The Gentleman’s Jockey and Approved Farrier(17th century)

• MS 1994.8
• 1 vol.

A 17th-century manuscript concerning the treatment of ailments and injuries in horses entitled “The Gentleman’s Jockey and Approved Farrier Instructing in the Natures, Causes and Cures of all Diseases accident to horses, approved by Matthew Hodson, Mr. Hooland, Mr. Willis, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Holden, Tho. Easome, Mr. Roper, Mr. Medcalf, Mat. Shaw, J.Y., Esqr.” The twenty-one page manuscript is sewn in a vellum cover having a late 15th- or early 16th-century instrument of sasine written in Latin on its verso. It contains two dozen recipes for medications accompanied by instructions on how to administer them. They range from remedies for strained muscles and wounds to remedies for intestinal problems and for ridding horses of lice and worms.

This manuscript was found in the straw insulation of the roof of Halkerston Lodge in Inveresk, Scotland in 1960. An accompanying document prepared in 1960 provides information about its discovery. It is available in the collections file for the manuscript.

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