Medicine for consumption (1931)

 Medicine made of snails.

Recipe written by General Wolfe's mother.

A quaint recipe written by the mother of General Wolfe, the hero of Quebec, was mentioned last night by Captain J.R.O.B Warde at a dinner in commemoration of the 204th anniversary of Wolfe's birth, given at his native town of Westerham, Kent.

Captain Warde, who is descended from General George Warde, Wolfe's great friend, said that his mother's cookery book, which was still preserved, showed that she was not only a good cook, but an amateur doctor.

"The main element in her recipe for a 'good water for a consumption' consisted of powdered snails washed in beer, mixed with split green earthworms, distilled over a slow fire and boiled down with all kinds of spices and roots in three gallons of milk.

"Of this the patient had to take two spoonsful," said Captain Warde.

He suggested that Wolfe had been spared sampling that remedy. "If anyone had survived the dose he would never have succumbed to a mere French bullet."

Captain Warde said that in taking an interest in his profession Wolfe was far ahead of his time, for in those days promotion in the army mostly went by favour and very little by merit.

In a time when it was not usually the case Wolfe was extraordinarily careful about the welfare of those who served under him, and it might be said that he laid the foundation of those excellent relations which existed today between officers and men in the British Army.

Dundee Courier, 3rd January 1931.

Snails and chest infections (1906)

 [...] I believe the really medicinal properties of snails, especially as remedies for consumption, have never been fully appraised, though rumour has it that a well-known popular "cure" for pulmonary complaints owes much of its curative worth to the snails which so largely enter into its composition. In connection with this, a passage in the "Autobiography and Correspondence" of Mrs Mary Delany, a notable but now forgotten figure in the latter half of the 18th century, contains a curious reference to the value of snails in chest affections.

"Does Mary cough in the night," she writes, alluding to an invalid friend, "two or three snails boiled in her barley water or tea water might be of great service to her; taken in time they have done wonderful cures." And the writer goes on to add that "they give no manner of taste," and recommends that six or eight snails be "boiled in a quart of water, strained off, and put into a bottle," so that a spoonful or two of the decoction may be added to every liquid taken by the invalid. She insists, however, on this infusion of snails being fresh made every two or three days, "otherwise they grow too thick." So much for our remedies in those "old tea cup times"! Who knows but what we may not come back to these antique methods again, with the present craze for "cures." [...]

Daily News (London), 15th March 1906.

Supposed medicinal value (1914)

 Not Only A Delicacy.

Supposed medicinal value of snails.

A recent death at Bath as a result of eating snails which had been feeding on ivy has called attention once more to the fact that in the West of England there are many people who regard snails as a delicacy, while others eat them on account of their real or imaginary medicinal properties.

For forty years Charles Reed, who lives in Avon-street, Bath, and is known to all his acquaintances as "Snail Charley," has made a living by collecting snails for commercial purposes. Reed claims that a particularly fine variety of snail found at Bathampton are descendants of the edible snails bred and fattened by the Romans during their occupation of Bath.

To an interviewer Reed recalled the time when a collector of snails could earn as much as a sovereign a day by bartering salt fish for snails collected by school-children. Now, he declared, the demand is so large that the common snail is doomed to extinction in the district unless snail farms are started.

While some West Country people make the snails into savoury dishes - first killing them by placing them in brine - footballers, according to Reed, use them as a substitute for linament, and others adapt them as remedies for goitre and spinal weakness.

Snails prepared in Bath are regularly supplied to a colony of glass-blowers at Bristol, and a frequent visitor to Reed's saloon is a singer who consumes them as an aid to voice production.

Evening Despatch, 13th March 1914.

Snails as cure for consumption in Ireland (1863)

 Edible Snails.

In a former letter I mentioned the reputation the snail enjoyed in Ireland as a remedy for arresting the progress of consumption. As the snail just now is attracting a large share of the attention of your readers, it may be interesting to them to know how they are prepared when used as a cure. I have had the receipt from a lady, the daughter of a clergyman in the West of Ireland, who has prescribed the remedy with great success. She writes:-

"The snails used for the broth, as you may call my fine syrup, are the common large brown things that creep about the gardens carrying their houses along with them. They are collected and placed on a large dish and plentifully sprinkled with dark sugar. Then another dish is turned over them to prevent them running away; and next morning the syrup which has been made during the night is to be drained off and bottled, and a tablespoonful is to be taken three times a day. A little lemon peel may be added to flavour the broth. The same snails should not be sugared twice. It is really a good thing; but of course will not cure in a day."

I have spoken to a lady who attributes her own recovery from consumption to the use of this receipt, cod-liver oil having failed to strengthen her; and a lady from the County Tipperary tells me she knows snails boiled in veal broth to have effected a perfect cure in a consumptive patient. The subject is, I think, well worthy of attention and inquiry.

 - Field Correspondent.

Cork Examiner, 13th August 1863.

Snail hat (1954)

 "Snail cloche"

Even women who normally quail at a snail will fall for this side cloche with a snail-like crown effect and tiny brim. Designed to be worn to one side, it is trimmed with matching grosgrain ribbon.

Belfast News-Letter, 29th December 1954.

Snail hat (1928)

 

A Spring model inspired by a snail's shell. It is of felt upon a crepe base.

Leeds Mercury, 10th March 1928.

Wiltshire Snail Folklore

Snail Broth.
I knew two persons who were dosed with snail broth; it was used as a cure for consumption and wasting complaints. One of the patients was a young woman living at Bishopstrow, the other was a lad whose home was in Wales.

The black, shell-less slugs that come out at night when the dew falls on the grass were also recommended to be eaten for the same disease, and I have been told by old folks now living in South Wilts that they have known many who partook of them.

But for the snail broth I can myself vouch. The broth was made by boiling the nails, shells and all, in milk, straining it, and giving it to the sick person fasting, generally before breakfast. It was very slimy and jellified when cold.

As children, we used to amuse ourselves by picking up the snails and singing -
"Snail, snail, put out your horns,
Or else I'll kill you."
or
"Snail, snail, come out of your hole,
Or else I'll beat you as black as a coal."

In Wiltshire Notes and Queries volume 1 (1894-5), p315.


In the neighbourhood of Swindon, Wilts, it is a common thing to see men snail hunting in the road-side hedges - filling sacks with the dainty mollusc, for which they find a ready market in the town, where the snail is regarded as a delicacy. One man has told me he remembers some 30 years ago a doctor ordering snails, stewed, as a strengthening medicine after scarlet fever. The process generally adopted for cooking them is to put them on a hot iron, and when the shell is crumbled to pieces the snail is ready to eat. The Spectator published an interesting discussion on this subject a few months ago.

As above, p370.