42 A GARDEN OF HERBS 



GREEN SALVE OR ESTONIAN OINTMENT. 1 Take a hand- 

 ful of each of the following herbs, Balm, Sage, Southern- 

 wood, Rosemary, Wood Be tony, Camomile, Lavender, 

 Feverfew, Red rosebuds and Wormwood. Strip all from 

 the stalks and cut fine, then boil in i J Ibs. of fresh Lard 

 in the Oven for two or three hours, and squeeze thro' a 

 cloth. For a bruise rub gently, and for an inward bruise 

 take the size of a nut in hot beer at bed-time. 



BORAGE 



" The vertue of the conserve of borage is especially good 

 against melancholic ; it maketh one merie." The Treasurie 

 of Hidden Secrets and Commodious Conceits, 1586. 



Pliny calls borage euphrosynum because it made men 

 joyful, and it was one of the four " cordial flowers " for 

 cheering the heart, the other three being rose, violet and 

 anchusa. Parkinson in his Earthly Paradise tells us that 

 its lovely blue flowers were favourites in " women's needle- 

 work," and it is curious that it should have disappeared 

 from modern embroidery, for with its effective black eye, 

 it is always so attractive. According to Dethicke the seeds 

 of borage should be gathered when half ripe and then laid 

 in the sun to ripen, but any modern herbalist will tell you 

 that borage needs no care, for it is only too ready to seed 

 itself everywhere. Borage flowers never seem lovelier than 

 when growing in profusion with ragged robin and cow- 

 parsley on the steep banks of Devonshire lanes. Formerly, 

 borage leaves were an esteemed pot-herb, and the young 

 tops were used to flavour soup, a custom which well might 

 be revived, " for they are of an excellent cordial savour." 



BORAGE may be sown in any light soil in April, and again 

 in July, and if left alone it will seed itself. The plants 



1 This receipt was kindly given me by Miss C. S. Burne, President 

 of The Folk Lore Society, who appended this note to it : 



Mrs. Mary Goodlad (nee Haworth, of Bury, Lancashire), born 

 1788, died 1870, made and prescribed this ointment regularly. I 

 have myself been treated with it in childhood. The recipe is copied 

 from her own handwriting in a MS. book of recipes belonging to her 

 daughter, my mother. 



