CHAPTER III

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE HERBAL IN ENGLAND

1. THE HERBARIUM OF APULEIUS PLATONICUS.

Concerning the Herbarium of Apuleius Platonicus, a few remarks have been already made. This herbal was perhaps the first through which any kind of systematic knowledge of medicinal plants was brought into Britain. For this reason it may be mentioned here, although manuscript herbals do not, strictly, come within our province. In the Bodleian Library there is an Anglo-Saxon translation of the work, which is said to have been made for King Alfred. Another Anglo-Saxon manuscript of later date, probably transcribed between A.D. 1000 and the Norman Conquest, has been rendered into modern English by Dr Cockayne. The classical and Anglo-Saxon plant-names are given in the herbal, and, although there is scarcely any attempt at description, the localities where the plants may be found are sometimes mentioned.

The greater part of the manuscript is concerned with the virtues of herbs. The plants were regarded in this, as in most early works, merely as “simples,” that is, the simple constituents of compound medicines. Hieronymus Bock in 1551 described his herbal as being an account of “die Einfache erd Gewächs, Simplicia genant[7].” The term “simple,” now almost obsolete, was a household word in earlier times, when most remedies were manufactured at home in the still-room. The expression of Jaques in ‘As You Like It’—“a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects”—would not have seemed in the least far-fetched to an audience of that day. It is interesting that, although the word “simple,” used in this sense, has vanished from our common speech, its antithesis “compound” has held its place in the language of pharmacy.

The southern source of the Herbal of Apuleius is suggested by the fact that the origin of the healing art is attributed to Æsculapius and Chiron. We are told, also, that the Wormwoods were discovered by Diana, who “delivered their powers and leechdom to Chiron, the centaur, who first from these worts set forth a leechdom.” The Lily-of-the-Valley, on the other hand, is said to have been found by Apollo and given by him “to Æsculapius, the leech.”

Many of the accounts of the virtues of the plants are of the nature of spells or charms rather than of medical recipes. For instance it is recommended that “if any propose a journey, then let him take to him in hand this wort artemisia, ... then he will not feel much toil in his journey.” As is usually the case in the older herbals, the proper mode of uprooting the Mandrake is described with much gusto. “This wort ... is mickle and illustrious of aspect, and it is beneficial. Thou shalt in this manner take it, when thou comest to it, then thou understandest it by this, that it shineth at night altogether like a lamp. When first thou seest its head, then inscribe thou it instantly with iron, lest it fly from thee; its virtue is so mickle and so famous, that it will immediately flee from an unclean man, when he cometh to it; hence as we before said, do thou inscribe it with iron, and so shalt thou delve about it, as that thou touch it not with the iron, but thou shalt earnestly with an ivory staff delve the earth. And when thou seest its hands and its feet, then tie thou it up. Then take the other end and tie it to a dog’s neck, so that the hound be hungry; next cast meat before him, so that he may not reach it, except he jerk up the wort with him. Of this wort it is said, that it hath so mickle might, that what thing soever tuggeth it up, that it shall soon in the same manner be deceived. Therefore, as soon as thou see that it be jerked up, and have possession of it, take it immediately in hand, and twist it, and wring the ooze out of its leaves into a glass ampulla.”

The writer of the herbal evidently fully accepted the mythical notion that the Mandrake was furnished with human limbs. Plate V shows how this plant was depicted in an early printed edition of the Herbarium of Apuleius, but much more spirited and sensational treatments of the same subject are to be found in some of the manuscripts dealing with herbs. Sixteenth-century representations are shown in Text-figs. 107 and 112.

The earliest English printed book containing information of a definitely botanical character is probably the translation of the ‘Liber de proprietatibus rerum’ of Bartholomæus Anglicus, which was printed by Wynkyn de Worde before the end of the fifteenth century. This has been briefly mentioned in the last chapter (pp. 10 and 11) and a wood-cut from it is shown in Text-fig. 19.

2. BANCKES’ HERBAL.

The first book printed in England, which can really be called a herbal, is an anonymous quarto volume, without illustrations, published in 1525. The title-page runs, “Here begynneth a newe mater, the whiche sheweth and treateth of ye vertues and proprytes of herbes, the whiche is called an Herball.” On the last page we find the words “Imprynted by me Rycharde Banckes, dwellynge in London, a lytel fro ye Stockes in ye Pultry.” I have not been able to satisfy myself that this work is directly derived from any pre-existing book, and it seems possible that it may really have some claim to originality. Dr Payne suggests that it is probably an abridgement of some mediæval English manuscript on herbs. It is certainly quite a different work from the much more famous Grete Herball, printed in the succeeding year, and, although there are no figures, it is in some ways a better book. Distinctly less space, in proportion, is devoted to the virtues of the plants, and, on the whole, more botanical information is given. For instance, under the heading “Capillus veneris,” we find the following description: “This herbe is called Mayden heere or waterworte. This herbe hathe leves lyke to Ferne, but the leves be smaller, and it groweth on walles and stones, and in ye myddes of ye lefe is as it were blacke heere.” The Grete Herball, on the other hand, vouchsafes only the meagre information, “Capillus veneris is an herbe so named”!

