stillwoman/stillroom

[Joan C Biella]

As a reader of fantasy, I would bet that a "stillwoman" deals with the sorts of things dealt with in a "stillroom," defined by Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary (1966) as "the room in a middle-class home where cakes, preserves and liqueurs were kept, where bread and butter, tea and coffee were prepared."

http://www.dickensmuseum.com/vtour/basement/stillroom.php
This site remarks: "The Still Room was originally used for distilling perfumes and cordials."

Googling "stillroom" shows that the distilling of perfumes, lotions, and herbal concoctions of all kinds is associated with this room.

"Stillwoman" is probably equivalent, more or less, to the generic fantasy "herbwoman."

Joan Biella
Library of Congress

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