ption on
one at South Petherton reads:--

"THE . FAYREST . MAYD . THAT . DID . BAYR . LIFE .
FOR . LOVE . TO . MAN . BECAME . A . WIFE."

Snuff Boxes and Rasps.

Snuff-taking has been a habit associated with smoking tobacco from quite
early days. The preparation of snuff was formerly achieved at home, and
consequently there sprang up the need of rasps, which were frequently
carried about in the pocket, many of the cases being very ornamental.
They varied in size, but the rasp cases usually held a plug or twist of
tobacco from which the snuff was made.

There are several fine old snuff rasps in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, one large rasp measuring 15 in. in length; its case, which is of
walnut and extremely decorative, is attributed to a Dutch carver who
executed it in the second half of the seventeenth century. There is also
a small iron rasp in a case of teak wood, which is inlaid with rosewood,
ivory, and tortoiseshell, the rasp measuring about 8 in. in length. An
eighteenth-century French rasp of boxwood is carved in low relief; on
one side a pair of doves is represented, under the picture being the
legend, "_Unis jusqu'a la mort_." On the other side there is a man
blowing a horn with the legend, "_La fidelite est perdue_," around which
is a rope-like frame supporting two cornucopiae. Another curious variety
of snuff rasp is made to run on wheels. When snuff-making became an
established trade, and the need for snuff rasps to be carried was not so
great, the decoration of snuff boxes became more ornate.

It was in the days of Queen Anne that the height of the glory of the
snuffer was reached; it was, however, during the reigns of the Georges
that so many beautiful boxes were made. There were boxes carved out of
a piece of wood, others of bone, papier-mache, and metal; indeed, all
the metals seem to have been used, for among the curiosities of old
snuff boxes are those made of iron, copper, brass, silver, and gold.
Some of the more costly were enriched with diamonds and precious stones,
and with tiny miniature paintings and beautiful Wedgwood cameos.

In the days when snuff-taking was a commoner practice than it is now,
the ornamental snuff box was the chosen gift to men of fame. Kings,
princes, and the nobility received gold and jewelled snuff boxes on
occasions when in more modern days they would have been given a scroll
of vellum in a golden casket.

Many provincial museums contain excellent collections