The Doctor in History, Literature, Folk-Lore, Etc Part 1

The Doctor in History, Literature, Folk-Lore, Etc.

by William Andrews.

Preface.

In the following pages I have attempted to bring together from the pens of several authors who have written expressly for this book, the more interesting phases of the history, literature, folk-lore, etc., of the medical profession.

If the same welcome be given to this work as was accorded to those I have previously produced, my labours will not have been in vain.

WILLIAM ANDREWS.

THE HULL PRESS, HULL, _November 11th, 1895_.

THE DOCTOR IN HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND FOLK-LORE.

Barber-Surgeons.

BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.

The calling of the barber is of great antiquity. We find in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (v. 1) allusions to the Jewish custom of the barber shaving the head as a sign of mourning.

In the remote past the art of surgery and the trade of barber were combined. It is clear that in all parts of the civilized world, in bygone times, the barber acted as a kind of surgeon, or to state his position more precisely, he practised phlebotomy.

Barbers appear to have gained their experience from the monks whom they a.s.sisted in surgical operations. The clergy up to about the twelfth century had the care of men's bodies as well as of their souls, and practised surgery and medicine. The operations of surgery involved the shedding of blood, and it was felt that this was incompatible with the functions of the clergy. After much consideration and discussion, in 1163 the council of Tours, under Pope Alexander III., forbade the clergy to act as surgeons, but they were permitted to dispense medicine.

The edict of Tours must have given satisfaction to the barbers, and they were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunities the change afforded them. In London, and we presume in other places, the barbers advertised their blood-letting in a most objectionable manner. It was customary to put blood in their windows to attract the attention of the public. An ordinance was pa.s.sed in 1307, directing the barbers to have the blood "privily carried into the Thames under pain of paying two shillings to the use of the Sheriffs."

At an early period in London the barbers were banded together, and a gild was formed. In the first instance it seems that the chief object was the bringing together of the members at religious observances. They attended the funerals and obits of deceased members and their wives. Eventually it was transformed into a semi-social and religious gild, and subsequently became a trade gild.

In 1308, Richard le Barber, the first master of the Barbers' Company, was sworn at the Guildhall, London. As time progressed, the London Company of Barbers increased in importance.

In the first year of the reign of Edward IV. (1462) the barbers were incorporated by a royal charter, and it was confirmed by succeeding monarchs.

A change of t.i.tle occurred in 1540, and it was then named the Company of Barber-Surgeons. Holbein painted a picture of Henry VIII. and the Barber-Surgeons. The painting is still preserved, and may be seen at the Barber-Surgeons' Hall, Monkwell Street, London. We give a carefully executed wood engraving of the celebrated picture. Pepys calls this "not a pleasant though a good picture." It is the largest and last painting of Holbein. In the _Leisure Hour_ for September 1895, are some interesting details respecting it, that are well worth reproducing. "It is painted,"

we are told, "on vertical oak boards, being 5ft. 11in. high by 10ft. 2in.

long. It seems to have been begun about 1541, and finished after Holbein's death in 1543, and it has evidently been altered since its first delivery. The tablet, for instance, was not always in the background, for the old engraving in the College of Surgeons has a window in its place, showing the old tower of St. Bride's, and thus indicating Bridewell as the site of the ceremony. The outermost figure to the left, too, is omitted, and, according to some critics, the back row of heads are all post-Holbeinic. The names over the heads appear to have been added in Charles I.'s time, and it is significant that only two portraits in the back row are so distinguished." The king is represented wearing his robes, and is seated on a chair of state, holding erect his sword of state, and about him are the leading members of the fraternity. "The men whose portraits appear in the picture," says the _Leisure Hour_, "are not nonent.i.ties. The first figure to the king's right, with his hands in his gown, is Dr. John Chambre, king's physician, Fellow and Warden of Merton, and happy in his mult.i.tudinous appointments, both clerical and lay. Behind him is the Doctor b.u.t.ts of Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII.'--the Sir William b.u.t.ts who was the king's and Princess Mary's physician, and whose wife is known by Holbein's splendid portrait of her. Behind b.u.t.ts is Alsop, the king's apothecary. To the king's left the first figure is Thomas Vicary, surgeon to Bartholomew's Hospital, serjeant-surgeon to the king, and author of 'The Anatomie of the Bodie of Man.' Next to him is Sir John Ayleff, an exceptionally good portrait. Then come in the undernamed: Nicholas Simpson, Edmund Harman (one of the witnesses to the king's will), James Monforde (who gave the company the silver hammer still used by the Master in presiding at the courts), John Pen (another fine portrait), Nicholas Alc.o.c.ke, and Richard Ferris (also serjeant-surgeon to the king).

In the back row the only names given are those of Christopher Salmond and William Tilley."

