To insure good eyesight in Devon

Fennel on Slapton Sands - Gwen and James Anderson [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Fennel, rose, vervain, celandine and rue,
Do water make which will the sight renew."

Hewett 1900

What Devon brides should carry to their weddings....

My wife, Lunar Hine, had lavender for her Nanna, who used Yardley's lavender products, and rose buds which where chosen by her dieing Grandmother. The ivy was decoration and the gorse was for eternal love.  I made myself a rowan and hazel crown (confidence and fertility/knowledge retrospectively - got the ideas from Nordic and 'Celtic' lore), plus a twig from every tree I could find.  I wanted all the luck of the trees! We also broke bread with our friends, and drank a friends home-made Methyglin - spiced mead. - If you want to use my photos please attribute this blog - and use this one well - she is my wife!

"Happiness can be insured by observing certain practices which have been in vogue for many centuries, as for example: it is necessary to carry sprigs of rue and rosemary and a few cloves of garlic in the pocket, to enhance the felicity of the pair. The bride also should carry a small packet of bread and cheese in her pocket to give to the first woman or girl she meets after leaving the church.
 

Dire calamities will overtake the couple if either of these cherished practices are omitted, though the perfume of garlic and rue added to the wedding bouquets seems incongruous."

Hewett 1900

How Joan lost the sight in her eye - part 2

'...Joan went in, and Betty was delighted, sure enough, to see her, and sent the children out of the way. But Betty couldn't walk to Penzance, she was suffering pain, and she had been taking milk and suet, and brandy arid rue, and she must have some more. So away went Betty to the othe, room for the bottle.

Joan seized the moment, and taking a very small bit of the ointment on her finger, she touched her right eye with it. Betty came with the bottle, and Joan had a think; when she looked round she was surprised to see the house swarming with small people. They were playing all sorts of pranks on the key-beams and rafters. Some were swinging on cobwebs some were riding the mice, and others were chasing them into and out of the holes in the thatch. Joan was surprised at the sight, and thought she must have a four-leaved clover about her...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903