Tobacco and Clay Pipes
Tobacco
Tobacco was
smoked in clay pipes during the Civil War. The price of
tobacco had reduced considerably since its introduction
in the late 16th century. This meant that the size of tobacco pipes had
increased as people could afford to smoke more.The main source of
tobacco were the plantations of the New World. Despite the fact that Virginia
did not formally surrender to Parliament until March 1652 (after 1,000 copies of
an account of the devastating Royalist defeat at Worcester had been distributed
there) large numbers of Royalist prisoners from the battles of Dunbar and
Worcester were sent there. Officially they were transported as 'indentured
servants' for seven years, but in practice they were sent as slaves to work on
the tobacco plantations.
Tobacco was also grown in England during the 17th century, concentrated in
Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Fourteen plantations in
Worcestershire were known as early as1627. The industry was continually
under attack from the Government, which
was trying to protect its income from the Virginia plantations. This initially encouraged growers to support the Parliamentary cause, but the
Commonwealth took the same line. In 1659 court cases were brought against
plantation owners in Kempsey, Upton Snodsbury, Pensham and Eckington for
growing and curing tobacco. Each had 400 poles (10,117 square metres)
under cultivation and each was fined £400 (£1 per pole). The North
American variety that was grown in Worcestershire was slightly
hallucinogenic, which may have explained the vehemence with which it was
defended. One of the last survivors of the industry was John Redding
of Kempsey who was was fined for planting, growing, setting, making, and
curing tobacco at Kempsey in 1695. But the industry appears to have
completely died out by the end of the 17th century.
The tobacco was
dried and then spun into ropes (as can still be purchased today).
It was sold in paper wraps.
The variety grown in England, Nicotiana Rustica, was
mildly hallucinatory. In a gesture of compassion, on occasion a pound of
tobacco (costing around16 shillings) might be given to a condemned man immediately before execution!
In 1649, Lord Capel was one of three men
waiting to be executed near Westminster Hall, and 'finding his
stomach a little ill' asked if he might be allowed to take a pipe
of tobacco ('without scandall') as he was accustomed to do
daily. He was told he could, 'rather than hazard any ...
inconvenience at such a time, when he had need to be in the best
temper.'
In
another mistaken gesture, in the aftermath of the battle of Lansdown in
1643, a soldier threw some Parliamentary prisoners a piece of match to
light their tobacco pipes. He had, however, forgotten that they had been
placed on a cart with the gunpowder! The prisoners and a number of
Royalist officers standing nearby were killed or wounded.
Smoking seemed full of dangers to the careless soldier. During the siege of
Rathbury Castle, Co. Cork, in 1642, two parliamentary soldiers, Christopher
Rosgill and Tantalus, went over the walls for a quick smoke, but they were
captured by the royalists and killed. During the siege of Pontefract on 27 May 1645, 'Josua
Walker killed one of the enemyes who was taking a pipe of Tobackoe in the lane
by the primrose Cloase' (The First and Second Sieges of Pontefract Castle:
Nathan Drake's Diary, ed. Alison Walker, Gosling Pres, 1997).
Nonetheless, tobacco was seen as one of the necessities of life. The royalist
defenders during the siege of Arundel offered to swap beef and mutton for sack,
tobacco and cards, saying they wanted them to while away the time (Carlton 1994,
160).
Clay Tobacco Pipes
Clay tobacco pipes were probably made in iron moulds during this
period, as later, although no examples have survived. A possible
example of a plaster cast used in the manufacture of a 17th century iron
mould has recently been excavated in Norwich. The stem hole was formed by carefully inserting
a wire down the length of the stem whilst it was still in a plastic state;
the dried pipes were then fired in kilns or ovens.
Clay pipes are fragile and were unlikely to survive the rigours of
campaign long - whether stuck in a hat band or kept in a soldier's
snapsack. They were considered disposable items but the stems
of broken pipes might be smoothed off to allow re-use. They cost
around 8 for 1d (Malmesbury, 1644).
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Replica 17th century tobacco pipe mould made of cast iron
(25cm long). The two halves of the mould are shown, together with the stopper
used to form the cavity of the pipe bowl and the wire, used to
make the hole through the stem.
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Some clay pipes of the period occur in regional styles, such as
the Yorkshire bulbous bowl (below, right), and forms of decoration vary
from none at all in some counties to symbols, letters or names on the stem
or on the base. Occasionally, initials can be matched to the names
of documented pipemakers, in pipemaking centres such as London or
Bristol.
The rims were 'bottered' or neatened, and a line of 'milling' applied
under the rim. Bases were spurred (below, left) or, more usually,
flat (below, right).
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| Mid 17th-century spurred bowl, found in
Gloucestershire. |
Yorkshire bulbous type, found in Civil War
contexts in Hull. |
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Mid-17th
century bowl with TS stamp on base found in Gloucester.
Possibly Thomas Smith of Bristol (1651)
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A clay pipe 'Tamper', dating to the Civil War period and
possibly showing Charles I. Tampers were used to press down the
tobacco into the pipe bowl. |
You can contact the Society for Clay Pipe Research via
Susanne
Atkin or visit their web site
