Tansy
I LOVE these little gold buttons ! In fact, if you Google "Cecily Mary Barker tansy", you'll see the charming old painting of the tansy fairy, sewing these "buttons" on a shirt ! :-)
"Common Tansy has a long history of many uses. Tansy was first recorded cultivated by the ancient Greeks for a variety of medicinal purposes. In the eighth century A.D., it was grown in the herb gardens of Charlemagne (Charles the Great) and by Benedictine monks of the Swiss monastery of St. Gall. Tansy was considered a cure for intestinal worms, helped with rheumatism, digestive problems, fevers, used to heal sores, and “brought out” measles.
During the Middle Ages and later, high doses were used to induce abortions. Contradictorily, tansy was also used to help women conceive and to prevent miscarriages. In the 15th century, Christians began serving Tansy with Lenten meals to commemorate the bitter herbs eaten by the Israelites. Tansy was thought to have the added Lenten benefit of controlling flatulence brought on by days of eating fish, beans, and peas. Lenten Tansy cakes were also superstitiously served to prevent the intestinal worms brought on by eating fish.
Common Tansy was used as a face wash and was reported to lighten and purify the skin. In the 1800s, Irish folklore suggested that bathing in a solution of Tansy and salts was the cure to joint pain. Although most of common Tansy’s medicinal uses have been discredited, it is still a component of some medicines in the early 21st century and is listed by the United States Pharmacopeia as a treatment for fevers, feverish colds, and jaundice.
Common Tansy has also been cultivated and used for its insect repellent and preservative effects. Common Tansy and related species have been used for centuries as an insect and worm warding type of embalming. It was packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and sometimes Tansy wreaths were placed on the dead. The first president of Harvard was laid to rest in 1668 wearing a Tansy wreath in a coffin packed with Tansy; when “God’s Acre” was exhumed and moved in 1846, the Tansy had maintained its shape and fragrance,helping to identify the president’s remains. By the 19th century, the use of Tansy at funerals was so prevalent in New England that people began to despise Tansy for its mournful and morbid association with death. During the American colonial period, meat was frequently rubbed with or packed in common Tansy to repel insects and prevent decay. Also during the colonial period, common Tansy was frequently worn in shoes to prevent ague and malaria." wikipedia.org
Tansy
I LOVE these little gold buttons ! In fact, if you Google "Cecily Mary Barker tansy", you'll see the charming old painting of the tansy fairy, sewing these "buttons" on a shirt ! :-)
"Common Tansy has a long history of many uses. Tansy was first recorded cultivated by the ancient Greeks for a variety of medicinal purposes. In the eighth century A.D., it was grown in the herb gardens of Charlemagne (Charles the Great) and by Benedictine monks of the Swiss monastery of St. Gall. Tansy was considered a cure for intestinal worms, helped with rheumatism, digestive problems, fevers, used to heal sores, and “brought out” measles.
During the Middle Ages and later, high doses were used to induce abortions. Contradictorily, tansy was also used to help women conceive and to prevent miscarriages. In the 15th century, Christians began serving Tansy with Lenten meals to commemorate the bitter herbs eaten by the Israelites. Tansy was thought to have the added Lenten benefit of controlling flatulence brought on by days of eating fish, beans, and peas. Lenten Tansy cakes were also superstitiously served to prevent the intestinal worms brought on by eating fish.
Common Tansy was used as a face wash and was reported to lighten and purify the skin. In the 1800s, Irish folklore suggested that bathing in a solution of Tansy and salts was the cure to joint pain. Although most of common Tansy’s medicinal uses have been discredited, it is still a component of some medicines in the early 21st century and is listed by the United States Pharmacopeia as a treatment for fevers, feverish colds, and jaundice.
Common Tansy has also been cultivated and used for its insect repellent and preservative effects. Common Tansy and related species have been used for centuries as an insect and worm warding type of embalming. It was packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and sometimes Tansy wreaths were placed on the dead. The first president of Harvard was laid to rest in 1668 wearing a Tansy wreath in a coffin packed with Tansy; when “God’s Acre” was exhumed and moved in 1846, the Tansy had maintained its shape and fragrance,helping to identify the president’s remains. By the 19th century, the use of Tansy at funerals was so prevalent in New England that people began to despise Tansy for its mournful and morbid association with death. During the American colonial period, meat was frequently rubbed with or packed in common Tansy to repel insects and prevent decay. Also during the colonial period, common Tansy was frequently worn in shoes to prevent ague and malaria." wikipedia.org