Chapter 37: Standing Witness for the Groom

1 Lithe, S.R. 1324

It was the daylight that awakened Bilbo, coming as it did from a completely different location than he was used to; come to think of it, his feet were pointing in the wrong direction as well. He slowly opened his eyes and remembered: he was in his guestroom at Oldsmials, in the village of Upper Leafham, in the Southfarthing, and tomorrow Siggy and Malva were being wed and he had a lot to do, since he was standing witness for the groom!

He hopped out of bed and began his morning ablutions, washing up, getting dressed and combing his head and feet. Then he went across the hall to the closed door directly opposite, and knocked firmly. "I'm already awake, Bilbo," called Siggy's voice. "Come in."

Siggy was almost dressed; he stood in shirt, breeches and braces, and was just finishing up combing his toes. Bilbo waited while his cousin slipped into his weskit and jacket, and the two headed towards the main dining room of Oldsmials. The room was already milling with hobbits: those who lived there, guests, and servants. Unlike the dining room at the Great Smials, with its high table for the Thain's family and the long tables for others and the tables set aside for tweens and children, this room was filled with many smaller round tables which would seat at most six. All the tables were the same, though by tradition the center table was set aside for The Hornblower and immediate family. Most of the families ate together, children and tweens as well, save for those who were so young as to still be in the nursery. Guests usually sat with the persons who had invited them, but on an occasion like this where there were many guests of no one in particular, they sat wherever they could. The Hornblower table was empty, for the family was breakfasting in private. However, Bilbo spotted Adalgrim and Periwinkle at a table on their own. He and Siggy loaded their plates at the sideboard and went over to join their cousin and his wife.

"Good morning, Bilbo, Sigismond," said Periwinkle. She looked more relaxed than Bilbo had seen her in a long while; perhaps that was due to them leaving the children with her older brother and his family while they had journeyed to the wedding in the Southfarthing.

" 'Morning, cousins," Adalgrim greeted them. "Oh, good! I see you got some of those sausages! They've got bits of apple in them. So, what are the plans for the day?"

Siggy made an incoherent mumble, as he had just taken a bite of the sausage. Bilbo had yet to put anything in his mouth, so he answered: "I've got to do a number of things. The main one is keeping the groom away from the bride."

"Silly tradition!" exclaimed Siggy, having swallowed his food. "I can't think why they do it!"

"It's the tradition here in the Southfarthing," Bilbo reminded him, "and as they think seeing the bride the day before the wedding is as unlucky as bringing a gift to the wedding, you'd do well to stick by it! Even if you don't think it bad luck, your future in-laws do." Bilbo's tone was firm and slightly impatient. He and Siggy had already had this conversation several times.

Siggy sighed, and took a bite of his eggs, and for a while they ate quietly except for the occasional word of appreciation for the food.

"I'll be helping with the preparations for tomorrow," said Periwinkle, "as well as the bride's party this evening."

Bilbo looked at Adalgrim. "If I leave the groom in your charge this morning, can you keep the two of you out of trouble until elevenses?"

"Oi!" Siggy exclaimed indignantly. Bilbo ignored him.

Adalgrim opened his mouth to reply when Periwinkle said. "He can and will keep the both of them out of trouble, Bilbo." She fixed her husband with a gimlet eye.

Adalgrim nodded meekly and asked, "What will you be doing Bilbo?"

"I have to deliver the Marriage Contract to Mistress Ermintrude, and then speak to the other witnesses and make sure all of them have arrived. I thought after elevenses, we could pick up a hamper for lunch and then perhaps spend some time on the links, until time to get ready for the groom's party." Bilbo was not especially excited about golf, though he played passingly well, but he knew that both his Took cousins were. They'd been thrilled to discover the estate boasted a small course.

Unlike weddings at the Great Smials or in Hobbiton, where the groom's party was held at an inn or tavern, at Oldsmials (which was sufficiently distant from any inn or tavern to make that impractical) the bride's party took over the smial the night before the wedding, while the groom's friends took over the large grounds behind the smial, where there was much cooking over open fires and a good deal of consumption of ale. Both parties began at teatime and continued until the Moon set.

Siggy and Adalgrim both found the plan agreeable, so when they had finished first breakfast, Bilbo left the others and went back to his room to fetch the Marriage Lines. It had been his job to pick it up from the famous calligrapher in Waymeet and bring it to the wedding. Master Heron had placed it in a long leather tube for safekeeping, and Bilbo brought it forth from beneath his bed, and made his way to the Family wing.

Mistress Ermintrude Hornblower, widow of Tobold IV, and great-aunt of the bride, was the current Head of the Hornblowers, and a formidable Family Head she was*. Bilbo was ushered in to her presence by a maidservant. With her were her sons Tobold V and Tobias, Malva's father Hubald, and Grimauld Took (who was a cousin of Bilbo and one of the Took family lawyers). They would look over the contract to be sure there were no errors.

Bilbo took it from the case and laid it out upon a large table there in the sitting room. It was a beautiful document with a large floral border and gilt capitals. He sat down in an armchair out of the way, while everyone else studied the document carefully. He was pleased to see Tobias there, as he was one of the seven witnesses.

Three of seven on the scene: himself, Adalgrim and Tobias. He knew Uncles Isembras and Isengar were due to arrive sometime today. Now he had to locate the bride's maternal cousin, Ardo Longbottom and her brother Magnus. He glanced up to see Mistress Ermintrude rolling the contract up an returning it to its case. She smiled at him. "Would you care to join us for second breakfast, Mr. Baggins?"

He gave an appreciative sniff of the delightful smells coming from the private dining room and accepted with alacrity.

