Boke of Nurture: Footnotes

The

Boke of Nurture

Folowyng Englondis gise

By Me

John Russell,

Sum Tyme Seruande with Duke Vmfrey of Glowcetur, a Prynce Fulle Royalle, with Whom Vschere in Chambur Was Y, and Mershalle Also in Halle.

Edited from the Harleian MS. 4011 in the British Museum

BY

Frederick J. Furnivall,

M.A., Trin. Hall. Camb.; Member of Council of the Philological and Early English Text Societies; Lover of Old Books.

A very rare black-letter book, without date, and hitherto undescribed, except perhaps incorrectly by Ames (vol. 1, p. 412, and vol. 3, p. 1531), has been lent to me by Mr Algernon Swinburne. Its title is given above: “The noble lyfe and natures of man” is in large red letters, and the rest in smaller black ones, all surrounded by woodcuts of the wonderful animals, mermaids, serpents, birds, quadrupeds with men’s and women’s heads, a stork with its neck tied in a knot, and other beasts “yt be most knowen.” The illustrations to each chapter are wonderfully quaint. The author of it says in his Prologus “In the name of ower sauiour criste Iesu, maker & redemour of al mankynd / I Lawrens Andrewe of the towne of Calis haue translated for Johannes doesborrowe, booke prenter in the cite of Andwarpe, this present volume deuyded in thre partes, which were neuer before in no maternall langage prentyd tyl now /” As it is doubtful whether another copy of the book is known, I extract from the Third Part of this incomplete one such notices of the fish mentioned by Russell or Wynkyn de Worde, as it contains, with a few others for curiosity’s sake:—

here after followeth of the natures of the fisshes of the See whiche be right profitable to be vnderstande / Wherof I wyll wryte be the helpe and grace of almighty god, to whose laude & prayse this mater ensueth.

Cap. Primo.

A Bremon* is a fruteful fisshe that hathe moche sede / but it is nat through mouynge of the he / but only of the owne proper nature / and than she rubbeth her belly upon the grounde or sande / and is sharpe in handelinge / & salt of sauour / and this fisshe saueth her yonges in her bely whan it is tempestius weder / & when the weder is ouerpast, than she vomyteth them out agayne.

Cap. ij.

ANguilla / the Ele is lyke a serpent of fascyon, & may leue eight yere, & without water vi. dayes whan the wind is in the northe / in the winter they wyll haue moche water, & that clere / amonge them is nouther male nor female / for they become fisshes of the slyme of other fisshes / they must be flayne / they suffer a longe dethe / they be best rosted, but it is longe or they be ynouge / the droppinge of it is gode for paines in the eares.

Cap. iij.

ALec, the heringe, is a Fisshe of the see / & very many be taken betweene bretayn & germaia / & also in denmarke aboute a place named schonen / And he is best from the beginnynge of August to december / and when he is fresshe taken / he is a very delicious to be eten. And also whan he hath ben salted he is a specyall fode vnto man / He can nat leue without water, for as sone as he feleth the ayre he is dede / & they be taken in gret hepis togeder / & specially where they se light, there wyll they be, than so they be taken with nettis / which commeth be the diuyne Prouydens of almighty God.

Cap. v.

A Spidochelon / as Phisiologus saith, it is a monstrous thinge in the see, it is a gret whale fisshe, & hath an ouer-growen rowgh skinne / & he is moste parte with his bake on hye aboue the water in such maner that some shypmen that see him, wene that it is a lytell ylande / & whan they come be it, they cast their ankers upon him / & go out of theyr shippes & make a fyre upon hym to dresse theyr metys / and as sone as he feleth the hete of the fyre / thanne he swymmeth fro the place, & drowneth them, & draweth the shippe to the grounde / And his proper nature is, whan he hath yonges, that he openeth his mouthe wyde open / & out of it fleeth a swete ayre / to the which the fisshes resorte, and than he eteth them.

A Aurata is a fysshe in the see that hathe a hede shinynge lyke golde.

Cap. xi.

A Huna is a monster of the see very glorisshe, as Albertus saith / what it eteth it tourneth to greas in his body / it hathe no mawe but a bely / & that he filleth so full that he speweth it out agayne / & that can he do so lyghtely / for he hath no necke / whan he is in peryl of dethe be other fisshes / than he onfacyoneth himselfe as rounde as a bowle, withdrawynge his hede into his bely / whan he hathe then hounger / He dothe ete a parte of himselfe rather than the other fisshes sholde ete him hole and all.

Cap. xiii.

BOrbotha be fisshes very slepery, somewhat lyke an ele / hauinge wyde mouthes & great hedes / it is a swete mete / and whan it is xij. yere olde, than it waxeth bigge of body. Nota / Botte that is a flounder of the fresshe water / & they swimme on the flatte of their body, & they haue finnes rounde about theyr body & with a sothern wynde they waxe fatte / & they have rede spottis. Brenna is a breme, & it is a fisshe of the riuer / & whan he seeth the pyke that wyll take hym / than he sinketh to the botom of the water & maketh it so trobelous that the pyke can nat se hym.

Cap. xiiii.

