8 OUR COMMON FETJITS. 



varieties were probably introduced from Normandy and 

 other parts of the Continent, though little information on 

 the subject is to be gathered from early writers on fruit 

 cultivation ; but the oldest existing variety on record in 

 England is that which Phillips apostrophizes as 



"the fair Pearmaine, 

 Tempered, like comeliest nymph, with white aud red." 



a tenure in the county of Norfolk, dated A.D. 1200, 

 having been held by the yearly payments of " two hun- 

 dred Pear-maines and four hogsheads of Pear-maine 

 cyder." The derivation of this name, according to Hogg, 

 is similar to that of Charlemagne (sometimes written 

 Charlemaine), meaning, therefore, Pyrus magnus, or the 

 great pear-apple, the shape bearing some resemblance to 

 that of a pear. By the time of Henry III., "Worcester 

 had become famous for its fruit-trees, and cyder orchards 

 in Herefordshire date from the days of Henry VIII. ; 

 when also, as Fuller informs us, one Leonard Maschal 

 brought " pippins " from over sea, and planted them at 

 Plumstead in Sussex ; while so important had their culture 

 become, that in the 37th year of the same king the bark- 

 ing of apple-trees was declared to be felony. 



It was not, however, till the time of Charles I. that 

 " orcharding," as it was called, became general through- 

 out this country, and the 17th century may be looked on 

 as the Golden Age of apples. Evelyn published an ap- 

 pendix to his Sylva, under the title of " Pomona," which 

 did much to bring the subject under public attention ; 

 and by the exertions of the first Lord Scudamore, Here- 

 fordshire in particular became, as it has been expressed, 

 " one entire orchard." This gentleman, being in the com- 

 pany of the Duke of Buckingham when he was assassi- 

 nated by Eelton, received such a shock from witnessing 

 this catastrophe, that he retired into private life and de- 

 voted all his energies to the culture of fruit. That kind 

 to which he gave most attention was a variety believed to 

 have originated during the 17th century, and which was 

 at first called the " Scudamore Crab," but afterwards the 

 " Eedstreak." It was Evelyn's favourite also ; and, indeed, 



