IRIS TRIBE 231 



producing it can hardly be called a naturalized, and is certainly not a truly 

 ■wild flower of Britain ; and it occurs chiefly in the meadows aljout Saffron 

 Walden in Essex. This town received its name from the culture there of 

 this plant. It is believed to have been introduced to Walden in the time of 

 Edward III. ; and to this day it is planted in the fields of the neighbourhood, 

 though far less extensively than in former times. In Norden's " Description 

 of Essex," which was dedicated to Cecil, Lord Burleigh, and which has been 

 reprinted by the Camden Society, we find the author remarking : " About the 

 town of Walden groweth great stores of saffron, whose nature in yielding 

 her fruit is verie strange, and bindeth the labourer to great travaile and 

 diligence ; and yet, at length, yealdeth no small advantage to recomforte 

 him agayne." He adds, that the " towne standeth muche upon saffron, 

 whereof much might be spoken concerning the secrets of the nature thereof." 

 In the present time, saffron is in this country used chiefly as a colouring 

 agent, though it is one of the plants prescribed by the homoeopathic physician ; 

 but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was considered a remedy 

 for innumerable complaints. Lord Bacon told how the syrups of dried roses, 

 saffron, and apples were useful to "procure quiet sleep," and recommends 

 that " some pills, or a small draught of these things, should be used 

 familiarly." " It is," says an old herbalist, referring to saffron, " an herb of 

 the Sun, and under the Lion, and therefore you need not demand a reason 

 why it strengthens the heart so exceedingly. Let not above ten grains be 

 given at one time, for the Sun, which is the fountain of light, may dazzle the 

 eyes, and make them blind ; a cordial being taken in an immoderate quantity, 

 hurts the heart instead of helping it." The old physician was apparently 

 right ; for saffron has narcotic properties, when taken too largely, and is 

 said to blister the skin, and to cause headache, blindness, and delirium. 

 Dr. Hamilton quotes Borellus as affirming that headache and debility were 

 produced by remaining some time in a room where there was much saffron ; 

 other medical Avriters say that it inclines persons to apoplexy ; and a 

 German medical writer records an instance in which the vapour of saffron 

 proved fatal to a man who inhaled it. It is still a drug in high repute in 

 Asiatic countries ; and its Arabic name, Z'afaran, and the Moorish terms, 

 Azafran and Safra, seem to point to its Eastern origin ; while it is called by 

 very similar names throughout Europe. Old tradition tells that a pilgrim, 

 wishing to benefit his native country, brought the root hither, concealed in 

 the hollow of his palmer's staff ; "for if," says Hakluyt, "he had been taken, 

 by the law of the country from whence he came, he had died for the fact." 



We find saffron referred to in the Song of Solomon as a valuable product ; 

 and a dish called by Apicius, Juscellum, and by our Saxon ancestors Jusselle, 

 is said by Mr. Albert Way to have been a compound of eggs and grated 

 bread with saffron and sage. In ancient Greece and Rome, as in later years 

 in this land, it appeared continually in the dishes of luxury. In the "Forme 

 of Cury," of the time of Richard III., in the " NorthumlDcrland Household 

 Book," and other old records, it receives mention. Shakspere tells of 

 " saffron to colour the warden pies ;" and many a pen of those times describes 

 its uses in " Lent soups," sauces, and dishes ; while one says, " without saffron 

 we cannot have well-cooked peas." The oldest work on diet, which has been 



