A DOZEN MEDIEVAL HERBS

Sine ni Dheaghaidh

ANISE Native to the Middle East. One of the oldest known herbs. Related to caraway, cumin, dill and fennel. In Ancient Greece valued as an aphrodisiac. Pythagoras in 6 Century BC recommended it as an antidote for scorpion stings. Romans introduced it into Tuscany and by the Middle Ages it had spread over most of Europe. Has always been popular as digestive (Roman served anise-cakes after rich meals) Medieval travelers carried anise to put in evening drinks to help them recover from fatigue. Also used in form of comfits (coated with sugar) as a digestive. During reign of Edward I, a tax on anise helped defray expenses for repairing London Bridge.
BALM, LEMON (Sweet Melissa) The name Melissa comes from the Greek for honeybee. Sacred to the temple of Diana and used medicinally by the Greeks some 2,000 years ago. Called hearts delight in Southern Europe and the elixir of life by the Swiss physician, Paracelus. He believed the herb could revive a man. Lemon balm was reputed to be among the morning teas imbibed in the thirteenth century by Llewelyn, Prince of Glamorgan, who lived to be 108, while John Hussey of England lived to be 116 after drinking it every morning for 50 years! It is said to dispel melancholy.

BASIL From India. Regarded as sacred by Hindus. Much used for disinfecting where malaria was present. Pliny said basil was an aphrodisiac and was given to horses and asses during mating season. It was believed that it would not flourish unless the gardener hurled profuse insults at it during planting. The plants Greek name basilikos (which means royalty) got mixed up with the Latin word basiliscus (which means basilisk, an evil dragon-like animal) and for ensuing centuries people thought that basil could either protect you from basilisks or could breed such monsters . DILL Native to Asia Minor and Europe. Common name derives from either Anglo-Saxon dylle or the Norse dilla, which means to soothe or lull. In reference to calming infants with hiccoughs or colic, dill-water is still in use today. It was used by Egyptian doctors 5,000 years ago and remains of the plant have been found in ruins of Roman buildings in Britain. It had widespread usage during the Middle Ages and was well loved by the roving Norsemen. FENNEL Native to Southern Europe. Used by the Romans and Greeks. In the Middle Ages it was used to garnish fish: supposedly to help digest the fat. Used medicinally to induce sweating. Thought to have magic associations and was hung over doors on Midsummers Eve to ward off evil spirits. Romans believed fennel seeds aided in sharpening vision and it was used as a symbol of victory. In the Middle Ages, seeds were chewed on fast days to allay hunger. Gerard referred to it as being useful for preserving the eyesight. Culpeper advised its use for those that are bit with serpents or have eat...mushrooms. GARLIC Native to Asia. Grown by Anglo-Saxons. Name derived from Anglo-Saxon words gar, a lance, and leac, a leek, referring to the shape of the leaves. In Medieval Britain it was eaten in great quantities, often raw, causing William Shakespeare to comment unfavorably on its smell.