In the reign of Henry VIII. an enactment as follows was in force:--"No person using any shaving or barbery in London shall occupy any surgery, letting of blood, or other matter, except of drawing teeth." Laws were made, but they could not be, or at all events were not, enforced. Disputes were frequent. The barbers acted often as surgeons, and the surgeons increased their income by the use of the razor and shears. At this period vigorous attempts were made to confine each to their legitimate work.

The barber's pole, it is said, owes its origin to the barber-surgeons.

Much has been written on this topic, but we believe that the following are the facts of the matter. We know that in the days of old bleeding was a frequent occurrence, and during the operation the patient used to grasp a staff, stick, or pole which the barber-surgeon kept ready for use, and round it was bound a supply of bandages for tying the arm of the patient.

The pole, when not in use, was hung at the door as a sign. In course of time a painted pole was displayed instead of that used in the operation.

Lord Thurlow addressing the House of Lords, July 17th, 1797, stated, "by a statute, still in force, barbers and surgeons were each to use a pole [as a sign]. The barbers were to have theirs blue and white, striped, with no other appendage; but the surgeons', which was to be the same in other respects, was likewise to have a gully-pot and a red rag, to denote the particular nature of their vocations."

The Rev. J. L. Saywell has a note on bleeding in his "History and Annals of Northallerton" (1885):--"Towards the early part of this century,"

observes Mr. Saywell, "a singular custom prevailed in the town and neighbourhood of Northallerton (Yorkshire). In the spring of the year nearly all the robust male adults, and occasionally females, repaired to a surgeon to be bled, a process which they considered essentially conduced to vigorous health." The charge for the operation was one shilling.

Parliament was pet.i.tioned, in 1542, praying that surgeons might be exempt from bearing arms and serving on juries, and thus be enabled without hindrance to attend to their professional duties. The request was granted, and to the present time medical men enjoy the privileges granted so long ago.

In 1745, the surgeons and the barbers separated by Act of Parliament. The barber-surgeons lingered for a long time, the last in London, named Middleditch, of Great Suffolk Street, in the Borough, only dying in 1821.

Mr. John Timbs, the popular writer, left on record that he had a vivid recollection of Middleditch's dentistry.

Touching for the King's Evil.

BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.

The practice of touching for the cure of scrofula--a disease more generally known as king's evil--prevailed for a long period in England.

Edward the Confessor who reigned from 1042 to 1066, appears to be the first monarch in this country who employed this singular mode of treatment.

About a century after the death of Edward the Confessor, William of Malmesbury compiled his "Chronicle of the Kings of England," and in this work is the earliest allusion to the subject. Holinshed has placed on record some interesting details respecting Edward the Confessor. "As it has been thought," says Holinshed, in writing of the king, "he was inspired with the gift of prophecy, and also to have the gift of healing infirmities and disease commonly called the king's evil, and left that virtue, as it were, a portion of inheritance to his successors, the kings of this realm." The first edition of the "Chronicle" was published in 1577, and from it Shakespeare drew much material for his historical dramas. There is an allusion to this singular superst.i.tion in _Macbeth_, which it will be interesting to reproduce.

Malcolm and Macduff are in England, "in a room in the King's palace" (the palace of King Edward the Confessor):--

"_Malcolm._ Comes the King forth I pray you?

_Doctor._ Aye, sir! There are a crew of wretched souls That stay his cure: their malady convinces The great a.s.say of art; but at his touch-- Such sanct.i.ty hath heaven given his hand-- They presently amend.

_Malcolm._ I thank you, Doctor.

_Macduff._ What's the disease he means?

_Malcolm._ 'Tis called the evil: A most miraculous work in this good King; Which often, since my here-remain in England, I've seen him do. How he solicits heaven, Himself best knows: but strangely visited people All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, The mere despair of surgery, he cures, Hanging a golden stamp about their necks, Put on with holy prayers: and 'tis spoken, To the succeeding royalty he leaves The healing benediction. With this strange virtue, He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy, And sundry blessings hang about his throne That speak him full of grace."

History does not furnish any facts respecting touching by the four kings of the House of Normandy. It is generally believed that the Norman monarchs did not practise the rite.

Henry II., the first of the Plantagenet line, emulated the Confessor. We know this fact from a record made by Peter of Blois, the royal chaplain, in which it is clearly stated that the king performed certain cures by touch. John of Gaddesden, in the days of Edward II., wrote a treatise in which he gave instructions for several modes of treatment for the disease, and if they failed, recommended the sufferers to seek cure by royal touch.

Bradwardine, Archbishop of Canterbury, lived in the reigns of Edward III.

and Richard II., and from his statements we learn that both kings kept up the observance.

Henry IV., the first king of the House of Lancaster, touched for the evil.

This we learn from a "Defence to the t.i.tle of House of Lancaster," written by Sir John Fortesque, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. He speaks of the practice as "belonging to the kings of England from time immemorial." This pamphlet is preserved among the Cottonian ma.n.u.scripts in the British Museum.

The earliest king of the House of Tudor, Henry VII., was the first to give a small gold piece, known as a touch-piece, to those undergoing the ceremony.