The clay-pipe, much the same as is now used, probably came into use very soon after the introduction of tobacco in Britain. Aubrey, writing in 1680, says that tobacco smokers at first used silver pipes, " but the ordinary sort made use of a walnut-shell and a straw." In the reign of William III., pipes were occasionally made of brass and of iron. Examples of these are preserved in various collections. The pipe was, in the earlier days of smoking, passed round the table—one man taking a whiff or two, and then handing it to his neighbor; thus, one pipe of tobacco would " suffice three or four men at once." It has been supposed by some writers that the smaller the pipe, the more ancient is it date; but this is decidedly an error. The better critericqbf age is the form. The barrel-shaped bowl was most usual during theihommon wealth and the reign of Charles II., although it was made in many various shapes, which are well known from representations of them in prints of the time and on the traders' tokens. In the reign of William III., a more elongated form of bowl began to be prevalent, probably intro duced from Holland, although the barrel-shaped bowl still continued to be used. In the middle of the 18th c., the wide-mouthed bowl, now so universal, became the prevalent form, and the spur, which had hitherto been flat, to rest the pipe upon when in use, was.
elongated, after a fashion supposed also to have originated in Holland. The Scottish and Irish dudeen are short clay-pipes.
The most celebrated seat of the pipe-manufacture in Britain is Broseley, in Shropshire, where it appears to have been established in the middle of the 16th c., and has continued uninterruptedly to the present day. Many hands are employed, and many gross of pipes "turned out" daily. Pipes are, however, made in many places, the clay being obtained from Purbeck.
The pipe-makers of London, as early as 1601, had privileges which gave them a mon opoly. In 1619 the craft of pipe-makers was incorporated in England. Holland has long been famous for pipe making. The Dutch manufacturers were very jealous of rivalry. In the middle of the last century a pipe-manufactory was established in Flan ders, and the Dutch makers determined to ruin it. The duties were too high to admit of a large importation, and they therefore freighted a large ship entirely with tobacco-pipes, set sail to Ostend, and purposely wrecked her there. In accordance with the maritime laws of that city, the pipes were landed from the wreck, and sold at such "ruinous prices" as defied competition; and the new manufactory at once sunk, and was closed.