630 ON THE PRICE OF FOREIGN PRODUCE. 



2*., and another at is. iod. In 1285 one pound is bought at 

 9^> 43 pounds at is. The same personage buys a c gurda' d 

 in 1284 for j?3 IDJ., another in 1285 at j^i, and two more 

 in the same year at <?, y. each. A box of gingerbread is 

 bought in London by Simon de Montfort's countess in 1264 

 for 2J. 4< Gingerbread was considered a fitting present for 

 a great person. Thus the fellows of Merton sent the Countess 

 Ela (of Salisbury) a present of gingerbread, purchased for 4* . 2^., 

 in the last year of her life. (vol. ii. p. 568. ii.) 



Ginger comfits are quoted in the 1334 schedule of the Merton 

 College spices. They were probably sugar flavoured with 

 ginger. This list of spices in the possession of the College is 

 written on a piece of paper made of linen rags, the earliest 

 unquestionable specimen perhaps of this fabric in existence. 

 The spices were purchased, probably in London, by one Segrave, 

 in order to furnish a great feast at Elham in Kent. Unfor- 

 tunately the Elham roll for this year is lost, or else, perhaps, 

 we should be able to discover the origin of so great an 

 expense. 



I am not certain whether the c dyazingiber' of the Wardrobe 

 account for 1 264 is the same as ginger ; if so, the King must 

 have bought the article much cheaper than his sister the 

 Countess did. 



Among spices of doubtful meaning may be reckoned c ame- 

 doun,' 2 \ Ibs. of which are bought at Elham in 1306, (this, to 

 guess from the name, is some preparation of almonds) ; c pulvis 

 de Galent,' bought in the same year and at the same place 

 at y. j 'confection,' purchased by the monks of Boxley in 1360, 

 at is. 4^.; and c stomaticon,' bought in 1264 for the King's use, 

 at icd. 



SPICES OF EUROPEAN GROWTH. Of these the commonest is 



d The Glossaries give no interpretation of this term. An adjective, ' gurdus,' is found 

 in Quinctilian, i. 5. 57, said by him to be of Spanish origin, and used as a slang term for 

 a blockhead. It seems that this word, according to Ducange, has been adopted in low 

 Latin, and has passed by the Romance language into the French ' goussant.' The word 

 still exists in the Spanish 'gordo.' If this be the origin of ' gurda,' it may mean a lump 



