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Post date: Feb 21, 2014 11:43:39 AM
By Will Whitfoot with comments by Peppy Bristlebrush
Greetings Peppy:
Mr. Maringer forwarded me your mail. I am pleased to meet you. Please allow me to introduce myself as Will Whitfoot, current mayor (as well as postmaster) of The Shire, elected seven times. Please vote for me again next time.
I don't know who could be responsible for gating off the road South... must be those rapscallions down in Sackville again. I shall have to speak to someone next time I am down that way.
But yes of course we'd be pleased to have you use the map. I have attached a new copy that I think is better than the one you had. Note that we've built a couple new bridges and a stretch of corduroy road over the Shirebourne and the Thistle Brook that connects Longbottom directly to the Marish, so no need to go the long way round anymore!
I also attach a text file that you might find interesting, detailing somewhat of the Shire history not elsewhere written.
My shiriffing and surveying duties are few and far between... but the postmastering keeps me very busy. There's a lot of pen-and-ink flowing among the lads and lasses these days. And of course I take very seriously my duties of sampling the various wines and ales, so as to be sure that nobody is serving out inferior stuff. And you may have heard that we've recently instituted a pipe-leaf export tax. There is never a tax on internal consumption of course... but it has been found that an unusual amount of Southfarthing leaf has been spirited away south, with resulting rising prices. And so we've instituted a tax so as to try to control that outflow. Tax stamps are produced in five denominations. Postage stamps are issued in 1/4p, 1/2p, 1p, 2p, 5p, and 12p denominations, with the 1404 "Prancing Pony" issue still the most current. Remainders of earlier issues may still exist.
Please feel free to make use of the Shire Post Services. Many happy returns!
Yours truly
Will Whitfoot
Central Post Office
On the Square, Southwest corner.
Waymoot, The Shire
Comments by Peppy Bristlebrush:When looking for a good map of the Southfarthings (You know, when the gate opens, we don't want to get lost!) I came upon one made by Tom Maringer. I wrote to him asking if we could publish his fantastic map of the Shire. Master Tom kindly gave his permission but also forwarded my request to the Mayor who sent me the letter above.
Included with the Mayor's letter were a 12p postage stamp, a document relating the history of the Shire and the latest version of said map.
The document and map can be found in the Art's Corner.
To the left: One of the great philatelic rarities... the famous Breeland "Prancing Pony" 12p imperf.
((OOC: Many thanks to Tom Maringer for allowing us the use of his map of the Shire, his lovely in character reply and the added bonusses he sent. Tom is a big fan of fantasy literature and manufactures coins based on fantasy novels. See www.shirepost.com ))
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