curious incident of the face washing

[bunnyjadwiga]

Frank Muir's An Irreverent and Almost Complete History of the Bathroom contains 2 quotations from Andrew Boorde (1490-1549) which seem to contradict each other:

When you do rise in the morning, rise with mirth, and remember God. Let your hose be brushed within and without, and flavour the inside of them against the fire: use linen socks or linen hose next to your legs. When you be out of your bed, stretch forth your legs and your arms, and your body; cough and spit, and then go to your stool to make your egestion; and exonerate yourself at all times that nature would expel. After you have evacuated your body and trussed your points, comb your head oft, and so do diverse times in the day. And wash your hands and wrists, your face and eyes, and your teeth, with cold water.
-- Dyetary

So here he directs the reader to wash the face at least once a day (in addition to evacuating the body on a regular basis, coughing and spitting.

But another quote, allegedly by the same author though not in the same text, suggests otherwise:

To clere, to cleanse, and to mundifie* the face use stufes+ and bathes, and euery mornyne after keymyng of the head, wype the face with a Skarlet** cloth, and wash not the face oft, but ones a weke anoynt the face a lytle ouer with the oyle of Costine, and use to eat Electuary de aromatibus, or the confection of Anacardine, or the syrupe of Fumitery, or confection of Manna . . .
-- Breuyary of Health

* mundify: "To cleanse, purify (a thing)"; also Med. "To rid (a wound, etc.) of pus or other matter." OED.
+ Stufe: "A hot-air bath: = STOVE" OED
** Skarlet or scarlet would be a type of wool, I believe, not just scarlet cloth.

Which might seem to imply that the face was only to be washed once a week, but given that the reader is directed to use hot-air baths (sweats) and regular baths, perhaps the idea is less to discourage the washing of the face than to suggest that continually washing of the face, as school health teachers in vain tell teenagers, is not as helpful as it is believed to be. Certainly, there are few references to washing with a cloth. Is the cloth in this case wet or dry? we are not told.

Comments

[helwen.livejournal.com]

What is 'keymyng'? Combing? I suppose the hot-air baths might help to clear the pores as well as washing, and wool would be good for the cloth since its nature is to wick moisture away. Yes, in this context I expect 'skarlet' refers to the type of wool -- a very fine, high quality wool.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that in the latter quote "washing" refers to the use of plenty of water along with whatever apothecary concoctions are recommended. Rubdowns with a wool cloth (esp. a damp one) could easily be considered as something other than "washing" in that sense, while still helping with exfoliation and pore-opening.

[stringlady.livejournal.com]

Never mind face washing... THANK YOU for

"use linen socks or linen hose next to your legs."

I'm going to have to track that down...