Memorandum that John the Yeoman of Nicholas the Fruiterer on Tuesday next before the feast of All [Saints?] led a certain horse-load of fruit from Cambhus, where the ship .... to the Castle of Berwyk. First 900 " Calluewell " pears, price of the hundred 4s. [and with] the same load 500 "pas pucell," price of the hundred 2s. In paner (paniers?) and cords 8d. In the hire of the horse and expenses of the same and of one man for four days 3s. 6d. Also on Wednesday next before the feast of Saint Edmund the king from the town of Berwyk to [the [Castle] 700 Regul' pears, price of the hundred 3s.—also 300 costard apples, price of the hundred I2d......In porterage 1/2d.

Sent to the Lord the King at Bernwell, on Monday next after Palm Sunday, 800 and a-half of Regul' pears, price of the hundred 10d. also 900 apples, price of the hundred 3d. Also 1200 " Chasteyns " [price] of the hundred 2d. In paniers and cords 6d. In the hire of one horse and expenses of the same, and of one groom going and returning 2s. 1d. sum 13s. 11d. proved......

Sent to the Lord the King by Stephen Mewe on Friday after the Lord's Epiphany, 1700 Regul' pears, price of the hundred 10d. Also 1400 and a-half of " Martin " pears, price of the hundred 8d. Also 700, price of the hundred 3d. . ..

Sent to the Lord the King in the North parts, 4500 " dieyes" (or dreyes ?) pears, price of the hundred 3d. also 1200 " sorell" pears. . ..

Sent to the Lord the King at York . . . 6000 " gold knopes " pears, price of the hundred 2d. also 5000 " Chyrfoll" pears. . ..

The fruit was supplied to Edward I. at Newcastle, York, Pontefract, Berwick, and various places in the North. This date was the commencement of the wars with Scotland, at the time of Bruce and Baliol, when Edward held his parliament at Newcastle, and then at Berwick. It is curious to think that such great events should be the means of revealing the names of the best known pears of the per10d. We still find most of the S. Rule or " Regul pears," as they are written in this account, and they are bought in quantities, as in the earlier bills, the cost being usually 3s. per hundred, but sometimes only 10d. for the same amount. The pears which come next after the " Regul," in the frequency of the entries and quantities, are the "Calluewell" or " Calwell," and the "pas pucell" or " pase pucell," and we also find " Martins "; all these four sorts being also found in the Earl of Lincoln's accounts, the prices varying from 4s. to 8d. per hundred. Besides these, there occur " Dieyes " (or dreyes), " sorell," " chyrfoll," and "gold knopes" pears—also apples, quinces, called " coynes," chestnuts, " chasteynes," and " great nuts." The only kind of apple specially noticed is the Costard. The name of this variety, which was the most popular of apples for many centuries, has been preserved in the word " costermonger," originally a seller of this fruit. At Oxford, in 1296, the Costard apple was sold for 1s. per hundred, and the price of twenty-nine Costard apple-trees, in 1325, was 3s.* It is spoken of by early writers as a distinct fruit, in the same way as Wardons and pears. Grosseteste mentions them as " apples and Costards." † Another popular variety of apple was the Pearmain. At an early date we find it being used for cider. In the sixth year of King John a certain Robert de Evermere held the lordship of Runham in the Hundred of East Flegg, in Norfolk, by petty serjeanty, by the payment of two hundred Pearmains and four hogsheads (modios) of wine, made of Pearmains, into the Exchequer, on the feast of St. Michael yearly.‡ These were still being paid annually in the ninth year of Edward II. One other kind of pear, the " Janettar," is noted in one of the Wardrobe accounts in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Henry III., being bought with " sorells " and " cailloels" from "John the Fruiterer of London." *

* " Item le VIme iour de May a la Tour de Londres pour iic. de poumes iis. esterlins et pour ic.de poires ii s. esterlins et pour iii c. de nois vid. esterlins."—Exchequer Q.R. Miscellanea, 481/40.

† Extract from Exchequer. Treasury of the Receipt Miscellanea, 49/24. 20-21 Edward I.

* Thorold Rogers, Hist, of Agricultural Prices.

† Sloane MS. 686. " Tretyse off Housbandry that Mayster Groshede made".

‡ Blomefield, Hist. of Norfolk. Vol. V.,p. 1378. Ed. 1775.

Besides these fruits, which appear to have been common,† there were a few choicer sorts, such as cherries, mulberries, medlars, and even peaches. If proof were needed that this latter fruit was to be had in England, we have it in the fact that King John, at Newark, in the midst of his despair and disappointment, hastened his end by a surfeit of peaches and ale. ‡

The various accounts which have been quoted, although tedious, there being so much sameness in them, are nearly the only trustworthy sources of information about the fruits and gardens of this per10d. To supply such large quantities of fruit, there must have been extensive orchards. For although a few may have come from abroad, it is impossible to imagine that the fruiterer to the king procured the thousands of apples and pears required for his royal master, from France. By the early part of the fourteenth century, many fine and old-established gardens and orchards must have existed in this country, and were being cultivated, not by the religious orders only, but under many secular owners of land. Gardens were being made around the various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge then coming into existence. Trinity Hall, Cambridge, had a good garden, with vines and a "herbaria," within a short time of its foundation, and Peterhouse, a few years earlier. The gardens round London have already been noticed; something further about them might be gained by searching old leases. The following sample gives some idea of the number of gardens in one part of London. It is a lease, dated 1375,§ for " A garden situate in Tower Ward, near the city wall, which John Seoh lately held: being between the garden which Geoffery Puppe holds on the North side, and the garden which William Lambourne holds on the South." There is no better proof of this great increase, than a discussion which took place between the gardeners in and near London and the Lord Mayor with regard to the locality in which they were allowed to sell the produce of their gardens.

* Exchequer Q. R. Ancient Miscell. Wardrobe and Household Account. 1/22. R. O.

† Pipe Roll (printed 1884, Vol. I.), 5th Henry II., 3s. for chestnuts (castanear) sent to the Queen at Salisbury. ‡ Chronicle of Roger of Wendover. § Letter Book. H. F. XIII. 49 Ed. III.