A BOOK of weird and wonderful recipes and remedies, including the secret to long life, has emerged for the first time, nearly 300 years after it was written.

The “Treasury of Raraties” was handwritten from 1721 to 1722 by James Scott, a writer who lived in the Borders.

Signed Jacobus Scotus, the leather-bound book includes “recipes” he collected on everything from how to “sweeten the breath” to a cheat’s guide to “how to walk on the water”.

Other entries include “perfume to drive vermin out” and a cure for blindness, that involves dabbing a bottled mixture, including fennel and urine to the eyes.

Found gathering dust in a Scottish family’s attic, it will now go under the hammer at Bonhams’ Scottish Sale in Edinburgh on Wednesday, valued at £400 to £600.

Georgia Williams, Bonhams’ book specialist, said that while little was known of the author, the book was “a great snapshot in time”.

She said: “This book is described as a ‘treasury of raraties’ and that is exactly what it is. The recipes range from the useful to the bizarre.

He even has a recipe for ‘a water that will make a man see in 40 days’ -- a cure for blindness. It’s a mixture of ingredients such as fennel, sage, lime and, wait for it.. ‘urine of the innocent’, mixed together, bottled and put on the eyes before going to bed.

“On how to prolong life, he says ‘ambrosia’ is the secret. It is mind boggling the breadth of things he decided to record but it is a great snapshot in time, and a genuinely good read.”

“It could appeal to many collectors.”

The book begins with a collection of songs then progresses to how to read palms and useful recipes such as how to make hair black; perfume clothes; restore faded complexion; and make ink.

There are also medicinal cures, for jaundice, nosebleeds, aches and pains, a syrup for consumption and his so called cure for blindness.

To cure “the chollick” -- most likely a general term to describe abdominal illnesses -- he recommends a drink made from “the white of pigeon dung, steeped in white wine”.

Other recipes include perfumes for clothes and for driving out vermin; how to kill rats and mice; and ‘how to prolong life’ -- which he attributes to “Ambrosia”.

He writes: “Ambrosia will do it to the longest date, and that Holy produceth this herb & that it smells sweet, hath leaves like rue, with a long and slender stalk.”

In the ancient Greek myths, ambrosia is the food of the gods, brought to them in Olympus by doves and conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It has since been suggested ambrosia referred to different plants and even honey.

At the back, Scott also lists saints and Popes, and the centuries in which they lived.

Scott did not fill every page, however. The middle section is written in a different hand and includes a diary of the life of a relative, Walter Scott, written between 1726-41.

In contrast to James’ bizarre concoctions, the 92-page diary begun four years after James stopped writing sheds light on Walter’s life as a farmer at Nether Bonchester in Roxburghshire.

Williams said: “James Scott didn’t fill all the pages, but Walter picks it up and carries it on. Walter’s diary is quite dry stuff in comparison -- notes of deliveries of oats and so on.”

* SIDEBAR: SOME OF JAMES SCOTT’S “RECIPES”

* How to Walk on Water: “A thick leather Gutt, & blow it up well & tye both ends, Band it under your arm pitts, also take Drums of leather, and put under your foot, and with a staff with a leather Drum at the end of it you may to admiration walk on the water.”

* Tooth Ack (A cure for toothache): “A head of garlick, pull the skine off, bruise it & lay it to the soles of your feet.”

* For the chollick: “The white of pigeon dung, steep it in white wine, & then drink it.”

* Remedy for old aches and sores: “Anonynt with strong ale boyld [boiled] till very thick.”

* How to prolong life: “Ambrosia will do it to the longest date, and that Holy produceth this herb & that it smells sweet, hath leaves like rue, with a long and slender stalk.”

* A recipe against convulsions: Earth worms, wash them well in white wine to cleanse them, but not so they die in the wine. Dry them and reduce them to powder. Add grains of amber grease to perfume the powder and to make the medicine more efficacious. The dose is from a gram to a dram and a half in any convenient liquor.

* A Diet Drink: “Red Sage, brocklime & Water cresses, rhubarb 2 oz, four Seville oranges. Slice the oranges and rhubarb and put all into two gallons of water. Let it work four or five days and drink about a pint every day or more, you may drink it upon meals.”