The Story that Inspired Crowley? Literary References to Smoking Straight Perique

[beastinview]

We all know that Aleister Crowley (1875 –1947) smoked straight perique, and that this was alluded to in works by W. Somerset Maugham, but I recently found myself wondering if there were further literary references to this practice—either in fiction or non-fiction. Since I teach literature, it seemed appropriate for me to do a little digging, and share the results with you. I actually found some fairly interesting material—and perhaps even stumbled across Crowley’s inspiration for doing so in the first place.
[Disclaimer: I apologize for the inevitable typos in this post. As a teacher, I’m a compulsive editor, and it drives me nuts that the forum’s “edit” function is only available for a short time after the post, as I’m always seeing my errors in retrospect and unable to fix them.]
As far as non-fiction accounts, we have Frank Norris, in a piece dated July 3, 1897, who writes of "an Australian reporter named Miller" who smoked Perique straight.

Miller told the story that follows early one morning, sitting on the bulk-board, sailor-fashion, and smoking pipefuls of straight perique, black as a nigger's wool. We were grouped around him on the deck in pajamas and bath robes. It was half after six, the thermometer was at 70 degrees, The Moor cut the still water with a soothing rumble of her screw, and at intervals flushed whole schools of flying fish. (p. 9)

Lee Shippey includes the odd practice as a flavorful detail in his 1959 novel, The Luckiest Man Alive--

"I believed I heard you buying Perique." The fact was that Earl had told me Enos was the only man he knew who smoked straight Perique. "Why, yes," admitted Enos, evidently pleased to know his oddity was being noted. (p. 40)

[. . .]

Then I settled down to smoke Perique — and it almost took my head off. After three days I decided that anyone who smoked straight Perique might be a genius but did not have good sense. (p. 41)

In his 1983 book, Trouble in Your Tank?: Handbook for Solving Plating Problems, Lawrence J. Durney claims that Sherlock Holmes smoked straight Perique.

Many years ago, A. Conan Doyle created a character who is so famous that he is deathless--Sherlock Holmes. With consummate skill, he would unravel the most complex mysteries and provide a lucid explanation to his colleague, Watson. He was impeturbable [sic], and frequently in a crisis would stuff and light his famous pipe (although as a pipe smoker myself, I find it hard to believe that he could smoke straight Perique). (p. 3)

I was more interested in older sources regarding pure perique, but I included this because it's interesting that this practice is attributed to Holmes, as I haven't seen that detail anywhere else. I wonder where Durney got the idea that Holmes smoked straight perique?
In the May 28, 1921 edition of Collier's National Weekly, there is a short story, "Taps" by Paul Leach which includes a practical joke using the tobacco—one soldiers hands another pure Perique to try, as though it is normal tobacco.

Besides, Beauregard was fair enough to admit to himself quite privately that maybe he had been a leetle mite hard in handing his old friend pure perique without a word of warning concerning its potency, especially when he knew that Jeremiah much preferred the denatured stuff that looked and tasted more like corn silk than anything else.

"Ah, Jerry," he said placatingly, "you don't mean that do you? I came from New Orleans , you know."

Sergeant Green took one more drag at the offending pipe and vigorously tapped it against the edge of the bench. "No, Bo," he conceded, inspecting the empty pipe bowl and wondering if it could ever smoke sweet again, "but that t'baccer . . . !" He shook his head in wonder. (p. 183)

In an 1891 issue of The Cornhill Magazine, there is a story entitled "The Pipe" by Randolph Crescent, featuring a protagonist who receives an unusual pipe, smokes straight Perique in it, and has some extremely bizarre experiences. Here is an excerpt. I believe deathmetal will enjoy this.

