Crickhollow

Crickhollow is a small, secluded house in Buckland, the strip of land between the Brandywine River and the Old Forest. It lies some distance from Bucklebury, in a quiet corner of the country, and was built long ago by the Brandybuck family as a retreat for guests or members wishing to escape the crowded life of Brandy Hall. The house is old-fashioned and countrified, as much like a hobbit-hole as possible: long and low, with no upper storey, a roof of turf, round windows, and a large round door. It stands back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn, surrounded by a belt of low trees inside an outer hedge, making it easy to enter and leave without being noticed.

Frodo's Cover and the Conspiracy

Frodo Baggins, having decided to leave the Shire, buys Crickhollow with the help of Meriadoc Brandybuck, pretending that he intends to settle there permanently. The decision to set out eastwards suggests the idea to him, for Buckland is on the eastern borders of the Shire, and his childhood there makes the story credible. To all but his closest friends, he gives out that he is moving to Buckland because his money is running out. The house is furnished with many of Frodo's own favourite things, or Bilbo's things, arranged as nearly as possible as they had been at Bag End, making it a pleasant, comfortable, welcoming place. Frodo wishes he were really coming there to settle down in quiet retirement, but he knows he must leave his friends and continue his journey. His four young friends—Merry, Pippin, Samwise Gamgee, and Fredegar Bolger—have, however, formed a conspiracy. They have known of Frodo's plans for some time and have prepared everything, including five ponies stabled across the fields, and stores and tackle already packed. They reveal their knowledge to Frodo on the night he arrives, insisting that they will not let him face the danger alone. Frodo, deeply moved, finally agrees to accept their company.

The Night Attack and the Alarm

After Frodo and his companions depart into the Old Forest, Fatty Bolger remains behind at Crickhollow to keep up the pretence that Mr. Baggins is still living there. He has even brought some of Frodo's old clothes to help him play the part. On the night of the attack, a feeling of fear grows on him all day, and he is unable to rest. As he peers out into the gloom, a black shadow moves under the trees, and the gate seems to open of its own accord. Terror seizes him, and he shuts and locks the door. Three black figures enter the garden and stand like shadows at the door and the corners of the house. In the cold hour before dawn, a drawn blade gleams, and a blow shudders the door. A voice commands, "Open, in the name of Mordor!" At a second blow, the door yields and falls back, its timbers burst and lock broken. The black figures pass swiftly in. But Fatty Bolger has not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes, he ran out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reaches the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapses on the doorstep, crying that enemies are in Buckland. The Brandybucks blow the Horn-call of Buckland, which has not been sounded for a hundred years. Far away, answering horns are heard, and the alarm spreads. The black figures flee from the house, one of them letting fall a hobbit-cloak on the step as he runs. They ride like a gale to the North-gate, knowing that the house is empty and the Ring has gone. They ride down the guards at the gate and vanish from the Shire.