titus moss - The Cheshire Historical Society

SCENE 9.
Herb Garden Behind the Hitchcock-Phillips House
43 Church Drive
Herb Garden scene; Largely a women’s scene with conversation about herbs and other
cures, sewing, recipes, clothing. etc. Many possibilities.
Suggestions for Conversation.
Lucretia Hitchcock Clark: Mrs. Moss, this child is most delightful. She is very sweet
and has wonderful manners, regardless of her current health.
N a n c y Mos s: Thank you for your kind words and your care of my young Emma.
What shall we do for her
Lucretia Hitchcock Clark; There are many ways to work against the progress of a
nose cold and a chest or lung infection. There is flax and iris, gumplant and
hyssop, and horehound, linden, milkweed, mullein, oak, white pine, skunk
cabbage, slippery elm, bilberry, cinquefoil, bistort, wild cherry, columbine,
honeysuckle, and spearmint. There is daisies, onions, poppies, roses,
strawberries, vervain and nettles, parsnips, purslane, and sarsaparilla. I can
take the leaves of the everlastings in decoction and this mixture can be drunk
for pulmonary and catarrhal infections. I can make a decoction of mugwort
leaves for bronchitis. But for a child, I would recommend the use of a tea
from the blue gilia. If that is not effective, we will try elderberry syrup, sage
tea, or a tea made from the roots of the wild rose. Another remedy to try is
the juice of pounded primrose roots sniffed to clear the head or, for one that
is not a child, dried catnip leaves to be smoked. But most of all, there is
onion. For influenza, the body is to be covered in ground onions and
wrapped in blankets. An onion gruel should be administered
_______My granny always said, “A shawl around the shoulders, mutton tallow on
the chest, and a large bowl of onion gruel.”
Lucretia Hitchcock Clark: I can also make an excellent cough syrup for the child from
strong red clover syrup mixed with the juice of roasted onions and strained
honey. My first rate remedy for a chest cold is to ground a few tobacco
leaves, mix these with a little fat, and put this on the chest and cover with a
piece of wool.
Jennette
Moss: So then, my daughter is well You can provide a concoction to cure
her cold and bring her restful sleep
Titus Moss – Walk Back In Time – May 7, 2006 – SCRIPT Page 19