MINT Native to all temperate areas. Was named for the nymph Minthe who was pursued by Pluto, God of the Underworld. When Plutos wife, Queen Persephone learned of their trysts, she threw Minthe to the ground and trampled on her fragile, unfortunate body. Pluto, who wielded great power in matters pertaining to the afterlife, arranged for her to live on as mint. Culpeper believed that it stirreth up venery or bodily lust. It was used extensively as a culinary herb by the Greeks, Romans and early Europeans. It was used also as a strewing herb and with salt for curing dog bites. MUSTARD Native to the Middle East. Known for thousands of years. Pliny listed 40 remedies based on mustard. English name from Latin mustum ardens meaning burning must , because the ground seeds were mixed with grape must. In the Middle Ages it was the one herb available most commonly to ordinary people. Mentioned in Shakespeare, Mustard-Seed is the name of one of the fairies in A Midsummer Nights Dream, and in Henry IV Part 2, he refers to Tewkesbury mustard, Tewkesbury being the center of mustard production for England. PARSLEY Native to the Eastern Mediterranean area. One of the oldest and longest used herbs. Described in a 3rd Century B.C. Greek herbal. Worn in Greece and Rome as a chaplet to absorb the fumes of wine and so to delay inebriation. Greeks decorated tombs with it. It was grown in Charlemagnes garden. ROSEMARY Native to the Mediterranean Coast. Named from Latin ros and maris meaning dew of the sea. Has been associated with the mind and improving the memory, witness the famous line from Hamlet, Theres rosemary, thats for remembrance. It was used at funerals instead of more expensive incense. Later it was associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus, as it was said that when she spread her sky-blue cloak over a rosemary bush to dry, the flowers of the bush turned blue to match her cloak. It was used by hunters to stuff into their prey after removing the entrails, thus keeping the prey from smelling badly. It was supposed to bring good luck, prevent witchcraft and has disinfecting powers. SAGE Native to the northern shores of the Mediterranean. Mentioned by Dioscorides and Pliny. Sage in the garden is said to prolong life. It is said to flourish in gardens where a woman runs the household. Was traded to the Chinese for tea. Belief that sage strengthened the memory. THYME Native to Greece. Was mentioned by Theophrastus, Horace, Virgil and Pliny. Ibn Baithar tells how thyme kills lice, expels the dead foetus and when drunk with violet oil, clears the head. It was used in baths, for strewing, in broths and sauces, and to stuff goose and roasted fish. It was introduced to Briton by the Romans. Mentioned in a 10 Century Anglo-Saxon text. Recommended as a hangover cure.

PERIOD HERBALS AND HERBALISTS In Order of Historical Appearance Aesculapius. Greek God of Medicine. Legend says he was trained in the healing arts by a centaur named Cheiron. Hippocrates. Known as the Father of Medicine. Did much to remove herbalism from the realm of religion and place in within the realm of medicine. Born in 460 BC, he used herbs extensively as purgatives, diuretics, liniments, etc. Wrote of uses of over 400 herbs, which are still used medicinally today. After his death, his work was continued by his pupils. Theophrastus. Lived 372-287 BC. Called the Father of Botany. Gathered his botanical material during Alexander the Greats Indian campaign. His two books, On Odors and An Inquiry into Plants, summarized current knowledge of herbs and spices. He was a pupil of Aristotle. Dioscorides. A physician in Neros army, his writings resulted from his acute observations as he followed the wars. His book, De Materia Medica, identified and described the uses of some 600 medicinal plants. It remained a standard reference for about 1500 years and was frequently quoted by later writers. Pliny the Elder. Born Caius Plinius Secundus in 23 AD. A traveler, soldier, administrator and courtier in Spain set out to acquire the entire sum of human knowledge of his day. Much of his work was a compilation from his readings, but also included his own observations. He wrote Natural History, a book of plants and their use. Originated the Doctrine of Signatures. Galen, Claudius. Born in Asia Minor in 131 AD. He studied medicine in Alexandria. Was physician to Marcus Aurelius and surgeon to a school of gladiators. He mainly used herbal remedies, although he also resorted to charms and talismans. Wrote many books, including De Simplicicus, which were recopied through out the Middle Ages. His books, which codified and propounded the theory of humors, were standard medical texts in Europe and the Arabic world until the Renaissance. Invented cold cream. Charlemagne. In 800 AD issued order for his people to grow certain herbs and vegetables in their gardens. We desire that they have in the garden all the herbes namely, the lily, roses, fenugreek, costmary, sage, rue, southernwood, cucumbers, pole beans, cumin, rosemary, caraway, chick pea, squill, iris, arum, anise, coloquinth, chicory, animi, laserwort, lettuce, black cumin, garden rocket, nasturtium, burdock, pennyroyal, alexander, parsley, celery, lovage, sabine tree, dill, fennel, endive, dittany, black mustard, savory, curly mint, water mint, horse mint, tansy, catnip, feverfew, poppy, beet sugar, marshmallows, high mallows, carrots, parsnips, oraches, amaranths, kholrabis, cabbages, onions, chives, leeks, radishes, shallots, garlics, madder, artichokes, or fulling thistles, big beans, field peas, coriander, chervil, capper spruge, clary. Leech Book of Bald. An ancient herbal from the Saxon period (10th Century) of Briton. It combined the ancient herb lore of Briton with prescriptions sent to Alfred the Great by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The author is unknown. The Saxons had names for about 500 herbs whose medicinal uses were combined with earlier pagan rites. Disease in humans was often linked to malicious elves, while cattle were thought to be infected with flying venom or elf-shot.

