if it worked back then why not try it today? People were smarter in my opinion back then going back to the Vikings who could sail and build ships to the Egyptians, to the Saxons etc.
Today we have men who could not even change a light bulb and are afraid of getting their nails dirty while they wear spandex and a helmet to ride a bicycle
We forget the old wisdom at our peril.
People forget that even by Greek and Roman times, medicinal remedies and salves and tonics had gone through hundreds of years of development and refinement by countless individuals, and that if something was important enough to be written down by the few scribes available in a society like England of 900’s, it was probably worth remembering.
It is interesting to see a rediscovery of old effective remedies. Honey as a cure for infected wounds is one
I agree with your assessment about folk being smarter back then. My grandmother would often refer to some people as “having gone to seed”.
I’ll venture to say there hasn’t been a man of the caliber of Sir Isaac Newton since his birth.