Casgliadau Arlein

twigs of ash carried in silken bag as a cure for fits (children), S. Devon

A thicker and a thinner twig of ash as well as a stem, from which extend two leaves, are tied together with red thread; it has a cellulosic core (S-twist) around which is wrapped a silk floss thread in the Z-direction. The thread is wrapped loosely five times round the twigs and the ends are tied into a double-knot. One end of the thicker twig is split and a thin stem is inserted through the split at right angle (c. 0.7cm down in the split). The inserted stem is c. 2cm long and a little over 0.1cm in diameter.

A separate leaf has been found lying in the box which was probably originally attached and tied together with the leaves and twigs.

The bag is made from red tabby woven (unbalanced) silk. It is made from a single piece of fabric which is folded and stitched up with hand-stitched running stitches along the bottom and side, using red cotton thread (tightly-twisted in S direction) The upper edge has a 1.5cm wide, single turn-back held with running stitches using the same red thread. A 0.65cm wide red ribbon used as a drawstring is threaded through the turnback and protrudes from the side. It is made from tabby woven silk with selvages of S-twist cotton thread of a lighter-coloured red. The ends of the ribbon are tied into a knot.

(Fibre ID was carried out)