User:Phosgene/Sienna Miller

Strumpet with Pipe (1878) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

“Not something I'd like to stuff my pipe with...”

~ Noel Coward on Sienna Miller

“I'm more a snuff fan myself”

~ Ed Gein on Sienna Miller

“There were an English miller , an Irish miller and a Sienna miller an' the Sienna miller said ...”

~ Bernard Manning on Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller is a 17th Century London slang word for a cheap and coarse shag tobacco that smelt like high quality bergamot pipe tobacco but tasted every bit the cheap doctored smoke it was. The phrase originated from disappointed pickpockets who ended up smoking the stuff when they had failed to steal a decent brand.

Historical Significance

Despite its seeming lack of appeal Sienna Miller was to have an important impact upon both the economic and political landscape of much of the Victorian era.

The Importation Act 1821 (later known as the Jude Law) were import tariffs designed to support and protect domestic British tobacco prices against competition from less expensive foreign-tobacco imports. The Act would not be repealed until 1846, by which time many of the important players in the world of tobacco production had managed to form a domanance within the market that, in the case of some such as Woodbines, would be maintained well into the 20th Century.

Traditional Uses

• "Would ya stuff Sienna Miller, mate?"
• "A quarter pound of Sienna Miller, my good man, and make it ready rubbed."

Trivia

• The famous yoghurt brand was originally named 'Miller' after her, but it was then changed to make them sound more South American

See Also

• Old Fags