The second son of Buffo Boffin and Ivy Goodenough, born in the Shire Year 1169 (that is, III 2769). Basso showed an adventurous streak, and at the remarkably young age of twenty-six he left home to travel the sea. This venturesome spirit was almost unknown among Hobbits of the Shire, and it prefigures the adventures of certain Tooks and Bagginses in later years. Gandalf the Wizard was known to be involved in at least some of those later events, and it seems quite possible that he had a hand in Basso's travels, too. If so, Basso was the first Hobbit we know of to be led into mysterious escapades by Gandalf, some ninety-five years before Bilbo Baggins was even born.
In English, the word basso refers to a low musical range, but it originally meant simply 'short' or 'low', making it an entirely suitable name for a Hobbit.
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