5° 



ISrass ^otacfo Stopper. 



By C. E. B. Bowles, M.A. 



HE above is a drawing, by Mr. George Bailey, of 

 Derby, a member of our Council, of an old tobacco- 

 stopper belonging to Miss Wright, of Eyam Hall. 

 It was found about four years ago in a gravel-pit 

 at the foot of " The Delfe," which is the name of the broken 

 ground belonging to the Wright estate, and is entered by iron 

 gates exactly opposite the Hall. 



In this dell, among a group of rocks, which is raised above 

 the surrounding ground, is a curious natural archway. This 

 was used as a pulpit by Mr. Mompesson, Rector of Eyani, 

 during the time of the plague, in the years 1665 and j666. 

 Here, having thought it wiser to close the church, he held the 

 services, and it was possibly on one of these occasions that the 

 tobacco-stopper was lost. It is of brass ; two inches in length, 

 the ring being | inch in its widest part ; while smoking the 

 owner probably wore it on his finger. When so worn, the 

 stem lies easily in the palm of the hand, and is not 

 uncomfortable. 



The part engraved with the cross-keys, above a heart pierced 

 with two arrows, would be used as a seal, but the signification 

 of the emblem is not so apparent. Mr. Dalton, of the British 

 Museum, pronounces it to be " a tobacco-stopper of the seven- 

 teenth century," but will make no further suggestion. Might 

 it not have been given as a love token to the landlord of an 

 inn bearing the sign of " The Cross Keys " ? 