BAlena is a great beste in the see, and bloweth moche water from him, as if it were a clowde / the shippes be in great daunger of him somtyme / & they be sene moste towardes winter / for in the somer they be hidden in swete brod places of the water where it casteth her yonges, & suffereth so grete payne that than he fleteth aboue the water as one desiringe helpe / his mouth is in the face, & therefore he casteth the more water / she bringeth her yonges forthe lyke other bestis on erthe, & it slepeth / in tempestius weder she hydeth her yonges in her mouthe / and whan it is past she voydeth them out agayne / & they growe x. yere.

Cap. xvi.

CAncer the creuyce is a Fishe of the see that is closed in a harde shelle, hauyng many fete and clawes / and euer it crepeth bacward / & the he hathe two pynnes on his bely, & the she hathe none / whan he wyll engender, he climmeth on her bake, and she turneth her syde towardes him, & so they fulfyll their workes. In maye they chaunge their cotes, & in winter they hyde them fiue monethes duringe / whan the creues hath dronken milke it may leue longe without water. when he is olde, he hathe ij. stones in his hed with rede spottes that haue great vertue / for if they be layde in drynke / they withdryue the payne frome the herte. the creuyce eteth the Oysters, & geteth them be policye / for whan the oyster gapeth, he throweth lytell stones in him, and so geteth his fishe out, for it bydeth than open.

The Operacion.

¶ The Asshes of hym is gode to make white tethe / & to kepe the motes out of the clothes / it withdryueth byles, & heleth mangynes. The creuyce of the fresshe water geueth gret fode, but it is an heuy mete to disieste.

Cap. xviij.

CAucius is a fisshe that will nat be taken with no hokes / but eteth of the bayte & goth his way quyte. Capitaius is a lytel fisshe with a great hede / a wyde rounde mouthe / & it hydeth him vnder the stones. Nota. Carpera is a carpe, & it is a fysshe that hathe great scales / and the female hathe a great rowghe, & she can bringe forthe no yonges tyll she haue receyued mylke of her make / & that she receyueth at the mouth / and it is yll for to take / for whan it perceyueth that it shalbe taken with the net, than it thrusteth the hede into the mudde of the water / and than the nette slyppeth ouer him whiche waye soeuer it come; & some holde them fast be the grounde, grasse / or erbis, & so saue themselfe.

Cap. xix.

CEtus is the greatest whale fisshe of all / his mouthe is so wyde that he bloweth vp the water as yf it were a clowde / wherwith he drowneth many shippes / but whan the maryners spye where he is / than thei accompany them a gret many of shyppes togeder about him with diuers instrumentis of musike, & they play with grete armonye / & the fische is very gladde of this armonye / & commeth fletynge a-boue the watere to here the melody, & than they haue amonge them an instrument of yron, the whiche they festen in-to the harde skinne, & the weght of it synketh downwarde in to the fat & grese / & sodenly with that al the instrumentes of musike be styll, and the shyppes departe frome thens, & anone he sinketh to the grownde / & he feleth that the salt watere smarteth in the wounde, than he turneth his bely vpwaerd and rubbeth his wownde agaynst the ground, & the more he rubbeth, the depere it entreth / & he rubbeth so longe that he sleeth hymself / and whan he is dede, than commeth he vp agayne and sheweth him selfe dede / as he dyd before quicke / and than the shippes gader them togeder agayne, and take, & so lede hym to londe, & do theyr profyte with hym.

Cap. xxij.

COnche be abydynge in the harde shellis: as the mone growth or waneth, so be the conches or muscles fulle or nat full, but smale / & there be many sortes of conches or musclys / but the best be they that haue the perles in.

Cap. xxiij.

COochele / is a snayle dwellinge in the water & also on the londe / they go out of theyr howses / & they thruste out .ij. longe hornes wherwith they fele wether they go / for they se nat where they crepe.

Cap. xxiiij.

THe Conger is a se fisshe facioned like an ele / but they be moche greter in quantyte / & whan it bloweth sore, than waxe they fatte. ¶ Polippus is also a stronge fisshe that onwarse he wyl pull a man out of a shyp. yet the conger is so stronge that he wyll tere polippum asonder with his teth, & in winter the conger layth in the depe cauernes or holes of the water. & he is nat taken but in somer. ¶ Esculapius sayth. Coretz is a fisshe that hydeth hym in the depe of the water whan it rayneth / for yf he receiued any rayne, he sholde waxe blynde, and dye of it. ¶ Iorath sayth. The fisshes that be named se craues / whanne they haue yonges / they make suche noise that through theyr noyse they be founde and taken.

Cap. xxvij.

DElphinus is a monster of the see, & it hath no voyce, but it singheth lyke a man / and towarde a tempest it playeth vpon the water. Some say whan they be taken that they wepe. The delphin hath none cares for to here / nor no nose for to smelle / yet it smelleth very well & sharpe. And it slepeth vpon the water very hartely, that thei be hard ronke a farre of / and thei leue C.xl. yere. & they here gladly playnge on instrumentes, as lutes / harpes / tabours / and pypes. They loue their yonges very well, and they fede them longe with the mylke of their pappes / & they haue many yonges, & amonge them all be .ij. olde ones, that yf it fortuned one of the yonges to dye, than these olde ones wyll burye them depe in the gorwnd [sic] of the see / because othere fisshes sholde nat ete thys dede delphyn; so well they loue theyr yonges. There was ones a kinge that had taken a delphin / whyche he caused to be bounde with chaynes fast at a hauen where as the shippes come in at / & there was alway the pyteoust wepynge / and lamentynge, that the kinge coude nat for pyte / but let hym go agayne.

