Written in golden ink, but who read it?

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Hail and Well Met, Kalimac.

* bows an introductory greeting, offers you a pinch of Longbottom Leaf for your smoking pleasure * Anyone who shares my own deep appreciation for all things Hobbit I like to consider an automatic friend. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Perhaps this information may be helpful. In any case, I find it intriguing.

Now the Fallohides, being somewhat less shy and more worldly than the other breeds, had learned the art of writing from the Dunedain, and in this, as in many other things, they were the first among Hobbits, so it should not be surprising that the Fallohide strain was well represented in the choice of the messengers. But when the messengers going forth into the land came upon scattered groups of Hobbits living in holes in the riverbanks or in hollow trees, and read to them from the scrolls, they found that they were asked to read the messages over and over again, so keen were these Hobbits to hear the words of their estranged kindred. And so it was that the wandering hobbits gladly forsook the wilderness and came to The Shire, welcomed by their kindred, and were there free to make their living as circumstances and their inclinations dictated. As it happened, the three sorts of Hobbits tended towards different sorts of livelihoods, so there was little tendency towards friction between them, and a great advantage in the diversity of talents. Once the Stoors and Harfoots realized the advantages of reading and writing, schools were established and they learned quickly; within a mere hundred years or so they became nearly as proficient as their Fallohide teachers.

This proffered explanation hails from the following website, which to my mind offers a goodly, whimsical wealth of information on Hobbit anthropology and culture:
http://www.shirepost.com/HistoryPractice.html

This website also gives quite a fascinating historical account of the development of the messenger service / postal service in the Shire.

At your Service,

Gandalf the Grey

[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]