Should you find yourself in Hawick in Scotland then watch out for The Snuffin. If you are a younger member then you may even indulge in a little tussle to help liberate the snuff yourself. Be aware, however, that the defenders are all rugby players. One of the ceremonies associated with the tradition of Common Riding in Hawick in Scotland is that of The Snuffin or Fightin for Snuff. Until 1860 this was limited to the Burgh Officer, drummers and pipers, but now this strange ceremony seems to be a free for all. The defenders of the snuff are drawn from the rugby club. One man has a horn filled with packets of snuff and is protected by two brawny fellows in triangular formation. Townspeople then attack the group in Towerdykeside at 6:00 am. When weight of numbers show and the horn is, after a protracted struggle, taken it is offered around. A film made between 1899 and 1906 depicting the event is available on the internet. A picture of a modern mêlée is located in the link below. The Common Riding dates back to 1514 (a year after the colossal slaughter of Scots at Flodden) when mounted boys of Hawick managed to repel English marauders. Similar events take place at Langholm and Selkirk. Just how The Snuffin Ceremony became incorporated is unknown to me, but records show that this grey auld toon has battled for snuff since the early 18th century. “Friday dawned overcast as the Drum and Fife Band roused townfolk for the big day. The early call was answered by a large crowd at Towerdykeside for the Snuffin’ ceremony as the diehards pushed and shoved for the snuff dispensed from the old horned mull. By this time, those hostelries which had opened at 6am were already doing a brisk trade in the traditional pre-breakfast libation of rum and milk.” http://www.hawickcallantsclub.co.uk/commonriding/snuffin.htm http://www.hawick-news.co.uk/leisure/The-Snuffin39-in-pictures.5342211.jp
Fantastic! This explains why my Scots blood took to snuff so readily.
The town appears to be pretty close to Berwick on Tweed. I’m suprised Toque has not taken notice.
That is a wonderful tradition, PhilipS. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Wow, that’s very different and interesting. Ditto the thank you for sharing this.
God bless the Scottish, why can’t we have something like that? I couldn’t speak for sure on any crazy Polish traditions (Filek, any contributions?), but in my family the only time we had a brawl is if there was one pierogi left and four of us Sobieskis were still hungry…
well… you know… if any of this PACT sort of nonsense (in all their forms, all the FDA-shouid control all e-cigs and tobacco and nicotine stuffs and that being one way to not outright ban but make them all ‘controlled substances’ and calling e-cigs ‘drug delivery devices’ while people can buy syringes, spoons, straws, bongs and on and on) and trying to make it so we can’t order tobacco things online and just on and on… I can possibly see in our futures possible some very real fights over snuff, snus, e-cigs, e-juice ‘analog’ cigarettes and just about any other tobacco products (…imagine knowing there’s just one can left in your local store, of the last can you’ll ever be able to buy, ever, anywhere, and five people or more showing up all at once to claim it (tobacco riot!)
I just saw an advertisement on television asking when we are going to say enough to tobacco, not individually, but altogether, promoting making tobacco illegal. They asked How much does tobacco cost this state, and then came up with a number which approaches the complete gross production of the state. The full court press is on. If they can’t get it done nationally, they will do it state by state. In the early 1900s several states outlawed cigarettes.
A few seconds on The Snuffin Ceremony - http://www.britishpathe.com/video/common-riding
Rum and milk, the breakfast of champions.