Cap. xxxi.

ECheola is a muskle / in whose fysshe is a precious stone / & be night they flete to the water syde / and there they receyue the heuenly dewe, where throughe there groweth in them a costly margaret or orient perle / & they flete a great many togeder / & he that knoweth the water best / gothe before & ledeth the other / & whan he is taken, all the other scater a brode, and geteth them away.

Cap. xxxvi.

EChynus is a lytell fysshe of half a fote longe / & hath sharpe prykcles vnder his bely in stede of fete.

Cap. xxxvii.

EZox is a very grete fisshe in that water danowe be the londe of hungarye / he is of suche bygnes that a carte with .iiij. horses can nat cary hym awaye / and he hath nat many bones, but his hede is full / and he hath swete fisshe lyke a porke, and whan this fysshe is taken, thanne geue hym mylke to drynke, and ye may carye hym many a myle, and kepe hym longe quicke.

xxxviii.

FOcas is a see bulle, & is very stronge & dangerous / and he feghteth euer with his wyf tyll she be dede / and whan he hath kylled her, than he casteth her out of his place, & seketh another, and leueth with her very well tyl he dye / or tyll his wyfe ouercome him and kylle hym / he bydeth alway in one place / he and his yonges leue be suche as they can gete. ¶ Halata is a beste that dothe on-naturall dedys / for whan she feleth her yonges quycke, or stere in her body / than she draweth them out & loketh vpon them / yf she se they be to yonge, than she putteth them in agayne, & lateth them grow tyll they be bygger.

Cap. xl.

GLadius is a fisshe so named because he is mouthed after the fascyon of a sworde poynt / and ther-fore often tymes he perseth the shyppes thorough, & so causeth them to be drowned. Aristotiles. Gastarios is a fisshe lyke the scorpion / and is but lytell greter than a spyder / & it styngeth many fisshes with her poyson so that they can nat endure nowhere / and he styngeth the dolphin on the hede that it entreth in-to the brayne. ¶ Isidorus. Glaucus is a whyte fissh that is but selden sene except in darke rayne weder / and is nat in season but in the howndes dayes.

Cap. xli.

GObio is a smale longe fissh with a rounde body / full of scales and litell blacke spottys / and some saye they leue of drounde caryon / & the fisshers say contrarye, that they leue in clere watere in sandye graueil / and it is a holsom mete. ¶ Grauus is a fisshe that hath an iye aboue on hys hede, and therwith he loketh vp, and saueth hym from them that wyll eat hym.

liii.

LUcius is a pike / a fisshe of the riuer with a wyde mouthe & sharpe teth: whan the perche spieth him / he turneth his tayle towardes him / & than the pike dare nat byte him because of his finnes, or he can nat swalowe him because he is so sharpe / he eteth venimous bestes, as todes, frogges, & suche like; yet it is sayde that he is very holsom for seke peple. He eteth fisshes almost as moche as himselfe / whan they be to bigge, than he byteth them in ij. peces, & swaloweth the one halfe first, & than the other / he is engendered with a westerne wynde.

Cap. lvii.

MUs marinus, the see mouse, gothe out of the water, & there she laith her egges in a hole of the erthe, & couereth the eges, & goth her way & bydeth frome them xxx. dayes, and than commeth agayne and oncouereth them, & than there be yonges, and them she ledeth into the water, & they be first al blynde. Musculus is a fisshe that layth harde shellis, and of it the great monster balena receyueth her nature, & it is named to be the cocke of balena. Mustela is the see wesyll / she casteth her yonges lyke other bestes / & whan she hath cast them, yf she perceiue that they shall be founde, she swaloweth them agayne into her body, and than seketh a place wher as they may be surer without daunger / & than she speweth them out agayne.

Cap. lix.

MUrena is a longe fisshe with a weke skinne lyke a serpent / & it conceyueth of the serpent vipera / it liueth longest in the tayle, for whan that is cut of, it dyeth incontinent / it must be soden in gode wyne with herbes & spices, or ellis it is very daungerous to be eten, for it hath many venymous humours, and it is euyll to disieste.

Cap. lxi.

MUlus is a see fysshe that is smale of body / & is only a mete for gentils: & there be many maners of these / but the best be those that haue ij. berdes vnder the mouthe / & whan it is fayre weder, than they waxe fatte / whan he is dede than he is of many colours.

Cap. lxiiij.

NEreydes be monsters of the see, all rowghe of body / & whan any of them dyeth, than the other wepe. of this is spoken in balena, the .xiiij. chapter.

ORchun is a monster of the se / whose lykenes can nat lightely be shewed / & he is mortal ennemye to the balene, & tereth asonder the bely of the balene / & the balene is so boystous that he can nat turne hym to defende him, and that costeth him his lyfe / for as sone as he feleth him selfe wounded, than he sinketh doune to the botom of the water agayne / & the Orchun throweth at him with stones / & thus balena endith his lyfe.

Cap. lxvi.

OStreñ is an oyster that openeth his shell to receyue the dewe & swete ayre. In the oyster groweth naturall orient perles that oftentymes laye on the see stronde, & be but lytell regarded, as Isidorus saith.

