THE BETONY. 279 



Yat have I seyn wt. eye [seen with my eyes] 

 Betonye is ye erbis name, 

 And Vetonye ike i same. 

 For dropesey, gode medycyne 



Anoyer medycyne I fynde wrete also 



Yat to ye cold dropesye is gode to doo, 



Alisandir, betonye, et feukele, de take 



"Wt. anence [?annise] zewerne porcyon [7 portion] late make 



Et in a lynen cloth these gresys [plants] betake, 



It must be sothyn [seethed] in good olde ale 



And late [let] hym drynkyn dayes sewene [seven] 



Euerike [every] day aporcion zewene : " 



Another, and even more curious, medical manu- 

 script than that already quoted, is the " Meddygon 

 myddvai" or surgeons of Myddvai, which thus pre- 

 scribes the use of betony in diseases of the dura 

 mater. The bones of the head are first to be re- 

 moved in such a manner as to expose the suffering 

 brain ; to which is to be applied an ointment com- 

 posed of two parts of betony, and one part of violets, 

 with salt butter; and this application is to be con- 

 tinued if the injury be of long-standing for nine 

 days ; or, in more recent complaints, for a very short 

 time. At the termination of the period enjoined 

 the already loosened bone is to be removed, and 

 a salve applied of fresh butter and violets ; or, if 

 violets are not in season, the white of an egg ; the 

 composition is then to be left on until a membrane 

 has grown over the brain. For this operation, per- 

 formed by the physician " in his mercy " [yn y 

 hvnnvo] he is to receive a fee of thirty shillings,* or 

 of fifteen shillings and his food. 



* So the expression " punt a banner" a pound and a-Jialf, is 



