Old Bottle Found - Sable House Garden - Westeros, Sable House and Milk of the Poppy

Immanuel strikes again! He found this small bottle in the garden of Sable House.

I don't know the exact age of the bottle.  It might be from the late 1890's to the early 1900's.  There are air bubbles in the glass, this is a sign of age.

Westeros?  

One of the fictional continents, in the series "Game of Thrones"

Map depicting kingdoms - Continent of Westeros

Thabana/Sable House

Thabana/Sable House was built in 1902 for the Marx family (Mr  Marx was a Randlord). It has an impressive wooden staircase with stained-glass windows.  It is currently used as a Hostel for Jeppe High School for Boys.

Interesting coincidence

Thabana - Sesotho for 'the little hill'.  The current Head of Boarding and the Head of Sable House is Mr Bryan Hillock.  

Hillock Name Meaning

English and Scottish: topographic name for someone living on a small hill, Middle English hilloc, hillok.

Sable House and garden - Jeppe High School for Boys

What does Westeros and Sable House have in common?

Answer: Milk of the poppy

The Lords of Westeros and the RandLords of Sable/Thabana House all used "milk of the poppy" at some stage while living there.

Randlords

'Capitalists who controlled the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa in its pioneer phase from the 1870s up to World War I)'

MILK OF THE POPPY = LAUDANUM

'Laudanum is a tincture (elixir) of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum Linnaeus) in alcohol (ethanol).'

A poppy seedhead, scored so that the milk drips from it.

If you watched the series 'Game of Thrones', you will remember grand Maester Pycelle treating Jon Arryn's fatal illness with milk of the poppy.

Quotes

The maester poured a slow trickle down his throat. Tyrion swallowed, scarcely tasting. Too late, he realized the liquid was milk of the poppy. By the time the maester removed the funnel from his mouth, he was already spiralling back to sleep.

—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister

'Called the ‘aspirin of the nineteenth century,’ laudanum was a popular painkiller and relaxant used by the 'Victorians'.  Laudanum was their favourite drug.  Recommended for all sorts of ailments including coughs, rheumatism, ‘women’s troubles’ and also, perhaps most disturbingly, as a soporific for babies and young children. And as twenty or twenty-five drops of laudanum could be bought for just a penny, it was also affordable.'

I found this photograph online (antique bottle of Laudanum with a paper label) 

 

In Victorian times they gave babies Opium!!!

Vintage advertising for Laudanum

I wonder how many children Mr Marx had?

Sources:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-laudanum-opium-bottle-from-grainger

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-small-laudanum-opium-bottle-491961255

https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Milk_of_the_poppy

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Milk_of_the_poppy

https://www.jeppeboys.co.za/about-us/history/

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Laudanum-is-a-mixture-of-opium-and-alcohol-It-was-very-widely-used-as-can-be-seen-in_fig15_331609126

http://victorian-era.org/laudanum-addiction-in-victorian-times.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum

https://www.vintagehairstyling.com/bobbypinblog/2011/12/handkerchief-history.html

https://themusaeum.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/the-geography-of-game-of-thrones/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randlord

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Opium-in-Victorian-Britain/

https://za.pinterest.com/pin/265782815481056671/

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/saturday-star-south-africa/20120324/282540130295662

https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=hillock#:~:text=English%20and%20Scottish%3A%20topographic%20name,%2C%20Middle%20English%20hilloc%2C%20hillok.