Cap. lxvij.

Pagrus is a fisshe that hath so harde tethe that he byteth the oyster shelles in peces, & eteth out the fisshe of them. Nota. Pauus maris is the Pecocke of the Se, & is lyke the pecocke of the londe, bothe his backe, necke, & hede / & the nether body is fisshe Nota. Percus is of diuers colours, & swift in ronnynge in the water, & hathe sharpe finnes, & is a holsome mete for seke people. Pecten is a fisshe that is in sandy grounde, & whan he is meued or stered, he wynketh.

Cap. lxx.

Pinna is a fisshe that layeth alwaye in the mudde, and hathe alway a lodisman, & some name it a lytel hoge, & it hathe a rounde body, & it is in a shell lyke a muscle; it layth in the mone as it were dede, gapyng open / and than the smale fisshes come into his shel, wening of him to take their repaste / but whan he feleth that his shell is almoste ful / than he closeth his mouthe, & taketh them & eteth them / & parteth them amonge his felowes. The playce is well knowen fisshe, for he is brode & blake on the one syde, and whyte on the other.

Cap. lxvij.

POlippus hath gret strength in his fete / what he therin cacheth, he holdeth it fast / he springeth somtyme vp to the shippes syde, & snacheth a man with him to the grounde of the see, & there eteth him / & that that he leueth, he casteth it out of his denne agayn / they be moche in the se about Venis / & he is taken in barellis where hartys hornes be layd in / for he is gladly be those hornes.

Cap. lxxvij.

RUmbus is a great fisshe stronge & bolde / but he is very slow in swimminge, therfor can he gete his mete but soberly with swimmyng / therfor he layth him down in the grounde or mudde, & hideth him there / and all the fisshes that he can ouercome / commynge forby him, he taketh and eteth them.

Cap. lxxviij.

RUbus is a fisshe of the grekes se & of the sees of ytaly / they be rounde lyke a ringe, & haue many rede spottes / & is full of sharpe finnes & pinnis / he is slow in swimmynge because he is so brode / he gothe be the grounde, & wayteth there his praye / & suche fisshes as he can gete he burieth in the sandes, & it is a very swete fisshe. Ryache be fisshes that be rounde / somtyme they be in length & brede two cubites / & it hath a long tayle / theron be sharpe pinnes / & it is slowe in swimmynge.

Cap. lxxix.

Salmo is a fysshe engendred in the swete water, & he waxeth longe & gret / & also he is heuy / & his colour nor sauour is nat gode tyll he haue ben in the salt water & proued it / thus draweth the samon to the water agaynst the streme; he neuer seaseth tyll he haue ben in the se and returned agayn to his olde home, as Phisiologua saith / his fisshe is rede, & he may nat liue in a swet standinge water / he must be in a fresshe riuer that he may playe up and doune at his plesure.

Salpa is a fowle fisshe and lytell set by / for it will neuer be ynough for no maner of dressinge tyll it haue ben beten with grete hamers & staues.

Cap. lxxij.

SErra is a fysshe with great tethe, and on his backe he hathe sharpe fynnes lyke the combe of a cocke / and iagged lyke a sawe wherewith thys monstrous fisshe cutteth a ship thorough, & whan he seeth a shippe commynge, than he setteth vp his finnes & thinketh to sayl with the shippe as fast as it / but whan he seeth that he can nat continue / than he latteth his finnes fall agayn & destroieth the shippe with the people, and than eteth the dede bodyes. Nota. Scilla is a monster in the see betwene Italye & Sicill / it is great ennemye vnto man. It is faced & handed lyke a gentylwoman / but it hath a wyde mouthe & ferfull tethe / & it is belied like a beste, & tayled lyke a dolphin / it hereth gladly singinge. It is in the water so stronge that it can nat be ouercome / but on the lond it is but weke.

Cap. lxxxiij.

Syrene, the mermayde is a dedely beste that bringeth a man gladly to dethe / frome the nauyll vp she is lyke a woman with a dredfull face / a long slymye here, a grete body, & is lyke the egle in the nether parte / hauinge fete and talentis to tear asonder suche as she geteth / her tayl is sealed like a fisshe / and she singeth a maner of swete song, and therwith deceyueth many a gode mariner / for whan they here it, they fall on slepe commonly / & than she commeth, and draweth them out of the shippe, and tereth them asonder / they bere their yonges in their armes, & geue them souke of their papis whiche be very grete, hanginge at their brestis / but the wyse maryners stoppe their eares whan they se her / for whan she playth on the water, all they be in fear, & than they cast out an empty tonne to let her play with it tyll they be past her / this is specifyed of them that haue sene it. Ther be also in some places of arabye, serpntis named sirenes, that ronne faster than an horse, & haue wynges to flye.

[Cap. lxxxv.]

SOlaris is a fishe so named because it is gladly be the londes syde in the sonne / he hathe a great hede, a wyde mouth, & a blake skine, & slipper as an ele / it waxeth gret, & is gode to be eten. Solea is the sole, that is a swete fisshe and holsom for seke people.

Cap. lxxxvi.

