If you were in the English Lake District town of Kendal and suffering from tooth ache, the last thing you would expect to take is snuff. However in times past, snuff was used as a remedy for many ailments. This article tells what exactly snuff is, how it came into England and the Lake District and what the future is for the tobacco product.
English Lake district Snuff is a remedy for all
When you have the flu or a toothache or are suffering from hay-fever or a runny nose, you don’t immediately think of Snuff. Viruses and ailments in all their glory leave us swamped with advertisements for various remedies. Potions and lotions claiming to relive the chest and clear the nose, pills and tablets that will provide you a dose of pain relief so strong that you will barley remember your own name, never mind the fact that you are struggling with flu. There are all manners of balms and tonics on the market these days to provide a remedy. I wipe my own runny nose and I realise that had I sought a treatment in past English Lake District times, the solution would have been simple and obvious. Snuff.
What is snuff?
Unless you are a regular snuff taker, snuff is not something that you would associate with the English Lake District particularly. Snuff is a powder that is prepared for sniffing, and the main use of the term is in relation to powdered tobacco. It conjures up images of busy Victorian gentlemen in city dwellings dabbing noses with lacy handkerchiefs and handling small silver boxes. Not the picturesque English Lake District, with its open landscapes, country gents and market towns. However snuff is very much a part of the English Lake District history.
When mill chimneys were rife on the landscape, snuff was the answer to a variety of aliments including depression, fatigue, anxiety, tooth ache and without doubt, it was believed the very best way to clear a stuffy nose. It was an essential commodity both socially and medically. Snuff was popular throughout Britain with the upper classes in the south, yet the major supplier was the Lakeland town of Kendal. Birthplace to the famous “Kendal Brown” and one of the five places in Britain that still manufactures snuff today.