - bless her - 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. She is the daughter of Eladac Gobbs and Anemonia Morcott, 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 Bolgers, they are nonetheless a respected bunch, or at least in the Marish. Folk north of the Water think them queer. 

Adalbald's own parents were not at all amused with the prospects of seeing their son taking up with someone from the Marish. But Adalbald 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 had spent a good sum on a cottage located on the northern end of that land, not far south to a bend of the Stockbrook river. Here he decided to start his own family.

Adalbald and Amarilla married in the summer of 1384 in Shire-reckoning. Less than one year later, in the spring of 1385, Baldawin was born.

A Curious Hobbit

Unlike most Bolgers, Baldy is uncommonly curious. Some would say it is due to "that Stoorish blood of his". Most of the Bolgers felt like folk south of the river were queer and Baldy 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 as his old gaffer. More knowledgeable gentlehobbits would attribute it to his Tookish descent through his grandmother Begonia. Tooks are quite adventurous after all.

Despite his oddities, Baldy makes friends easily, both North and South of the Water. He is also no stranger when it comes to talking to dwarves and he has even met Elves as they passed on their way to the Havens in the West. He loves to listen to their stories, even if he is incapable of truly comprehending their importance. 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, Baldy 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, Baldawin. Or he'll make you dissappear too!"

As Baldawin recently came of age and his grandfather Eladac Gobbs, the head of the Gobbs 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. In such cases, hobbit custom also dictates that the heir carries both the name of his mother as well as his father. Hence, Baldawin is the first of the Gobbs-Bolger line and will inherit not only his father's land north of the Water, but also the Gobbs' farm estate in the Marish. Yet despite his apparent heritage and wealth, Baldawin is still considered an outsider of less prestige among the Bolgers.