"Item Id","Item URI","Dublin Core:Alternative Title","Dublin Core:Abstract","Dublin Core:Table Of Contents","Dublin Core:Date Available","Dublin Core:Date Created","Dublin Core:Date Accepted","Dublin Core:Date Copyrighted","Dublin Core:Date Submitted","Dublin Core:Date Issued","Dublin Core:Date Modified","Dublin Core:Date Valid","Dublin Core:Access Rights","Dublin Core:License","Dublin Core:Conforms To","Dublin Core:Has Format","Dublin Core:Has Part","Dublin Core:Has Version","Dublin Core:Is Format Of","Dublin Core:Is Part Of","Dublin Core:Is Referenced By","Dublin Core:Is Replaced By","Dublin Core:Is Required By","Dublin Core:Is Version Of","Dublin Core:References","Dublin Core:Replaces","Dublin Core:Requires","Dublin Core:Extent","Dublin Core:Medium","Dublin Core:Bibliographic Citation","Dublin Core:Spatial Coverage","Dublin Core:Temporal Coverage","Dublin Core:Accrual Method","Dublin Core:Accrual Periodicity","Dublin Core:Accrual Policy","Dublin Core:Audience","Dublin Core:Audience Education Level","Dublin Core:Mediator","Dublin Core:Instructional Method","Dublin Core:Provenance","Dublin Core:Rights Holder","Dublin Core:Title","Dublin Core:Description","Dublin Core:Creator","Dublin Core:Date","Dublin Core:Identifier","Dublin Core:Publisher","Dublin Core:Coverage","Dublin Core:Contributor","Dublin Core:Rights","Dublin Core:Relation","Dublin Core:Language","Dublin Core:Source","Dublin Core:Format","Dublin Core:Type","Dublin Core:Subject","Item Type Metadata:Text","Item Type Metadata:Interviewer","Item Type Metadata:Interviewee","Item Type Metadata:Location","Item Type Metadata:Transcription","Item Type Metadata:Local URL","Item Type Metadata:Original Format","Item Type Metadata:Physical Dimensions","Item Type Metadata:Duration","Item Type Metadata:Compression","Item Type Metadata:Producer","Item Type Metadata:Director","Item Type Metadata:Bit Rate/Frequency","Item Type Metadata:Time Summary","Item Type Metadata:Email Body","Item Type Metadata:Subject Line","Item Type Metadata:From","Item Type Metadata:To","Item Type Metadata:CC","Item Type Metadata:BCC","Item Type Metadata:Number of Attachments","Item Type Metadata:Standards","Item Type Metadata:Objectives","Item Type Metadata:Materials","Item Type Metadata:Lesson Plan Text","Item Type Metadata:URL","Item Type Metadata:Event Type","Item Type Metadata:Participants","Item Type Metadata:Birth Date","Item Type Metadata:Birthplace","Item Type Metadata:Death Date","Item Type Metadata:Occupation","Item Type Metadata:Biographical Text","Item Type Metadata:Bibliography","Item Type Metadata:Image","Item Type Metadata:Dates active","Item Type Metadata:VIAF ID","Item Type Metadata:CERL Thesaurus ID","Item Type Metadata:Related place","Item Type Metadata:Name prefix/title","Item Type Metadata:Surname","Item Type Metadata:Forename(s)","Item Type Metadata:Other sources","Item Type Metadata:Corporate Name",tags,file,itemType,collection,public,featured 187,https://heritage.rcpsg.ac.uk/items/show/187,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"18th century book of herbal remedies","

Whilst it is impossible to know exactly when we first started using herbs and plants for medicinal purposes, archaeological evidence suggests that herbs have been used in Scotland since the Bronze age. Indeed the use of herbs as healing remedies goes back to the very beginnings of medicine itself, from 3700 B.C. Egypt, followed by the Chinese and later the Greeks and Romans. The earliest written account of herbal remedies comes from China and dates back to 2800 B.C.

In Scotland there has been a long held tradition of herbal folk medicine. However, written accounts of commonly used remedies did not appear until very much more recent times, knowledge of plants having been initially passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. Particularly in the more remote areas of Scotland, folk medicine was handed down by tradition, with little change, until the 17th Century. Opportunities for medical education were limited, and means of transport extremely bad, making it difficult for medical practitioners to reach patients out with the principal towns. As a result many had to rely to a great extent upon remedies which were available locally.

The provenance is unknown for the College’s 18th century herbal but it is believed to come from lowland Scotland. It was digitised courtesy of the Scottish Archive Network and is an excellent example of the way in which the remedies, previously passed from generation to generation as an oral tradition, began to be collected together in hand-written volumes. Many examples of similar documents can be found within collections of household manuscripts, correspondence and accounts, and it would appear that many households across the social spectrum kept such documents

Many herbals, particularly those belonging to Scottish land-owning families, were very decorative, typically leather bound and often interspersed with ornately decorated pages with drawings and elaborate hand-writing. Individual volumes were often written in different hands with recipes and remedies occasionally being attributed to individuals. Indeed a particular 18th century volume (in the National Library of Scotland) entitled ‘Physick and Cookery of various Kinds’ compiled by Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin, contains contributions from eminent individuals including Dr Herman Boerhaave’s cure for Chilblains and Asthma and remedies from Dr Ratcliffe, Physician to Queen Anne.

Herbals often contained not only herbal remedies but also recipes and beauty and household remedies, and in later years, the traditional household herbal came to resemble more of a cookery book with sections for herbal remedies being relegated to the back of the volume. The remedies and recipes often remained unchanged with the same herbs and methods being used for centuries.

This particular volume is only a small illustration of the abundance of similar material which can be found in public and private collections of household papers, and provides a small insight into the strong tradition of herbal medicine which has existed in Scotland down the ages.

",,"18th century",RCPSG/1/20/3/1,,,,,,English,,,,,,,,,,,"manuscript volume",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Apothecary,Herbal Medicine","https://heritage.rcpsg.ac.uk/files/original/cf25af51e7c5496c8f14879e7ce3ce96.jpg,https://heritage.rcpsg.ac.uk/files/original/784112e86cad3b2a63a87eb7ad618eb4.pdf",Text,Archives,1,0