did Merry have a son?

[Estella Brandybuck]

Therefore I've always thought that quote about their 'sons' must have been a slip perhaps intended to refer to whomever Merry passed the Headship of the Brandybuck family to?

Good thought; maybe Tolkien was using the term "son" temporarily to refer to whoever Merry chose as an heir, and he overlooked it during the editing process. Or something like that. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Another thing this topic has got me wondering about... maybe, if he didn't have any children of his own, Merry and his wife adopted a son, and that's who the passage was referring to? Does anyone know if hobbits would have adopted? Bit of a flimsy and probably silly idea, I know, but it was just something I was thinking about. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]