2"^ s. N» 55., Jan. 17. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



45 



Lort, M'' Samson Lort, and the Maior and Aldermen of 

 Haverfordwest, it is thought fitt, for the preseruing of 

 the peace of this Count}', that the Castle of Haverford- 

 west should be speedily demolished. These are to autho- 

 rize 3'ou to call vnto }-our assistance in the performance 

 of this seruice the Inhabitants of the Hunderds of Diin- 

 gleddy, Dewisland, Kemis, Roose, and Kilgarren, whoe 

 are herebj' required to give vou assistance. Given under 

 our hands this W^ of July, 1648, 



" Q. CHQBrw'j:i.j.. 

 " To the Maior and Aldermen 

 of Haverfordwest." 



I suspect that the " shypps," mentioned in the 

 petition of the ipajor and al(]ermen, were the five 

 ships and a frigate which a,ided Colonel Rowland 

 Laugharne in driving the Earl of Carbery and his 

 forces out of the county of Pembrol^e in 1643 ; 

 and which may have remained in AJilford Haven 

 for the purpose of overawing the Royalists. 



John Pavjn I*mw.ips. 



Hftverfprdwest, 



CENTENARIAN SMOKERS. 



The following cutting from the Darlington and 

 Stockton Times, Dec. 185G, may appear to merit 

 preservation : 



"Died at the village of Wellburj', North Riding of the 

 county of York, on the 10th instant, in the 110th year 

 of her age, Jane Garbutt, widow. Deceased had been 

 twice married, Ijer hiisbands being sailors during the old 

 war. For somp j-ears she had been maintained by the 

 parish of Wellbury, having her own cottage and a female 

 attendant. The old woman had dwindled into a small 

 compass, but she was free from pain, retaining all her 

 faculties to the last and enjoying her pipe. About a year 

 ago, the writer of tjijs notice paid her a visit, and took 

 her, as a ' brother piper,' a present of tobacco, which in- 

 gredient of bliss was always acceptable from her visitors. 

 Asking of her the question how long she had smoked, her 

 reply was, < Vary nigh a hundred years ! ' Such a reply 

 may be useful to those who allege that tobacco is a slow 

 poison. 'It is remarkable that this old woman sat upright 

 in her chair, rarely using the back of it; and last Satur- 

 day she walked steadily over the floor of the house. 

 Since infirmities have crept upon her a railwav in her 

 neiglibourhood has been completed, She, at different 

 times, expressed a wish to see this rtjilway in operation, 

 and could not compj-ehend how the passengers and goods 

 traffic could be carried on without horse power, and by 

 locomotive machines; but her extreme age rendered dif- 

 ficult, and perhaps dangerous, her removal ; and as her 

 curiosity was not great on the subject, she had got her 

 time over witiiout thi^ wish being gratified. Jane Gar- 

 butt lived, and will now rest in the ' Yale of York,' that 

 sand which boasts the birth and burial places of the re- 

 nowned Jenkins." 



To this may be added the fpllowipg record : 



"Pheasy Molly, of Buxton, Derbyshire, died 1845, aged 

 96. This woman for many years had been an inveterate 

 smoker of tobacco; which indulgence at length caused 

 her death, her clothes becoming ignited, whilst lighting 

 her pipe at the fire. She had several times previously 

 suffered from burns, in consequence of the habit, but no- 

 thing could deter her from the practice." — Records of 

 Longevity, by Thomas Bajley. 1857, 12mo., p. 310. 



Again : 



"Le 18 Fevfier 1709, 'Abraham Favrot meurt h, 104 

 ans. II dtait ne an chateau d'Onex en Suisse, et exer- 

 (jait la profession do boulanger. II avoit toujours la pipe 

 k la bouclie, et aimait passionn^ment la chasse. II mar- 

 choit encore trfes bien, et lisait sans lunettes. II mouiut 

 subi; ,ment, sans aucun jndice de souffrunee, 4t comme une 

 lampe bien allumfe, qn'un souffle eteint tout a coup." — 

 Galerie de Cen(enaires anciens et modentes, par Charles 

 Lejoncourt. 8vo. Paris, 184'2., p. 201. 



To this the author adds : 



" On fera remarquer que ce cent^naire est le seul Indi- 

 que comme ayant fait un usage constant de la pipe." 



I was about to claim another renowned cente- 

 narian : 



*' Old Parr was such an inveterate smoker, that he is 

 said to have even tanned his skin by the absorption of 

 tobacco smoke into his pores, and his longevity has be- 

 come proverbial." — The Cigar and Smokers'' Companion 

 12mo. London, 1845. 



But the witty author of the above tract (Renton 

 Nicholson, of " Ju^Jge and Jury " celebrity) does 

 not qi;ote his authority, and 1 fear J must give 

 him up in favour of Thomas Taylor, the Water 

 Poet, who, in his Old, Old, very Old Man : or the 

 Age and Long Life of Thomas Parr, says : 



'• . . He had little time to waste. 

 Or at the ale-house, huff cap ale to taste ; 

 Nor did he ever hunt a tavern fox ; 

 Ne'er knevy a coach, tobacco, or the ." 



Mr. Chatto, from his amusing and well-compiled 

 little book, enables me to cite another case : 



"About a j-ear or two ago, there was living at Hild- 

 hausen in Silesia, an old man named Henry Hertz, of the 

 age of an hundred and forty-two, who had been a tOt 

 bacco taker from his youth upwards, and still continued 

 to smoke a pipe or two every day." — A Paper : — of To- 

 bacco, p. 96. 



Mr. Chatto would fain enlist Jenkins, too, 

 among the brethren of the great catholic smoke- 

 guild, but I am afraid that it is his " wish " alone 

 which, in this instance, is "father to the thoqght-" 



If it were my object to help to an ftffirinative. 

 of the question discussed before that renowned 

 misocapnic «ounterblaster, James L, at Oxford : 



" Utrum frequens suffitus Nicotiapaa eXQticse sit sania 

 salutaris," — 



or to bring examples to support old Burton's 

 eulogy, 



^* Tobacco, divine, rare, super-excellent Tobacco, which 

 goes far beyond all panacea, potable gold, and philoso- 

 pher's stone ; a sovereign remedy to all diseases . . .," &c, 

 — Anatomy of Melancholy, — 



I might cite such instances as Hobbes, who at* 

 tained the age of ninety-two, Izaak Walton ninety, 

 Newton eighty-four, Dr, Parr, seventy-eight, all, 

 to a greater or less extent, devoted lovers of the 

 pipe ; together with J)r, Isaac Barrow, wlio, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Pope, \yas wont to call tobacco his 

 " panpharmftcon." 



