troops were stationed, this is probably a correct supposition. Barrel-shaped bowls were, however, then in use, and a very

interesting example is here engraved, bearing the date 1689.

(1689

Pipes at this time were, to some extent, imported from Holland, but by far the greater part used were of English make, to which Newcastleunder-Lyme contributed no small quantity. From this time downwards, the shape of the pipe gradually merged from the bulbous into the elongated form just shown, and so on to the wide-mouthed shape of the present time. It may be well to note, that instead of the old pipes being, as is commonly believed, of Dutch manufacture, Holland was originally indebted to England for the introduction of the art into that country.

With reference to this Charles Riggs, the pipe-maker of Newcastle-under-Lyme, I am pleased to be enabled to say, that from recent researches I am justified in believing the pipes engraved on the next page to have been made by him. Nearly a hundred of these pipes, each bearing the initials of C. R., found in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, and at other places in the pottery district, have come under my notice, and are, I think, without doubt, of his workmanship. They are peculiarly interesting too, as showing the transition, in the lifetime of one maker, from the flat heel to the pointed spur. The first example on the engraving on the next page has the flat heel, bearing the stamp of the maker, C. R., with crescent above and below. The second illustration

The flat heels served as rests for the pipes; the old-fashioned smokers resting them on the table while they enjoyed the "weed."

shows a pipe with the pointed spur, bearing the same stamp on the front of the bowl. It is thus shown, that on the

CR

change of fashion, the maker being unable to place his "mark" in its usual position, was compelled either to abandon it altogether, or to impress it on the bowl. Another mark used by Riggs (also shown on the engraving) was simply his initials C. R., and this, too, occurs on pipes of both shapes.

Plot, speaking of the clays of the pottery district, says—

"As for Tobacco-pipe clays, they are found all over the county, near Wrottesley House, and Stile Cop, in Cannock Wood, whereof they make pipes at Armitage and Lichfield, both which, though they are greyish clays, yet burn very white. There is Tobacco-pipe clay also found at Darlaston, near Wednesbury, but of late disused, because of better and cheaper found in Monway field, betwixt Wednesbury and Willingsworth, which is of a whitish colour, and makes excellent pipes; as doth also another of the same colour, dug near the salt water poole in Pensnet Chase, about a mile and a half south of Dudley. And Charles Riggs, of Newcastle, makes very good pipes of three sorts of clay, a white and blew, which he has from between Shelton and Hanley Green, whereof the blew clay burns the whitest, but not so full as the white, i.e. it shrinks more; but the best sort he has is from Gruffer's Ash, being whitish, mixt with yellow; it is a short, brittle sort of clay, but burns full and white; yet he sometimes mixes it with the blew before mentioned."

As a further illustration of this interesting subject, the accompanying engraving, which exhibits a number of forms of pipes made in the adjoining county, Shropshire, is given.

E

Tiles for garden edgings were at this time made at Newcastle-under-Lyme, and must have had extensive sale, as the gardens of the better kind were, in those days, always laid out in "knots" of more or less elaborate design. Plot, speaking of this branch of manufacture, says:

"Also at Newcastle-under-Lyme, the Tiles burnt in a Kill the usual way being found not to last, one Mr. Thomas Wood of the same Towne, first contrived to burn them (which we may look upon as an art relating to Fire) in a Potters' Oven; wherein he made them so good and lasting, that notwithstanding they have been put to the hardship of dividing the parts of garden knots, to endure not only the perpetual moisture of the earth, but frost, snow, and all sorts of weather; yet they few of them decay, scarce five tiles in five hundred having failed in twenty yeares' time; so that now he has been followed by all the countrey thereabout."

One

Long before the period about which I am now writing, the Wedgwoods, as I shall show in the course of this work, were potters in Burslem, and produced most of the varieties of wares then in use. The family was one of considerable note, and branches of it were settled in different localities. of these settled in Yorkshire, and for several generations were potters there; and other branches settled in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and other districts, and carried on their family trade. One interesting piece of earthenware, connected with the Wedgwood family, has recently been added to the Museum of Practical Geology, and as it is dated of the period to which in my narrative I have now arrived, I have introduced an engraving on the following page which I am enabled, through the courtesy of Mr. Reeks, who has supplied the drawing, to give. It is a "Puzzle Jug," of brown ware, bearing the name of an early member of the Wedgwood family. It bears the name incised

JOHN WEDG WOOD 1691.

The jug is more simple in construction than many are, the hollow channel merely passing up the handle and round the upper rim, which has three spouts.

And here it may be interesting, perhaps, to say a word or two on "puzzle jugs," which are curious and very interesting vessels, about which but little is known even by collectors. The puzzle jug was an ale jug, and was so contrived, by perforations in various parts, and by open work in its neck and spout, as to render it impossible to use it like other jugs.

The liquor being drawn into the jug by the tapster, the puzzle was for the customer to drink it all without spilling. It became a prolific source of wagers, and most ale-houses found it to their advantage to keep one or more of different forms for their visitors. The handle usually sprang from near the bottom of the jug, and was carried up its "belly" some distance, when it bowed out in the general form, and was attached to the rim at its top. The handle and rim were made hollow, opening into the inside of the jug near the bottom, and around the rim were attached a number of little spouts, differently placed, according to the whim of the potter. The ale could thus only be drunk by carefully covering up with the fingers all the spouts but one, and through this one the liquor would have to be sucked into the