leechcraft

noun

1. (historical, uncountable, usually)The art or practice of healing or medicine.

   “The course of his adventures at length conducted him to Scotland, where he followed his leechcraft with similar success.”

   “The earliest was Apollo, and his son Aesculapius, and Asclepios; and Asclepios was uncle of Hippocrates ; these four earliest invented the building up of leechcrafts about fifteen hundred years after Noah's flood in the days of Artaxerxes, who was king of the Persians; [...]”

   “Our villain, who may or may not be 'Dr James', knows his Latin but not - if I may so phrase it - his leechcraft."”

   “The use of vapour baths ('stone baths') and the smoke of certain herbs to drive out spirits of disease in animals and humans is well-attested in Germanic folklore and leechcraft, though, and might be compared with the use of steam and steam-baths typical of classical medicine, the Christian ritual of burning away the ashes of embers of sin [...]”

   “According to Geoffrey and Layamon it is through his “leechcraft” that he is able to make Uther look like Gorlois.”

2. (uncountable, usually)The skill or expertise of a physician, medical knowledge; medical attendance.

   “Smitten with apprehension, I crawled unto the cell of one of the brethren, renowned for his leechcraft; [...]”

   “She had long ago accepted his disapproval, but she had perfect trust in him and his leechcraft as she had had at Hugh's bedside in Bordeaux.”

   “He proposed that Olav Audunsson should move down to his house and submit himself to his leechcraft.”