Daily life in The Shire has changed very little since the end of the Third Age. Hobbits continue to love peace and quiet, well-ordered life and good tilled earth. They are still merry and good-natured folk, enjoying their food and drink, their gardens and favorite walks, their pipeweed and ale. In fact, the beer of 1420 (that eventful year after the Scouring of the Shire) remains a byword for excellence. 'Ah! that was proper fourteen-twenty, that was!' is still the highest accolade for a fine brew, though not all the hobbits repeating the old adage can explain why.

The Red Book and the various copies carefully annotated and expanded so extensively just after the end of the Third Age have made an impact among lettered hobbits, whose numbers have increased somewhat since the days of Bilbo and Frodo. The libraries at Westmarch, Bucklebury and Tuckborough are very fine, indeed, and there are some hobbit families who regularly instill a love of learning in their children. Knowledge about historic events and other peoples of Middle-earth does exist in The Shire, though for most hobbits it is somewhat nebulous and indistinct. As one travels further from the central settlements of East and West Farthing, and in nearly all of North and South Farthing, it is difficult to find hobbits aware of happenings outside their own immediate locale.

The Shire has been part of the Reunited Kingdom since the end of the Third Age, a Free Land under the protection of the King. All hobbits do know of the King, restored to the throne in the great War of the Ring, and speak with pride of the important part played by Hobbits in this War, though if pressed for exact details, most are a bit vague. The King restored his ancient house at Fornost, north-east of the Shire. When he comes ever and anon to the north from Gondor to stay for awhile, he comes to The Shire as far as the Brandywine Bridge which he does not cross, binding himself by the edict of King Aragorn that "Men are not to enter The Shire." Though the King keeps his Rangers on patrol outside The Shire, internal affairs are managed by hobbits.

The Shirriffs still handle matters of import, such as strayed animals, and their badge of office is still a single feather in their caps. Their numbers are not large. Before all the Troubles at the end of the Third Age, there were just three shirriffs for each Farthing, and that number was quickly restored and exists today. Nothing more has been needed. Hobbits just naturally keep the laws of free will, because they are The Rules (as they say), both ancient and just.

Bounders, however, are needed in greater numbers these days. A sort of Shirriff, their responsibility is to patrol the "bounds" of The Shire and see that outsiders do not make a nuisance of themselves. Of late there seems to be more prowling about going on, and the number of Bounders has been increased.

The hobbits' chief source of news for generations has been dwarves on the East-West Road going through the Shire to their mines in the Blue Mountains. Traditionally, few hobbits approach dwarves. Those who have done so recently report that the dwarves are talking about Orc sightings, but none have been seen anywhere near the Shire.

"'Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?'
'No, they never end as tales,' said Frodo. 'But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later-or sooner.'"

The Two Towers