Posted by Que on October 06, 2001 at 05:20:23:
The old man would cut the the plug and then break it with his fingers into brúscar in the palm of his left hand, careful not to let any fall to the ground. The the cermony of preparing the pipe, scraping the inside with a knife and turning the ashes into the pipe cover, which would be made of a blackining tin. A few handy taps with the handle of the knife on the bottom of the upturned pipe to be sure it was empty. Suck the air through it. And if it was bloked you'd have to get a tráithnín to act as a réiteoir. Take the pipe apart at the place where the silver ferrule was and run the tráithnín through the short stem until it disappeared and when it came out the other side the fox's tail would be as black as the ace of spades. Put the pipe back together and hear the air whistling through it. Now to fill it. The mouth of the pipe'd be put under the palm of the the left hand and with the forefinger of the right hand he'd coax the tobacco into the pipe searching the crevices of his palm and in between his fingers for any stray particles of the precious weed. Then the ashes in the cover'd be spread on top and pressed down not too hard with the thumb. Nothing now but to redden it! ...An seanchaí