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I think a good deal of the pipeweed mentioned had to do with the fact that Tolkien equated hobbits with some groups of people who dwelt in Kentucky. They actually did, in some more backwards areas, have names like Baggins, Proudfoot, and the like! They grow "pipeweed" a lot, and they live simple lives.
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Wow,
Knight! I've never heard this before! I was of the opinion that Tolkien was largely uninformed about most doings in the U.S.. I wonder how many Bubba Bagginses there were? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] (I live in VERY rural Tennessee, where many of the same conditions apply as in Kentucky, but I don't know any Bagginses...they're all up in Kentucky, er...Hobbiton!) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Perhaps the hobbits were also well known for the brewing of ales, uh...moonshine!
Myself, I think that the idea of country living is, in many particulars, universal, and gentlemen from Kentucky would get on nicely with gentlemen from the countryside around Birmingham (not necessarily the one in Alabama!) I like to think of the Tooks as hillbillies, myself, but that's just my own conceit. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
Cheers,
Lyta, Hillbilly Hobbit
P.S. Anyone ever read a letter Tolkien received from a Mr. Sam Gamgee? Funny how these things happen!