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.
Meriadoc Brandybuck Took (as Sam said at the Field of Cormallen, Merry was three inches taller than he ought to have been). In the Brandybuck family tree as it appeared in the First Edition, the name of Merry's wife was not recorded. In a revision made in 1966, the name of Estella Bolger, sister of Fredegar, was added in this role; the revision was initially made in some editions but not in others, as described in the "Note of the Text" by Douglas Anderson which is prefaced to recent editions. At the same time, Tolkien added Estella to the Took family tree,