Avoiding the Old Forest...?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

Btw, a possible plot hole is the Bucklanders apparently
being totally unaware (unless I forget references in LOTR)
of Tom Bombadil, especially since he must have been not
infrequently in the eastern Shire rapping with Farmer Maggot
since I can't see Maggot's wife letting him traipse off to some
foreign place across the Brandywine.

Well, I don't know if Bombadil had set foot in the Shire within living memory of any of the Hobbits. His 'country' seems to have consisted only of the Forest and the Downs; and Gandalf (and Tom himself) stated he did not leave the bounds he had set for himself for any reason.
I think it more likely Maggot visited him, especially since Merry noted that he had been known to enter the Forest at one time.