118v

Old English
Modern English
nelle þæt, nim monnes drogan. Drig swiðe. Gnid to duste. Do on. Gif þu mid þys ne meaht gelacnian, ne meaht þu him æfre naht.
will not respond [to that], take the dung of a man. Dry thoroughly. Grind to dust. Put on [the cancer]. If you cannot heal him with this, you may not ever [do so] for him.
xxxvii. Wiþ þon þe wif ne mæge bearn acenuan: nim feldmoran nioðowearde. Wyl on meolcum and on wætre. Do begea emfela. Sele etan þa moran and þæt wos supan.
xxxvii. In case when a woman may not conceive a child: take the lower part of wild carrot. Boil in milk and in water. Put both in equal parts. Give the root to eat and the juice to sup.
To þon ilcan: bind on þæt winstre þeoh, up wiþ þæt cennende lim, nioþowearde beolonan oþþe .xii. corn cellendran sædes, and þæt sceal don cniht oððe mæden. Swa þæt bearn sie acenned, do þa wyrta aweg þy læs þæt innelfe utstige.
For the same [problem]: bind on the left thigh, up against the reproductive limb, the lower part of henbane or twelve grains of coriander seed, and a young man or a young woman shall do that. [When] the child is conceived, put the plants away lest the bowels prolapse38.
Gif of wife nelle gan æfter þam beorþre þæt gecyndelic sie: seoþe eald spic on wætre. Beþe mid þone cwiþ oððe hleomoc oþþe hocces leaf. Wyl on ealoþ. Sele drincan hit hat.
If after the birth the natural [thing] does not go out from the woman: seethe old lard in water. Bathe the womb with either brooklime or the leaf of common mallow. Boil in ale. Give it hot to drink.
Gif on wife sie dead bearn: wyl on meolce and on wætre hleomoc and polleian. Sele drincan on dæg tuwa. Georne is to wyrnanne bearneacnum wife þæt hio aht sealtes ete oððe swetes oþþe beor drince, ne swines flæsc ete ne naht fætes, ne drunken gedrince, ne on weg ne fere, ne on horse to swiðe ride þy læs hio þæt bearn of hire sie ær riht tide.
If a dead child is in a woman: boil brooklime and pennyroyal in milk and in water. Give to drink twice a day. [It] is diligent to warn a pregnant woman that she aught [not] eat salt or sweets or drink beer, neither eat the flesh of a swine nor any of its fat, nor drink until drunk, nor travel far, nor ride too fast on a horse lest that child come from her before the right time.39
Gif hio
If she
[blede
[bleeds

38. Most likely refers to the uterus, not the bowels itself but B-T does not provide a translation of innelfe (inylfe) as uterus.
39. Cockayne: "Earnestly must a pregnant woman be cautioned, that she eat naught salt or sweet, nor drink beer, nor eat swines flesh, nor aught fat, nor drink to drunkenness, nor fare by the way nor ride too much on horse, lest the bairn come from her before the right time."
Olds: "A pregnant woman should be warned vigorously not to eat salts or sweets or drink beer nor eat pork or any fat, nor to drink to the point of drunkenness, nor walk far, nor ride too hard on a horse lest the child come before the right time."
Back to Contents