Afterwards, his next stop was the set of rooms which were being used by the bride's family, and the main reason he had wished for Siggy to remain with Adalgrim; after all, it would not do if Malva happened to be there when Bilbo went to check on her brother Magnus and her cousin Ardo Longbottom. It was as well. Malva was indeed in the sitting room with her mother when Bilbo was admitted, and she paled at the sight of him until he assured her that her groom was not nearby. Both Magnus and Ardo were there and still willing and able to witness the wedding.

Bilbo spoke with them briefly. "Don't overindulge at the groom's party!" he laughed as he left them to go find his cousins. Only his uncles had yet to arrive. If they had not come by the time of the party, he would need to find two substitutes. He began going over the guests he had seen and wondering who might do.

He found Siggy and Adalgrim awaiting him on the wide veranda that spanned the front of the hill. Siggy had a hamper from the kitchens with a bottle of cold tea, fruit and sandwiches. Though none of them had brought clubs, there was a hut near the links where spare clubs for guests were kept. They played four holes before stopping to sit beneath a tree and eat their meal. Deciding it was too hot to continue, they played the same four holes back to the start, and returned the clubs to the hut. It was still too early to get ready for the party, but they wandered back towards the Ismial/I in a desultory fashion. As they neared the hole, they saw a familiar coach pull up.

Bilbo heaved a sigh of relief, and crossed his uncles off his list.

x0x0x0x

The party that evening was not as rowdy as some groom's night parties Bilbo had attended. There was plenty of food-platters of fried fish, a whole pig had been roasting in a pit most of the day, potatoes roasted in their jackets, flatbread baked in the embers, and vegetables cooked in shovels over the coals. The ale flowed like water; but not for Bilbo, who managed to nurse just one the whole evening. He kept an eagle eye on Siggy, and cut the groom off at three.

"Three? It takes a lot more than three ales to get me drunk!" was the indignant response.

"Think about Malva. Think about tomorrow." That cut Siggy's complaints off neatly.

With all the females attending the bride's party there was no dancing, but there was plenty of singing, many of the songs of a sort that would not have been at all approved of had any wives or mothers been there to hear. But when the moon set and the servants began dowsing the fires the hobbits began making their way to the smial. Some indeed were left slumbering beneath the tables.

Bilbo made sure none of them were witnesses for the wedding.

x0x0x0x

2 Lithe, S.R. 1324

In the large open pavilion set on the wide expanse of green lawn, Mistress Ermintrude stood to the left of the table on which the Marriage Lines had been placed, along with the bottle of red ink and the quill a green candle in a silver candlestick burned at one side of the contract. Siggy and Bilbo stood on the other side. Siggy's hands were firmly clasped behind his back, but his nervousness showed in the way he was slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Then there was the collective sigh from the guests as the bride and her witness came forth. Malva was clad in a pale green frock, and was crowned with summer flowers. Her sister Melinda wore lavender.

Mistress Ermintrude cleared her throat as the two lasses stopped in front of her."I have before me two hobbits who have come with a petition of marriage. Who will vouch for them?"

Bilbo stood forth. "I am Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of Hobbiton. I present Sigismond Took, a hobbit of Tuckborough, known to me as a hobbit of good character, who is of age, with no reasons why he should not be wed." He reached to his side and gave Siggy a slight push forward.

"I am Melinda Hornblower, a hobbitess of Upper Leafham. I present Malva Hornblower, a hobbitess of Upper Leafham, known to me as a hobbitess of good character, who is of age, with no reasons why she should not be wed."

"Sigismond Took, is it your intent to wed Malva Hornblower, of your own free will?"

"It is," Siggy's voice was slightly high-pitched, but it was firm enough.

"Malva Hornblower, is it your intent to wed Sigismond Took, of your own free will?"

"Yes," Malva looked her great-aunt firmly in the eye. Mistress Ermintrude allowed herself the tiniest of smiles.

"Malva Hornblower and Sigismond Took, you have declared before witnesses your intent to wed. The duties of marriage are to honour and support one another; the blessings of marriage are to love and respect one another. These duties and these blessings are meant to last for a lifetime. Are you prepared to take on these tasks, through such joys and sorrows as may in time come to you?"

"Yes, we are!"

Mistress Ermintrude now allowed herself a real smile. "This is the happiest of occasions, not simply because two great families are uniting, but because two young people have learned to know their own minds, and more importantly their own hearts. They have found they are better together than apart, and they already know how to overcome their own tempers in order to stay together. In that, they are perhaps, ahead of many newlyweds. Malva and Sigismond, may your blessings be many, may your sorrows be few, and may you never lose the delight of making up after life's inevitable quarrels!" Most of the guests laughed, for all there knew of their tempestuous courtship.

"Would the designated witnesses step forward: Bilbo Baggins, Isembras Took IV, Isengar Took, Adalgrim Took, Tobias Hornblower, Magnus Hornblower, and Ardo Longbottom."

The quill was taken up first by the groom and then the bride. Malva handed it to Bilbo and he wrote his name with a flourish, passing the quill on to Uncle Isembras. Once all the witnesses had signed, Mistress Ermintrude signed at the bottom, then she dripped wax from the candle at one corner and firmly pressed her signet ring upon it.

"With the signing of this document, and by my authority as Head of the Hornblower family, I now declare these two hobbits are husband and wife." She looked at the couple, who were staring into one another's eyes. "Well," she hissed, "aren't you going to kiss?"

Watching as his friend kissed his bride very thoroughly, Bilbo wondered would such a day ever come for him?

x0x0x0x

*Author's Note: According to JRRT's Letter #214 the widow of a Family Head would become the Family Head in his place for her lifetime. In my Shire fanon, she has the option of passing the responsibility on to her oldest son (if he is of age) if she does not wish to carry on as Family Head. But during Bilbo's youth it was most common for her to keep to the tradition.