SOlopendria is a fisshe / whan he hathe swalowed in an angle, than he spueth out al his guttes till he be quyt of the hoke / and than he gadereth in all his guttes agayne. The Scorpion of the see is so named because whan he is taken in any mannys handes he pricketh him with his stinge of his tayle. Plinius saith that the dede creuyce that layeth on the drye sonde be the see syde, becommeth scorpyons.

Cap. lxxxix.

STurio / the sturgion is a gret fisshe in the ronninge waters / and he taketh no fode in his body, but lyueth of the styl and swete ayres therfore he hathe a small bely / with a hede and no mouthe, but vnder his throte he hathe a hole that he closeth whan he wyll / he openeth it whan it is fayre weder / & with an east wynde he waxeth fat / and whan that the north winde bloweth, than falleth he to the grounde / it is a fisshe of ix. fote longe whan he is ful growen / he hath whyte swete flesshe & yolow fatte / & he hathe no bone in all his body but only in his hede.

Cap. xcij.

TEcna is a tenche of the fresshe water, and is fedde in the mudde lyke the ele / & is moche lyke of colours: it is a swete fisshe, but it is euyll to disiest. ¶ Tintinalus is a fayre mery fisshe, & is swete of sauour, & well smellinge lyke the tyme, where of it bereth the name. ¶ Torpido is a fisshe. but who-so handeleth hym shalbe lame & defe of lymmes / that he shall fele no thyng / & it hathe a maner of Squitana that is spoken of in the lxxxiiii. chapter, and his nature.

Cap. xciij.

...... ¶ Trncka / the trowte is a fisshe of the ryuer, & hathe scales, & vpon his body spottys of yelow and blodye coloure. & his fisshe is rede frome the monthe of July to the monthe of Nouember / and is moche sweter than the fresshe samon; and all the other part of the yere his fisshe is whyte.

Cap. xcv.

TEstudo is a fysshe in a shelle / & is in the se of Inde / & his shelle is very great & like a muskle / & be nyght they go out for theyr mete / & whan they haue eten theyr bely full / than they slepe swymming vpon the water. than ther come iij. fisshers botes / of the wiche .iij. twayn take one of these muskles. Solinus sayth. that this muskle hathe his vppermest shell so brode that it may couere a howse / where many folke may hyde them vnder / And it gothe out the water vpon the londe / & there it layth an hondred egges as grete as gose eggis / and couer them with erth / & oftentymes be night it gothe to the eggys & layeth vpon them with her brest, & than become they yonges.

[This copy of Admiral Swinburne’s Andrewe ends with the next column of this page, sign. v. i. back, with an illustration not headed, but which is that to Cap. xcvij.]

(From The Booke of Compoundes, fol. lxviii.)

Sicknes.

Will boxyng doe any pleasure?

Health.

Yea forsothe, verie moche: As example, if you haue any sausie loughte, or loitryng lubber within your house, that is either to busy of his hand or tongue: and can do nothing but plaie one of the partes of the .24. orders of knaues. There is no pretier medicen for this, nor soner prepared, then boxyng is: iii. or .iiii. tymes well set on, a span long on bothe the chekes. And although perhaps this will not alter his lubberly condicions, yet I assure you, it wil for a time chaunge his knauishe complexion, and helpe him of the grene sicknes: and euery man maie practise this, as occasion shall serue hym in his familie, to reforme them. Bulleins Bulwarke of Defence, 1562.

(From The booke of Simples, fol. xxvii. back.)

Marcellus.

There is an herbe whiche light fellowes merily will call Gallowgrasse, Neckeweede, or the Tristrams knot, or Saynt Audres lace, or a bastarde brothers badge, with a difference on the left side, &c. you know my meaning.

Hillarius.

