The Old English Herbals Part 5

There follows a description, too long to quote here, of the growth of the rose hip, which ends with the remark: "But they ben not ful good to ete for roughnesse that is hyd wythin. And greuyth [grieveth]

wythin his throte that ete thereof." ... "Among all floures of the worlde," he continues, "the floure of the rose is cheyf and beeryth ye pryse. And by cause of vertues and swete smelle and savour. For by fayrnesse they fede the syghte: and playseth the smelle by odour, the touche by softe handlynge. And wythstondeth and socouryth by vertue ayenst many syknesses and euylles." A delicious recipe is given for Rose honey. "Rose shreede smalle and sod in hony makyth that hony medycynable wyth G.o.de smelle: And this comfortyeth and clenseth and defyeth gleymy humours."

Of the violet we read: "Violet is a lytyll herbe in substaunce and is better fresshe and newe than whan it is olde. And the floure thereof smellyth moost.... And the more vertuous the floure thereof is, ye more it bendyth the heed thereof douwarde. Also floures of spryngynge tyme spryngeth fyrste and sheweth somer. The lytylnes thereof in substaunce is n.o.bly rewarded in gretnesse of sauour and of vertue."

Bartholomew's descriptions of flowers are usually brief, and there is a clarity and vividness about them which give them a charm peculiarly their own. How fresh and English, for instance, is his chapter on the apple. I have never before seen the taste of an apple described as "merry," but how true the description is! "Malus the Appyll tree is a tree yt bereth apples and is a grete tree in itself ... it is more short than other trees of the wood wyth knottes and rinelyd Rynde.

And makyth shadowe wythe thycke bowes and braunches: and fayr with dyuers blossomes, and floures of swetnesse and lykynge: with goode fruyte and n.o.ble. And is gracious in syght and in taste and vertuous in medecyne ... some beryth sourysh fruyte and harde and some ryght soure and some ryght swete, with a good savoure and mery." The descriptions of celandine and broom are also characteristic.

"Celidonia is an herbe w{t} yelowe floures, the frute smorcheth them that it towchyth. And hyghte Celidonia for it spryngeth, other blomyth, in the comynge of swalowes.... It hy?t celidonia for it helpith swallowes birdes yf their eyen be hurte other (or) blynde."

"Genesta hath that name of bytterness for it is full of bytter to mannes taste. And is a shrubbe that growyth in a place that is forsaken, stony and untylthed. Presence thereof is wytnesse that the grounde is bareyne and drye that it groweth in. And hath many braunches knotty and hard. Grene in wynter and yelowe floures in somer thyche [the which] wrapped with heuy smell and bitter sauour. And ben netheles moost of vertue." Bartholomew gives the old mandrake legend in full, though he adds, "it is so feynd of churles others of wytches," and he also writes of its use as an anaesthetic.[42] Further, he records two other beliefs about the mandrake which I have never found in any other English herbal--namely, that while uprooting it one must beware of contrary winds, and that one must go on digging for it until sunset. "They that dygge mandragora be besy to beware of contrary wyndes whyle they digge. And maken circles abowte with a swerder and abyde with the dyggynge unto the sonne goynge downe."

