"I] ' The Grete Herball ' 43 



more prone than they are to-day to settle their differences 

 by the use of their own strong right arms is reflected in 

 the various remedies proposed for such afflictions as "blacke- 

 nesse or brusinge comynge of strypes, specyally yf they be 

 in the face." 



Turning to less concrete ailments, it is rather striking 

 to find what a large number of prescriptions against melan- 

 choly are considered necessary. For instance, " To make 

 folke mery at ye table," one is recommended to "take 

 foure leves and foure rotes of vervayn in wyne, than 

 spryncle the wyne all about the hous where the eatynge is 

 and they shall be all mery." The smoke of Aristolochia 

 " maketh the pacyent mery mervaylously," and also "dry- 

 veth all devyllsshnesse and all trouble out of ye house." 

 Bugloss and Mugwort are also recommended to produce 

 merriment, and it is suggested that the lesser Mugwort 

 should be laid under the door of the house, for, if this is 

 done, "man nor womann can not anoy in that hous\" The 

 number of specifics proposed as a cure for baldness is 

 somewhat surprising, when one remembers that this condi- 

 tion is often attributed to the nervous stress and strain of 

 modern life ! Hair-dyes and stains for the nails also receive 

 their share of attention. 



Very remarkable powers were ascribed to products 

 of the ocean, such as coral and pearls. The former is 

 described as being " a maner of stony substaunce that is 

 founde in partyes of the see, and specyally in holowe, and 

 cavy hylles that ben in ye see, and groweth as a maner of 

 a glewy humour, and cleveth to the stones." The writer 

 mentions that "some say that the reed corall kepeth the 

 hous that it is in fro lyghtnynge, thondre, and tempest." 

 Pearls were regarded as of great value in medicine, and, for 

 weakness of the heart, the patient is recommended to " Take 

 the powdre of perles with sugre of roses," which suggests 

 a remedy worthy of a poet! Many travellers' tales are 

 incorporated in the herbal ; we find, for instance, a most 

 thrilling description of the lodestone. " Lapis magnetis is 

 the adamant stone that draweth yren. It... is founde in the 

 brymmes of the occyan see. And there be hylles of it, and 



1 The expression in the French original is, " homme ne femme ne pourra 

 nuire en ceste maison." 



