Sunday 7 January 2024

Slides from a recent class on Uroscopy wheels

For anyone who might be interested: 




Colour Your Own Uroscopy Wheel presentation slides


I'll do up more of a 'report' about it later. I have to apologize for the shortness of this and how tired I was during the class. I got a bad flu right before Christmas and I'm still recovering my stamina.

Monday 7 November 2022

The Seigne of Urynes- what your urine said about your health in the 16th century, part.1

This is a transcription of the first half of a printed text from 1522. There is a second half that I'll work on later. 
I used this as part of my research into what medieval physicians had as part of their knowledge base for diagnosis and prognosis (understanding what disease and the course it would take). These notes are part of a project I did for an Arts and Sciences display day in the Kingdom of Ealdormere

The digitized book is found here- https://archive.org/details/2285078R.nlm.nih.gov/


Here beginneth the seigne of urynes, of all the coloures that urynes be of: wyth the medecynes annexed to every urine, and every uryne hys urynall muche profytable for every men to knowe 

Pub date: 1552 
Publisher: Imprinted at London in Flete-strete at the sygne of the Rose Gatland: By me Wyllya[m] Copland for Abraham Uele. 
Accessed from archive.org on 2022-10-11 
Digitized from US National Library of Medicine 

 I… is goodly treatyse thou must take hede to [?] thynges. That is to say to the substaunce, to the colours, to the regyons, and to the contents, whyche longe to the dome of bryne. And fyrst loke to the bryne wheter it be thycke or thynne, or els between bothe, than shalle thou se through the bryne the joyntes of thy fingers, and that it betokeneth a badde stomach and water in the bowels. And yf the bryne be between thycke and thynne, than it betokeneth swelling of thy gal. 

The seconde is that thy shalt take hede to thy colours of thy bryne, as saith mayster of phisycke. These be the colors of waters to folow. 

 The fyrste coloure is whyte as Clayr wter of a well. This colour betokeneth indegestyon and a bad stomach, and a bad lyver. If thou se in thys colour many shynynge beams it betokeneth a postume in the milt. Medecina. Take Gromell, Saxfrage, Perslye, and Sage, and boyle in stale ale and drink it. Also use pouder of them in thy potage. 

 The seconde coloure is whyte as whay. If this bryne be troubled, thycke, and lytell in quantity wyth whyte contents, it betokeneth the fluxe. Sede of whyte Poppye and Letuse, and use it. Also make oyle or ointment of Henbane, and anoynte the temples wyth the same. 

 The thyrde is a Whytysshe yellow, almost as bryght as the horne of a lanterne. If thys bryne be lytell in quantity, and ofte made, it betokeneth the cycle may nat kepe his urine. And this colour is neuer [knytte?] wythe the substaunce. Medicina. Take Treacle and byle it in thy [choice?] of Molayne and drynke it. Also Treacle is god therefore. Also take Uyneger and musterde and boyle them together, and to thereto as much treacle as wyl into the shel of an hasel nutte, and let the pacyent use thys medicine whan the syckenes taketh hym. 

The fourth coloure is as a Whyte russet. This bryne yf it be thycke in substaunce wythout grauell in the botome, it betokeneth a Colica [passto? Passio?]. Medecina. Take water of cresses and grynd them small, and boyle them wyth wyne and drynke it at euen and at morrow. Also take hony and seethe it til it be harde, and do thereto pouder of Canell and pouder of Gynger and use it. Also make a playster of [Dwyte?] and of wyne yf it be [floures?] and laye it to the nauyll. 

 The fyfthe coloure is, as it were the brothe of flesshe, that is half sodden. This bryne yf it be lytell in quantite, and fatte as oyle, and frothye aboue, it betokeneth wastynge. Medicina. Take the pouder of Elecampana, and of Turmentyl, and boyle them with clarified Honye, and make thereof a confeccyon and use it. Also for the heade, take the joyce of Myntes and warme it, and anoint thy head therwyth at morowe, and at euen. 

 The syxte colour is as brothe of flesshe that is well sodden. Thys bryne, if it be thicke in substaunce it betokeneth a cotydian feuer that commeth of [fleume?]. And all these sixe colurs before sayde betokens a bad degestion. Medicina. Take Uyneger and musterde, and boyle them togyther, and than take Treacle as much as a bean or II beans. That is drye, than wasshe it wythe wyne and do thereto, and use thys whan the syckenes taketh the. Also Diacameron, and Tryasanalye, is good therefore at euen and at morowe. 

