Wednesday 14 September 2011

Macouba Snuff - Some Detail


I have mentioned Fribourg & Treyer's Macouba snuff before; scented, inter alia, with attar of roses. I have since read that a comparison of this snuff made by Fribourg & Treyer (before Wilsons of Sharrow took over the receipts), with the modern version suggests that the modern mixture is faithful to the original receipt. The name 'Macouba' comes from the name of a canton of the French island of Martinique. Many different spellings have been used and Thackeray, in The History of Pendennis, spells it 'Mackabaw'; making it fairly likely that it was from the name of this snuff that Dickens derived the name 'Micawber' It was a certain consignment of Martinique snuff (newly arrived at Fribourg & Treyer), which Captain Jesse tells us, in his biography of Brummell, that Brummell condemned as unfit; resulting in mass cancellations of orders, which enabled Brummell to place an order for several jars for himself (he had openly condemned the snuff as he had omitted to place an order for himself in time). Once it became known that Brummell had changed his opinion of the snuff, the consignment then swiftly sold out. That's what I call influence.

2 comments:

  1. Try a pinch of Macouba before smoking a Monty 4. Very nice combo. Cheers, st.tully

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks St Tully: that sounds like a good idea!
    NJS

    ReplyDelete