most people know the story of peregrin took, as he is the most famous of tooks, surely. historically, people are even aware of some of pippin's ancestors, such as the old took or brandobras, but what of the rest of the family? does no other story percolate down to our ears? what of paladin- or pippin's sisters?
calm yourself young grasshopper, the answer to this question is yes. luckily, for the more demanding public, there exists the book, "the letters of j.r.r. tolkien." in it are a few nuggets of tookish delights. including a small anecdote about pippin's eldest sister, pearl. hooray for little stories trickling down through the years. we find out with this small anecdote, though we were all led to believe pippin was most outlandish, that indeed, perhaps so too were his sisters.

"a well known case, also, was that of lalia the great (or less courteously the fat). fortinbras II, one time head of the tooks and thain, married lalia of the clayhangers in 1314, when he was 36 and she was 31. he died in 1380 at the age of 102, but she long outlived him, coming to an unfortunate end in 1402 at the age of 119. so she ruled the tooks and the great smials for 22 years, a great and memorable, if not universally beloved, 'matriarch.' she was not at the famous party (sy 1401), but was prevented from attending rather by her great size and immobility than by her age. her son, ferumbras, had no wife, being unable (it was alleged) to find anyone willing to occupy apartments in the great smials, under the rule of lalia. lalia, in her last and fattest years, had the custom of being wheeled to the great door, to take the air on a fine morning. in the spring of sy 1402 her clumsy attendant let the heavy chair run over the threshold and tipped lalia down the flight of steps into the garden. so ended a reign and life that might well have rivalled that of the great took.
it was widely rumored that the attendant was pearl (pippin's sister), though the tooks tried to keep the matter within the family. at the celebration of ferumbras' accession the displeasure and regret of the family was formally expressed by the exclusion of pearl from the ceremony and feast; but it did not escape notice that later (after a decent interval) she appeared in a splendid necklace of her name-jewels that had long lain in the hoard of the thains."

pearl, what a bit of sass! sounds like my cat of the same name if you want my opinion. p.s. but here's something which will really rattle you brain, what's with this pearl necklace at the end here? was pearl being paid for a job well done? hmm...

... x