But apart from herbs and their uses, the book _De herbis_ is full of fleeting yet vigorous pictures of the homely everyday side of mediaeval life. Bartholomew, being one of the greatest men of his century, writes of matters in which the simplest of us are interested. He tells us of the feeding of swine with acorns. Of the making and baking of bread (including the thrifty custom of mixing cooked beans with the flour "to make the brede the more hevy"). Incidentally, and with all due respect, it may be remarked that he had no practical knowledge of this subject, his vivid description being obviously that of an interested spectator. There is an airy masculine vagueness about the conclusion of the whole matter of bread-making--"and at last after many travailes, man's lyfe is fedde and sustained therewith." He tells us of the use of laurel leaves to heal bee and wasp stings and to keep books and clothes from "moths and other worms," of the making of "fayre images" and of boxes wherein to keep "spycery" from the wood of the box-tree. Of the making of trestle tables "areared and set upon feet," of playing boards "that men playe on at the dyes [dice] and other gamys. And this maner of table is double and arrayd wyth dyerse colours." Of the making of writing tables, of wood used for flooring that "set in solar floors serue all men and bestys y{t} ben therein, and ben treden of alle men and beestys that come therein," and so strong that "they bende not nor croke [crack] whan they ben pressyd w{t} heuy thynges layd on them." And also of boards used for s.h.i.+ps, bridges, hulks and coffers, and "in shypbreche [s.h.i.+pwreck] men fle to bordes and ben ofte sauyd in peryll." Of the building of houses with roofs of "trees stretchyd from the walles up to the toppe of ye house," with rafters "stronge and square and hewen playne," and of "the covering of strawe and thetche [thatch]." Of the making of linen from the soaking of the flax in water till it is dried and turned in the sun and then bound in "praty bundels" and "afterward knockyd, beten and brayd and carflyd, rodded and gnodded; ribbyd and heklyd and at the laste sponne," of the bleaching, and finally of its many uses for making clothing, and for sails, and fish nets, and thread, and ropes, and strings ("for bows"), and measuring lines, and sheets ("to reste in"), and sackes, and bagges, and purses ("to put and to kepe thynges in"). Of the making of tow "uneven and full of k.n.o.bs," used for stuffing into the cracks in s.h.i.+ps, and "for bonds and byndynges and matches for candelles, for it is full drye and takyth sone fyre and brenneth." "And so," he concludes somewhat breathlessly, "none herbe is so nedefull to so many dyurrse uses to mankynde as is the flexe." Of the vineyard "closyd about wyth walles and wyth hegges, with a wayte [watch] set in an hyghe place to kepe the vynyerde that the fruyte be not dystroyed." Of the desolation of the vineyard in winter, "but in harueste tyme many comyth and haunteth the vynyerde."

Of the delicious smell of a vineyard. Of the damage done by foxes and swine and "tame hounds." "A few hounds," Bartholomew tells us, "wasten and dystroye moo grapes that cometh and eteth therof theuylly [thievishly]." "A vineyard," he concludes, "maye not be kepte nother sauyd but by his socour and helpe that all thynge hath and possesseth in his power and myghte. And kepyth and sauyth all lordly and myghtily." And is there any other writer who in so few words tells us of the woods in those days? Of the "beestis and foulis" therein as well as the herbs, of the woods in summer-time, of the hunting therein, of the robbers and the difficulty of finding one's way? Of the birds and the bees and the wild honey and the delicious coolness of the deep shade in summer, and the "wery wayfarynge trauelynge men"?

And the final brief suggestion of the time when forests were veritable boundaries? I believe also that this is the only book in which we are told of the interesting old custom of tying knots to the trees "in token and marke of ye highe waye," and of robbers deliberately removing them. The picture is so perfect that I give it in full:--

"Woods ben wide places wast and desolate y{t} many trees growe in w{t}oute fruyte and also few hauyinge fruyte. And those trees whyche ben bareyne and beereth noo manere fruyte alwaye ben generally more and hygher thane y{t} wyth fruyte, fewe out taken as Oke and Beche. In thyse wodes ben ofte wylde beestes and foulis. Therein growyth herbes, gra.s.se, lees and pasture, and namely medycynall herbes in wodes foude. In somer wodes ben bewtyed [beautied] wyth bowes and braunches, w{t} herbes and gra.s.se. In wode is place of disceyte [deceit] and of huntynge. For therin wylde beest ben hunted: and watches and disceytes [deceits] ben ordenyd and lette of houndes and of hunters. There is place of hidynge and of lurkyng. For ofte in wodes theuys ben hyd, and oft in their awaytes and disceytes pa.s.syng men cometh and ben spoylled and robbed and ofte slayne. And soo for many and dyuerse wayes and uncerten strange men ofte erre and goo out of the waye. And take uncerten waye and the waye that is unknowen before the waye that is knowen and come oft to the place these theues lye in awayte and not wythout peryll. Therefore ben ofte knottes made on trees and in busshes in bowes and in braunches of trees; in token and marke of ye highe waye; to shewe the certen and sure waye to wayefareynge men. But oft theuys in tornynge and metyng of wayes chaunge suche knottes and signes and begyle many men and brynge them out of the ryght waye by false tokens and sygnes. Byrdes, foules and bein [bees] fleeth to wode, byrdes to make nestes and bein [bees] to gadre hony. Byrdes to kepe themself from foulers and bein [bees] to hyde themself to make honycombes preuely in holowe trees and stockes. Also wodes for thyknesse of trees ben colde with shadowe. And in hete of the sonne wery wayfarynge and trauelynge men haue lykynge to have reste and to hele themself in the shadow. Many wodes ben betwyne dyuers coutrees and londes: and departyth theym asondre. And by weuynge and castyng togyder of trees often men kepeth and defendyth themself from enymies."[43]

Bartholomew's book on herbs ends thus: "And here we shall fynysshe and ende in treatyng of the XVII boke whyche hath treated as ye may openly knowe of suche thynges as the Maker of all thyng hath ordered and brought forth by his myghty power to embelyssh and araye the erthe wyth and most specyally for ye fode of man and beast."

At the end of the book is the poem which has caused so much controversy amongst bibliographers. In this Wynken de Worde definitely states that Caxton had a share in the first printing of this book at Cologne:--

"And also of your charyte call to remembraunce The soule of William Caxton first pr?ter of this boke.

In laten tonge at Coleyn hyself to auauce That every well disposed man may therein loke."

In spite of this, modern bibliographers are of opinion that Caxton could not have played even a subordinate part in the printing of this book at Cologne.

De Worde also refers to the maker of the paper[44]:--

"... John Tate the yonger ...

Which late hathe in England doo make this paper thynne That now in our Englysh this boke is prynted Inne."

There is charm as well as pathos in the verses on the reproduction of ma.n.u.scripts in book form, showing us vividly what the recent discovery of the art of printing meant to the scholars of that day. The simile of Phbus "repairing" the moon is very apt.

"For yf one thyng myght laste a M yere Full sone comyth aege that frettyth all away; But like as Phebus wyth his bemes clere The mone repeyreth as bryght as ony day Whan she is wasted ryght; so may we say Thise bokes old and blynde whan we renewe By goodly pryntyng they ben bryght of hewe."

The last verse of the poem is as follows:--

"Nowe gloryous G.o.d that regnest one in thre And thre in one graunte vertu myght and grace Unto the prynter of this werke that he May be rewarded in thy heuenly place And whan the worlde shall come before thy face There to receue accordyng to desert Of grace and mercy make hym then expert."

The treatise on herbs formed, as we have seen, only a part of Bartholomew's _De Proprietatibus Rerum_, and, to speak strictly, the first printed English herbal was the small quarto volume published by Richard Banckes in 1525. It was the beginning of a series of small books[45] chiefly in black letter. All of them, though issued from different presses, have nearly the same t.i.tle, and they vary only slightly from the original _Banckes's Herbal_. The t.i.tle of this Herbal is--

"Here begynneth a new mater / the whiche sheweth and treateth of ye vertues & proprytes of her- bes / the whiche is called an Herball ['.'] -- c.u.m gratia & priuilegio a rege indulto

"(_Colophon_) -- Imprynted by me Rycharde Banckes / dwellynge in Lodo / a lytel fro ye Stockes in ye Pultry / ye XXV day of Marche. The yere of our Lorde MCCCCC. & XXV."

We do not know who the author of this book was, and it has been suggested that it is based on some mediaeval English ma.n.u.script now lost. Certainly when one reads this anonymous work known as _Banckes's Herbal_ one is struck not only by its superiority to the later and more famous _Grete Herball_, but also by its greater charm. It gives the impression of being a compilation from various sources, the author having made his own selection from what pleased him most in the older English ma.n.u.script herbals. It seems to have been a labour of love, whereas the _Grete Herball_ is merely a translation. It is almost certain that the writer made use of one of the numerous ma.n.u.script versions of Macer's Herbal, which in parts _Banckes's Herbal_ resembles very closely, and the chapter on rosemary shows that he had access to one of the copies of the ma.n.u.script on the virtues of rosemary which was sent by the Countess of Hainault to Queen Philippa.

He does not give the beautiful old tradition preserved in that ma.n.u.script,[46] but he ascribes wonderful virtues to this herb, with the same loving enthusiasm and almost in the same words. Of rosemary in _Banckes's Herbal_ we read:--

"Take the flowers thereof and make powder thereof and binde it to thy right arme in a linnen cloath and it shale make thee light and merrie.

"Take the flowers and put them in thy chest among thy clothes or among thy Bookes and Mothes shall not destroy them.

"Boyle the leaves in white wine and washe thy face therewith and thy browes and thou shalt have a faire face.

"Also put the leaves under thy bedde and thou shalt be delivered of all evill dreames.

"Take the leaves and put them into wine and it shall keep the wine from all sourness and evill savours and if thou wilt sell thy wine thou shalt have goode speede.

"Also if thou be feeble boyle the leaves in cleane water and washe thyself and thou shalt wax s.h.i.+ny.

"Also if thou have lost appet.i.te of eating boyle well these leaves in cleane water and when the water is colde put thereunto as much of white wine and then make sops, eat them thereof wel and thou shalt restore thy appet.i.te againe.

"If thy legges be blowen with gowte boyle the leaves in water and binde them in a linnen cloath and winde it about thy legges and it shall do thee much good.

"If thou have a cough drink the water of the leaves boyld in white wine and ye shall be whole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INITIAL LETTERS FROM "BANCKES'S HERBAL"]

"Take the Timber thereof and burn it to coales and make powder thereof and rubbe thy teeth thereof and it shall keep thy teeth from all evils. Smell it oft and it shall keep thee youngly.

"Also if a man have lost his smellyng of the ayre that he may not draw his breath make a fire of the wood and bake his bread therewith, eate it and it shall keepe him well.

"Make thee a box of the wood of rosemary and smell to it and it shall preserve thy youth."

That _Banckes's Herbal_ achieved immediate popularity is attested by the fact that the following year another edition of it was issued, and during the next thirty years various London printers issued the same book under different t.i.tles.[47] Robert Wyer[48] ascribed the authors.h.i.+p of those he issued to Macer, and in the edition of 1530 he added, after "Macer's Herbal," "Practysed by Dr. Lynacro." Whether this statement is true it is impossible to discover, but we know that the great doctor died some years before Wyer set up as a printer, and his name does not appear in any of the subsequent editions of the herbal issued by other printers. In Wyer's edition there are some good initial letters very similar to those used by Wynkyn de Worde.

The most interesting edition of the herbal is that printed by William Copland, in which first appear the additional chapters on "The virtues of waters stylled," "The tyme of gathering of sedes" and "A general rule of all maner of herbes." He issued two editions bearing the same t.i.tle and differing only in the woodcuts and the colophon. The t.i.tle is "A boke of the propreties of Herbes called an her- ball, whereunto is added the tyme y{e} herbes, floures and Sedes shold be gathered to be kept the whole, ye- re, with the vertue of ye Herbes whe they are stylled. Al- so a generall rule of all ma- ner of Herbes drawen out of an auncyent booke of Phisyck by W. C." The woodcut in the first edition is three "Tudor" roses in a double circle with a crown over one of the roses and across the riband "K?ge of floures." In the second edition the woodcut is a quaint little representation of a lady seated in a garden. One man standing behind her is holding her and another is walking towards her. The three figures are near a wall, on the other side of which several men are apparently conversing. Who W. C. was is uncertain. In the _Dictionary of National Biography_ William Copland is said to be both the author and the printer of the book, but in many catalogues (notably in that of the British Museum) Walter Cary figures as the author. In a lengthy account of the Carys in _Notes and Queries_ (March 29, 1913) Mr. A. L. Humphreys disposes conclusively of the supposition that W. C. can stand for Walter Cary.

