Hi All,

I’m re-reading through a few ‘dog eared’ snuff books that I have aquired over time and most seem to have a section on famous snuff takers.

Living close to the home of Charles Darwin, I remembered seeing a snuff box on display in his home - Down House; which is saved for the nation, open to the public and looked after now by English Heritage.

I did a search online and found that on the website Darwin Online, there are 42 results for the search term ‘snuff‘.

One of my favourites being the below.

Snuff was a stimulant, and was taken during working hours. He took snuff for many years of his life, having learnt the habit at Edinburgh as a student. He had a nice silver snuff-box given him by Mrs. Wedgwood of Maer, which he valued much—but he rarely carried it, because it tempted him to take too many pinches. In one of his early letters he speaks of having given up snuff for a month, and describes himself as feeling “most lethargic, stupid and melancholy.” Our former neighbour and clergyman, Mr. Brodie Innes, tells me that at one time my father made a resolve not to take snuff except away from home, “a most satisfactory arrangement for me,” he adds, “as I kept a box in my study to which there was access from the garden without summoning servants, and I had more frequently, than might have been otherwise the case, the privilege of a few minutes’ conversation with my dear friend.” He generally took snuff from a jar on the hall table, because having to go this distance for a pinch was a slight check; the clink of the lid of the snuff jar was a very familiar sound. Sometimes when he was in the drawing-room, it would occur to him that the study fire must be burning low, and when some of us offered to see after it, it would turn out that he also wished to get a pinch of snuff.

Anyone else got a favourite snuff related quote orginating from a famous snuff taker?

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