 The vii coloure is nat fullye so yelowe as the yelowe apple. Thys bryne, if it be ouer all thynne in Harueste and wynter, it betokeneth a quattayne. And if it be thyme in castynge wythout sauoure, it betokeneth a tercian. Medicina. Take treacle and boyle it in the ioyce of Apelyne and drynke it, and Tryasandaly is good therefore 

 The viii coloure is as yelowe Apple. Thys bryne with a thynne substaunce and a salt sauoure, betokeneth a Double tercian that cometh of Melancolye. And yf it be a chyldes bryne, it betokeneth a cottydyan. Medecina.Take a figges Licorice, Ysope, Horehoue, and Elecampana, and boyle them all togyther in water tyll halfe be wasted, and use it at morowe and at euen. 

 The ix colour is nygh as yelowe as saffron of the garden. This bryne yf it be thin in subsaunce, and shadowed aboue ouerall more thycke aboue than benethe it betokeneth a tercian. And thys colour appear in Haruest or winter it betokeneth a quattain. Medecina. Take Polipodion, Anneys, Aloes, Epratyke, and medal them wyth sugar, and use it in thy potage. 

 The x coloure is reed as anye Safron. This bryne if it haue yelowe frothe aboue, it betokeneth Jaunesse. Medecina. Take Mirabolanes of Inde, and Aloes, epratyke, Sene, Sugar, and Anneys, and make pouder thereof, and use that at morowe and at euen. 

 The xi coloure is as whyte golde.If thys bryne be thin in substaunce, in a chylde, it betokeneth a cotydian, in a yonge man a tercian, and in an olde man a double tercian, and in a woman a quartayne. Medecina. Take pouder of Gete and the sede of towne cresses and sede of Brome, and use it daily in thy potage. 

 The xii coloure is as reed golde. Thys coloure, yf it be thycke in substaunce and shadowynge aboue without any [wadhede?] it betokeneth a lastynge quotydian. Medecina. Take [.3.3?] [urrydys?], Synamum Sene Anneys and medal them wyt Honye, and use it earlye and late. Also take the roote of Saturyon, musterde sede, Pepper and Anneys, and medal them togyther with Honye. 

 The xiii coloure is reed as a Rose, This bryne yf it be more thycke than thynne, it betokeneth a brennyng feuer. Medecina. Lette hym bloude under the ancle, or on the vayne of the arme, and take Aloes epratyke, .3. And boyle in a pynte of whyte wyne, and drynke thereof a spoonful a euen and in the mornynge. 

 The xiiii coloure is reed as a brennynge cole. Thys bryne if it be in the begunnyng thynne, after reed, and thycke, and coloured aboue somwhat as leade, and yf the bryne stynke nat, it betokeneth a feuer of excessive of bloud that is called Sinacha influctiva, and yf the bryne stynke than it is called Synache Purrida. In these feuers there be the tokens, a ruddy face, great thurst, drye tong and sharp, no rest at al, great ache in the head, and a great pulse wythouten ordure, and evermore sicke. Medecina. Take Sacmony, and doitina, Per or wardon roasted, and eate it. Also make puder of Pyony rotes, and parsley rotes and Myste (mistletoe) of the Oke, and use it in thy potage. 

 The xv colour is a swartish reed as it were the liver of a best. This brine wyth a yelowe coloured froth above, betokeneth the Jaunesse, and apostum of the liuer. Also yf thys bryne be drastye in the botome, it betokeneth the floures. Medecina. Take bone of the Hartes hornes and make it to pouder and drynke it. And use Diacameron. 

 The xvi colour is as blacke wine or rotten bloud. This bryne in a lastynge Feuer betokeneth death. If it be troubled, fattye and stynkynge, as the bryne before that was reed as a cole, and thys brine apere in a hole bodye, it betokeneth the brustynge of a vayne in the raynes of skypyny or luftynge. Medecina. Take [Dsmonde?], Sauyne and groinel, and boyle them scythe whyte wine, and wyth clarified hony, and use early and late. 

 The xvii coloure is wanne as Leade. If this bryne be bloody all aboue, so that no resydens may do away the bloud hede, it betoeketh deathe. Medecina. A uene in thy legges and use cropped of Sage. Also dryne Tryalandalye. 

 The xviii colour si Grene as wortes. This bryne yf it be lytell in quantity, it betokeneth deathe. 

