[Saraphim]

Perhaps it isn't that hobbits are innately liars or truthful, it is just as I said earlier. That hobbits are like humans in all but size. Humans lie, some more than others.

If I had been in Bilbo's place, I would have probably lied about the Ring when I was first questioned. That doesn't mean that I am a pathological liar, any more than it makes Bilbo or any other hobbit.

If they did indeed send archers, perhaps they were, like mentioned before, simply overlooked.

If they did not, well then, they were lying. But this doesn't make the Shire full of thieves and liars. It makes whoever wrote the book or spread the rumor a liar, or perhaps he just had bad information. Maybe the troop of archers got halfway and chickened out, or got killed, or just came back and never told anyone.