The carver had thought proper to ornament the box with some of the ugliest figures I remember to have seen. They appeared to be devils. Or perhaps, they were intended to represent deities appertaining to some mythological system with which, thank goodness, I am unacquainted. The pipe itself was worthy of the case in which it was contained. It was of meerschaum, with an amber mouthpiece. It was rather too large for ordinary smoking. [. . .] The stem and the bowl were quite plain, but on the edge of the bowl was perched some kind of lizard. I told myself it was an octopus when I first saw it, but I have since had reason to believe that it was some almost unique member of the lizard tribe. The creature was represented as climbing over the edge of the bowl down towards the stem, and its legs, or feelers, or tentacula, or whatever the things are called, were, if I may use a vulgarism, sprawling about “all over the place. For instance, two or three of them were twined about the bowl, two or three of them were twisted round the stem, and one, a particularly horrible one, was uplifted in the air, so that if you put the pipe in your mouth the thing was pointing straight at your nose. Not the least agreeable feature about the creature was that it was hideously lifelike. It appeared to have been carved in amber, but some colouring matter must have been introduced, for inside the amber the creature was of a peculiarly ghastly green. The more I examined the pipe the more amazed I was at Tress's generosity. He and I are rival collectors. I am not going to say, in so many words, that his collection of pipes contains nothing but rubbish, because, as a matter of fact, he has two or three rather decent specimens. But to compare his collection to mine would be absurd. Tress is conscious of this, and he resents it. He resents it to such an extent that he has been known at least on one occasion to declare that one single pipe of his—I believe he alluded to the Brummagem relic preposterously attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh—was worth the whole of my collection put together. Although I have forgiven this, as I hope I always shall forgive remarks made when envious passions get the better of our nobler nature, even of a Joseph Tress, it is not to be supposed that I have forgotten it. He was, therefore, not at all the sort of person from whom I expected to receive a present. And such a present ! I do not believe that he himself had a finer pipe in his collection. And to have given it me! I had misjudged the man. I wondered where he had got it from. I had seen his pipes; I knew them off by heart—and some nice trumpery . he has among them, too!—but I had never seen that pipe before. The more I looked at it, the more my amazement grew. The beast perched upon the edge of the bowl was so like life. Its two bead-like eyes seemed to gleam at me with positively human intelligence. The pipe fascinated me to such an extent that I actually resolved to—smoke it! I filled it with Perique. Ordinarily I use Birdseye, but on those very rare occasions on which I use a specimen I smoke Perique. I lit up with quite a small sensation of excitement. As I did so I kept my eyes perforce fixed upon the beast. The beast pointed its upraised tentacle directly at me. As I inhaled the pungent tobacco that tentacle impressed me with a feeling of actual uncanniness. It was broad daylight, and I was smoking in front of the window, yet to such an extent was I affected that it seemed to me that the tentacle was not only vibrating, which, owing to the peculiarity of its position, was quite within the range of probability, but actually moving, elongating—stretching forward, that is, further towards me, and towards the tip of my nose. So impressed was I by this idea that I took the pipe out of my mouth, and minutely examined the beast. Really, the delusion was excusable. So cunningly had the artist wrought that he had succeeded in producing a creature which, such was its uncanniness, I could only hope had no original in nature.

Replacing the pipe between my lips I took several whiffs. Never had smoking had such an effect on me before. Either the pipe, or the creature on it, exercised some singular fascination. I seemed, without an instant's warning, to be passing into some land of dreams. I saw the beast, which was perched upon the bowl, writhe and twist. I saw it lift itself bodily from the meerschaum. . . .

In the next scene, the smoker wakes up, having been knocked unconscious by the smoke. Read the rest here.
As I was reading this, I thought—ah, this writer must have been inspired by Crowley! But then I realized that Crowley would have been only sixteen years old at the time this was published. The Cornhill Magazine is a British publication (out of London), so it is quite possible that a teenage Crowley read this story. A story about a pipe, devilish figures, paranormal experiences, and pure perique—if this wouldn’t have inspired Crowley to smoke straight perique, what would have?

 

[deathmetal]

It was broad daylight, and I was smoking in front of the window, yet to such an extent was I affected that it seemed to me that the tentacle was not only vibrating, which, owing to the peculiarity of its position, was quite within the range of probability, but actually moving, elongating—stretching forward, that is, further towards me, and towards the tip of my nose.

This is fairly consistent with my straight Perique experience. No hallucinations, but definitely a different view of the world. Great research! Thank you for posting it.

 

[oakbear]

Very cool to see historic references to pure perique thanks. I imagine on rare occasions it's been smoked pure the shock value is a significant part of the process!

I've been experimenting with different rum soak times though, and i find it quite palatable that way, even a little bland with longer soaks.

 

[perdurabo]

After some experiments, I think there is to much mystique at play around the camp fire. The American Natives smoked it, I'm pretty sure, straight. They might would think we are pussies for toning it down with rum. ::

 

[mayfair70]

Great research. Thanks for posting.

 

[hawky454]

Yes, excellent read and I that may very well have been his inspiration to smoke straight Perique, interesting.
I'm going to need to try smoking Perique straight again but I don't remember it being to harsh ot bad at all and as long as you're not a nicotine lightweight I don't think it's that crazy of an idea. Smoking a black rope on the other hand? Now that's crazy! Stuff is nasty!

 

[pitchfork]

That's really interesting. It's certainly plausible that Crowley got the idea from The Cornhill Magazine piece. Funny to think that there were at least a handful of people around smoking straight Perique (or at least ascribing the practice to others -- real or imagined).