Snuff is an eccentric hobby, which is part of the appeal, at least for me. I recently ran across the following piece in “The Mammoth Book Of Oddballs and Eccentrics”: When Mrs Margaret Thompson died at her home in Boyle Street, Mayfair, she left instructions that her coffin be packed with all of her handkerchiefs “together with such a quantity of best Scotch snuff (in which I always had the greatest delight) as will cover my deceased body.” For her funeral she wanted: “…six men to be my bearers, who are known to be the greatest snuff-takers in the parish of St James’s, Westminster; instead of mourning, each to wear a snuff-coloured beaver hat which I desire to be bought for that purpose and given to them. Six maidens of my old acquaintance to bear my pall, each to wear a proper hood, and to carry a box filled with the best Scotch snuff, to take for their refreshment as they go along. Before my corpse, I desire the minister may be invited to walk and to take a certain quantity of the said snuff, not exceeding one lb, to whom I also bequeath five guineas on condition of him so doing. And I also desire my old and faithful servant, Sarah Stuart, to walk before the corpse, to distribute every twenty yards a large handful of Scotch snuff to the ground and upon the crowd who may possibly follow me to my burial place; on which condition I bequeath her twenty pounds. And I also desire that at least two baskets of the said snuff may be distributed at the door of my house in Boyle Street.” The Mammoth Book of Oddballs and Eccentrics Chapter 14 The lady sure loved her Scotch snuff. I take a hefty double-pinch in her blessed memory. (Standard, of course) “Tell St. Peter at the Pearly Gate that you hate to make him wait, but you gotta have another pinch of snuff!” Will there be snuff in the afterlife? Which ones are the most heavenly? Any Last Requests?
I request to retract my wish to have gills for breathing under water. Thank you!