The Gamgees

[e.Blackstar]

So, really, what is the relation of the Gamgees to the Bagginses? Someone mentioned in another thread that Bilbo (through his parents) may own the houses on Bagshot Row, and that the Gaffer and Samwise may be his tenants. At other points they are his gardeners, but I don't recall that it's ever explictly laid out. However, it's clear that in the beginning of 'Fellowship', even Merry and Pippin have a master-servant attitude towards Sam (ie when they are trekking to Crickhollow and Pippin "chides" Sam about not having drawn water for them one morning). Is it strictly a class thing (which then raises the question of Hobbit classes, though we do know that B was considered somewhat of an aristocrat even before his Adventure)? Or are the Gamgees truly indebted to the Bagginses in some way?

Discuss.


ETA: Some of the special features on TTT talk about Frodo and Sam's relationship as being similar to that of a military officer and his batman, respectively. What do we think of that?

 

[FeyFeaofFeanor]

This is from "A Long Expected Party" of The Fellowship of the Ring.

No one had a more attentive audience than old Ham Gamgee, commonly known as the Gaffer. He held forth at The Ivy Bush, a small inn on the Bywater road; and he spoke with some authority, for he had tended the garden at Bag End for forty years, and had helped old Holman in the same job before that. Now that he was himself growing old and stiff in the joints, the job was mainly carried on by his youngest son, Sam Gamgee. Both father and son were on very friendly terms with Bilbo and Frodo. They lived on the Hill itself, in Number 3 Bagshot Row just below Bag End.

It was stated that Gaffer was Bilbo's gardener, and that Sam had taken over his father's job. How Gaffer and Bilbo became acquainted we do not know yet.

 

[Starflower]

Well... if we count back, Bilbo was in his fifties at the time of the Hobbit. If Gaffer had been tending the gardens at Bag End for forty years, and apprenticed to his 'Uncle' Holman before that... fair assumption is that Holman came to Bag End when it was built. It seems logical that he would have lived at Bagshot Row at the time, and Gaffer moved his young family in when Holman died or something. The Gaffer's father was a roper in Tighfield, so they definitely would not have lived in Hobbiton.

I think the Gamgees are not indebted to Bilbo and Frodo in any other way than any smallholder is indebted to the lord of the manor. They probably lived at Bagshot Row rent-free, in exchange for their work as gardeners. Frodo and Sam were maybe closer than was the norm, especially Frodo seems to have been keen to keep things quite informal between them.

 

[Bucky]

Excellent reply Starflower....

The only thing I can add is that Blackstar says 'Bilbo MAY own bagshot row'......

In the first chapter of the Hobbit, in the first several pages, it is clearly stated that:

'Bilbo's father built 'the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (Beladonna Took, Bilbo's mother) {and partly with her money -Tolkien} that was to be found either under the Hill or across the Water, and there they remained to the end of their days.'

So, naturally Bilbo inherited what his parents owned as their only child.
So, yes he owned Bagshot Row, or at least the part he lived in.

Not enough info is given to figure out the rest, but what Starbrow says seems to make sense.