The New Murrey and Blue blog

All puppies beware, medieval medicine is on your tails….When precious old manuscripts are digitised, we are all excited to see the result. Now there is word of a new two-year project to “…. bring together unique and irreplaceable handwritten texts from the world-class collections of the Cambridge University Library, a dozen Cambridge colleges, and the Fitzwilliam Museum….Most of the manuscripts are from the 14th and 15th centuries, with the earliest dating back a thousand years….”

Medicinal concoctions feature a great deal, although I shudder at the thought of two that get a mention in the above link.

“….One treatment for gout recommends stuffing a puppy with sage, roasting it over a fire, and using the rendered fat to make a salve….For curing cataracts, another recipe details mixing the gall bladder of a hare with honey, and then applying the substance to the affected eye with a feather over the course of three nights….”

Ew. But nevertheless, it’s fascinating to learn what our forebears thought and believed would assist them. The results of this project are awaited eagerly.