What, you speake of Hempe? mary, you terme it with manie pretie names. I neuer heard the like termes giuen to any simple, as you giue to this; you cal it neckwede. A, well, I pray you, woulde you know the propertie of this Neckeweede in this kinde? beinge chaunged into such a lace, this is his vertue. Syr, if there be any yonkers troubled with idelnesse and loytryng, hauyng neither learnyng, nor willyng handes to labour: or that haue studied Phisicke so longe that he or they can giue his Masters purse a Purgacion, or his Chist, shoppe, and Countinghouse, a strong vomit; yea, if he bee a very cunning practicioner in false accomptes, he may so suddenly and rashely minister, that he may smite his Father, his Maister, or his friende &c. into a sudden incurable consumption, that he or they shall neuer recouer it againe, but be vtterly vndone, and cast either into miserable pouertie, prisonment, bankeroute &c. If this come to passe, then the *best rewarde for this practicioner, is this Neckeweede: if there be any swashbuckler, common theefe, ruffen, or murtherer past grace, ye nexte remedie is this Lace or Corde. For them which neuer loued concored, peace nor honestie, this wil ende all the mischief; this is a purger, not of Melancholy, but a finall banisher of all them that be not fit to liue in a common wealth, no more then Foxes amonge sheepe, or Thistles amonge good Corne, hurters of trew people. This Hempe, I say, passeth the new Diat, bothe in force and antiquitee. If yonge wantons, whose parentes haue left them fayre houses, goods and landes, whiche be visciously, idle, vnlearnedly, yea or rather beastly brought vp: after the death of their saied parentes, their fruites wil spryng foorth which they haue learned in their wicked youthe: then bankets and brothels will approche, the Harlots will be at hande, with dilightes and intisementes, the Baude will doe hir diligence, robbyng not onlie the pursses, but also the hartes of suche yongemen, whiche when they be trapped, can neuer skape, one amonge an hundredth, vntill Hempe breaketh the bande amonge these loytring louers. The Dice whiche be bothe smalle and light, in respecte vnto the Coluering, or double Cannon shotte or Bollet, yet with small force and noyse can mine, break downe, and destroy, and caste away their one Maisters houses, faire feldes, pleasaunt Woddes, and al their money, yea frendes and al together, this can the Dice do. And moreouer, can make of worshipfull borne Gentilmen, miserable beggars, or theefes, yet for the time “a-loft syrs, hoyghe childe and tourne thee, what should youth do els: I-wisse, not liue like slaues or pesantes, but all golden, glorious, may with dame Venus, my hartes delight” say they. “What a sweete heauen is this: Haue at all, kockes woundes, bloud and nayles, caste the house out at the window, and let the Diuell pay the Malte man: a Dogge hath but a day, a good mariage will recouer all together:” or els with a Barnards blowe, lurkyng in some lane, wodde, or hill top, to get that with falshead in an hower, whiche with trueth, labour, & paine, hath bene gathered for perhappes .xx. yeares, to the vtter vndoyng of some honest familie. Here thou seest, gentle Marcellus, a miserable Tragedie of a wicked shamelesse life. I nede not bring forth the example of the Prodigall childe. Luke .xvi. Chapter, whiche at length came to grace: It is, I feare me, in vaine to talke of him, whose ende was good; but a greate nomber of these flee from grace, and come to endes moste vngracious, finished only life by this Hempe. Although sometime the innocente man dieth that way, through periurie for their one propper gooddes, as Naboth died for his owne Vineyarde, miserable in the eies of the worlde, but precious in the sight of God. This is one seruice whiche Hempe doeth.

Also this worthy noble herbe Hempe, called Cannabis in Latten, can not bee wanted in a common wealth, no Shippe can sayle without Hempe, ye sayle clothes, the shroudes, staies, tacles, yarde lines, warps & Cables can not be made. No Plowe, or Carte can be without ropes *halters, trace &c. The Fisher and Fouler muste haue Hempe, to make their nettes. And no Archer can wante his bowe string: and the Malt man for his sackes. With it the belle is rong, to seruice in the Church, with many mo thynges profitable whiche are commonly knowen of euery man, be made of Hempe.

[From his Regyment, ? 1557.]

Whole men of what age or complexion so euer they be of, shulde take theyr naturall rest and slepe in the nyght: and to eschewe merydyall sleep. But and nede shall compell a man to slepe after his meate: let hym make a pause, and than let hym stande & lene and slepe agaynst a cupborde, or els let hym sytte upryght in a chayre and slepe. Slepynge after a full stomacke doth ingendre dyuers infyrmyties, it doth hurte the splene, it relaxeth the synewes, it doth ingendre the dropses and the gowte, and doth make a man looke euyll colored. *Beware of veneryous actes before the fyrste slepe, and specyally beware of suche thynges after dyner or after a full stomacke, for it doth ingendre the crampe and the gowte and other displeasures. To bedwarde be you mery, or haue mery company ahoute you, so that to bedwarde no angre, nor heuynes, sorowe, nor pensyfulnes, do trouble or dysquyet you. To bedwarde, and also in the mornynge, vse to haue a fyre in your chambre, to wast and consume the euyl vapowres within the chambre, for the breath of man may putryfye the ayre within the chambre: I do advertyse you not to stande nor to sytte by the fyre, but stande or syt a good way of from the fyre, takynge the flauour of it, for fyre doth aryfie and doth drye vp a mannes blode, and doth make sterke the synewes and ioyntes of man. In the nyght let the wyndowes of your howse, specyallye of your chambre, be closed. Whan you* be in your bedde, lye a lytle whyle on your lefte syde, and slepe on your ryght syde. And whan you do wake of your fyrste slepe, make water yf you feel your bladder charged, & than slepe on the lefte side; and looke as ofte as you do wake, so oft turne your selfe in the bedde from one syde to the other. To slepe grouellynge vpon the stomacke and bely is not good, oneles the stomacke be slowe and tarde of dygestion; but better it is to laye your hande, or your bedfelowes hande, ouer your stomacke, than to lye grouellynge. To slepe on the backe vpryght is vtterly to be abhorred: whan that you do slepe, let not your necke, nother your sholders, nother your hands, nor feete, nor no other place of your bodye, lye bare vndiscouered. Slepe not with an emptye stomacke, nor slepe not after that you haue eaten meate one howre or two after. In your bed lye with your head somwhat hyghe, leaste that the *meate whiche is in your stomacke, thorowe eructuacions or some other cause, ascende to the oryfe (sic) of the stomacke. Let your nyght cap be of scarlet: and this I do aduertyse you, to cause to be made a good thycke quylte of cotton, or els of pure flockes or of cleane wolle, and let the couerynge of it be of whyte fustyan, and laye it on the fetherbed that you do lye on; and in your bed lye not to hote nor to colde, but in a temporaunce. Olde auncyent Doctors of physicke sayth .viii. howres of slepe in sommer, and ix. in wynter, is suffycent for any man: but I do thynke that slepe oughte to be taken as the complexion of man is. Whan you do ryse in the mornynge, ryse with myrth and remembre God. Let your hosen be brusshed within & without, and flauer the insyde of them agaynst the fyre; vse lynnen sockes, or lynnen hosen nexte your legges: whan you be out of your bedde, stretche forth your *legges & armes, & your body; cough, and spytte, and than go to your stoole to make your egestyon, and exonerate youre selfe at all tymes, that nature wolde expell. For yf you do make any restryction in kepynge your egestyon or your vryne, or ventosyte, it maye put you to dyspleasure in breadynge dyuers infyrmyties. After you haue euacuated your bodye, & trussed your poyntes, kayme your heade oft, and so do dyuers tymes in the day. And wasshe your handes & wrestes, your face, & eyes, and your teeth, with colde water; and after yt you be apparayled, walke in your gardyn or parke, a thousande pase or two. And than great and noble men doth vse to here masse, & other men that can not do so, but muste applye theyr busynes, doth serue god with some prayers, surrendrynge thankes to hym for hys manyfolde goodnes, with askynge mercye for theyr offences. And before you go to your refecti*on, moderatly exercise your body with some labour, or playeng at the tennys, or castyng a bowle, or paysyng weyghtes or plommettes of leede in your handes, or some other thyng, to open your poores, & to augment naturall heate. At dyner and supper vse not to drynke sundry drynkes, and eate not of dyuers meates: but feede of .ii. or .iii. dysshes at the moste. After that you haue dyned and supte, laboure not by and by after, but make a pause, syttynge or standynge vpryght the space of an howre or more with some pastyme: drynke not moch after dyner. At your supper, vse lyght meates of dygestyon, and refrayne from grose meates; go not to bed with a full nor an emptye stomacke. And after your supper make a pause or you go to bed; and go to bed, as I sayde, with myrth.

