For many years  Mistress Louise  had assisted her father, Master Denis the surgeon. She acquired her skills by fervently studying nature, its flowers, shrubs and even weeds. Many of her remedies had also been passed down to her from her wise grandmother who, in turn, had learnt them from her forebears.  

The Mistress prepared poultices, balms, lotions and potions to suit all occasions whether it was a sneezing fit or the awful ague which sweeps the country from time to time.  She was to be found working quietly in her part of the Marcher Stuart camp during any spare moment, for there was much preparation needed to produce her remedies.....firstly she would gather the necessary berries, leaves and nuts, then pummel them in her mortar with her pestle until they were of the right consistency. Then she might mix them with liquids to make them easier to apply.

You might have noticed that this is spoken of in the past tense, for it doth seem that the Mistress shied away from her former life when she entered into marriage with our good Captain James.

The  selling of herbs did not make much and the treatment of wounds of folks who very often did not pay after treatment made even less, for who can extract payment from someone who carries no money about his person, then is so indecent as to die. The nursing of the sick and wounded was also seen by our good Captain James as an unsuitable occupation for his young bride and he thought that she should be better engaged in looking after her husband, managing the household and preparing for the children which will undoubtedly follow the union. However, it does seem as though he has had second thoughts as Goodwife Pymm is now to be seen managing the Copious Coinpurse, a genteel hostelry in the midst of the village. 

Captain James Edward Pymm, is Gordon Rotherham, employed as a youth worker in Bristol.