"Item: For one ounce of bacca which Mr. Maior sent for to spend upon Colonel Sandys, and for tobacco pipe, eighteen pence." The sum of 1s. 6d. being then equal to at least 10s. of our present money, some idea may be formed of the scarcity and value of tobacco in its earlier days. The Droitwich corporation, it seems, were very liberal in the consumption of the weed, for at a feast in 1656 it is recorded that the sum of 9s. was spent "for tobacco of both sorts." This is the first and only instance of "both sorts" being mentioned. The price of the article had fluctuated in a most unaccountable manner, for while in 1643 it cost 1s. 6d. an ounce at Worcester (the same price which was given for it at Droitwich in 1632), in 1646 it was entered only at 2s. 8d. per pound by the constable of Droitwich, in his bill of charges for soldiers who at that time had taken up their abode in Dodderhill church, as a barrack. In 1659, "Mr. Maior Ashbie," of Worcester, charges 6s. 8d. for a pound of Spanish tobacco; but it is gratifying to observe that, in the midst of this heavy expenditure on matters of luxury, some compunction of conscience was evident from the fact that the corporation made their pipes perform double duty, frequent entries occurring of a charge of 6d. per gross for _burning_ them! The price of the article was much reduced by the time of James II, when the "best Virginia" was but 2s. per pound, and "two gross of best glazed pipes and a box with them, 3s. 4d." Previous to that time tobacco had become almost a necessary among the upper classes, nor could the Parliamentary representatives of the city of Worcester be despatched up to town until the "collective wisdom" had smoked and drunk sack with them at the Globe, or some other hostelry.