Furthermore as concernynge your apparell. In wynter, next your shert vse you to weare a petycote of scarlet: your dowb*let vse at plesure: But I do aduertyse you to lyne your Iacket vnder this fasshyon or maner. Bye you fyne skynnes of whyte lambe & blacke lambe. And let your skynner cut both ye sortes of the skynnes in smale peces triangle wyse, lyke halfe a quarell of a glasse wyndowe. And than sewe togyther a whyte pece and a blacke, lyke a whole quarell of a glasse wyndowe: and so sewe vp togyther quarell wyse as moche as wyll lyne your Iacket: this furre, for holsommes, is praysed aboue sables, or any other fur. Your exteryall aparel vse accordyng to your honour. In sommer vse to were a scarlet petycote made of stamell or lynse wolse. In wynter and sommer kepe not your bed to hote, nor bynde it to strayte; kepe euer your necke warme. In somer kepe your necke and face from the sonne; vse to wear gloues made of goote skyn, perfumed with Amber degrece. And beware in standyng or lyeng on the *grounde in the reflection of the sonne, but be mouable. If thou shalt common or talke with any man: stande not styll in one place yf it be vpon ye bare grounde, or grasse, or stones: but be mouable in suche places. Stande nor syt vpon no stone or stones: Stande nor syt longe barehed vnder a vawte of stone. Also beware that you do not lye in olde chambres which be not occupyed, specyally suche chambres as myse and rattes and snayles resorteth vnto: lye not in suche chambres, the whiche be depreued cleane from the sonne and open ayre; nor lye in no lowe Chambre, excepte it be boorded. Beware that you take no colde on your feete and legges. And of all weather beware that you do not ryde nor go in great and Impytous wyndes. (A Compendyous Regyment or a Dyetary of helth, made in Mountpylior: Compyled by Andrewe Boorde, of Physicke Doctor. (Colophon.) Imprinted by me Robert Wyer: Dwellynge at the sygne of seynt Johñ Euangelyst, in S. Martyns Parysshe, besyde Charynge Crosse.)

(From his Naturall & Artificial Directions
for health, 1602, p. 57-63.)

Declare vnto mee a dayly dyet, whereby I may liue in health, and not trouble my selfe in Physicke.

(1) I will: first of all in the morning when you are about to rise vp, stretch your self strongly: for thereby the animall heate is somewhat forced into the outward partes, the memorie is quickned, and the bodie strengthened.

(2) Secondarily, rub and chafe your body with the palmes of your hands, or with a course linnen cloth; the breast, back, and belly, gently: but the armes, thighes, and legges roughly, till they seem ruddy and warme.

(3) Euacuate your selfe.

(4) Put on your apparell: which in the summer time must be for the most part silke, or buffe, made of buckes skinne, for it resisteth venime and contagious ayres: in winter your vpper garment must be of cotton or friezeadow.

(5) When you have apparelled your selfe hansomely, combe your head softly and easily with an Iuorie combe: for nothing recreateth the memorie more.

