180 TOBACCO STOPPERS. 



Happy Eetnrn whaler, 1688 ; Dr. Henry Sacheverel in full 

 canonicals, carved in ivory, 1710 ; a boat, a horse's hind leg, 

 Panel), and another character in the same Drama, to wit : his 

 Satanic majesty ; a countryman with a flail ; a milkmaid; an 

 emblem of Priopus; Hope and Anchor; the Marquis of 

 Granby ; a greyhound's head and neck ; a paviour's rammer; 

 Lord Nelson ; the Duke of Wellington ; and Bonaparte. 

 The tobacco-stopper was carried in the pocket or attached to 

 a ring worn on the finger." 



In Butler's Hudibras it is alluded to in connection with 

 the astronomer's sign. 



-Bless us ! quoth he, 



It is a planet now I see ; 

 And if I err not, by his proper 

 Figure that's like tobacco-stopper, 

 It should be Saturn ! " 



In James BoswelPs " Shrubs of Parnassus" (1760) a 

 description in verse of the various kinds of tobacco-stoppers 

 is given : 



" O ! let me grasp tliy waist, be thou of wood 

 Or levigated steel, for well 'tis known 

 Thy habit is disease. In iron clad 

 Sometimes thy feature roughen to the sight, 

 And oft transparent art thou seen in glass, 

 Portending frangibility. The son 

 Of laboring mechanism here displays 

 Exuberance of skill. The curious knot, 

 The motley flourish winding down the sides, 

 And freaks of fancy pour upon the view 

 Their complicated charms, and as they please, 

 Astonish. While with glee thy touch I feel, 

 No harm my fingers dread. No fractured pipe 

 I ask, or splinters aid, wherewith to press 

 The rising ashes down. Oh ! bless my hand, 

 Chief when thou com'st with hollow circle crowned 

 With sculptured signet, bearing in thy womb 

 The treasured Cork-screw. Thus a triple service 

 In firm alliance may'st tliou boast." 



Tobacco-stoppers were often made of wood from some 

 relic liko a celebrated tree or mansion which gave additional 



