"Home Rule" was a common pipe type no doubt intended to appeal to Irish
smokers. There were numerous other Irish pipe types as well. Ironically
given the history of Ireland these were made be Scottish pipe manufacturers.
It seems to me that this was an attempt by the pipe makers to use current
political slogans to sell the pipes. Later pipe types with names like Gordon
or Mafeking (did you find any of those in South Africa, Mathew?) where
obvious attempts to use later current events to sell pipes.

Whether the consumers adopted the slogans is a moot point and would have to
be argued. The example of the pipes from the Aboriginal settlement at
Wybellena where all the pipes have Masonic icons on them is interesting.
Were the Tasmanian Aborigines masons, I doubt it, more likely the pipe were
a left over lot sold to the Government on the cheap!

Denis Gojak and I published a brief article discussing some of these points
in Australasian Historical Archaeology Vol 17 if anyone is interested.

Iain Stuart
Principal, Archaeology and Heritage Management
HLA-Envirosciences Pty. Ltd.