Note Back to Main Text — Chapter V

While Raleigh[51] and many of Elizabeth's courtiers indulged frequently in a pipe, some have imagined that even Queen Bess herself tested the rare virtues of tobacco. This is hardly based upon sufficient proof to warrant a very strong belief in it; but the following account of "How to weigh smoke" taken from Tinsley's Magazine shows that the Queen was acquainted at least with Raleigh's use of the weed: