Chapter 4

“Woods ben wide places wast and desolate ytmany trees growe in wtoute fruyte and also few hauyinge fruyte. And those trees whyche ben bareyne and beereth noo manere fruytealwaye ben generally more and hygher than̄e ytwyth fruyte, fewe out taken as Oke and Beche. In thyse wodes ben ofte wylde beestes and foulis. Therein growyth herbes, grasse, lees and pasture, and namely medycynall herbes in wodes foūde. In somer wodes ben bewtyed [beautied] wyth bowes and braunches, wtherbes and grasse. 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 passyng 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 coūtrees 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 remembraunceThe soule of William Caxton first prȳter of this boke.In laten tonge at Coleyn hyself to auauceThat 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 thynneThat now in our Englysh this boke is prynted Inne.”

There is charm as well as pathos in the verses on the reproduction of manuscripts 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 Phœbus “repairing” the moon is very apt.

“For yf one thyng myght laste a M yereFull sone comyth aege that frettyth all away;But like as Phebus wyth his bemes clereThe mone repeyreth as bryght as ony dayWhan she is wasted ryght; so may we sayThise bokes old and blynde whan we reneweBy goodly pryntyng they ben bryght of hewe.”

The last verse of the poem is as follows:—

“Nowe gloryous god that regnest one in threAnd thre in one graunte vertu myght and graceUnto the prynter of this werke that heMay be rewarded in thy heuenly placeAnd whan the worlde shall come before thy faceThere to receue accordyng to desertOf grace and mercy make hym then expert.”

The treatise on herbs formed, as we have seen, only a part of Bartholomew’sDe 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 title, and they vary only slightly from the originalBanckes’s Herbal. The title of this Herbal is—

“(Colophon) ¶ Imprynted by me Rycharde Banckes / dwellynge in | Lōdō / 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 mediæval English manuscript now lost. Certainly when one reads this anonymous work known asBanckes’s Herbalone is struck not only by its superiority to the later and more famousGrete 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 manuscript herbals. It seems to have been a labour of love, whereas theGrete Herballis merely a translation. It is almost certain that the writer made use of one of the numerousmanuscript versions of Macer’s Herbal, which in partsBanckes’s Herbalresembles very closely, and the chapter on rosemary shows that he had access to one of the copies of the manuscript 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 manuscript,[46]but he ascribes wonderful virtues to this herb, with the same loving enthusiasm and almost in the same words. Of rosemary inBanckes’s Herbalwe 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 shiny.“Also if thou have lost appetite 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 appetite 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.

“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 shiny.

“Also if thou have lost appetite 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 appetite 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.

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.”

“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.”

ThatBanckes’s Herbalachieved 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 titles.[47]Robert Wyer[48]ascribed the authorship 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 title and differing onlyin the woodcuts and the colophon. The title is “A boke of the | propreties of Herbes called an her- | ball, whereunto is added the tyme ye| herbes, floures and Sedes shold | be gathered to be kept the whole, ye- | re, with the vertue of ye Herbes whē | 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 “Kȳge 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 theDictionary of National BiographyWilliam 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 inNotes 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 Herbesbears on the title-page the initials W. C., which may stand either for Copland or Cary. This was one of several editions ofBanckes’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 wroteThe 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’sHerball(1578), and he had a herbal garden at Lytes Cary.”

Ames in hisTypographical Antiquitiesdescribes the two editions, which are identical, as though they were two differentbooks, 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 ofBanckes’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 ofBanckes’s Herbalare ascribed, on account of the wording of the title, to Antony Askham, and the title 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 title 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 ofBanckes’s Herbal) but to the “Almanacke” from which the additions were intended to be taken, though apparently they were never printed. The title of “Askham’s” Herbal is—

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, thā chop theym smal and put thē into the Hony and boyl thē 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 stāpe 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 melācoly and colorike people.“Sugar Roset is made thus—Take newe gathered roses and stāpe them righte smal with sugar, thā put in a glasse XXX. 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. Thequātitie of sugar and roses should be thus. In IIII. pound of sugar a pounde of roses.“Oyle of roses is made thus. Some boyle roses in oyle and kepe it, some do fyll a glasse with roses and oyle and they boyle it in a caudron full of water and this oyle is good. Some stampe fresh roses with oyle and they put it in a vessel of glasse and set it in the sūne IIII. dais and this oyle is good.“Rose water. Some do put rose water in a glass and they put roses with their dew therto and they make it to boile in water thā thei set it in the sune tyll it be readde and this water is beste.”

“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 stāpe 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 melācoly and colorike people.

“Sugar Roset is made thus—Take newe gathered roses and stāpe them righte smal with sugar, thā put in a glasse XXX. 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. Thequātitie of sugar and roses should be thus. In IIII. pound of sugar a pounde of roses.

“Oyle of roses is made thus. Some boyle roses in oyle and kepe it, some do fyll a glasse with roses and oyle and they boyle it in a caudron full of water and this oyle is good. Some stampe fresh roses with oyle and they put it in a vessel of glasse and set it in the sūne IIII. dais and this oyle is good.

“Rose water. Some do put rose water in a glass and they put roses with their dew therto and they make it to boile in water thā thei set it in the sune tyll it be readde and this water is beste.”

Under the same flower we find this fragrant example of the widespread mediæval belief in the efficacy of good smells:—

“Also drye roses put to ye nose to smell do cōforte the braine and the harte and quencheth sprite.”

The herbalists were never weary of teaching the value of sweet scents.[51]“If odours may worke satisfaction,” wrote Gerard in hisHerball, “they are so soveraigne in plants and so comfortable that no confection of the apothecaries can equall their excellent vertue.” One of the most delicious “scent” prescriptions in Askham is to be found under Violet—“For thē that may not slepe for sickness seeth this herb in water and at euen let him soke well hys feete in the water to the ancles, whā he goeth to bed, bind of this herbe to his temples and he shall slepe wel by the grace of God.”

The most curious recipe is that under “woodbinde.” “Go to the roote of woodbinde and make a hole in the middes of the roote, than cover it well againe ytno ayre go out nor thatno rayne go in, no water, nor earth nor the sune come not to much to it, let it stande so a night and a day, thā after that go to it and thou shalt fynde therein a certayne lycoure. Take out that lycoure with a spone and put it into a clean glas and do so every day as long as thou fyndest ought in the hole, and this must be done in the moneth of April or Maye, than anoynt the sore therwith against the fyre, thā wete a lynnen clothe in the same lycoure and lappe it about the sore and it shal be hole in shorte space on warrantyse by the Grace of God.”

Unlike the laterGrete Herball, Askham gives some descriptions of the herbs themselves, notably in the case of alleluia (wood-sorrel), water crowfoot, and asterion.

“This herbe alleluia mē call it Wodsour or Stubwort, this herbe hath thre leaves ye which be roūd a litel departed aboue and it hath a whyte flour, but it hath no lōge stalkes and it is Woodsoure and it is like thre leued grasse. The vertue of this herbe is thus, if it be rosted in the ashes in red docke leaves or in red wort leaves it fretteth awai dead flesh of a wounde. This herbe groweth much in woodes.”Water crowfoot: “This herb that men call water crowfoot hath yelow floures, as hath crowfoot and of the same shap, but the leves are more departed as it were Rammes fete, and it hath a long stalke and out of that one stalke groweth many stalkes smal by ye sides. This herb groweth in watery places.”“Asterion or Lunary groweth among stoones and in high places, this herb shyneth by night and he bringeth forth purple floures hole and rounde as a knockebell or else lyke to foxgloves, the leves of this herbe be rounde and blew and they have the mark of the Moone in the myddes as it were thre leved grasse, but the leaves therof be more and they be round as a peny. And the stalk of this herb is red and thyse herb semeth as it were musk and the joyce therof is yelow and this groweth in the new Moone without leve and euery day spryngeth a newe leaue to the ende of fyftene dayes and after fyftene dayes itlooseth euery day a leaue as the Moone waneth and it springeth and waneth as doth the Moone and where that it groweth there groweth great quantitie.“The vertue of this herbe is thus—thei that eat of the beris or of the herbe in waning of the moone, whā he is in signo virginis if he have the falling euell he shal be hole thereof or if he beare thys about his neck he shal be holpen without doute. And it hath many more vertues than I can tell at this tyme.”

Water crowfoot: “This herb that men call water crowfoot hath yelow floures, as hath crowfoot and of the same shap, but the leves are more departed as it were Rammes fete, and it hath a long stalke and out of that one stalke groweth many stalkes smal by ye sides. This herb groweth in watery places.”

“Asterion or Lunary groweth among stoones and in high places, this herb shyneth by night and he bringeth forth purple floures hole and rounde as a knockebell or else lyke to foxgloves, the leves of this herbe be rounde and blew and they have the mark of the Moone in the myddes as it were thre leved grasse, but the leaves therof be more and they be round as a peny. And the stalk of this herb is red and thyse herb semeth as it were musk and the joyce therof is yelow and this groweth in the new Moone without leve and euery day spryngeth a newe leaue to the ende of fyftene dayes and after fyftene dayes itlooseth euery day a leaue as the Moone waneth and it springeth and waneth as doth the Moone and where that it groweth there groweth great quantitie.

“The vertue of this herbe is thus—thei that eat of the beris or of the herbe in waning of the moone, whā he is in signo virginis if he have the falling euell he shal be hole thereof or if he beare thys about his neck he shal be holpen without doute. And it hath many more vertues than I can tell at this tyme.”

One of the unidentified herbs is called “sene,” and we are given the somewhat vague geographical information, “It groweth in the other syde the sea and moste aboute Babilon.”

Another small book printed by William Copland must be mentioned, for, although it is not a herbal, it contains a great deal of curious herb lore not to be found elsewhere. This isThe boke of secretes of Albartus Magnus of the vertues of Herbes, Stones, and certaine beastes. Who the author was is unknown, but he was certainly not Albert of Bollstadt (1193-1280), Bishop of Ratisbon, the scholastic philosopher to whom it was ascribed, probably in order to increase its sale. There is one philosophical remark which is not unworthy of the famous Bishop: “Every man despiseth ye thyng whereof he knoweth nothynge and that hath done no pleasure to him.” But for the most part it deals with the popular beliefs concerning the mystical properties of herbs, stones and animals.

Of celandine the writer tells us: “This hearbe springeth in the time in ye which the swallowes and also ye Eagles maketh theyr nestes. If any man shal have this herbe with ye harte of a Molle (mole) he shall overcome all his enemies.... And if the before named hearbe be put upon the headde of a sycke man if he should dye he shal syng anone with a loud voyce, if not he shall weep.”

“Perwynke when it is beatē unto pouder with wormes of ye earth wrapped aboute it and with an herbe called houslyke it induceth love between man and wyfe if it bee used in theirmeales ... if the sayde confection be put in the fyre it shall be turned anone unto blue coloure.”

Of the herb which, he tells us, “the men of Chaldea called roybra,” he says: “He that holdeth this herbe in hys hāde with an herbe called Mylfoyle or yarowe or noseblede is sure from all feare and fantasye or vysion. And yf it be put with the juyce of houselyke and the bearers hands be anoynted with it and the residue be put in water if he entre in ye water where fyshes be they wil gather together to hys handes ... and if hys hande be drawē forth they will leape agayne to theyre owne places where they were before.”

Of hound’s tongue: “If ye shall have the aforenamed herbe under thy formost toe al the dogges shall kepe silence and shall not have power to bark. And if thou shalt put the aforesayde thinge in the necke of any dogge so ythe maye not touche it with his mouthe he shalbe turned always round about lyke a turning whele untill he fall unto the grounde as dead and this hath bene proved in our tyme.”

Of centaury: “If it be joyned with the bloude of a female lapwing or black plover and be put with oyle in a lampe, all they that compasse it aboute shal beleue themselves to be witches so that one shall beleve of an other that his head is in heaven and his fete in the earth. And if the aforesaid thynge be put in the fire whan the starres shine it shall appeare ytthe sterres runne one agaynste another and fyght.”

Of vervain: “This herbe (as witches say) gathered, the sunne beyng in the signe of the Ram, and put with grayne or corne of pyonie of one yeare olde healeth them ytbe sicke of ye falling sykenes.”

Of powder of roses: “If the aforesayde poulder be put in a lampe and after be kindled all men shall appeare blacke as the deuell. And if the aforesaid poulder be mixed with oyle of the olyue tree and with quycke brymstone and the house anointed wyth it, the Sunne shyning, it shall appeare all inflamed.”

People gathering fruit and flowers

WOODCUT FROM THE TITLE-PAGE OF THE “GRETE HERBALL” (1526)

Of verbena: “Infants bearing it shalbe very apte to learne and louing learnynge and they shalbe glad and joyous.”

It is the only book on the virtues of herbs in which I have found a recipe to revive drowning flies and bees! This is to be done by placing them in warm ashes of pennyroyal, and then “they shall recover their lyfe after a little tyme as by ye space of one houre.” The book ends with a curious philosophical dissertation, “Of the mervels of the worlde,” which is followed by a series of charms—to stop a cock crowing, to make men look as though they had no heads, to obtain rule over all birds, to keep flies away from a house, to write letters which can only be read at night, to make men look as though they had “the countenance of a dog,” to make men seem as though they had three heads, to understand the language of birds, to make men seem like angels, and to put things in the fire without their being consumed.

Though lacking in the charm of the quaint and typically EnglishBanckes’s Herbal, the most famous of the early printed herbals was theGrete Herballprinted by Peter Treveris in 1526.[52]

“The grete herball | whiche geueth parfyt knowlege and under- | standyng of all maner of herbes & there gracyous vertues whiche god hath | ordeyned for our prosperous welfare and helth, for they hele & cure all maner | of dyseases and sekenesses that fall or mysfortune to all maner of creatoures | of god created, practysed by many expert and wyse maysters, as Auicenna and | other &c. Also it geueth full parfyte understandynge of the booke lately pryn | ted by me (Peter treveris) named the noble experiens of the vertuous hand | warke of surgery.”(Colophon.) “Imprentyd at London in South- | warke by me peter Treueris, dwel- | lynge in the sygne of the wodows | In the yere of our Lorde god M.D. | XXVI the XXVII day of July.”

(Colophon.) “Imprentyd at London in South- | warke by me peter Treueris, dwel- | lynge in the sygne of the wodows | In the yere of our Lorde god M.D. | XXVI the XXVII day of July.”

According to the introduction it was compiled from theworks of “many noble doctoures and experte maysters in medecines, as Auicenna, Pandecta, Constantinus, Wilhelmus, Platearius, Rabbi Moyses, Johannes Mesue, Haly, Albertus, Bartholomeus and more other.” But with the exception of the preface theGrete Herballis a translation of the well-known French herbal,Le Grant Herbier. Until about 1886Le Grant Herbierwas supposed to be a translation of theHerbarius zu Teutsch, published at Mainz in 1485, or of theOrtus Sanitatis, printed also at Mainz in 1491.[53]TheHerbarius zu Teutsch, which was probably compiled by a Frankfort physician, is a fine herbal beautifully illustrated, and the laterOrtus Sanitatisis by some authorities supposed to be a Latin translation of it. To judge from the preface to the German Herbarius it was a labour of love, undertaken by a man who apparently was possessed of ample wealth and leisure; for in his preface he tells us that he “caused this praiseworthy work to be begun by a Master learned in physic,” and then, finding that as many of the herbs did not grow in his native land he could not draw them “with their true colours and form,” he left the work unfinished and journeyed through many lands—Italy, Croatia, Albania, Dalmatia, Greece, Corfu, Candia, Rhodes, Cyprus, the Holy Land, Arabia, Babylonia and Egypt. He was accompanied by “a painter ready of wit and cunning and subtle of hand,” and was thus able to have the herbs “truly drawn.” The book he compiled on his return was long regarded as the original of the French herbal,Le Grant Herbier, but in 1866 Professor Giulio Camus found two fifteenth-century manuscripts in the Biblioteca Estense at Modena, one the Latin work commonly known from the opening words asCirca Instans, and the other a French translation of the same manuscript. It was always supposed by medical historians that theCirca Instanswas written by Matthaeus Platearius of Salerno in the twelfth century, but in Professor Camus’s memoir,L’Opéra Saleritana “Circa Instans” ed il testo primitivo del“Grand Herbier in Francoys” secundo duo codici del secolo XV conservati nella Regia Biblioteca Estense, there are reproduced the French verses in which occurs the line, “Il a esté escript Millccc cinquante et huit,” and Mr. H. M. Barlow[54]supports the deduction thatCirca Instanswas not written by a Salernitan physician, but by a writer described in the verses as “Bartholomaeus minid’ senis” in 1458.Le Grant Herbier, of which the EnglishGrete Herballis a translation, is a version of the French manuscript translation ofCirca Instans, and therefore, asCirca Instansis older than either theHerbarius zu Teutschor the LatinOrtus Sanitatis, it would seem that it is the real original of ourGrete Herball. The preface to theGrete Herball, however, bears a strong resemblance to that of the German Herbarius, of which I quote a part from Dr. Arber’s translation, made from the second (Augsburg) edition of 1485. They have been placed in parallel columns to show how closely the English preface follows that of the German Herbarius.

The illustrations in theGrete Herballare poor, being merely inferior copies of those in the later editions of theHerbarius zu Teutsch.[55]In the majority of cases it is impossible to identify the plant from the figure, and the same figure is sometimes prefixed to different plants. But if the illustrations are poor and dull the frontispiece and the full-page woodcut of the printer’s mark are very much the reverse. The frontispiece is a charming woodcut of a man holding a spade in his right hand and gathering grapes, and a woman throwing flowers and herbs out of her apron into a basket. There are two figures in the lower corners, the one of a male and the other of a female mandrake. The woodcut of the printer’s mark at the end sheds an interesting ray of light on the Peter Treveris who issued the two first editions of this Herball.[56]The woodcut represents two wodows[57](savages), a man and a woman, on either side of a tree, from which is suspended a shield with Peter Treveris’sinitials. Ames supposes that Treveris was a native of Trèves and took his name from that city, but it is more likely that he was a member of the Cornish family of Treffry, which is sometimes spelt Treveris. A Sir John Treffry, who fought at Poitiers, took as supporters to his arms a wild man and woman, and one likes to find that one of his descendants perpetuated the memory of his gallant ancestor by adopting the same sign for his trade device.

TheGrete Herballis alphabetically arranged, for the idea of the natural relationship of plants was unknown at that time. But we find a “classification” of fungi. “Fungi ben musherons. There be two maners of them, one maner is deadly and sleeth them that eateth of them and the other dooth not”! As in most sixteenth- and seventeenth-century herbals, there are quaint descriptions of a good many things besides herbs. The most gruesome of these is a substance briefly described as “mummy,” and the accompanying illustration is of a man digging beside a tomb. “Mummy,” one reads, “is a maner of spyces or confectyons that is founde in the sepulchres or tombes of dead bodyes that haue be confyct with spyces. And it is to wyte that in olde tyme men were wont to confyct the deed corpses and anoynte them with bawme and myre smellynge swete. And yet ye paynims about babylon kepe that custome for there is grete quantity of bawme. And this mummye is specially founde about the brayne and about the maronge in the rydge bone. For the blode by reason of the bawme draweth to the brayne and thereabout is chauffed. And lykewise is the brayne brent and parched and is the quantyte of mommye and so the blode is mroeued in the rydge of the backe. That mommye is to be chosen that is bryght blacke stynkynge and styffe. And that ytis whyt and draweth to a dymme colour and that is not stynkynge nor styffe, and that powdreth lightly is naught. It hath vertue to restrayne or staunche.”[58]

A man and woman, wodows, carrying longbows, surrounded with decorative borders

WOODCUT OF PETER TREVERIS’ SIGN OF THE “WODOWS” FROM THE “GRETE HERBALL” (1529)

Two men felling trees, surrounded with decorative borders

WOODCUT FROM THE TITLE-PAGE OF THE FOURTH EDITION OF THE “GRETE HERBALL” (1561)

Other substances described are salt, cheese, pitch, lead, silver, gold, amber, water, starch, vinegar, butter, honey and the lodestone. The dissertation on water shows very clearly that our ancestors regarded bathing as a fad, and a dangerous fad at that. The writer gloomily observes, “many folke that hath bathed them in colde water haue dyed or they came home.” And those who are foolish enough to drink water he warns by quoting the authority of “Mayster Isaac,” who “sayth that it is impossible for them that drynketh overmuche water in theyr youth to come to ye age that God hath ordeyned them.” In the description of the lodestone we find the well-known popular belief about ships being drawn to their destruction. “The lodestone, the adamant stone that draweth yren hath myghte to draw yren as Aristotle sayth. And is founde in the brymmes of the occyan see. And there be hillis of it and these hyllis drawe ye shippes that haue nayles of yren to them and breke the shyppes by drawynge of the nayles out.” The accompanying illustration is of a sinking ship with a man going towards the hill of adamant with uplifted hands, while another man is swimming, and a third sits calmly in the ship.

In view of the free use of honey in olden times, the account of honey in theGrete Herballseems inadequate. “Hony is made by artyfyce and craft of bees. The whyche bees draweth the thynnest parte of the floures and partelye of the thickest and moost grosse and thereof maketh hony and waxe and also they make a substaunce that is called the honycombe. The tame hony is that that is made in the hous or hyues that labourers ordeyneth for the sayd bees to lodge and worke in. Hony is whyte in cold places and browne in warm place. And hony ought to be put in medicyne and may be kept C yeeres. Thereis an other that is called wylde hony and is found in woodes and is not so good as the other and is more bytter. Also there is a honey called castanea because it is made of chestayne floures that the bees sucketh and is bytter.”

In theGrete Herball, as inBanckes’s Herball, we find numerous instances of the use of herbs as amulets or for their effect on the mind, and for the smoking of patients with their fumes. I quote the following:—

“Betony. For them that be ferfull. For them that ben to ferfull gyue two dragmes of powdre hereof wt warme water and as moche wyne at the tyme that the fere cometh.”“Buglos. To preserve the mynde. This herbe often eaten confermeth and conserueth the mynde as many wyse maysters sayth.”“To make folke mery. Take the water that buglos hath bē soden in and sprynkle it about the hous or chambre and all that be therein shall be mery.”“Vervain. To make folke mery at ye table. To make all them in a hous to be mery take foure leaves and foure rotes of vervayn in wyne, than spryncle the wine all about the hous where the eatynge is and they shall be all mery.”“Musk. Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne smel to musk.”“Struciūn. Against lytargye blowe the powdre of the sede in to the nose or elles sethe the sede thereof and juice of rue in stronge vyneygre and rubbe the hynder parte of ye head therwith.”“Artemisia. To make a child mery hange a bondell of mugwort or make smoke thereof under the chylde’s bedde for it taketh away annoy for hem.”“Rosemary. For weyknesse of ye brayne. Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne and coldenesse thereof, sethe rosmarin in wyne and lete the pacyent receye the smoke at his nose and kepe his heed warme.”“Southernwood. The fume of it expelleth all serpents out of the house and what so ever there abydeth dyeth.”

“Betony. For them that be ferfull. For them that ben to ferfull gyue two dragmes of powdre hereof wt warme water and as moche wyne at the tyme that the fere cometh.”

“Buglos. To preserve the mynde. This herbe often eaten confermeth and conserueth the mynde as many wyse maysters sayth.”

“To make folke mery. Take the water that buglos hath bē soden in and sprynkle it about the hous or chambre and all that be therein shall be mery.”

“Vervain. To make folke mery at ye table. To make all them in a hous to be mery take foure leaves and foure rotes of vervayn in wyne, than spryncle the wine all about the hous where the eatynge is and they shall be all mery.”

“Musk. Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne smel to musk.”

“Struciūn. Against lytargye blowe the powdre of the sede in to the nose or elles sethe the sede thereof and juice of rue in stronge vyneygre and rubbe the hynder parte of ye head therwith.”

“Artemisia. To make a child mery hange a bondell of mugwort or make smoke thereof under the chylde’s bedde for it taketh away annoy for hem.”

“Rosemary. For weyknesse of ye brayne. Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne and coldenesse thereof, sethe rosmarin in wyne and lete the pacyent receye the smoke at his nose and kepe his heed warme.”

“Southernwood. The fume of it expelleth all serpents out of the house and what so ever there abydeth dyeth.”

There are two delicious violet recipes for “Syrope of Vyolettes” and “oyle of vyolettes.”

“Syrope of vyolettes ī made in this maner—Sethe vyolettes in water and lete it lye all nyght in ye same water. Than poure and streyne out the water, and in the same put sugre and make your syrope.“Oyle of vyolettes is made thus. Sethe vyolettes in oyle and streyne it. It will be oyle of vyolettes.”

“Oyle of vyolettes is made thus. Sethe vyolettes in oyle and streyne it. It will be oyle of vyolettes.”

It is in this herbal that we find the first avowal of disbelief in the supposed powers of the mandrake.

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