Happy Holiday Season to all. Here comes the final historically themed Christmas Carol of 2019: “In an Old-English Leechbook” (to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas) In an Old-English Leechbook, scribe Baldy wrote to me: “a cow stomach will help you see.” . . . When the moon was waning crescent my lunaria advised me: “bloodletting for good health, etc . . .” . . . On the third day of the plague Sebastian gave to me, “miracle cure, etc. . . .” . . . As four humors went off balance, aggression grew in me, with “yellow bile waxing, etc . . . ” . . . When my girlfriend acted crazy, the cause came to me: “rise! Floating wombs! Etc . . .” . . . On the feast day of Saint Margaret, holy lady gave to me, “safety in labor, etc . . .” . . . When a witch struck with poison, remedy did I see: “a bezoar of goat-hair, etc . . .” . . . Of all the pain most drastic, this one I decree: “tooth-worms a-sucking, etc . . .” . . . When witnessing a seizure, I know what I see: “demonic possession, etc . . . ” . . . Of opiate and venom, this potion is the key: “Theriac to cure-all, etc . . .” . . . When sin causes pollution, God’s justice we can see, with “open sores of lepers, etc . . . ” . . . If your man-gear isn’t working, here’s a treatment to give thee: “testicle of vulture, etc . . . ” . . .
Source(s): Luttrell Psalter, BL, f. 157v .
