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.
How Snuff came to England and the Lake District
The story begins in 1702, when a Spanish convoy was taken capture and amongst the loot a large consignment of snuff was found. The bulk of the cargo was distributed around the ports and costal towns, and a large amount of snuff found its way into London. The gentry became aware of snuff and found it a pleasing alternative to the clay pipe. This coincided with the reign of Queen Anne, who was known to enjoy a pinch regularly, her manners were copied in court and soon every one of her ladies in waiting were also enjoying snuff. And so the consumption of snuff began to increase enormously, as did the demand for the now popular tonic.
So it was that in 1792, a young man by the name of Thomas Harrison noted its rise and the commercial potential in the product waiting to be developed. He saw a gap in the market and decided to fill it and went north of the border to learn his trade.
He returned not only with a professional knowledge of snuff but the ability and machinery to make it. He transported roughly 50 tons of second hand machinery via packhorse from Glasgow all the way to the Lake District town of Kendal. Amazingly, some of the machinery he transported by packhorse is still in use today at the manufacturers in Kendal, Samuel Gawith & Co. It is said to be the “oldest piece of industrial machinery still in regular production use” and dates back to 1750.
This machinery that enabled an entrepreneur to realize a vision was the inspiration for two other businessmen, and the company that was started by Harrison was eventually spilt into three.
It went through many developments before it was to divide; it was passed down from generation to generation before being left to three trustees: Samuel Gawith, Henry Hoggarth and John Illingworth. The three names are cohesive with three famous snuff manufacturers, and all were based in the Lake District town of Kendal.
The development of Snuff in the Lake District
John Illingworth left the company in 1867 to devise Illingworth Snuffs Ltd. In 1869 he moved premises, and decided upon a location very close to his then competitor Samuel Gawith. For approximately a hundred years the manufacturers worked agreeably, until Illingworths was destroyed by fire in the early 1980’s. The company then continued in Kendal for a few more years, before it was bought up.
Henry Hoggarth went on to become Gawith Hoggarth, which is still in business today along with Samuel Gawith; founder of the famous “Kendal Brown.” Both still manufacture snuff and export around the world and it stills sells in selected tobacconists in Britain.
With three manufacturers of snuff stemming from the same company and all of them producing in the small Lake District town of Kendal, the development of snuff became a very intimate and secret affair. However it is said that there was no hostility between the three companies. No matter how close the competitors were to each other, all parties had a great respect for one another. There was no back-biting or spying. In fact, when Illingworths burnt down in the 1980’s, the first to offer help were the other two companies.
Hard to believe when you consider that some snuffs were remarkably more popular than others, and therefore provided more business.
The secrecy of manufacturing Snuff
To make sure each company kept its place in the market, the manufacture of snuff in each mill was encased in a bed of secrecy. This enabled the professional relationships to continue, and trade secrets to remain secret. Employees would have been sworn to secrecy and never shown the full recipe; ensuring the mystery surrounding the blend of snuff remained intact.
An old copy of Samuel Gawith and Co’s “Guide to Snuff,” states.
“Secret recipes and methods are handed down from generation to generation, and the blending of the raw material to obtain the desired colour, flavour, texture and aroma is work for which both a natural aptitude and years of experience are required.”
So the secret to blending the famous “Kendal Brown” stays with them, to be passed on to oncoming generations for as long as it is required. And how long that is, no one is quite sure. The uses for snuff in today’s climate are very different to that of the 18th century.
The use of Snuff today
It’s true that snuff will clear my runny nose and stuffy head, but there is not a necessity for it either medically or socially.
At one time it was an inventive way to meet people, asking if an attractive stranger if they would “partake in a pinch of snuff” was an excellent ice breaker. It was also a must for people who liked a smoke, yet were unable to do so because of where they worked. The coal miners became a great consumer of snuff, probably due to the long hours between cigarettes whilst on a shift, plus the added advantage of clearing the head of the large amount of dust. So snuff became a happy alternative to the cigarette, and a lot safer than lighting a match to have a smoke. But alas the mines began to close and there was a noticeable drop in sales as industrial Britain changed forever. However, although the situation for snuff looks rather bleak in Britain, it is a different story in Europe, in particular Germany.
McChrystals, a manufacturer of snuff based in Leicester believe we are on the brink of a “big snuff comeback.” They have devised a new snuff for the recent demand from Europe which has escalated in the last four years. It is the first new brand in thirty years, and of course “S’nuff” as it is called “has a secret blend.”
Their sales are on the increase as “20 and 30-somethings are discovering the pleasure of tobacco in its original form of nasal snuff. As non smokers get shirtier about passive smoking, it's becoming more acceptable to have a pinch of snuff after dinner than to light up.”
So perhaps there is room for the social snuff taker. It’s a pleasant alternative for non smokers in public places - no smoke, no ash no butts, no passive snuffing. Could this please all those people like me that can’t stand the stinging eyes and stale smell gained from the passing smoker? Some are also advocating it as a good way to give up smoking, although you may find your craving for the cigarette has ceased and a new one for snuff may emerge. In any case, it is important to remember that snuff is a tobacco product derived from the same leaf that makes cigarettes, and it should be treated as such.
Although the clientele for snuff is that of an older generation, and its days seemed to be numbered, there are some who still enjoy a pinch of a certain secret blend made in Kendal.