books. The
Leech Book belongs to the literary period commonly known as the school
of Alfred. It was probably written shortly after Alfred's death, but
it is more than probable that it is a copy of a much older manuscript,
for what is known as the third book of the Leech Book is evidently a
shorter and older work incorporated by the scribe when he had finished
the Leech Book proper.

The book itself was written under the direction of one Bald, who, if
he were not a personal friend of King Alfred's, had at any rate access
to the king's correspondence; for one chapter consists of
prescriptions sent by Helias, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the king.[4]
We learn the names of the first owner and scribe from lines in Latin
verse at the end of the second part of the MS.

"Bald is the owner of this book, which he ordered Cild to write,
Earnestly I pray here all men, in the name of Christ,
That no treacherous person take this book from me,
Neither by force nor by theft nor by any false statement.
Why? Because the richest treasure is not so dear to me
As my dear books which the Grace of Christ attends."

The book consists of 109 leaves and is written in a large, bold hand
and one or two of the initial letters are very faintly illuminated.
The writing is an exceptionally fine specimen of Saxon penmanship. On
many of the pages there are mysterious marks, but it is impossible to
conjecture their meaning. It has been suggested that they point to the
sources from which the book was compiled and were inserted by the
original owner.

The _Leech Book of Bald_ was evidently the manual of a Saxon doctor,
and he refers to two other doctors--Dun and Oxa by name--who had given
him prescriptions. The position of the leech in those days must have
been very trying, for he was subjected to the obviously unfair
competition of the higher clergy, many of whom enjoyed a reputation
for working miraculous cures.[5] The leech being so inferior in
position, it is not surprising that his medical knowledge did not
advance on scientific lines. He relied on the old heathen
superstitions, probably from an instinctive feeling that in pagan
religion, combined with the herb lore which had been handed down
through the ages, the mass of the people had a deep-rooted faith.
Nothing is more obvious in the Leech Book than the fact that the
virtues ascribed to the different herbs are based not on the personal
knowledge of the writer, but on t