rubricated lines

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Rubricated links are used to architecturally structure the manuscript by connecting disparate poems or herbal sections. For instance, rubricated lines like 'And now and ӡe wollen dwelle | The uirtues of the lylye I schal ӡow telle' connect a bloodletting poem to a herbal (p. 151). Similar links are deployed to introduce specific herbs such as henbane ('I schal telle the virtues of henbane'), astrology, pimpernel ('Do now and ful the bolle / And ӡe schal here of pympurnolle'), and marigold ('Takeþ hede of the uirtues of marigolde') (p. 151, n. 127).

Evidence

"The two are connected by the rubricated lines: ‘And now and ӡe wollen dwelle | The uirtues of the lylye I schal ӡow telle’. ... The rubrication of the additions certainly functions as a visual adornment."

Remarks

The rubrication serves dual purposes: practical and aesthetic. Practically, it draws the reader's attention to key transitions and technical information (p. 152). Aesthetically, it functions as a 'visual adornment' that 'diversifies the rhetorical texture of the herbal' (p. 152). These links suggest the text was reimagined as an oral performance, potentially including physical props like a drinking bowl ('bolle') and an 'in-house audience' (p. 151).