Doctor's Orders  
   
   
On 2nd June 1695 Dr John Skelton prescribed a regimen to Ralph Thoresby, the noted Leeds historian, who was suffering from the rheum - fluid secreted from the mucous membranes and, when abnormal, was thought to cause disease.
   
   
 Sir - Your Dyett must be of meat of easy concoction & of good juice, without variety of dishes & strong Sawces without onions, garlic, mustard, horse radich, anchovies & horspices & such things, your stomack must never be overburdened, nor your appetite totally Satiated, you must make but one meal a day, & that at noone & if you eate something at night it must be some light matter & not too late, you must eat nothing till the former meal be concocted.  

 

 
   
Your bread must be of good wheat with a little Rye, not over cleared from the branne, well wrought, fermented & backed, not hot nor new but a day old.
You can eate good broth, small Ale cawdle, mutton, veale, lamb, Capone, chicken, hens, tender beef not too much powdred, yong Turkys, Rabbits, leveret, yong pidgeon, pheasant, partridge, plover, Thrush, fieldfare, larks, sparrows and all other sortes of birds living in woods & mountains.		  
   
   

You must avoide hung beef, Bacon, Gammon, neats tongues, pork, too much seasoned pastyes, broiled & fryed meats, all sortes of water foules. 
   
   
Fish is not good for you, nevertheless you can eate sometimes of Salmon, Turbut, mullet, soles, pyke, perche, gudgeons, Trout, Smelt & other sortes of fishes who live in rivers full of gravel but avoide, Ling, Sturgeon, Carp, tench, Eeles, Crabb, lobster, oysters and all sowsed & pickled fish. And when you eate fish, you must putt in the sawce a little nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon, according to your palate.  
   
   

Other sortes of meat which are fitt for you, are Milk & every thing made of milk, Specially old cheese, all Sortes of roots, Salades, fruits, berryes, peases, beanes, artichocks, cabidges. At the end of your dinner you must take some times halfe a spoonful of a digestive powder which is described in the other paper, drinking nothing upon, if it is possible for a good while after, sometimes you can take at the end of your dinner, a preserved walnut, a little bitt of quinces, marmelade, a little piece of orange or lemon pill preserved, some few raisins of the sunne, some few almonds.
   
   
Your ordinary drink must be of good small beer or small Ale of convenient Age, neither too new, nor too steale, if you are dry out of your meales, you can take a glass of Mede made with Spring water wherein hath been infused some betony & cowslip flower & wrought up with virgin honey. You can drink a glasse of Baulme wine & Cowslips wine, specially Cowslips wine. You must avoide (which is great pitty) wines of all sortes of grapes without the double of water, & if you transgresse that rule let it be moderately, avoide also too much drinking of Strong Ale, marsh beere, mum & such strong & heady liquors.
 
 
   
   
   
 
For the air you breath, you cannot avoide Leeds air, nevertheless you must avoide, as much as is possible, rainy, misty & foggy air & goeing out of the house too late, & specially when the moone shineth. Your chamber must be clean & the windows opened when you are not in it, you can adorne your windows with glasses full of water, with some plantes of minte as it is customary in this Country, your flower can be Spred with some leaves of Sage, lavender, rosmary, if the smell is not too strong for your head. Sleep is not good in the daytime, especially after dinner, neither your night Sleeps must exceed above seaven or eight houres. Your exercise must be in the morning & evening, when the stomack is pretty empty. That is moderate is the best, whether in walking, riding & such like.
   
   
    Rising Early is very conducible & being up, it is good to comb your head & to have it gently rubbed to open the pores only & to discusse that numnesse which remaines after sleeping, you can rubb the nummed part after with a little of queene of Hungary water & a little round the affected part.
Being ready or before, it is good to have a stoole & you must take care that your body be allwayes soluble, and the stomach, lungs & braines kept from being overlayd with excrement & ill humours which will be gathered, notwithstanding the more exact observation.
Therfore, being up, you must spit, cough, blow your nose to purge these parts from excrements if there is some gathered in them. If you are costive you must some times take glisters or some little laxative remedy, as conserve of damasck roses with manna, some syrup of stewed prunes with a little of senna & such light purgatift.
 

I hope that these rules will be enough for your dyett. And I will nott tye you so much as to oblidge you to an exact observation that you will do well to follow these rules, as much as you will be able to doe.


For your remedyes, it will be very convenient to begin by a letting of blood in the arme of the side you are more troubled. Two dayes after you must take the Physick which is directed in the other paper, keeping that day the rules which are kept in a physicke day.

