Fredegar Bolger, called Fatty, was one of the friends who knew of Frodo's plans to leave the Shire. He would not go with him: he had no wish to leave the Shire, and the Old Forest frightened him. Instead he stayed behind at the house in Crickhollow, pretending that Frodo still lived there, to put pursuers off the scent.1
In the small hours of 30 September 3018 the Black Riders came to Crickhollow. Fatty slipped out of the back of the house and ran for help, and the Horn-call of Buckland was sounded for the first time in a hundred years. The Riders broke down the door to find the house empty, and fled north as the horns rang across Buckland.2,3
AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!
When Lotho and Saruman's ruffians held the Shire, Fatty led a band of rebels in the hills until he was caught and shut in the Lockholes. He came out so thin, the tale says, that he could no longer be called Fatty.4,5
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Appendices Tolkien's own appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 5, “A Conspiracy Unmasked”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 11, “A Knife in the Dark”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, “The Great Years”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 8, “The Scouring of the Shire”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 9, “The Grey Havens”