M'Lady's Book of Household Secrets E-Book

The Hon. Sarah Macpherson

• Herausgeber: THP Ireland
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 94

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

During the eighteenth century, ladies of high society kept handwritten notes on recipes, remedies, gardening and household advice in their personal House Books and it became fashionable to exchange their most successful tips with friends and neighbours. Very few of these fragile House Books have survived and this compilation celebrates two: one from Lady Talbot of Lacock Abbey and the other from Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown House. In this collection you will find their herbal remedies for everything from coughs and colds to rickets, consumption and 'preventing smallpox', along with concoctions to ensure soft hands, improve the skin and 'remove inhibitions'. There are also tips on cleaning and polishing, the best ways in which a garden should be laid out and the roles each servant should be expected to perform. Finally there is also a selection of their favourite recipes, including Cinnamon Spinach, Slipcoat Cheese and Pitchcocked Eels. This charming compilation is full of fascinating information and useful tips and gives an insight into the lives of those living in the grand houses of the eighteenth century.

Leseprobe

DISCLAIMER

Always consult your doctor before taking any medication. Please be advised that this book is a work of historical interest and the Publishers accept no liability for the efficacy or side-effects of any of the treatments described.

First published 2013This paperback edition first published 2023

The History Press97 St George’s Place, Cheltenham,Gloucestershire, GL50 3QBwww.thehistorypress.co.uk

© The Hon. Sarah Macpherson, 2013, 2023

The right of The Hon. Sarah Macpherson to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 75249 695 5

Typesetting and origination by The History PressPrinted and bound in Great Britain by TJ Books Limited, Padstow, Cornwall

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

one HERBAL REMEDIES

Preparing Remedies

Nature’s Ingredients

Colds, Coughs, and Flu

Insomnia and Nervous Tension

For the Whole Body

Hands

Skin Care

The Eyes

Face Masks

Hair

For the Olfactory Senses (the Nose)

Lips

Nails and Teeth

Feet

Anti-Ageing Exercises (from Lady Talbot’s Lady’s Maid)

two HOUSEHOLD MAINTENANCE

Cleaning

Repairs

Polishing

General Household Tips

three M’LADY’S GARDEN

Tips for Planting

Herb Planting

Pest-Free Planting – Herbs with Vegetables

Favourite Herbs and Flowers around the House

Useful Wild Herbs

four SERVANTS

Servants’ Ages

Introduction to the Lives of Servants

Servants’ Duties

five FOOD AND COOKERY

The Brewery

Recipes

Drinks

Menus

Main Reference and Historical Sources

Household Notes

Acknowledgements

would like to thank the following:

Mally Francis, Botanical Illustrator

Charles Francis, Photographer

Katherine Manning, House Steward, Lacock Abbey

Elizabeth Gibb, Meg Holbrook & Marlene Lewis, compilers, Lacock Abbey papers

David Formby, National Trust

Weddingtoncastle.co.uk

Orion Publishing Group

S.P.C.K. Publishing

Michael Slavin, Old Bookshop, Tara

Sir George & Mrs Carmel Locke

Anna Blundell Williams

Diana Turner

Shirley Smith

Katherine Bolder, Design

Ronan Colgan, The History Press

Beth Amphlett, & all the Design Team at The History Press

Ian Macpherson, Editor

Introduction

ighteenth-century ladies of high society and aristocratic lineage kept handwritten notes on recipes, remedies, gardening and household tips in their personal Household Books. Indeed, it became quite the fashion to exchange their most successful tips with their hosts, as they travelled around staying in some of the grandest houses in the land.

Very few of these fragile House Books have survived. This book celebrates the recent discovery of two new sources: one from Lady Talbot of Lacock Abbey and the other from Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown.i Both are gems of eighteenth-century history. Also included here are extracts from another eighteenth/nineteenth-century source that describes the life and duties of servants in Weddington Castle.

Gascoine Powder

Take crabs of the sea gathered at constellation time when the sun and moon are in conjuncion in the sign Cancer. They must be alive and dead in that time. Take the shells of the black tips of the claws and beat them to a fine powder in a large brass mortar then sift them through a Tiffiny sieve. The powder must be so fine that it will melt in yr mouth and to 4 ounces of this powder you must add half an ounce of currel finely prepared and so mingle them well together.

Then take a quart of water and put in it vipers’ skins cut in pieces about an inch long. Put to them an ounce of leafe gold broake very small. Boyle not dry. When it is cold and strain’d then mingle it with a little rose water wherein a little saffron and 2 grains of Ambergrease have been steep’d. Then make up the powder with the liquor into balls being first finely ground upon a painter’s stone.

Addressed to ‘My honoured nephew, Sir John Talbot’

These sources transport us into a world of scents and aromas, herbs, oils and tinctures used in every aspect of daily life.

‘The Heady smell of Pine & Rosemary burning in the Hearth in the Castle Hall.’

These secret remedies and concoctions were used for refreshing the air, the drapes and the carpets, home medicine, cooking, cosmetics and to keep the eighteenth-century garden pest-free.

i See Main Reference and Historical Sources on page 137.

uring the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries many advances were being made in medical science into the causes of illnesses and the means to help alleviate them. But, despite these advances, many diseases, such as Smallpox, Consumption (Tuberculosis) and Cholera were still endemic (the introduction of Edward Jenner’s vaccination in 1798 made Smallpox preventable but many people could not afford it). Convulsions and fits were also commonplace and medical provision by the parish was often basic.

The Wiltshire parish of Laycock, for example, recorded their provision for the sick in 1724, when neighbours were paid to nurse the infirm in their own homes (a matter that caused the parish considerable worry regarding the expense). It wasn’t until forty years later that a parish institution was opened in which to house and care for these patients.

