[Herbalist] Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

Tue May 28 14:40:49 PDT 2002

Why do you think they are abortifictive?  Rosemary oil, used as a whole-body
rub, might cause this, but in the main, I consider it a listing of common
garden herbs, and, with garlic, a recipe for a wonderful baked chicken.
Other words include: 'Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme', and the song can
be dated into period with a Child ballad called "The Elfin Knight".
Christianna

> -----Original Message-----
> From: herbalist-admin at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:herbalist-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of BJ of NZ
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 4:22 PM
> To: herbalist at ansteorra.org
> Subject: [Herbalist] Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
>
>
>  Hi
>
> I'm doing a series of articles for my shire news
> letter and thought if there some interest I might post
> them here to get feed back on improvements to content
> layout etc.
>
> I'm working on the spelling and punctation
>
> Bea
>
> Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
>
> These are the words of the chorus of an 1834 ballad
> that describes a series impossible love tasks, or are
> they recipe of an abortifictive?
>
>  These four herbs are in common usage today, how would
> they of been used in period and how could they be used
> within the SCA today
>
> “What is a herb?” asks Alcuin the English monk and
> advisor to Charlemagne
> “The friend of physician and the praise of cooks” was
> the reply
>
> Parsley
> (also known as parcely, persely parceleye & perslie).
> Parsley sweetens the breath & stimulates digestion
>
> Petroselinium hortense, Hoff. Apium petroselinum
> Carum petroselinium - Turnip rooted parsley
> Petroselinum crispum neopolitanum 'SWEET ITALIAN'
>
>  “Chawinge of the fresh grene Parceleye, doth cause
> swete smelling breath- Thomas Hyll 1568
>
>
> What can I tell you about parsley- currently its major
> culinary uses are primarily, as a sprig used to a
> garnish, secondly, a raw leaf, used as a salad
> vegetable, or thirdly, its use as a sauce flavouring.
> It can also be used in soups, stews, or with egg
> dishes. For the best flavour pick and add to dish just
> prior to dishing out, it is not a herb that requires
> cooking.
> Cultivation wise it is a frost hardy biennial, that
> grows to a height 30 cm-1m and to a. width of 40
> cm.-1m. Depending on the botanical variety.
>
> “Hyll” repeats an idea of “Pliny the elder” (77ad)
> that parsley leaves would be more “crisped”-that is
> curled if “before the sowing of them [you] stuffe a
> tennis ball with the seedes , and beat the same well
> against the ground”.
> I find that enough plants become self sown and curly,
> with out additional help, but will collect a tennis
> ball full this year, if any one wants to try the
> period sport
>
>
> In my opinion common curled parsley, should be used
> for garnishing, while large leaf Italian, is better
> for salads (Tabouleh) having a more intense flavour, I
> find both bolt (to seed) in summer unless steadily
> watered, but I’m quite happy for them to self sow,
> sprouting in early autumn, providing me with a leaf
> high in vitamin C and iron over winter
>
> In Herbal medicine:
> In a modern herbal Parsley is recommended to be eaten
> raw or juiced and is used for its diuretic facility a
> poultice may also be formed and applied at an early
> stage of nursing as a softening agent
> (I include the modern uses as a guide to safe currant
> every day things you can do with parsley in an
> encampment or society event)
>
>
> In Period
>
> Petresilinium is mentioned in Charlemagne’s lists of
> herb ( Capitulare de Villis Imperialibus copy dated
> 872 AD) as are Salviua, Sage,  Ros marinu, Rosemary
>
> There are sauces, broths, stews and soups that use
> parsley leaves as flavouring
> And it is recommended “manie use to eate them not
> onely with flesh of fish, but also with butter in the
> morning” it being convenient for the stomach-Thomas
> Coghan,  The Haven of Health,1584
>
>  And references to the use of its root
> The leaves are pleasant in sauces with broth

 rootes
> likewise

.if they be boiled in broth they be also
> delightful to taste and agreeable to the stomacke.”
> John Gerard, The Herbal 1597
>
>
> Which brings us to Renaissance herbs which have
> launched the variety 'BARTOWICH LONG’’ which has been
> Selected for its nutty flavoured roots. It goes by the
> botanical name Petroselinum crispum tuberosum     and
> while the roots are growing you can still eat the
> leaves. This is one you will find in my garden as soon
> as I can buy it. At which point I will be
> experimenting with the root, which are said to “add a
> nutty parsley flavour when grated into salads or diced
> into soups and stews.”
>
> Symbolically it was linked to victory a “chaplet of
> persley’ the prize of the “solemne tourney and sacred
> games Nemei” Pliny, natural history 77ad (trans.
> Holland 1601)
> And its “smoke dryveth a-wey alle serpentis’-and all
> other venomous beasts
>
> Sources of reference have been
> The illustrated Earth Garden Herbal KV Smith1994
> Count Palantines seventieth century herbal
> Herbal medicine. D.D.Buchman1993
>
> so thats parsley
>
> has any ne any additional thoughts  as to how it could
> be used at SCA events
>
>
> Beatriz de Sainteago
>
>
> ===From bjofnz at yahoo.co.nz
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Everything you'll ever need on one web page
> from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
> http://uk.my.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> Herbalist mailing list
> Herbalist at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/herbalist
>