After your Physick you must take Every morning fasting, for two houres after, at least, three drammes of halfe an ounce of the Electuary, which is described in the other paper, drinking immediately upon three or foure spoonfuls of the mixture of waters, adding at that time, to sweeten it, a little of syrup of black cherryes, or of poeonys flowers, or of cowslip flowers, with three or foure drops of spiritus salis dulcis rectoficati.

I will tell you the rest according the Emergencyes.
   
   
The Digestive Powder
Take, of prepared Coriander, sweet fennel seeds, Aniseed, Cinnamon of each one drachm, Of moschatel fruit two drachms, To be coarsely powdered with a double quantity of confection of roses to make the powder. Half a tablespoonful to be taken after dinner as directed.

 
   
   
The Physick
Take, of the leaves of the Eastern mundat two drachms, of Tamarind one ounce, of poppy root one drachm, of 'crassin-soule' Rhubarb, of dweey Fennel seeds of each two scruples, of polypody, santal & lemon each one scruple, of mace, four grains. Infuse in warm water for a whole night. Of squill, chicory, fumitory & betony each two ounces, strain & dissolve completely. Of syrup of roses & buckthorn of each one ounce, of self-heal one scruple. To be made into a draught to be taken early in the morning as required.

 
   
   
The Electuary
Take, of preserved sea holy, of preserved moscatel fruit, of myrobolans & lemon peel, each two drachms, of the red rose bark, of marigold flowers and cowslip flowers of each one ounce, to be pounded. Of the bark of sea paeony, of lily of the valley, betony & sage each one drachm, of the powder of 'Guttela' one drachm, powder of 'diamoschi dulcis', confection of rose & powdered Zedoary root each two scruples with equal parts of syrup of black cherry, sea paeony flowers, cowslip & wild beet, to make the electuary soft. Three drachms to be taken in the morning as directed.
   
   
The Mixture of Water
Take a squill of water, of vervein four ounces, of betony, of flowers of cowslip, of flowers of the lime tree, of elder & of black cherry; of each one ounce. Mix. To be used as told.

 
   
For Mr Thoresby  
 
   

It certainly beats ,'Take two before meals....'

There are several ingredients in this prescription that may puzzle you. Some have been identified, but some still remain a mystery.

 
   
   
 
 
 
   
baulme wine .....................
 
 
wine made from a resinous, aromatic substance exuded naturally from various trees of the genus Balsamodendron much prized for its fragrance and medicinal properties
 
betony ................................
 
a plant (Stachys betonica) having spiked purple flowers and ovate crenate leaves. Medicinal and magical powers were attributed to it
confection of roses ........ a sweetening and general basis for pills and electuaries
conserve of damasck roses rose hip jelly
'crassin-soule' rhubarb ? - some kind of rhubarb
diamoschi dulcis............. ? something sweet connected with the body
eastern mundat ...............
 
? possibly the chilli or capsicum pepper. 'mundat' is Latin for, 'it cleanses'
fumitory.............................
 
a plant thought to be efficacious in the treatment of eczema, herpes, ringworm, &c
glisters...............................
 
variant of clyster, an enema, medicine injected into the rectum
guttela ............................... ?
manna ..............................
 
a sweet pale yellow or whitish juice obtained from incisions in the bark of the Manna-Ash. Used as a gentle laxative
marsh beere ................... made from malt
mum ................................. a kind of beer originally brewed in Brunswick
myrobolans ................... 'the nut of egypt'. A plum with astringent properties
neats ............................... an animal such as the ox, heifer, bullock or cow
polypody ........................ a fern with diuretic properties
queene of Hungary water
 
 
 
 
 
rosemary is the main ingredient in one of the oldest known alcohol perfumes, 'Hungary water', or 'Queen of Hungary Water', which originated around 1379. Elizabeth of Hungary was supposedly so good-looking that she was accused many times of improper conduct, and her beauty secret involved the use of 'hungary water', a preparation involving distilled spirits of alcohol, rosemary, and other herbs.
rosemary was also thought to be an excellent herb for stomach troubles
santal .............................. sandalwood
sea holy .........................
 
 
the candied root of the sea holly - possibly used as a sweetener, although it, allegedly, has aphrodisiac properties - as it's for Ralph we'll opt for the former!
sea paeony ................... for cleansing the blood?
self heal ......................... various plants thought to have medicinal properties
small ale cawdle ......... warmed weak beer
syrup of roses ............ rose hip syrup - a source of vitamin c
vervein .........................
 
a common european herbaceous plant thought to have medicinal properties as far back as the druids
zedoary ........................ an aromatic tuberous root with similar properties to ginger
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

[Because there is someone always daft enough....]

WARNING : This was a precription for a 17th century man, NOT for someone in the 21st century - do not try this prescription!
 
   
   
   

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