For those who could afford it, doctors and apothecaries offered their services, but they were expensive: medical services were performed by contract from 1751 for the sum of ten guineas.

With so many serious illnesses and the expensive nature of what limited professional medical treatment there was available, most people stuck to their old remedies. Many country houses noted these down in their Household Books, some of which still survive to this day.

Here we see the emphasis on herbs, spices, and some quite bizarre ingredients. Garden snails figure in several remedies, either to be taken internally, or as a facewash. Worms, moles and viper skins are more rare ingredients, and a Gascoine Powder contained powdered pearl, gold leaf, and ambergris.

Some remedies are a mixture of knowledge, folklore, and a large measure of desperation.

PREPARING REMEDIES

How to Make a Herbal Infusion

¾ oz of dried herb or 1 oz of fresh herb (use both leaves and flowers)

17 fl oz of freshly boiled water

Steep the herb in a warmed teapot with a lid (this releases the active ingredients) for at least 5 minutes.

Strain into a cup to drink immediately. This infusion can also be cooled in the teapot and strained off into a jar with a tight lid. Store in a cool larder. This can be re-heated and re-used within 24 hours. Drink 1 cup of infusion 3–4 times a day.

Nettle or ginseng infusions can be used as a tonic while chamomile and mint infusions are used for soothing the temperament and can be given all year round. With a good diet and bracing walks, these will give energy, and encourage better sleep.

A sage infusion is good for sore throats (3 leaves infused into a cup of boiled water for 3 minutes) and a peppermint, yarrow and elderflower infusion, taken at bedtime, will keep a cold at bay if given early enough.

WARNING

Do not use any sage remedies if M’Lady is pregnant, or breast-feeding a child.

How to Make a Tincture

Mix the herb material with the liquid to a ratio between 1:3 to 1:5. The liquid should be made of water and alcohol to a ratio of 2:3 to 1:1 (depending on the herb used). Sugar Beet can be used as the alcohol source. Dilute the required dose of tincture in hot water before taking. (Most of the alcohol will evaporate.)

How to Make Concentrated Oils for Healing, Energy and Scent

The oils are extracted from: flowers, leaves, fruit, peel, seeds, wood, bark, and roots.

It takes 2,000 roses to make one 10ml bottle of rose water so only a tiny amount is needed when it is mixed with creams or lotions – 10–20 drops only in 100ml. This absorbs well into the skin.

NATURE’S INGREDIENTS

Herbal Resins

Benzoin: aromatic resin from Styrax tree. Used as preservative and for healing, it also treats coughs and calms the system.

Myrrh: gum resin from Arab lands. Used against body fungus and for healing.

Powders

Slippery elm: the powdered bark of elm tree. It strengthens, heals, and is used in warm poultices to draw out a foreign body.

Borax: a mineral that has cleaning properties and also acts as an emulsifier in M’Lady’s face cream to bind the oils and water together. Only to be used in very small amounts.

WARNING

Borax is toxic if taken in large amounts.

Spices

Cayenne: Stimulates circulation and increases blood flow.

WARNING

Cayenne is harmful in big doses.

Cinnamon: Healing, anti-fungus, and good for digestion.

Cloves: Stimulating and warming. They also promote healing, and have a useful pain-masking action.

Ginger: Stimulates circulation and has many uses in home remedies.

WARNING

High doses of ginger can be toxic. Do not use when M’Lady is with child.

Nutmeg: Aids digestion, and helps prevent nausea. Carry a whole nutmeg in your pocket to ward off pains in the hips and back. The oil of nutmeg is used in remedies for stiff and aching joints.

WARNING

Nutmeg can be harmful in large doses.

Herbs in the Bath

Stimulating: basil, bay, fennel, lavender, lemon verbena, lovage, meadowsweet, mint, pine, rosemary, sage, thyme.

Relaxing: catnep, chamomile, jasmine, lime flowers, vervain.

Healing: comfrey, lady’s mantle, marigold, mint, yarrow.

Oils and Waxes

Beeswax: an emulsifier for creams and lotions.

Cocoa Butter: a richly moisturising fat.

Coconut Oil: extracted from the white flesh of a coconut, it is an excellent moisturiser for problem skin. This is solid at room temperature but it melts when lukewarm.

COLDS, COUGHS, AND FLU

Magic Cold Remedy

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon grated ginger root

2 lemons

1 cup water

2 teaspoons honey

1 cinnamon stick

Crush the garlic, grate the ginger and squeeze the lemons. Boil them in water and pour into a cup. Add garlic, ginger, lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon stick. Leave to cool for 2 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and drink while still hot.

Miss Plowden refcit for ye Colleck or Ague

Take one ounce of Chamemile flowers, & one Drachm of Salt of Wormwood, half an ounce of Drid Orring Pill [dried orange peel) enfuse this together with a Pint of boylin water & drink it all, about an houer before you expect a fit.

Dandelion Cough Syrup

8 oz honey

25 dandelion flower-heads

Put dandelion flower-heads into a pan and add the honey. Pour in enough cold water to cover by at least ¾ inch. Bring to the boil before lowering the heat to simmer while stirring. As the mixture begins to stiffen remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture through a sieve. Leave to cool and then pour the mixture into well-sterilised jars and seal tightly.

Honey, Lemon and Ginger Drink – for the throat

Juice of 4 lemons

1½ tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon grated ginger root

Pour squeezed lemon juice into small pan over a medium heat. Add the honey and stir. Add the ginger and stir again. Pour into a cup and sip while still hot. To be made fresh and taken twice a day.

For Hiccups

Chervil seeds stirred into vinegar.

Surfit Water