Avicenna.

Arab physician (980-1037AD) whose book, Canon of Medicine,

based on Galen, written in Arabic then translated into Latin, was a standard textbook in European medical schools until the 17th century. Albertus Magnus. A thirteenth century AD herbalist who wrote, Gather marigold while the sun is in the sign of Leo in August; wrap it in a bay leaf with a wolfs tooth, and no man will be able to speak any but works of peace to you as you wear it. Shows how astrology was used along with herb lore. Bartolomaeus Anglicus. Circa 1250. Wrote nineteen volumes of Natural History, De Proprietatibus Rerum, the seventeenth constituting the only original herbal written in England during the Middle Ages. Ibn Baithar. A 13th Century AD Physician and Botanist who lived in Arabic Spain. He quotes from Galen and Dioscorides, but he also quotes from Arabic, Persian, Syrian and Indian sources. Banckes Herbal. The first printed English herbal, an anonymous compilation of earlier herbals, including the tenth century Aemilius Macers herbal, De Virtutibus Herbarum, and the famous discourse on rosemary, sent by the French Countess of Hainault to her daughter, Philippa, Edward Is Queen. Turner, William. First major English herbalist, born in 1510. Studied medicine in Bologna. Was chaplain and physician to the Duke of Sumerset. Wrote a three-volume herbal, A New Herbal, printed in 1568, the first to be written in English. His usages of herbs were quite varied. He recommended putting parsley in ponds to cure ailing fish and said the best use of birch was for betinge stubborn boys who either lie or will not learn. Paracelsus. (1493-1541) A Swiss Alchemist, he believed that alchemy should be used to prepare medicines for healing. He was first to use the plant-derived tincture of opium called laudanum. His contribution to herbalism was the theory that healing herbs were signposted by God to guide man in his use of them, showing by a physical quality of the plant what disease or part of the body a plant could be used for. For example; a plant with yellow flowers could be used to treat jaundice. This theory persisted for several centuries. Gerard, John. (1545-1612) The Herbal; or General Historie of Plantes London, 1597. One of many herbals to appear from the last quarter of the fifteenth century until the end of the seventeenth. Gerard was an eminent Elizabethan herbalist and gardener. His herbal was based almost entirely on that of a Dutchman named Rembert Dodoens, Cruydboeck, written in 1554. Shakespeare, William. Many mentions of flowers and herbs in plays. For example---Perdita in A Winters Tale... Heres Flowers for you; Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjorm; The marigold, that goes to bed wi the sun, and with him rises weeping: these are flowers of middle Summer, and I think they are given to men of middle age. And from A Midsummer Nights Dream...I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine....

Parkinson, John. Physician, herbalist and gardener of 16th century London. Wrote a gardening book, Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris, published in1629. A second book, Theatrum Botanicum was published in 1640. It discussed 3800 plants. He leaned heavily on the work of Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Galen and others and on the French botanists LObel and Bauhin, whose help he acknowledged on the first page. He wrote the herbal not to teach Doctors but to helpe their memories and withal to shew them my judgement, that they mistake not one thing for anot or one mans plant for another. Culpeper, Nicholas. Wrote The English Physician; or An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of This Nation in 1652. He was born in London in 1616. In 1640 he started a practice as a physician and astrologer. He combined medieval alchemy, astrology and herbalism to classify each herb. William Coles. The Art of Simpling was an introduction to the knowledge and gathering of plants, including the first accounts of using herbs for treating animals. (1656)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asimov, Isaac. Asmoivs Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York. Doubleday and Company, Inc. 1972. Bayard, Tania. Sweet herbs and Sundry Flowers. New York. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1985. Boland, Maureen & Bridget. Old Wives Lore for Gardeners. New York. Farrar, Straus & Girous. 1976. Bonar, Ann. The Macmillan Treasury of Herbs. New York. Macmillan Publishing Company. 1985. Bown, Deni. The Herb Society of America Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses. New York. DK Publishing. 1995. Culpeper, Nicholas. Culpepers Complete Herbal. London. Bloomsbury Books. Forme of Cury. Online version: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/ Culpeper, Nicholas. The English Physician. 1657. Available on the web by the Yale Medical School: http://www.med.yale.edu/library/historical/culpeper/culpeper.htm This includes the herbal as well as recipes from the Royal College of Physicians. Forsell, Mary. Heirloom Herbs. New York. Villard Books. 1990. Fox, Helen Morgenthau. Gardening with Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance. New York. Macmillan Publishing Company. 1933. (Dover Reprint, 1970). McNair, James K. All About Herbs. San Ramon, Calif. Ortho Books. Chevon Chemical Company. 1990. Michalak, Patricia S. Rodales Successful Organic Gardening: Herbs. Emmaus, Penn. Rodale Press. 1993. Ortiz, Elisabeth Lambert. The Encyclopedia of Herb, Spices and Flavorings. New York. DK Publishing. 1994. Sanecki, Kay N. History of the English Herb Garden. London. Ward Lock. 1992. Swahn, J.O. The Lore of Spices. New York. Crescent Books. 1991.

