Pipe Smoking In Elizabethan England.

[mawnansmiff]

Right, I got the OED II out today and volume IV page 389 gives us...
DEFLUCTION:...a bad form of Defluxion.
DEFLUX:Obs...to fall off in influence. "If wee observe the middle time of the eclipse or full moone...shee defluxeth from the opposition of the sunne, to the conjunction of Saturne." [Needham: Levellers levelled 1647]
DEFLUXION: A flowing or running down. "The emptying of an houre glasse consisteth not onely in the falling of the last graine of sand, but in the whole defluxion thereof from the beginning. [Hayward: Sanct. Troub. Soul 1616]
2 A falling off (of hair).
3 (In pathology) A supposed flow of 'humours' to a particular part of the body in certain diseases. The flow or discharge accompanying a cold or inflammation; a running at the nose or eyes.
4 Something that flows or runs down.
5 An effluence, emanation.
So basically snot to you and I ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[deathmetal]

Discharge is great. I listen to them on a regular basis. Good music to hum while working too.

 

[crashthegrey]

What an interesting read. Thank you for sharing, Jay. And for the additional research into snot.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Is the "Spanish wine" mentioned a fortified wine, like port?

 

[sw0snuff3r]

I enjoy reading history ocassionally as long as the content is not too dry. Liza Picard's books look like an interesting read. I have a huge used book store around the corner and I'm going to see if I can find one there on my lunch break.
My favourite historical London novel so far is "Necropolis: London and It's Dead" by Catharine Arnold. It sounds like a morbid subject but the story of how the growing city has had to deal with it's dead is fascinating.

 

[snowyowl]

Wound-wort and Henbane are two different plants, from two different plant families. So unrelated. Although both have a long history of human usages.
If the author had run this by any university botanist -- one musty building left-or-right from the Lit department -- she'd have her clarification. Common names are not set-in-stone Latin binomials, but these two English names have continued as well-known for centuries.
Both would make a fine smoke:

Wound-wort is a mint, so a nice aromatic element with heavy plant oils to smooth out any bitter smoke. Or plain.

Henbane is a member of the potato/tomato/nightshade family, so poisonous in a big enough dose or concentrate (evolved as a natural pesticide). But, also, a terrific hallucinogenic addition to any smoke.

[I could provide Latin family names or genus-species binomials for these, but as neither involves man-panties... no interest to the gen pop here]

===

"Wort" just means "plant" whenever you see it

And this was a very entertaining post and read, so thanks!

 

[mawnansmiff]

Thanks for the additional info Snowy. My key interest is words and their etymology.
Wort: Old English wyrt meaning root, related to Old High German warz, Gothic waurts, root.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[snowyowl]

In the case of Wound-wort, it is named for plant oils harvested from the leaves and young flower buds: teas, salves, and here, to smoke. I can't think of a mint family member that is known for its root.
My university offered a course in botanical latin, I agree that root is one meaning. But in general it is used to name a plant with medicinal or other human usage. Often, but not always the root was the important part. Plants where the leaves, fruits, or even bark were key... had names ending in -wort.
From a botanical literature source: "Wort derives from the Old English wyrt, which simply meant plant. The word goes back even further, to the common ancestor of English and German, to the Germanic wurtiz. Wurtiz also evolved into the modern German word Wurzel, meaning root."

 

[condorlover1]

Its usage is well covered in Culpeppers Herbal!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Love of Esotericas is the wort of all evil!!

 

[mawnansmiff]

One aspect of what is written above, "the powder is lit in a small pipe." has me wondering what the 'cut' of the tobacco would have been back then.
I can't believe they were smoking snuff but it does suggest a very fine cut at the very least.
Thoughts anyone?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Perhaps what happens when the tobacco is way too dry?