The only kinds of fruits named in the Countess of Leicester's Expenses,
are apples and pears: three hundred of the latter were purchased at
Canterbury; probably from the gardens of the monks. It is believed,
however, that few other sorts were generally grown in England before the
latter end of the fifteenth century; although Matthew Paris, describing
the bad season of 1257, observes that "apples were scarce, and pears
scarcer, while quinces, vegetables, cherries, plums, and all
shell-fruits, were entirely destroyed." These shell-fruits were probably
the common hazel-nut, walnuts, and perhaps chestnuts: in 1256, the
Sheriffs of London were ordered to buy two thousand chestnuts for the
King's use. In the Wardrobe Book of the 14th of Edward the First, before
quoted, we find the bill of Nicholas, the royal fruiterer, in which the
only fruits mentioned are pears, apples, quinces, medlars, and nuts. The
supply of these, from Whitsuntide to November, cost 21_l_. 14_s_.
1-1/2_d_. This apparent scarcity of indigenous fruits naturally leads to
the inquiry, what foreign kinds besides those included in the term
spicery, such as almonds, dates, figs, and raisins, were imported into
England in this and the following century? In the time of John and of
Henry the Third, Rochelle was celebrated for its pears and conger eels:
the Sheriffs of London purchased a hundred of the former for Henry, in
1223.
In the 18th of Edward the First, a large Spanish ship came to
Portsmouth; out of the cargo of which the Queen bought one frail of
Seville figs, one frail of raisins or grapes, one bale of dates, and two
hundred and thirty pomegranates, fifteen citrons, and seven ORANGES. The
last item is important, as Le Grand d'Aussy could not trace the orange
in France to an earlier date than 1333; here we find it known in England
in 1290; and it is probable that this was not its first appearance. The
marriage of Edward with Eleanor of Castile naturally led to a greater
intercourse with Spain, and, consequently, to the introduction of other
articles of Spanish produce than the leather of Cordova, olive-oil, and
rice, which had previously been the principal imports from that fertile
country, through the medium of the merchants of Bayonne and Bordeaux. It
is to be regretted that the series of Wardrobe Books is incomplete, as
much additional information on this point might have been derived from
them. At all events it appears certain that Europe is indebted to the
Arab conquerors of Spain for the introduction of the orange, and not to
the Portuguese, who are said to have brought it from China. An English
dessert in the thirteenth century must, it is clear, have been composed
chiefly of dried and preserved fruits--dates, figs, apples, pears, nuts,
and the still common dish of almonds and raisins.
The garden of the Earl of Lincoln, now in the midst of one of the most
densely-peopled quarters of London, was highly kept long before the
Earl's mansion became an Inn of Court. His Lordship's bailiff's
accounts, in the reign of Edward I. (1295-6), show the garden to have
produced apples, pears, hedge nuts, and cherries, sufficient for the
Earl's table, and to yield by sale in one year, 135_l_., modern
currency. The vegetables grown were beans, onions, garlick, leeks; hemp
was grown; the cuttings of the vines were much prized; of pear-trees
there were several varieties: the only flowers named are roses. In the
previous reign (Henry III.) a considerable quantity was cultivated as
gardens within the walls of the metropolis; and we read, from time to
time, in the coroners' rolls, of mortal accidents which befel youths
attempting to steal apples in the orchards of Paternoster Row and Ivy
Lane, almost in the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral.