Chapter Three
Gorhendad Oldbuck
Gorhendad is a name that, much like those written about in the previous two chapters, has simply been forgotten by many today. It may well be down to the long years that separate his life and our own. But in my view, he is forgotten by many because it was he who left the Shire. No, he did not leave to seek adventure and riches as some have over the years, but rather to establish another settlement of his own – Buckland.
Gorhendad was a descendant of Bucca of the Marish, and as a result inherited the title and role of Thain. When the thainship came to Gorhendad, he was the twelfth in the Oldbuck ‘line’. Like his ancestors, Gorhendad lived and ruled in the Marish, close to the banks of the Brandywine. At this time, however, the thainship was becoming more nominal. The office was established out of necessity, or even emergency, but now over three hundred years had passed. The thoughts of a King returning were forgotten. Hobbits had also by this time founded settlements across the Four Farthings and other leaders and chiefs led their own communities. However, Gorhendad was still considered to be the authority in the Marish – the traditional residence of the Oldbuck Thains.
What Gorhendad is remembered for is his crossing of the Brandywine River and abdication of his thainship. It is strange to think that over seven hundred years before this, the hobbits led by Marcho and Blanco had crossed the Brandywine River westwards. But now Gorhendad crossed eastwards to the eastern banks of the river. Many historians have debated why exactly Gorhendad did such a thing. What is generally agreed is that the Eastfarthing, particularly the Marish, was becoming overpopulated which of course leads to many problems such as starvation and lack of living space. So Gorhendad, in the year 740, crossed the Brandywine Bridge and established the independent country of Buckland. In doing so, he forsook his thainship which passed to Isumbras Took the First who was elected in the same year. From then until this very day, the Thain has always been a Took.
Gorhendad led his family across the Brandywine Bridge and they claimed the land southwards which stretched many miles down the river. It was bordered on the east by the Old Forest – an ominous place, and on the west by the Brandywine River. In the centre of his new land, Gorhendad and his family began to excavate the Brandy Hall on Buck Hill. He was named Master of Buckland and unlike in the Shire to the east, he was the sole authority in this country. That is another reason that some historians argue: that Gorhendad departed eastwards to consolidate his own power, which was lacking in his thainship. The people of the Marish continued to acknowledge the Master of Buckland as their leader rather than the Tookish Thain, due to the ancestral relationship between the Marish and Gorhendad’s family.
The Oldbuck name ended at Gorhendad, as did many things. His descendants would be renamed as the ‘Brandybucks’ – a name that is familiar to us all today. Gorhendad’s family had always lived close by the Brandywine River (now closer than ever in Buckland), so this change of name is generally attributed to that.
Gorhendad’s own parentage, spouse and children are unknown. No such records exist today, not even within the Brandy Hall. However, all Bucklanders remember his name, even when many Shire-hobbits do not, and consider him to be their ‘great-grandfather’.
