in the same play, by the way, we are told that "a pipe of rich smoak"
was sold for sixpence.

The tobacco-tongs were more properly called ember-or brand-tongs. They
sometimes had a tobacco-stopper riveted in near the axis of the tongs,
and thus could be easily distinguished from other kinds of tongs. An
example in the Guildhall Museum, made of brass, and probably of late
seventeenth-century date, has the end of one of the handles formed
into a stopper. In the same collection there are several pairs of
ember-tongs with handles or jaws decorated. In one or two a handle
terminates in a hook, by which they could be hung up when not required
for use. In that delightful book of pictures and gossip concerning old
household and farming gear, and old-fashioned domestic plenishings of
many kinds, called "Old West Surrey," Miss Jekyll figures two pairs of
old ember-or brand-tongs. One of these quite deserves the praise which
she bestows upon it. "Its lines," says Miss Jekyll, "fill one with the
satisfaction caused by a thing that is exactly right, and with
admiration for the art and skill of a true artist." These homely tongs
are fashioned with a fine eye for symmetry, and, indeed, for beauty of
design and perfect fitness for the intended purpose. The ends which
were to pick up the coal are shaped like two little hands, while "the
edges have slight mouldings and even a low bead enrichment. The
circular flat on the side away from the projecting stopper has two
tiny engraved pictures; on one side of the joint a bottle and tall
wine-glass, on the other a pair of long clay pipes crossed, and a bowl
of tobacco shown in section." This beautiful little implement bears
the engraved name of its Surrey maker, and the date 1795.

Country-folk nowadays often light their pipes in the old way, by
picking up a live coal, or, in Ireland, a fragment of glowing peat,