If I may make so bold as to comment on this thread, unclear as some of
it is to me because I've been away for months & missed all the mails
till yesterday: lavender is anti-bacterial and - to quote a useful
website on aromatherapy - "the laborers working in the lavender fields
and gardeners tending herb gardens and tanners and glove-makers who used
essential oils to perfume fine leather escaped from the plague unhurt
while their masters perished! We know what ancestors didn't - these
aromatic plants are all powerful bactericides and that some of them are
also anti-viral agents." So women who sniffed handkerchiefs impregnated
with lavender oil etc were practising medicine, not just being
"lady-like" or masking smells. I often sniff a combination of lavender,
teetree & eucalyptus to alleviate bronchial and sinusitis problems. As
pharmaceutic companies become more & more overbearing & demanding, we
will all have to learn to make use of herbs etc, even against the
resistance of the medical profession.
Best
Martin
Tina Bass wrote:
>
>And thanks for sharing the story of your
>great-grandmother, it was vivid, I'd forgotten how my
>own great-grandmother used to rely on talcum powder
>and handkerchiefs!,
>
>- Lily of the Valley or Lavender were the scents she preferred. Both of
>them a hangover from Victorian times and earlier I think. Lavender - I
>believe - was used to mask the smell of death during plague times. I never
>really understood the handkerchief thing but I guess it relates to being a
>lady, appropriatedly dressed and prepared for anything.
>........
>- Not at all. Thanks for sharing the story of the 'witch'. It made
>me smile because I have a neighbour who seems very similar. She has herbs
>growing wild all over the place, lots of cats etc. I wonder what the
>children at the end of the street think about her.
>
>Regards
>
>Tina
>
>
>
--
M.J.Walker - no blog - no webpage - no idea
Nous ne faisons que nous entregloser. - Montaigne
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