inscribed and dated
Snuff was introduced to the Northern elite around the year 1700. The trend for snuff-taking gathered pace throughout the century, becoming almost universal by the last quarter of the 18th century.
Snuff is a fine-ground smokeless tobacco product. The mills ground dried tobacco leaves into snuff between two stones. The resulting powder was left natural or perfumed with flower essences or spices. Gentlemen, and sometimes ladies, sniffed pinches of snuff from the back of their hands which gave them a swift nicotine buzz – and often made them sneeze.
By the late 19th century, snuff taking had become less fashionable. This decline has been attributed to a generation of Victorians who considered snuff to be ‘flamboyant, vulgar and offensive’. Cigars had also become reasonably priced, so people were increasingly smoking their tobacco rather than sniffing it. In addition, the water mills were being outdone by their steam powered competitors around the country.
Berwick-upon-Tweed sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England. Located 2+1⁄2 mi (4 km) south of the Anglo-Scottish border, it is the northernmost town in England The 2011 United Kingdom census recorded Berwick's population as 12,043.
The town is situated at the mouth of the River Tweed on the east coast, approximately 56 mi (90 km) east-south east of Edinburgh, 65 mi (105 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and 345 mi (555 km) north of London. Uniquely for England, the town is located slightly further north than Denmark's capital Copenhagen and the southern tip of Sweden further east of the North Sea, which Berwick borders.
Berwick was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was annexed by England in the 10th century. A civil parish and town council were formed in 2008 comprising the communities of Berwick, Spittal and Tweedmouth. It is the northernmost civil parish in England.
The area was for more than 400 years central to historic border wars between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and several times possession of Berwick changed hands between the two kingdoms. The last time it changed hands was when Richard of Gloucester retook it for England in 1482. To this day, many Berwickers feel a close affinity to Scotland. Both Berwick Rangers Football Club and Berwick Rugby Football Club play in Scottish leagues.
Berwick remains a traditional market town and also has some notable architectural features, in particular its medieval town walls, its Georgian Town Hall, its Elizabethan ramparts, and Britain's earliest barracks buildings, which Nicholas Hawksmoor built (1717–1721) for the Board of Ordnance.