Mountains Stand Strong by Irene B. Brand

Author:Irene B. Brand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Ten

Mattie Sawyers was like no one Nancy had ever seen. After a mile’s walk outside the city limits, they located the mountain woman at her daughter’s home. The wizened, stooped woman was about five feet tall. Her frowsy gray hair framed a face as wrinkled as a monkey’s, but the hooded black eyes that peered from under bushy gray brows gleamed with an inner fire of mystery and intelligence.

“So ye want to learn my secrets, do ye?” she said with a cackle when Heath sat near her on the porch of the modest frame cottage.

“I’m a doctor, Mrs. Sawyers, and I’m interested in learning anything and everything that will bring healing to the sick and wounded. I’m convinced that herbal remedies are superior to some of the patent medicines I can buy.”

She nodded her head emphatically. “You’re right about that. I’ll gladly tell you what I know, for there ain’t many folks want to learn the old ways,” she said. “My young’uns would druther buy a bottle of Dr. Flint’s Quaker Bitters from peddlers than take a dose of my wild ginger tea that will fix them up after a few teaspoonfuls.”

“My mother and I grow a small garden of herbs, and I sometimes use those in treating my patients, but with your experience, you must know more about native plants than I do. I’ll be obliged if you will share that knowledge with me.”

“I will, sonny. I ain’t gonna live much longer, and it will do my heart good to know that a fine young man like you will carry on my healin’ know-how.”

Nancy sat in the background during the next two hours, content to listen as Mrs. Sawyers, in her quaint mountaineer voice, explained the secret of nature’s healing to Heath. She talked slowly, and he quickly recorded what she told him.

Nancy recognized that some of the remedies were made from familiar plants. She was surprised to learn that salves could be made by boiling chickweed, plantain, water lily roots, and sour dock. Tansy was used for sick headache, chamomile was good for a tonic, dandelion and fennel for colic, marigold blossoms would cure colds, and mashed catnip leaves could relieve the itching of hives. Taken altogether, Nancy considered it a profitable visit for Heath, and after they left the woman’s home, he agreed that the knowledge he’d gained from Mrs. Sawyer would be helpful in his research.

“I learned more from her in a few hours than from many of the classes I took in medical school. I’ll have to study all of this information and decide how I can adapt it to treating my patients. I have a book that lists different plants in the United States, some of them growing in other climates. Hopefully, when this war stops, I can travel to look for them. In the meantime, I’ll search for the plants growing in the Wheeling area. Will you help me look for these herbs?”

“Yes, I like to wander around in the woods and fields. I recognized some of the plants she named.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.