"Then to Johnnie,
His old cronie,
Cried—'I fear'd I'd ne'er get ony.'
'Well, I'll tell ye,' said the beadle,
'Whaur I got the stock of snuff.'
"'In the poupit
Low I stoopit,
An' the snuff and stour I soupit,
Then I brocht ye here a handfu',
For ye need it sair enough.'"
The old Scottish snuff-mill, which consisted of a small box-like receptacle into which fitted a conical-shaped projection with a short, strong handle was a more substantial affair than the rasp used by the French and English snuff-takers. (See page 232). Both, answered the purpose for which they were designed, the leaves of tobacco being "toasted before the fire," and then ground in the mill as it was called. The more modern snuff-mill is similar in shape, but is used to hold the snuff after being ground, rather than for reducing the leaves to a powder.
Boswell gives the following poem on snuff, in his "Shrubs of Parnassus:"
"Oh Snuff! our fashionable end and aim!
Strasburg, Rappee, Dutch, Scotch, what'eer thy name,
Powder celestial! quintessence divine!
New joys entrance my soul while thou art mine.
Who takes—who takes thee not! where'er I range,
I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the 'Change.
By thee assisted, ladies kill the day,
And breathe their scandal freely o'er their tea;
Nor less they prize thy virtues when in bed,
One pinch of thee revives the vapor'd head,
Removes the spleen, removes the qualmish fit,
And gives a brisker turn to female wit,
Warms in the nose, refreshes like the breeze,
Glows in the herd and tickles in the sneeze.
Without it, Tinsel, what would be thy lot!
What, but to strut neglected and forgot!
What boots it for thee to have dipt thy hand
In odors wafted from Arabian land?
Ah! what avails thy scented solitaire,
Thy careless swing and pertly tripping air,
The crimson wash that glows upon thy face,
Thy modish hat, and coat that flames with lace!
In vain thy dress, in vain thy trimmings shine,
If the Parisian snuff-box be not thine.
Come to my nose, then, Snuff, nor come alone,
Bring taste with thee, for taste is all thy own."
There seems to be as great a variety of design in snuff-boxes as among pipes and tobacco-stoppers. The Indians of both North and South America have their mills for grinding or pulverizing the leaves. In the East a great variety of snuff-boxes may be seen; they are made of wood and ivory, while many of them have a spoon attached to the box, which they use in taking the dust from the box to the back of the hand, whence it is taken by the forefinger and conveyed to the nose. In Europe we find greater variety of design in snuff-boxes than in the East. In Europe they are made of the most costly materials, and studded with the rarest gems.
In the East they are made of ivory, wood, bamboo, and other materials. Of late years boxes made of wood from Abbotsford or some other noted place have been used for the manufacture of snuff-boxes. Formerly when snuff-taking was in more general use by kings and courtiers than now—a magnificent snuff-box was considered by royalty as one of the most valuable and pleasing of "memorials." Many of these testimonials of friendship and regard were of gold and silver, and set with diamonds of the finest water.
Among the anecdotes of celebrated snuff-takers, the following from White's "Life of Swedenborg," will be new to many:
"Swedenborg took snuff profusely and carelessly, strewing it over his papers and the carpet. His manuscripts bear its traces to this day. His carpet set those sneezing who shook it. One Sunday he desired to have it taken up and beaten. Shearsmith objected, 'Better wait till to-morrow,' 'Dat be good! dat be good!' was his answer."
We copy the following article on the manufacture of snuff from a well-known English journal, "Cope's Tobacco Plant:"—