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31

To Make the Red Pouder to be given to
sweat & good for any distempers

Take Angelico, Bittanie, Cardish, Draggons
Sage, Rewe, Rosemary, Tormentile with the roots,
wormwood of each one handfull, putt them into a well
glazed pott, with 3 pints of Whitewine, cover it & stir
it well once a day, 9, days together, then take a
pound of the best Bolearmoneck powderd &
searched putt it into a puter dish & strain the
wine from the hearbe into a the powder till it
is thick like white pott then set it in a
sunny window till it be stiff then strain
in more of the wine till it is like whitepott
again & when that is stiff doo so again till the
pouder have drunk up the wine, att the last
straining of the wine put in with it Confectio
Alcarines, Venus Treacle, Methredate, & Diaseo
=rdium of each half an ounce, of Bezor one
grain & of the fine powder of the black topps of
Malecrabbes claws one Ounce, mix all these
together when it is dry as before & as stiff as past

Notes and Questions

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Caroline Butten

A 'white pott' or 'whitepott' could refer to a bread pudding layered with apples and currants, as listed in the recipe book of Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent (c.1600-1630 with later additions). https://franklin.library.upenn.edu/catalog/FRANKLIN_9950173773503681 p.72.

Caroline Butten

'Methredate', could be 'mithridate' which according to the OED is 'Any of various medicinal preparations, usually in the form of an electuary compounded of many ingredients, believed to be a universal antidote to poison or a panacea.' https://www.oed.com/dictionary/mithridate_n

Caroline Butten

This recipe is very similar to recipe no.38 in Henry William Lewer's MS. book 'A Book of Simples' (c.1700-1750). Digitised/transcribed by Project Gutenberg, 2017. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53951/pg53951-images.html#A_BOOK_OF_SIMPLES

'38. A Stronger Cordial Powder.
Take a pint of white wine and a pint of sack to these following herbs scabious cardus bittony egremony of each a little handfull and tormentil roots you may add any cordial flowers rosemary or what you please Shread your herbs and Steep them till the vertue of the herbs be soaked into the wine then take half a pound of Bole-Armeniack in fine powder and 2 ounces and a half and a dram of the black tips of crabs claws in powder and an ounce of hearts horn in fine powder and mingle all your powders and put them into a deep earthen Bason as the former and moisten them every day with your liquor seting it in the Sun and when you put in the last wine liquor often Stiring it every day at last add to it half of metriedate half an ounce of Diascordium half an ounce of Venice treacle and a dram of saffron finely powdered and mingle it all very well together then make it up into little balls throughly drying them Keeping them so for your use. give of this as the former to a man as much as will lay on a shilling to a woman as much as will lay on a Sixpence to a child as much as will lay on a groat, ’tis good for any weakness, heaviness at heart, or to cause sleep weomen in child bed or as the former.'

Caroline Butten

'Bolearmoneck' could refer to Armenian Bole, a historic medicinal clay used as an astringent, prescribed against diarrhea, dysentery, and bleeding https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25966606/

Caroline Butten

'Angelico' - Angelica, a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs, used for flavouring and for medicine. Crystallised stripes of angelica are green and can be used for cake decoration and to flavour (and colour) gin. https://wshc.org.uk/lacock/images/PDFs/2664.3.1K.5-Stephen-Smith-Final-Part-Two.pdf

Caroline Butten

'Venus Treacle' - another name for 'Theriac', an ancient multi-ingredient preparation; originating as a cure for the bites of serpents, mad dogs and wild beasts, it later became an antidote to all known poisons. The name theriac was derived from the Greek for wild beast - theriakos. In the 12th century, theriac was being manufactured in Venice and widely exported. In England it became known as Venetian treacle (‘treacle’ is a corruption of theriac, Venus = corruption of Venice).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1884566/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15125416/
https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/Wc5IPScAACgANNYO

Caroline Butten

'Bittanie' could be 'Betony' or 'Stachys officinalis', common hedgenettle, betony, bishopwort; a
grassland herb with pink flower spikes commonly used in herbal medicine. Referenced in Culpeper, Nicholas (1652). The English Physitian: OR An Astrologo-Physical Discourse of the Vulgar Herbs of this Nation. Being a Compleat Method of Physick... (1st ed.). London: Printed by P. Cole. p. 244.

Caroline Butten

'Cardish' could be 'Cardus' or 'Carduus' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, one of
two genera considered to be true thistles. Also known commonly
as plumeless thistles. https://wshc.org.uk/lacock/images/PDFs/2664.3.1K.5-Stephen-Smith-Final-Part-Two.pdf

Caroline Butten

'Rewe' could be 'Rue' described by the OED as a southern European plant species ‘which has yellow flowers and bitter, strongly scented feathery leaves, and was formerly much used for medicinal purposes’. Spelling was not a fixed feature in the early modern period, but among the OED statistics, the precise writing of ‘rewe’ appears to be a common variant spelling from 1425 until 1539, and from 1570 the spelling ‘rew’ becomes the common spelling. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/60636/1/97PhD%20dissertation%20Annemie%20Leemans%20MOODLE.pdf

Caroline Butten

'Tormentile' could be 'Tormentil', a name for some species of Potentilla, or cinquefoils;
the name is generally only used for Potentilla erecta, known as the Common Tormentil. The Tormentil is a common, low-growing and creeping perennial of acid grassland, heathland and
moorland, but can also be found on roadside verges. It bears yellow, buttercup-like flowers, but with only four petals (buttercups have five). Tormentil was used in herbal remedies to treat colic, gum disorders, wounds, inflammations and gastrointestinal disorders. It was also used as a toothpaste and to make a type of schnapps. https://wshc.org.uk/lacock/images/PDFs/2664.3.1K.5-Stephen-Smith-Final-Part-Two.pdf

Caroline Butten

'Bezor' could be 'Bezoar', which are retained concretions of undigested foreign material that accumulate and coalesce within the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly in the stomach. Originally described in the stomach of ruminant animals such as goats, antelopes, and llamas, for
centuries, bezoars were ascribed mystical and medicinal powers and considered invaluable possessions. https://med.virginia.edu/ginutrition/wp-content/uploads/sites/199/2015/11/Sanders-Jan-04.pdf