Sir
Walter Raleigh (c. 1554 – 29 October 1618) was an English
gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer, well known for
popularising tobacco in England.
Raleigh is mentioned in the second "commercial" on
P. D. Q. Bach's Report from Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach on the Air (1967), and credited with providing the composer with a recipe for a special blend of tobacco that will "give no end of reason to be jolly".
In the late 1940s to early 1950s, actor and comedian
Andy Griffith appeared as Sir Walter Raleigh, alongside other cast members in the stage play The Lost Colony.[9]
Raleigh County, West Virginia is named after Sir Walter Raleigh. Alfred Beckley, the founder of the Raleigh county seat, said he did it to honour Raleigh for "the "enterprising and far-seeing patron of the earliest attempts to colonize our old Mother State of Virginia."[11]
Brands and enterprises
Raleigh Cigarettes were a popular brand during the 1950s and 1960s [12] as was Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco during the 20th century.[13]
The gimmick of Raleigh premium coupons, free with each purchase, led comedian
Alan King to say that after accumulating enough of them, one could acquire an
iron lung.
Since 2014 the Raleigh Rum is in the market of the United States
Myths
Raleigh allegedly laid his cloak over a puddle so
Queen Elizabeth I would not get her feet wet.[14] The story is generally considered to be apocryphal.[15]