Peregrin Took as Merry, was his cousin; another good friend was Frodo Baggins. 'Peregrin' means 'traveller in strange countries'. Pippin indeed saw much more of Middle-earth than most Hobbits: he journeyed with Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, and fought in the War of the Ring. Late in life he travelled again to the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor. Pippin's hair colour is mentioned as "almost golden" in "The History of Middle-earth", vol. IX, "Sauron Defeated", through the eyes of Pippin Gamgee. In the later drafts of this same section Tolkien omitted this statement, leaving the reader to envisage Pippin's appearance.
Batman (military) number called "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman", which went Top 5 in the UK. Despite a title that baffled most Americans (who no doubt were thinking of the other Batman), the tune hit number 20 on the "Billboard" charts. J. R. R. Tolkien took the relationship of his characters Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins from his observations while in military service during World War I of the relationship between a batman and his officer. In the musical film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", Caractacus Potts's father was Lord Scrumptious's batman. In the television series "Downton Abbey", Lord Grantham's valet, Mr Bates,