pennyroyal

plural pennyroyals · alternative penny royal

1. Mentha pulegium, a plant of the mint family, formerly much used in various medicinal treatments and as a flea repellent.

   Dioscorides says that Pennyroyal makes thin, tough phlegm, warms the coldness of any part whereto it is applied, and digests raw or corrupt matter.

   1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 216

   1 more example

   I'm on warm milk and laxatives / Cherry-flavored antacids / Sit and drink Pennyroyal tea / Distill the life that's inside of me / Sit and drink Pennyroyal tea / I'm anemic royalty

   1993, “Pennyroyal Tea”, in In Utero, performed by Nirvana

   Synonyms: European pennyroyal, pennyrile, pudding grass, mosquito plant, squaw mint

2. obsoleteentertainmentA traditional old well-known song, especially a spiritual folksong.

   However, three or four of the old "pennyroyals" seem to have stood the test of time.

   1910 October, The Brown Alumni Monthly, volume 11, page 74

   4 more examples

   Offenbach and the old college airs, song and dance tunes and pennyroyals, formed the staples for the introduction of hits on manners and times.

   1878 December, “He Playing She”, in The Elocutionist's Journal, number 22, page 4

   The singing in the schoolhouse was more like that of one of the old-fashioned, large Yankee families gathered round the hearthstone and singing "pennyroyals" Sunday nights.

   1890 October 6, Arthur A. Putnam, “Recollections of the Church Choirs of North Danvers”, in Historic Collections of the Danvers Society

   The sort of tune […] variously denominated "gospel song", "spiritual song", "pennyroyal",

   1905, Methodist Review, volume 87

   Asking his subscribers to send him "old pennyroyal tunes" and "popular airs," he received many contributions from unknown personages, such as "a Shermantown friend," a "Mr. A. V. Parker," a "Mr. R. H. Williams" of Westmoreland, and a "Brother Robbins."

   1987, Paul Gaarder Kaatrud, Revivalism and the Popular Spiritual Song in Mid-nineteenth Century America: 1830-1870

1. A locality in the Shire of Colac Otway and the Surf Coast Shire, south western Victoria, Australia