Sunday 24th October 1819
Sunday Oct 21st My Mother having a bad headache we did not go to church in the morning, but Alex & I went to St Georges in the afternoon which is an uncommon handsome Church.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Headaches: Geri Walton’s blog “Curing Headaches in Georgian Times” at https://www.geriwalton.com/curing-headaches-in-georgian-times/ lists some of the more popular remedies for headaches, which were often attributed to “atmospheric changes, bile in the blood, too much iron, bowel issues, thunderstorms, and indigestion.”
The head ache by G. Cruikshank. Attribution CC BY . from the Wellcome Collection. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/b47fq7qr
Animal magnetism, or mesmerism, was largely discredited by the late 1810,s but it was based on the theories of Franz Mesmer and the body’s ‘magnetic fluid’ that could be influenced by mesmerism. “Mesmer made numerous ‘passes’ with his hands down the length of the patient’s body. Sometimes, he would press just below the diaphragm to effect a cure and his pressing could last for hours.”
“Antispasmodics were thought to help spasms in the head and quiet nervous headaches and attending irritations. Many antispasmodics were herbal remedies. Some of the more popular antispasmodics used were valerian, camphor, and, of course, opium.”
“Ointments rubbed on the scalp that created blisters were thought to bring the blood to the surface and thereby lessen irritation within the head. To help alleviate headaches, blistering ointments were also applied to areas behind the ears, at the temples, the nape of the neck, between the shoulders, or on the back.”
“Bloodletting was said to help headaches when ‘the head contained a quantity of blood greater than usual.’ It was also employed in cases where pain in the head developed because of a fever.” Arteriotomy was “was used to lessen the amount of blood that was flowing to the brain. It involved opening the temporal artery or the arteries behind the ears.” Phlebotomy “involved an incision in a vein and was used on certain types of headaches or for certain people. A person was bled at the arms or near the temples. Physicians also prescribed this procedure for women with menstrual problems, who where then bled, cupped, or had leeches attached near their uterus. In dire cases, if a headache was long standing or severe, doctors suggested opening and bleeding a jugular vein.”
“Cold water was applied to the head. As sweat was thought to be a disease, those with headaches who also sweated were said to be helped by having cold water poured over their heads or applied with a sponge.”
“One cure was nothing more than a handkerchief tightly bound around the head so as to to create ‘a contraction of the dilated vessels.’”
Cucufa “was an odoriferous cap, called either a cucpha or cucufa. The cap covered the head and had quilted into it certain chephalic spices, such as lavender, rosemary, etc. Supposedly, the spices helped alleviate the headache.
“ Cutting off the hair” was considered effective. “ The weight of a person’s hair was thought to sometimes cause headaches, and to relieve them, sometimes the person’s hair was cut.”
“ Hot water in the stomach was said to increase the action in the cerebral arteries and the lower extremities, which then supposedly relieved the headache” and drinking hot water was encouraged.
“ In cases of nervous headaches, electrization was used. This involved ‘electric fluid … thrown with a wooden, and sometimes with a metal point, all round the head successively.’ However, this was dangerous as there were some instances where people experienced convulsions because of the treatment.”
“Oleum Succini oil is now “called oil of amber. It was a volatile, colorless or pale yellow oil that functioned as a stimulant and antispasmodic. Supposedly rubbing this oil along the spine so as to create friction cured a headache.”
“Bathing the feet, or pediluvium as it was called, was said to cause the circulation in the veins to accelerate, which then alleviated the headache. To accomplish this, the water needed to be hot enough to redden the skin and pediluvium was usually done after bleeding because it was said to be ‘most efficacious’ at that time.”
Purgatives were often used. “Doctors believed that a person’s bowels could cause headaches. Therefore, doctors gave patients purgatives to help patients evacuate their bowels. Purging, along with bloodletting, was frequently prescribed for pregnant women suffering from headaches because purging could be continued for a long time. Purging was also thought to be effective because it supposedly contracted dilated blood vessels in the brain.”
Snuff “was recommended because it caused people to sneeze and sneezing was thought to be one cure for a headache. In fact, one writer stated sneezing because of snuff promoted ‘mucous discharge from the nostrils, and thence it [was] … occasionally of service in headachs, and complaints in the eyes.’ ”
Tonics or tinctures were often employed, such as “cichona (bark) or sulphate of quinine. Cichona worked as a muscle relaxer and a quinine had anti-inflammatory properties. Later, quinine would become the medicine of choice for malaria, but during Georgian times quinine was believed to quiet nervous headaches.”
“Vomiting was thought to cure certain types of headaches because it balanced the circulation, promoted perspiration, and awakened torpid secretions. However, it was also considered dangerous when practiced on elderly people.” https://www.geriwalton.com/curing-headaches-in-georgian-times/
St Georges Church, on the west side of Charlotte Square, was begun in 1811, with Robert Reid adapting Adam's design from 1791. The original estimate of £18,000 rose to over £23,600 by the time the church was opened in 1814.
St George's Church, and West Side of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh from page 087 of Modern Athens, displayed in a series of views; or, Edinburgh in the nineteenth century; exhibiting the whole of the new buildings, modern improvements, antiquities, & picturesque scenery of the Scottish metropolis & its environs, by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. Original held and digitised by the British Library (Accession number HMNTS 010370.dd.10.) This work is in the public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MA(1829)_p.087_-_St_George%27s_Church,_and_West_Side_of_Charlotte_Square,_Edinburgh_-_Thomas_Hosmer_Shepherd.jpg
Severe structural defects, caused by the use of wood and stone underneath the dome, led to its closure in the 1960s when it was taken over by the Ministry of Public Building and Works and converted for use as archives (now part of the National Records of Scotland). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_and_St_George%27s_West_Church
_p.087_-_St_George%27s_Church,_and_West_Side_of_Charlotte_Square,_Edinburgh_-_Thomas_Hosmer_Shepherd.jpg){kind=link}
2008: Register House, Charlotte Square , the former St George's Church, by R Sones. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by R Sones and is licensed for reuse under the (CC SA-BY 2.0) Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Register_House,_Charlotte_Square_-_geograph.org.uk_-_739849.jpg
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?