HOW TO GROW THE HERBS ANISE: Annual, full sun, can grow to 2 feet tall, white flowers that resemble Queen Annes Lace. To harvest seeds: dry seed heads on paper or in paper bags to catch all the seeds. Use the leaves too, they also have anise flavor. * Tips* Use anise to bait mouse traps. Plant near coriander (it enhances its growth). Sow seeds outside as it transplants poorly. Uses: culinary, medicinal. BASIL: Annual, full sun, tropical, tender, has white flowers, grows 1-2 feet tall, 18 inches wide. Grows quickly from seed, transplant after last frost. Harden off before transplanting. Harvest leaves every week, pinch terminal buds to encourage branching. *Tip* Plant near tomatoes and pepper to enhance their growth. Uses: culinary, medicinal, domestic, fragrance.

BALM, LEMON: Hardy perennial, full sun to partial shade, 1-2 feet tall with greenish or white blossoms. Sow seeds shallowly in spring, thinning to 18-24 apart. Readily self-sows. To harvest, cut entire plant and dry quickly to prevent leaves from turning black. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance.
DILL: Hardy re-seeding annual, full sun, yellow-green to white flowers, grows up to 3 feet tall. Sow seeds outdoors in early Spring and keep moist. Do not plant near fennel: they cross, collect seeds as with anise. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance. FENNEL: Semi-hardy perennial , full sun, grows up to 4 feet tall. Has small yellow flowers. Usually grown as an annual as the bulb is a wonderful vegetable! Sow seed outside in spring as it transplants poorly, collect seeds as with anise. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance. GARLIC: Hardy biennial or perennial, full sun, grows up to 2 feet tall, resembles and onion, iris or tulips (depends on variety), white to pink blooms atop a central stalk. Plant cloves just below surface 3-4 inches apart. Dig bulbs and allow to dry on ground for a week or two, in a shaded spot Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, domestic.

MINT: Hardy perennial, full sun to moderate shade, grows 30 inches tall, with tiny pink or purple blossoms. Buy plants to get the best flavor as mints do not come up true from seeds. Rampant spreader, plant in sunken bottomless container to control. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance.
MUSTARD: Very hardy annual or biennial, full sun, grows 4-6 feet tall. Attracts same pests as cabbage. Collect and dry seeds when ripe. Uses: culinary, medicinal. PARSLEY: Biennial grown as annual, full sun to partial shade, grows 8-12 inches tall, tiny yellow flowers. Grow from plants--seeds take to long to germinate. To harvest: cut entire plant 2 inches the ground and it will re-grow. May be grown indoors in pots. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic. ROSEMARY: Semi-hardy, evergreen perennial, full sun, grows 2-6 feet tall, small pale blue to pink clusters of flowers , grows best in well drained soil. Start from plants, not seeds. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance. SAGE: semi-hardy to hardy perennial, full sun, grows 1-2 feet tall, grows easily from seeds. Sow indoors 8-10 weeks before frost free date. But plants are easier. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, domestic. THYME: Hardy perennial, full sun, grows 6-15 inches, lilac to pink blossoms, starts easily from seed. *Tip* Plant near eggplant, cabbage, tomatoes and mustard to repel cabbage worms and white flies. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, domestic, fragrance.