To make hair grow
Original recipe
Take the leaves of willow and boil them well in oil and therewith anoint the place where you would have any hair to grow, whether upon head or beard.
My redaction:
½ cup willow leaves
½ cup almond oil
Put leaves in the top of a double boiler with the oil. Place over low heat for one hour. In this case I used almond oil, which would have been more common in England than olive oil. Since I believe that the intent was to infuse the oil rather than fry the leaves, I chose to keep the heat low.
Whether or not this tonic actually works is truly questionable but at least it will not generally do any harm.
Bibliography
Markham, Gervaise. The English Huswife (1615). Ed. Michael R. Best. Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 1986
Take the leaves of willow and boil them well in oil and therewith anoint the place where you would have any hair to grow, whether upon head or beard.
My redaction:
½ cup willow leaves
½ cup almond oil
Put leaves in the top of a double boiler with the oil. Place over low heat for one hour. In this case I used almond oil, which would have been more common in England than olive oil. Since I believe that the intent was to infuse the oil rather than fry the leaves, I chose to keep the heat low.
Whether or not this tonic actually works is truly questionable but at least it will not generally do any harm.
Bibliography
Markham, Gervaise. The English Huswife (1615). Ed. Michael R. Best. Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 1986