 The xix colour is blacke and shynyng as Rauens feather. This bryne much in quantytye and thin in substaunce betokeneth delyuerying of the quartayne. Medecina. Take ioyce of Tansye and the reed Cole and boyle them wyth whyte wine and hony, and use it early and late. 

 The xx coloure is black as a cole. This coloure is an agew litel fatty and stynkyng, if the se thy face therein, than it betokeneth death. Medecina. Drynke the ioyce of Celendyne, and Molayne or treacle with whyte wyne early in the morning and late in the euenyng.

Monday 8 June 2020

Cannabis sativa from antiquity to the Middle Ages


I wrote this as a bit of a giggle for my local SCA newsletter. I am not advocating for the use of Cannabis sativa for psychotropic purposes, but I do believe that we should be using the fibre in place of wood. It also makes pretty good shirts.


Cannabis from antiquity to the middle ages



Cannabis sativa. Illustration from the "Vienna Dioscorides" 512 AD adapted from De Materia Medica by Dioscorides, 1st century BC. 

What is the difference between hemp and cannabis?

They are, in fact, the same plant. The difference is that one was bred for industrial fibre production, and the other was bred for the production of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical which gets you ‘high’. The original, wild Cannabis sativa plant was something in between the two in form, function, and use.[1]


Origins-

Archaeological evidence is sparse, but Cannabis sativa (from the Greek word kannabis) may have originally come from Central Asia (the area between the Caspian Sea and Mongolia), or South Asia (the area between the Himalayan mountains and the Indian Ocean).

The etymology seems to follow that an earlier, late-Paleolithic or early Neolithic word denoting the seed and fibre uses of the plant originated in the Indo-Iranian root word of *kan or *ken, and a later word denoting the narcotic uses of the plant spread from the areas of Iran or Northern India.[2] Associated words from various cultures- Armenian- kanep, Bulgarian- konop, Old English- hænep, Old Norse- hampr. The word kannabis was a Greek transliteration of the Thracian name for hemp.[3]

The Egyptians and Assyrians knew about cannabis, but it was not known about in Greece until the 5th century BCE, when Herodotus describes seeing a vapour bath during a burial ritual where the Scythians he was visiting burned cannabis seeds in a tent which functioned like a sweat lodge. He related that the Scythians ‘shouted for joy’. He also described hemp fibres as being almost indistinguishable from flax. He had never seen this plant before.[4] By the 4th century BCE cannabis seeds were being eaten recreationally at Symposiums, as lampooned by the comic poet Ephippus.[5]

Cannabis surfaces medicinally in the Greek physician Dioscorides’ herbal De Materia Medica, written somewhere between 50-70 CE, and the Roman works of Galen in the 2nd century CE. The leaves were used as poultices for wounds on horses, skin sores, and nosebleeds, and the seeds were used against tapeworms, or steeped in wine or water and heated for blockages and pain in the ears. But if eaten in quantity they supposedly dried up semen, so were sometimes prescribed for teenage boys who were having too-frequent nocturnal emissions. Galen disapproved of this, however, and said that they should only be used to thin the humours. Cannabis seeds were seen to be warming, drying, harmed the head, thinned the humours, and prevented flatulence.[6]

Friday 17 May 2019

How to make yoghurt




  • Take one bag of milk, pour into saucepan, and put a lid on
  • Turn on the heat to about 4 (medium-low), leave lid on and heat gently for 10 minutes
  • Stir to get sticky bits off bottom
  • The milk is ready when the smell changes to 'nutty', and little, frothy bubbles show up when stirring (depending on the stove between 10-15 minutes)

  • Let it cool until the outside of the pan is the temperature of a very warm bath
  • You can put the sauce pan in a larger bowl with a bit of water to speed up the cooling
  • When the milk is a good temperature sprinkle the powder, or dump in reserved yoghurt from last batch, and stir well

Friday 3 May 2019

No-mato pizza


My mouth and stomach don't like too much acid, so I've been thinking about different ways to make pizza. I had heard of people using pumpkin purée, and it sounded weird to me.

Friday 26 April 2019

The bees are dead, long live the bees


I had a 100% deadout this year. I know a couple of the things that I did wrong, but I don't know all the factors that contributed to it. This is really sad. Now, I have to try to figure out what the reasons were, and if there was anything I could have done differently.

The learning curve on beekeeping is pretty much a vertical wall.