HOMESPUN remedies still continue to pour in! After our earlier impressive list of readers' traditional cures for common complaints - such as colds, coughs, earache and sniffles - I've received a couple of dozen more mind-boggling prescriptions from veteran pensioner Miss Edith Carter.

And judging from the following little selection, it seems that the ingenuity and imagination of those parents from bygone times knew no limits, though some of the remedies rather smack to me of 'kill or cure' measures!

But here goes then...

A spoonful of brimstone and treacle was sworn by for enriching tired blood and clearing the skin in springtime.

To ease earache, a hot potato or boiled onion was tucked into a woollen stocking, tied round the head and applied to the source of the pain. A few drops of warm olive oil might also do the trick.

Linseed poultices were used to tackle pleurisy for chest and back pains.

Bread poultices were traditionally applied to small wounds.

Comfrey leaves, placed in a jar, would eventually form a brownish oil for applying to aches, sprains and strains.

A solution of sulphur and zinc treated sore eyes.

Mustard plasters were applied for chest and lung ailments.

Then there was the old stand-by of boracic lint dipped in hot water to clean up infected wounds.

A large, cold metal key dropped down the back was said to stop a nosebleed.

Far more hair-raising was do-it-yourself dentistry. This entailed tying one end of a piece of string around an aching tooth. The other end, held taut, was then knotted to the knob of an open door. A quick slam of the door, and hey presto!, that painful gnasher would be yanked out. It could, however, be a bit unpleasant if this didn't work first time!

A gold ring rubbed along an eye stye was claimed to bring it to a head for bursting.

Boiled senna leaves were a tried and trusted laxative treatment for constipation; while sore throats were tackled by having a cloth, soaked in camphorated oil, tied around the neck.

Goose grease rubbed on back and chest was a folksy cure for chesty ailments.

Warm bread-and-milk 'pobs' were said to have a soothing effect on sore gums after tooth extraction.

Witch hazel was commonly used to dab on to bruises.

Headaches could be soothed by application to the brow of a soft cloth soaked in vinegar.

And Edith also comes up with a couple of preventative measures, aimed at eliminating night-time shivers in the depth of winter (long before ordinary folk enjoyed the benefits of central heating; and when most working-class bedroom floors were covered with foot-freezing oilcloth).

A hot metal shelf, from the old-fashioned open coal-fired oven, was wrapped in a piece of cloth then popped under the blankets before retiring for the night. Alternatively, a brick heated up in the oven could be used.

THANKS a million, Edith, for all those weird and wonderful self-cure tips from a childhood spent during the early years of last century. Judging by your livewire approach, you seem to have found the right prescription for active old age!