"_A Boke of the Properties of Herbes_ bears on the t.i.tle-page the initials W. C., which may stand either for Copland or Cary. This was one of several editions of _Banckes's Herbal_, then very popular, and although it may have been edited or promoted in some way by a Walter Cary, it could not have been by the one who wrote _The Hammer for the Stone_. The 'Herball' was issued somewhere about 1550 and various editions of it exist, but all these appeared when the Walter Cary we are considering was a child. There is, however, a connection between the Carys and herbals, because it is well known that Henry Lyte (1529-1607) of Lytes Cary was the famous translator of Dodoens's _Herball_ (1578), and he had a herbal garden at Lytes Cary."

Ames in his _Typographical Antiquities_ describes the two editions, which are identical, as though they were two different books, and ascribes one to Walter Cary and the other to William Copland. We have only Ames's authority for the supposition that Copland was the compiler as well as the printer. The herbal in question is merely another edition of _Banckes's Herbal_, but it is quite possible that the three additional chapters at the end were "drawen out of an auncyent booke of Physick" by Copland.[49]

Two editions of _Banckes's Herbal_ are ascribed, on account of the wording of the t.i.tle, to Antony Askham, and the t.i.tle is so attractive that it is a disappointment to find that the astrological additions "declaryng what herbes hath influence of certain sterres and constellations," etc., do not appear in any known copy of the herbal.

This astrological lore from the famous man who combined the professions of priest, physician and astrologer in the reign of Edward VI. would be of remarkable interest. But it has been pointed out by Mr. H. M. Barlow[50] that, if the bibliographers who have attributed the work to Askham had examined the t.i.tle of the work with greater care, they would have observed that the phrase "by Anthonye Askham"

refers not to the substance of the book itself (which is merely another edition of _Banckes's Herbal_) but to the "Almanacke" from which the additions were intended to be taken, though apparently they were never printed. The t.i.tle of "Askham's" Herbal is--

"A lytel herball of the properties of her- bes newely amended and corrected, with certayne addicions at the ende of the boke, declarying what herbes hath influence of certaine Sterres and constellations, whereby may be chosen the beast and most luckye tymes and dayes of their mini- stracion, accordyinge to the Moone being in the sig- nes of heauen, the which is dayly appoynted in the Almanacke; made and gathered in the yere of our Lorde G.o.d M.D.L. the XII. day of Fe- bruary by Anthonye Askham Phi- sycyon.

"(_Colophon._) Imprynted at London in Flete- strete at the signe of the George next to Saynte Dunstones Churche by Wylly- am Powell. In the yeare of oure Lorde M.D.L.

the twelfe day of Marche."

There are some charming prescriptions to be found in "Askham's"

Herbal. Under "rose," for instance, we have recipes for "melroset,"

"sugar roset," "syrope of Rooses," "oyle of roses" and "rose water."

"Melrosette is made thus. Take faire purified honye and new read rooses, the whyte endes of them clypped awaye, tha chop theym smal and put the into the Hony and boyl the menely together; to know whan it is boyled ynoughe, ye shal know it by the swete odour and the colour read. Fyve yeares he may be kept in his vertue; by the Roses he hath vertue of comfortinge and by the hony he hath vertu of clensinge.

"Syrope of Rooses is made thus. Some do take roses dyght as it is sayd and boyle them in water and in the water strayned thei put suger and make a sirope thereof; and some do make it better, for they put roses in a vessell, hauing a strayght mouthe, and they put to the roses hote water and thei let it stande a day and a night and of that water, putting to it suger, thei do make sirope, and some doe put more of Roses in the forsaid vessel and more of hote water, and let it stande as is beforesaide, and so they make a read water and make the rose syrope. And some do stape new Roses and then strayne out the joyce of it and suger therwyth, they make sirope: and this is the best making of sirope. In Wynter and in Somer it maye be geuen competently to feble sicke melacoly and colorike people.

"Sugar Roset is made thus--Take newe gathered roses and stape them righte smal with sugar, tha put in a gla.s.se x.x.x. dayes, let it stande in ye sunne and stirre it wel, and medle it well together so it may be kept three yeares in his vertue. The quat.i.tie of sugar and roses should be thus.