[Mary Harrison. Book of recipes 17th century. …]

Mary Harrison. [Book of recipes] 17th century.

The recipes are chiefly medical, beginning: 1. To knitte a vaine ; 2. For pising abed ; 3. A remedy for an inward brusse ; 4. For the wind and collicke ; 5. For the dropsy... Care of livestock is included, with recipes for cattle (nos 223, 231, 254, 260), poultry (nos 291, 293, 301), calves (no. 294), horses (no. 180) and pigeons (no. 106).

There are also household recipes, e.g. no. 279: Stuff to rub mens shoos & bouts with to prevent soking in water ; no. 318: To clean pictuers when durty.

An earlier hand than that of Mary Harrison numbered pages 1-40 and wrote the recipes on pp. 1-39. Mary Harrison wrote on a fly-leaf: Mary Harrison her Book 1692 and wrote the majority of the other recipes, numbering all the recipes from 1 to 330 and providing an index on pp. 170-175 for nos 1-277.

The date 1699 occurs on p. 55 with a recipe for the plague; on p. 129 there is mention of the writer being at Aston in 1710.

The names of people from whom recipes have been gathered include Mr Mathias (no. 12), Lady Palgrave (no. 21), Lady Lake (no. 34), Madm Harrvey (no. 112), Lady van de Ants (no. 130), Lady Levet (no. 139), Mr Knowles (nos 164, 258), Dr Coxe (nos 169, 170), Goody Marnham (no. 230), Goodman Dykes (no. 231), Lady Sharlowe (no. 232), Mrs Atleye (no. 256), Dr West (no. 316), Mrs Shervill (no. 317), Mr Sumers limner (no. 318), Mrs Napps (no. 319) and Goody Wesbrook (no. 328). Other names are Mrs Greenhill (p. 59) and Nancy East (p. 130). Personal notes relating to the writer are on pp. 16, 129.

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