(6) Picke and rub your teeth: and because I would not haue you to bestow much cost in making dentrifices for them; I will aduertise you by foure rules of importance how to keepe your teeth white and vncorruyt (sic), and also to haue a sweete breath. First, wash well your mouth when you haue eaten your meat: secondly, sleepe with your mouth somewhat open. Thirdly, spit out in the morning that which is gathered together that night in the throate: then take a linnen cloth, and rub your teeth well within and without, to take away the fumositie of the meat and the yellownesse of the teeth. For it is that which putrifieth them and infecteth the breath. But least peraduenture your teeth become loose and filthy, I will shew you a water farre better then pouders, which shall fasten them, scoure the month, make sound the gums, and cause the flesh to growe againe, if it were fallen away. Take halfe a glasse-full of vineger, and as much of the water of the mastick tree (if it may easily be gotten) of rosemarie, myrrhe, mastick, bole Armoniake, Dragons herbe, roche allome, of each of them an ounce; of fine cinnamon halfe an ounce, and of fountaine water three glassefulles; mingle all well together and let it boile with a small fire, adding to it halfe a pound of honie, and taking away the scumme of it; then put in a little bengwine, and when it hath sodden a quarter of an houre, take it from the fire, and keepe it in a cleane bottle, and wash your teeth therewithall as well before meate as after; if you hould some of it in your mouth a little while, it doth much good to the head, and sweetneth the breath. I take this water to be better worth then a thousand of their dentifrices.

(7) Wash your face, eyes, eares and hands, with fountaine water. I have knowne diuers students which vsed to bathe their eyes onely in well water twise a day, whereby they preserued their eyesight free from all passions and bloudsheds, and sharpened their memories maruaylously. You may sometimes bathe your eyes in rosewater, fennell water, or eyebright water, if you please; but I know for certaintie, that you neede them not as long as you vse good fountaine water. Moreouer, least you by old age or some other meanes doe waxe dimme of sight, I will declare vnto you, the best and safest remedie which I knowe, and this it is: Take of the distilled waters of verueine, bettonie, and fennell one ounce and a halfe, then take one ounce of white wine, one drachme of Tutia (if you may easilie come by it) two drachmes of sugarcandy, one drachme of Aloes Epatick, two drachmes of womans milke, and one scruple of Camphire: beat those into pouder, which are to be beaten, and infuse them together for foure and twenty houres space, and then straine them, and so vse it when you list.

(8) When you haue finished these, say your morning prayers, and desire God to blesse you, to preserue you from all daungers, and to direct you in all your actions. For the feare of God (as it is written) is the beginning of wisedome: and without his protection whatsoeuer you take in hand, shall fall to ruine. Therefore see that you be mindfull of him, and remember that to that intent you were borne, to weet, to set foorth his glorie and most holy name.

(9) Goe about your businesse circumspectly, and endeauour to banish all cares and cogitations, which are the onely baits of wickednesse. Defraud no man of his right: for what measure you giue vnto your neighbour, that measure shall you receiue. And finally, imprint this saying deepely in your mind: A man is but a steward of his owne goods; wherof God one day will demaund an account.

(10) Eate three meales a day vntill you come to the age of fourtie yeares: as, your breakefast, dinner, and supper; yet, that betweene breakefast and dinner there be the space of foure houres, and betwixt dinner and supper seauen houres: the breakfast must be lesse then dinner, and the dinner somewhat lesse then supper.

In the beginning of meales, eate such meates as will make the belly soluble, and let grosse meats be the last. Content your selfe with one kind of meate, for diuersities hurt the body, by reason that meats are not all of one qualitie: Some are easily digested, others againe are heauy, and will lie a long time vpon the stomack: also, the eating of sundrie sorts of meat require often pottes of drinke, which hinder concoction; like as we see often putting of water into the meat-potte to hinder it from seething. Our stomack is our bodies kitchin, which being distempered, how can we liue in temperate order: drinke not aboue foure times, and that moderately, at each meale: least the belly-God hale you at length captiue into his prison house of gurmandise, where you shall be afflicted with as many diseases as you haue deuoured dishes of sundry sorts. The cups whereof you drinke, should be of siluer, or siluer and gilt.

(11) Labour not either your mind or body presently after meales: rather sit a while and discourse of some pleasant matters: when you haue ended your confabulations, wash your face and mouth with cold waters, then go to your chamber, and make cleane your teeth with your tooth-picker, which should be either of iuorie, silver, or gold. Watch not too long after supper, but depart within two hours to bed. But if necessitie compell you to watch longer then ordinary, then be sure to augment your sleepe the next morning; that you may recompence nature, which otherwise through your watching would not a little be impaired.

(12) Put of your clothes in winter by the fire side: and cause your bed to bee heated with a warming panne: vnless your pretence bee to harden your members, and to apply your selfe vnto militarie discipline. This outward heating doth wonderfully comfort the inward heat, it helpeth concoction, and consumeth moisture.

(13) Remember before you rest, to chew down two or three drachmes of mastick: for it will preserue your body from bad humours.

(14) Pray feruently to God, before you sleepe, to inspire you with his grace, to defend you from all perils and subtelties of wicked fiends, and to prosper you in all your affaires: and then lay aside your cares and businesse, as well publicke as priuate: for that night, in so doing, you shall slepe more quietly. Make water at least once, and cast it out: but in the morning make water in an vrinal: that by looking on it, you may ghesse some what of the state of your body. Sleep first on your right side with your mouth open, and let your night cappe haue a hole in the top, through which the vapour may goe out.

(15) In the morning remember your affayres, and if you be troubled with rheumes, as soone as you haue risen, vse diatrion piperion, or eate white pepper now and then, and you shall be holpen.