In cases where the virtues of the herbs are not strictly medicinal, they are described in Banckes’ herbal with more than a touch of poetry. Rosemary has perhaps the most charming list of attributes, some of which are worth quoting. The reader is directed to “take the flowres and make powder therof and bynde it to the ryght arme in a lynen clothe, and it shall make the lyght and mery.... Also take the flowres and put them in a chest amonge youre clothes or amonge bokes and moughtes shall not hurte them.... Also boyle the leves in whyte wyne and wasshe thy face therwith ... thou shall have a fayre face. Also put the leves under thy beddes heed, and thou shalbe delyvered of all evyll dremes.... Also take the leves and put them into a vessel of wyne ... yf thou sell that wyne, thou shall have good lucke and spede in the sale.... Also make the a box of the wood and smell to it and it shall preserne [preserve] thy youthe. Also put therof in thy doores or in thy howse and thou shalbe without daunger of Adders and other venymous serpentes. Also make the a barell therof and drynke thou of the drynke that standeth therin and thou nedes to fere no poyson that shall hurte ye, and yf thou set it in thy garden kepe it honestly for it is moche profytable.”

The popularity of Banckes’ Herbal is attested by the fact that a large number of editions appeared from different presses, although their identity has been obscured by the various names under which they were published. To consider these editions in detail is a task for the bibliographer rather than the botanist, and it will not be attempted here. We may, however, mention a few typical examples.

In 1550, a book was printed by “Jhon kynge” with the title ‘A litle Herball of the properties of Herbes newly amended and corrected, wyth certayn Additions at the ende of the boke, declaring what Herbes hath influence of certain Sterres and constellations, wherby maye be chosen the best and most lucky tymes and dayes of their ministracion, according to the Moone beyng in the signes of heaven, the which is daily appointed in the Almanacke, made and gathered in the yeare of our Lorde God. MDL the XII daye of February, by Anthony Askham, Physycyon.’ This work, which is generally called Askham’s Herbal, is directly derived from Banckes’ Herbal, with the addition of some astrological lore.

The book known as Cary’s or Copland’s Herbal, which was probably first published about the same time as Askham’s Herbal, is simply a later edition of the herbal of Rycharde Banckes, and another closely similar edition with an almost identical title was published by Kynge.

Another version of the same work, undated, and printed by Robert Wyer, appeared under an even more deceptive title—‘A newe Herball of Macer, Translated out of Laten in to Englysshe.’ There was, as a matter of fact, a certain Æmilius Macer, a contemporary of Virgil and Ovid, who wrote about plants in Latin verse, and there is also a herbal which was first printed in the fifteenth century, and which is known by the name of ‘Macer Floridus de viribus herbarum.’ Macer Floridus or Æmilius Macer is supposed to have been the pseudonym of a physician whose real name was Odo. ‘De viribus herbarum’ deals with seventy-seven plants in alphabetical order, and describes their virtues in mediæval Latin verse, which is believed to date back to the tenth century. It is illustrated with wood-cuts which are apparently copied from those of the Herbarius zu Teutsch.

There seems to be no justification whatever for the use of Macer’s name on the title-page of ‘A newe Herball of Macer.’ Except for some slight verbal differences, it is identical with Banckes’ herbal of 1525. Another closely similar edition, also undated, was published under the name of ‘Macers Herbal. Practysd by Doctor Lynacro.’ Macer’s name was probably merely borrowed in each case, in order to give the books a well-sounding title, and thus to increase the chances of sale.

3. THE GRETE HERBALL.

Among the earlier English herbals, the greater reputation belongs, not to Banckes’ Herbal in any of its forms, but to the ‘Grete Herball’ printed by Peter Treveris in 1526, and again in 1529. This was admittedly a translation from the French, namely from the work known as ‘Le Grant Herbier,’ whose origin we have discussed on p. 24. In the preface and supplement, however, it also shows some indebtedness to the Ortus Sanitatis. The figures in the Grete Herball are degraded copies of the series which first appeared in the Herbarius zu Teutsch (see Text-figs. 20 and 21).

The introduction to the Grete Herball, though it is less naïve and charming than the corresponding part of the German Herbarius, may yet be quoted, in part, as giving a very lucid idea of the utilitarian point of view of the herbalist of the period, and also as bringing home to the reader the immense influence of the theory of the four elements:

“Consyderynge the grete goodnesse of almyghty god creatour of heven and erthe, and al thynge therin comprehended to whom be eternall laude and prays, etc. Consyderynge the cours and nature of the foure elementes and qualytees where to ye nature of man is inclyned, out of the whiche elementes issueth dyvers qualytees infyrmytees and dyseases in the corporate body of man, but god of his goodnesse that is creatour of all thynges hath ordeyned for mankynde (whiche he hath created to his owne lykenesse) for the grete and tender love, which he hath unto hym to whom all thinges erthely he hath ordeyned to be obeysant, for the sustentacyon and helthe of his lovynge creature mankynde whiche is onely made egally of the foure elementes and qualitees of the same, and whan any of these foure habounde or hath more domynacyon, the one than the other it constrayneth ye body of man to grete infyrmytees or dyseases, for the whiche ye eternall god hath gyven of his haboundante grace, vertues in all maner of herbes to cure and heale all maner of sekenesses or infyrmytes to hym befallyng thrugh the influent course of the foure elementes beforesayd, and of the corrupcyons and ye venymous ayres contrarye ye helthe of man. Also of onholsam meates or drynkes, or holsam meates or drynkes taken ontemperatly whiche be called surfetes that brengeth a man sone to grete dyseases or sekenesse, whiche dyseases ben of nombre and ompossyble to be rehersed, and fortune as well in vilages where as nother surgeons nor phisicians be dwellyng nygh by many a myle, as it dooth in good townes where they be redy at hande. Wherfore brotherly love compelleth me to wryte thrugh ye gyftes of the holy gost shewynge and enformynge how man may be holpen with grene herbes of the gardyn and wedys of ye feldys as well as by costly receptes of the potycarys prepayred.”

The conclusion of the whole matter, which is set forth immediately before the index, is in these words:

“O ye worthy reders or practicyens to whome this noble volume is present I beseche yow take intellygence and beholde ye workes and operacyons of almyghty god which hath endewed his symple creature mankynde with the graces of ye holy goost to have parfyte knowlege and understandynge of the vertue of all maner of herbes and trees in this booke comprehendyd.”

From a twentieth-century point of view, the Grete Herball contains much that is curious, especially in relation to medical matters. Bathing was evidently regarded as a strange fad. We learn, on the authority of Galen, that “many folke that hath bathed them in colde wa[ter] have dyed or they came home.” Water drinking seems to have been thought almost equally pernicious, for we are told, “mayster Isaac sayth that it is unpossyble for them that drynketh overmoche water in theyr youth to come to ye aege that god ordeyned them.” A period when men were 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 “blackenesse 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 melancholy 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 “dryveth 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[8].” The number of specifics proposed as a cure for baldness is somewhat surprising, when one remembers that this condition 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 these hylles drawe ye shyppes that have nayles of yren to them, and breke the shyppes up drawynge of the nayles out.” This description is illustrated by a picture of a rocky pinnacle and a ship going to pieces; one man is already in the water, and two others are on the point of losing their lives.

Many of the remedies for different ailments strike the modern reader as being violent in a terrifying degree, and adapted to a more robust age than the present; they incline one to echo the words, “There were giants in the earth in those days.” But apparently the sixteenth century held an exactly corresponding view of its predecessors, for under the heading of “whyte elebore” we read, “In olde tyme it was commely used in medycyns as we use squamony. For the body of man was stronger than it is now, and myght better endure the vyolence of elebore, for man is weyker at this time of nature.”

It is somewhat remarkable that both Christianity and Greek mythology find a place in the Grete Herball. The discovery of Artemisia and its virtues is attributed to Diana and the Centaurs, but in the event of being bitten by a mad dog, the sufferer is recommended to appeal to the Virgin Mary before employing any remedy. “As sone as ye be byten go to the chyrche, and make thy offrynge to our lady, and pray here to helpe and heale thee. Than rubbe ye sore with a newe clothe,” etc.

Quite a number of medicines enumerated in the Grete Herball still hold their own in modern practice. Liquorice is recommended for coughs; laudanum, henbane, opium and lettuces as narcotics; olive oil and slaked lime for scalds; cuttle-fish bone for whitening the teeth, and borax and rose water for the complexion.

This book throws an interesting light on the early names of British plants. The Primrose is called “Prymerolles” or “saynt peterworte.” The “devylles bytte” is said to be “so called by cause the rote is blacke and semeth that it is iagged with bytynge, and some say that the devyll had envy at the vertue therof and bete the rote so for to have destroyed it.” Duckweed is called “Lentylles of the water” or “frogges fote,” while Cuckoo-pint is known by the picturesque name of “prestes hode,” and Wood-sorrel is called “Alleluya” or “cukowes meate.”

One of the most noticeable features of the herbal is the exposure of methods of “faking” drugs, for the protection of the public, “to eschew ye frawde of them that selleth it.” This is a great step in advance from the days of the old Greek herbalists, when secrecy was part of the stock-in-trade of a druggist, and, as we have pointed out in a previous chapter, the credulous public was warned off by threats of the miraculous and fearful ills, which would follow any unskilled meddling with the subject.

Another work, which was illustrated with the same figures as those of the Grete Herball, was ‘The vertuose boke of Distillacyon of the waters of all maner of Herbes,’ which appeared in 1527. This was a translation by Laurence Andrew from the ‘Liber de arte distillandi’ of Hieronymus Braunschweig, to which we have already referred. It was almost entirely occupied with an account of methods of distillation, but occasionally there is a picturesque touch of description. For example, in speaking of the Mistletoe, the author says, “This herbe hath a longe slender lefe nother full grene, nor ful yelowe, and bereth a small whyte berye.” The book was printed “in the flete strete by me Laurens Andrewe, in the sygne of the golden Crosse.”