Herblore

(Written by a bard of Rohan, inspired by Merriadoc Brandybuck's talks with king Théoden)

-o-

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,

Gardener thoughtful, in the ground digging,

from sunny Longbottom in the Southfarthing

Called Tobold Hornblower, to Bree he travelled,

Wondered what plants grow there, wanted to see them

Interesting herbs he saw growing up on the hill

Small seeds carried with him back to Southfarthing

Planted them in his garden, from pests protected

With harvest plentiful was he rewarded

Leaves he lay in the sun, left them to dry there

Thinking to make a tea, then try and taste it

But as he brought the leaves to kettle boiling

Some of them slipped on the coals smoldering

As Tobold smelled the smoke, he smiled broadly

Better than boiling them were the leaves burning

He pondered it and fashioned a pipe from prune wood

So he could smoke the leaves, sweet and refreshing

Pipe-weed he called the plant, plenty he planted

Since then the Hobbits hold in high esteem

The art of smoking, by Old Toby discovered.

-o-

A/N: Written for this task of Tolkien Mailing Competition (TLV by the Hungarian acronym):

Topic: a story set in The Shire, starring any known or unknown hobbit character;

Form: serious style, alliterative verse (I know that has a lot of other rules but here all what is expected is to have at least two or three alliterating word in every line).