Lant
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Lant is aged urine. Lant had many uses in pre-industrial households. Most often, it was used for cleaning floors. It was effective because of the ammonium content. According to early housekeeping guides bedpans would be collected by one of the younger male servants and put away for aging before use. When partly fermented, the lant is mildly caustic and can be used in the laundry or the mop-bucket. Lant was also recommended to freshen the breath, to flavor ale (as in "lanted-" or "double-lanted ale") and to glaze hard pastries. In larger cottage industries, lant was used in wool-processing and as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder. In times of urgent need and in districts where these were the chief industries, the whole town was expected to contribute to its supply.

"To leint ale, to put urine into it to make it strong."
John Ray's North Country Words, 1691
"Lant. Stale urine. It was preserved in a tank and having been mixed with lime used for dressing wheat before it was sown to keep the birds from picking up the seeds."
-Sidney Addys Glossary of Sheffield Words 1888

Last edited by abdullahcohn (Sat 03 Mar 07 12:32pm)