Holly, Yew and Box 



less, and I find them forming an element in an 

 Anglo-Saxon recipe, which may be worth quot- 

 ing as an example of the medicines to which our 

 forefathers submitted. It is given in a leech- 

 book of the tenth century or earlier, and is thus 

 translated by Cockayne : ' If a man is in the 

 water elf disease, then are the nails of his hands 

 livid, and the eyes tearful, and he will look 

 downwards. Give him this for a leechdom. 

 Everthroat, Cassuck, the netherward part of 

 Fane, a Yew berry, Lupin, Helenium, a head of 

 Marsh Mallow, Fen, Mint, Dill, Lily, Attorlothe, 

 Pulegium, Marrubium, Dock, Elder, Felterrae, 

 Wormwood, Strawberry leaves, Consolida ; pour 

 them over with ale, add holy water, and sing 

 this charm over them thrice." The charm is 

 not given by Canon Ellacombe, but may be seen 

 in Cockayne's work, vol. ii.\ Leech Book> Hi. p. 351 ; 

 Leechdom, Ixiii. When we find that a sick man 

 1000 years ago was given medicine such as the 

 above-mentioned compost, and was expected to 

 get well after taking it, we are inclined to ponder 

 over the constitution of such a man, compared 

 with men's constitutions of to-day, and also as 

 to whether the leech was not really actuated with 

 the idea that by giving the man a little of each 

 of his herbs he might find one among them that 

 would answer his purpose, or failing that, the 

 ale, holy water, charm, or what not, might have 

 the desired effect. 



