Tookbank in Tookland
Tookbank was the western stronghold of the Took clan. Isumbras Took, the great Took of the TA 1640ies, had burrowed deep into this ridge line, fortifying it with arrow slits and camouflaged sally ports and murder holes. The Tooks had been in this area for a generation, but Isumbras' continuing quarrels with the Pendle clan to the east and the men of Waymeet and Mich Hollow to the west had led to the construction of this fortification. No men were allowed to come here; such trade as occured between Tooks and non-Hobbits stopped at Whitwell, five miles to the west.
As the centuries passed, Tookland remained firmly in control of the Thains.Tuckburrow, isolated in a valley of the Green-hill Country, grew into a small but successful center for woodworking and pottery. Whitwell, situated on the Redway in the midst of more fertile land, prospered as a market center.Dolwich, on a southern spur of the hills, was situated to sell lumber and granite to anyone in the South- or Westfarthings and also flourished.
Map of Tookbank
Tookbank, the traditional Tookish seat, sat between these three towns and grew content in its grand isolation. "The Took" as the head of the family was called, accepted rents from hundreds of family living in and around the three villages.The clan remained supreme in wealth and influence among the Shire gentry.Its sons and daughters intermarried with old wealth (the Brandybucks) and new (the Baggins) alike.The Mayors of the Shire, who normally adjudicated land disputes among the Shire-commons, had no such authority in Took-land. Only the threat of the Mayor refusing to deliver the mail in his lands forced the Took to listen to him at all.
When Lotho Sackville-Baggins' ruffians arrived in Whitwell and Dolwich in T.A. 3019, the Tooks retreated into the woods and summoned help from the Thain.Ruffian patrols were driven back by showers of arrows when they attempted to scout towards Tookbank, and only the threat of hostage-taking in the occupied villages prevented a general Tookish counterattack. The ruffians continued to use the Redway to pass between Sackville and Waymeet, although they moved in armed parties.Sharkey, as he established himself at Bag End, planned to bring seasoned mercenaries from Tharbad to deal with the Tooks.Thain Paladin Took II, caught off guard by the invasion, was drilling his militia and preparing for a full scale, simultaneous attack against Whitwell, Dolwich, Waymeet, and Hobbiton.Only the quick collapse of Sharkey's regime prevented a larger and bloodier war from breaking out along the Redway that autumn.
The success of Thain Paladin and Thain Peregrin, his son, in dealing with the Steward and other officials of the reborn kingdom of Arnor made the Tooks even more powerful.Great Smials, in the Fourth Age, saw a continuous traffic in Hobbit and Dwarven merchants and lawyers.
Inhabitants[]
About TA 3018/19[]
Other Times[]
Anne Took Boffo Took Isengrim Took I
References[]
- MERP:The Shire