Brandybuck Clan Thainship then passed to the Took clan. Gorhendad took the surname Brandybuck, and began delving the dwelling of Brandy Hall. The village of "Bucklebury", and the settlement of Buckland, grew up round the hall. Buckland technically lay beyond the boundary of the Shire, which was defined by the Brandywine river, and constituted a semi-independent colony ruled by the Master. The Bucklanders were considered 'odd folk' by the other Hobbits of the Shire because they were comfortable with boats and because they locked their doors at night (due to the proximity of the Old Forest). They also preserved words and names
Samwise Gamgee local character, an old man who used to go about swapping gossip and weather-wisdom and such like. To amuse my children I named him Gaffer Gamgee... The choice of Gamgee was primarily directed by alliteration; but I did not invent it. It was caught out of childhood memory, as a comic word or name. It was in fact the name when I was small (in Birmingham) for 'cotton-wool'. (Hence the association of the Gamgees with the Cottons.) I knew nothing of its origin." Tolkien claimed to be genuinely surprised when, in March 1956, he received a letter from one Sam