The daughter of Malwin Mugwort and Geraldine Sorrelfoot (of the Bree-land Sorrelfeet), Miriabel considers herself quite a well-travelled hobbit, having visited her grandparents in Bree-town on many occasions. She used to spend much of her time running around the woods of Buckland and enjoying herself (though occasionally doing an the odd forestry job or two for the grand Brandybuck household), but when she reached the age of majority (33) her father eventually decided that she wasn't doing enough to learn an honest trade. The easy-going Malwin and Geraldine lacked the forcefulness to instill any discipline in their tearaway daughter, and began to despair. Eventually, despite certain reservations due to a family argument, they packed her off to the village of Berrybridge in the south-west of the Shire, to live with her uncle Mallard and become an apprentice to his onion-selling business. She is not best pleased with this arrangement, and expends an inordinate amount of effort trying to avoid doing any work! As for her uncle, he considers her a drain on his resources and a thorn in his side, and as such expends a lot of energy in trying to marry her off to the first rich hobbit who is willing to take her off his hands.