FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES. 49 



Saffron was used in cookery in astonishing quantities, and the 

 price paid for it was very high, from ten to twenty shillings per 

 pound. It was chiefly grown in the Eastern Counties. Walsing- 

 ham, in Norfolk, was famous for its saffron in early times, and the 

 plant gave its name to the town of Saffron Walden in Essex. 

 The beds of saffron required considerable care. John Gardener 

 says the " Beddys " must be " y-made wel wyth dyng, For sothe 

 yf thay schal bere." The bulbs, he goes on to say, must be set 

 with " a dybbyl," and planted three inches deep. 



" Thay wold be sette yn the moneth of September 

 Three days by -fore seynt mary day natyuyte." 



Among the other herbs of the garden, cabbages, or kale, held a. 

 foremost place. They are spoken of as "caboges," "cabochis," 

 " caul," or " kole-plantes," and sometimes " wurtes," or " wortes," 

 stands for cabbages.* John Gardener speaks of " wortys " in 

 that sense : 



" How he schall hys sedys sowe 

 Of euery moneth he most knowe 

 Bothe of wortys and of leke 

 Ownyns and of garleke 

 Percely clarey and eke sage 

 And all other herbage." 



He devotes a paragraph of twenty-five lines to the culture of 

 these "wortys." He says they could be had all times of the year 

 by a careful succession of sowings. 



" Euery moneth hath his name 

 To set and sow w t ou3t eny blame 

 May for somer ys al the best 

 July for eruystf ys the nexst 

 Novembr' for v/ynter mote the thyrde be 

 Mars for lent so mote y the J 

 * * * 



And so fro moneth to moneth 



Thu schalt bryng 'thy wurtys forthe." 



In fifteenth century cookery books we find recipes for 

 cabbages, both in "potage" or dressed with marrow, gruel, and 

 saffron. In the lists of great banquets which have been 



* " Brassica . . . wortes aut cole aut colewortes." Turner's Libellus, 1538- 

 t = harvest. J = so may I thrive. 



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