Rattray's: Fachen (109) (9mm) Tobacco Pipe

Rattray's "109" design is a moderately sized, thoroughly traditional Billiard that displays an upright bowl with a sturdy heel underneath. It fits in well to the Scottish marque's classic shaping style and is one of several straight Billiards featured on Rattray's shape chart. The "109" is significantly smaller than the massive "147" and a tad larger than the compact "100" Nosewarmer, making it a perfect, middle-of-the-road choice for those who prefer traditional shapes with well-balanced proportions.

Described by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, a four-volume compilation of fairy tales and Scottish folklore, the Fachen is a giant of singular features, displaying a single eye in the middle of its face, a single tuft of hair atop its head, a single hand protruding from its chest, and a single leg supporting it from below. Oddly enough, that description fits in quite well with the characteristics of a pipe: a single shank emerging from the side of a single bowl (like an arm from out of the chest), within which lies a single chamber (a myopic eye), and after issuing a charring light, such loose leaves of tobacco could very well resemble a tuft of hair. Such uncanny similarities have prompted the Scottish marque to devote a whole series to the mythical beast, offering pipes marked by a dark green color palette and a sandblasted finish.