WSCO’s Library
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WSCO’s Library |
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Welsh Writing from the American Civil War: Sons of Arthur, Children of Lincoln by Jerry Hunter
Nearly ten thousand pages in Welsh stemming from the American Civil War has survived – offering contemporary readers a surprising opportunity to look at the war from an entirely new perspective. In the first study of its kind, Jerry Hunter sifts through this huge archive of letters, diaries, poetry and prose from soldiers, civilians and professional writers to give a fascinating account of Welsh-American reactions to the war and its context. His examination of such issues as the Welsh community’s support for abolition and the war’s effects on the notions of Welsh-American identity will captivate historians, literary scholars, and Civil War buffs alike.
Mr. Hunter is a Welsh-language scholar, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is senior lecturer in the Welsh department at the University of Wales, Bangor.
yn yr ardd (in the garden) |
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Herbalism
Myddfai is a small village in eastern Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales, near Landovery in the Brecon Beacons. The fertile richness of the dales and steep wooded valleys give glimpses of Mynydd Myddfai and the Black Mountain.
Samuel Lewis’s 1833 Topographical Dictionary of Wales mentions that during the 13th century, Myddfai was ‘much frequented by physicians among whom was Rhiwallon.’
Rhiwallon of Myddfai was the great herbal physician and apothecary to the Welsh court and was the personal physician of Rhys Gryg, warrior son of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffydd, Lord of Ystrad Towy, Dynevor, and Landovery castles.
Rhiwallon and his three sons, Cadwgan, Gruffydd, and Einion, while under the patronage of Rhys Gryg, made a collection of medicinal remedies which are now known as the “Recipes of the Physicians of Myddfai”.
A study of the collection “shows that Welsh medicine was far in advance of most of Europe, with directions given as to quantities and preparation methods of ingredients, which was most unusual at that time. The Physicians drew upon a material medica of around 175 locally grown herbs”.
The National Botanic Garden of Wales has, along with exhibits celebrating the gentle approach to plant medicines and natural healing that Wales shares with other regions of the world, a garden containing herbs which were grown and used by Rhiwallon, his sons, and their descendents who were Physicians up until the 19th century.
In the Welsh Plants and Medicine tent at the recent Smithsonian Folklife Festival were references to:
---a 600-year-old remedy for leprosy
---Spring Squill (Scilla verna) which contains alkaloids that are used in fighting tuberculosis
Daffodils are used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Of the worlds population, 80% rely on plants as a primary healthcare resource and, even in the West, more than 50% of prescription drugs are derived from plants.”
From www.stonetemple.co.uk/myddfai.htm, here are some of the Physicians remedies “which may still prove useful in modern times (although these are given purely for interest, if using herbs for medicinal purposes it is recommended that you either contact a qualified herbalist or at least read a good herbal to check on any side effects or contraindications)”.
| Cough Remedy |
| Bruise agrimony in a mortar and mix the juice with boiling milk, strain and use. |
| Swelling And Pain In The Legs |
| Bruise rue, honey and salt. Apply thereto and it will disperse the swelling. |
| Headache |
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Whoever is frequently afflicted with a headache let him make a lotion of the vervain, betony, chamomile and red fennel; let him wash his head three times a week therewith and he will be cured. |
| For Gastric Pains |
| Take a little tansy, and reduce to a fine powder. Take with white wine and it will remove the pain. |
| For Nausea |
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Get a pint of the juice of fennel and boil it with a pint of clarified honey, taking a spoonful every morning fasting as well as the last thing at night for nine days. |
| For Sunburn |
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Take the leaves of marsh pennywort rudely pounded with a cream, boil them together on a gentle fire so as to form them into an ointment, and anoint the effected part therewith. |
