Ways of Dying in 1665

Yep, religious. Some people suggested we shouldn't have yew tree in our front garden because it houses spirits or some such but I think they were full of it

TSP - congenital syphilis for cleft palate/lip. Or it could just give a large gap between front teeth.

Up yours, Scarlett. Why would they reserve churchyards for such a purpose, when a simple copse would have done admirably? Eh? And don't start me on longbows......

I have a 20 year old copy of reportsge somewhere, must dig it out!

Love your point, Joan.
Me:
Chicken pox, mumps, measles - all potential child fatalities
Anaphylactic shock - probable death without steroids
Pneumonia 5 times - antibiotics
Dysentery twice - antibiotics
Dental abscess twice - antibiotics
Plus:
Facial shingles, which could have caused blindness/brain damage without antivirals
Psoriasis, which could have caused nerve damage without steroids
And a couple of nasty parasite infections that are not cured in the poor of developing countries, which cause long-term damage

And my mum would be blind if not for glaucoma drops & cataract surgery.

Thank you, modern medicine and the NHS!

Apologies if this has already been said by anyone, but I suspect Tympany is intestinal. We still refer to some types of colic in horse as Tympany:

"Tympany colic is caused by gas. According to Equic-Therapy.net, this type of colic occurs when gas is created more quickly than it can be eliminated. This "trapped" gas distends the gut and causes extreme pain and cramping."

Also agree that "scowring" is probably diarrhoea. We refer to foals as "scouring" when they have the runs.

Read more: Equine Tympany Colic Treatment | eHow.com www.ehow.com/about_6596991_equine-tympany-colic-treatment.html#ixzz1lQ9qLoBZ

Didn't know the cleft lonk but my DD was born with one and back in the day would probably have been seen as tainted by the devil. Oh and as she would not have been a good feeder the she mught have died. Or, had she survived, not educated cos it was then assumed to be associated with mental handicap due to speech priblems, and maybe institutionalised or made to be a social outcast. Thank God for the good old NHS!

Me, I would have died from appendicitis, severe tooth abcesses and given I have had a couple of bones reset in life I do wonder how disabled I would be if I only had 1700s medicine to cope.

Religious. They warded off evil spirits, a pagan throwback.

Ah yes Rusty - but I think information has in some ways gone backwards, don't you? I mean, how many people know that potato, tomato and rhubarb leaves are poisonous? How many people know that green potatoes are possibly quite dangerous? Whereas when I were a lass (in 't dim and distant past) this was quite common knowledge (suburban rather than city/country) because we grew our own, and Dad told us. We also had a yew tree out front so we were told not to eat the berries because they were poisonous - and we could identify most of the dangerous berries on plants (and therefore the plants too). And we knew not to eat mushrooms found in the woods or parks, just in case (we weren't fungi-savvy enough to tell the difference)
But perhaps we were unusual?

while im away, does anyone know why yew was always planted in churchyards?, was it for religious or scientific reasons?

I saw the programme about the rose bush penicillin thing. The poor guy died anyway, because they stopped giving him the medicine when he looked as though he was getting better. The penicillin developed and immunity to the rose bush. Or something.

Was that ok, Thumbwitch?

agghh!!! this thread is buggering up my day, i need to go shopping and the snow clouds are gathering! you are all just too interesting!

I saw 'Breaking the Mould', it was fascinating, yet incredibly sad. He died in the end, from what I remember.

ScarlettPimpernel - I admit I didn't feel bereft after submitting! Just quite chuffed that I'd done it and slightly apprehensive about the viva, then after that I was just a bit scared at how long it was taking me to get a job.

What was yours about?

Thanks Scarlett

As hard as it is to believe, my phd is actually more depressing than this thread, so I think I deserve a break!

Do you really feel bereft? I imagine when I'm done I'm going to wake up every morning singing 'no more phd wheeeeee!!!' Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't assume anything...

I like the sound of Jericho's chemistry teacher. I aspire to that, but unfortunately we are not allowed to play with mercury any more.

I don't think I'd have died, but would have been a bit lame from breaking my leg at 18 months old, if that hadn't got infected. Or had to be chopped off.

Thumbwitch - I would guess it was probably 'known' that yew was poisonous, especially by farmers who probably lost livestock to it, but maybe not 'general knowledge' to people in towns who hadn't experienced it. After all think of the number of 'Gosh, I didn't know that' threads we have on MN, even in these information -rich days.

Also, the Yew tree was thought of as a protector, because it used to be planted as a windbreak, and it was believed that the spirit of a house lived in it. Anyway, she was advised to do it in a dream, so it was obviously reliable....

bollocking hell

TSP - yes, that is still a perfectly valid use of the term "heavy metal"
I based my own article on [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:LCUmDigkrbgJ:iupac.org/publications/pac/74/5/0793/pdf/+heavy+metals+definition&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj1zjLlCl49AdSo0Fbgtw0150_GWEmYm-QRbkIuArzZT9WMXQB0GG666aY-ly96DQ4lSR6TfjeK-SRtPRlxBMeG1FmvbJIa48vz8IDkTKA-hgLONuP3uj2aKdsEuffI2l6zr3nx&sig=AHIEtbTBzd-Yq9R5hkg9fgBsGLHnFBJIGg this one]] - not sure he mentions music though!

Jesus, didn't know that - I know that it can cause cleft palate/cleft lip in babies and apparently it was possibly a main cause for the people known as "village idiots" (not a term I like but it was what they were called).

yes, re infected cuts, did anyone see Breaking The Mould a year or so ago, the documentary about the development of penicillin? One of the first person to be treated with it (can't remember if he lived or died - they could tell it was working but couldn't manufacture it fast enough ) was someone who had got infected after scratching himself on a rose bush

Its remarkable that all our ancestors lived long enough to successfully reproduce.