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the scouring of the shire 1325
stay. And more came. And before we knew where we were
they were planted here and there all over the Shire, and were
felling trees and digging and building themselves sheds and
houses just as they liked. At first goods and damage was paid
for by Pimple; but soon they began lording it around and
taking what they wanted.
‘Then there was a bit of trouble, but not enough. Old Will
the Mayor set off for Bag End to protest, but he never got
there. Ruffians laid hands on him and took and locked him
up in a hole in Michel Delving, and there he is now. And
after that, it would be soon after New Year, there wasn’t no
more Mayor, and Pimple called himself Chief Shirriff, or just
Chief, and did as he liked; and if anyone got ‘‘uppish’’ as
they called it, they followed Will. So things went from bad to
worse. There wasn’t no smoke left, save for the Men; and
the Chief didn’t hold with beer, save for his Men, and closed
all the inns; and everything except Rules got shorter and
shorter, unless one could hide a bit of one’s own when the
ruffians went round gathering stuff up ‘‘for fair distribution’’:
which meant they got it and we didn’t, except for the leavings
which you could have at the Shirriff-houses, if you could
stomach them. All very bad. But since Sharkey came it’s been
plain ruination.’
‘Who is this Sharkey?’ said Merry. ‘I heard one of the
ruffians speak of him.’
‘The biggest ruffian o’ the lot, seemingly,’ answered
Cotton. ‘It was about last harvest, end o’ September maybe,
that we first heard of him. We’ve never seen him, but he’s
up at Bag End; and he’s the real Chief now, I guess. All the
ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly: hack,
burn, and ruin; and now it’s come to killing. There’s no
longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let
’em lie, they burn houses and build no more.
‘Take Sandyman’s mill now. Pimple knocked it down
almost as soon as he came to Bag End. Then he brought in
a lot o’ dirty-looking Men to build a bigger one and fill it full
o’ wheels and outlandish contraptions. Only that fool Ted