SAFFRON. 185 



serts in his Botanical Arrangements, " that it 

 is found about Halifax, and in a meadow near 

 the copper-mills at Derby." 



It is commonly said, that saffron was origi- 

 nally brought into England in the time of 

 Edward the Third, and that Sir Thomas 

 Smith introduced it into the neighbourhood 

 of Walden, Essex ; but we do not meet with 

 satisfactory authorities for this statement. 

 Camden observes in 1586, that the fields all 

 about Walden make a show with this plant. 

 And we find that the corporation of Walden 

 bears three saffron plants in their arms. 

 Their charter was granted in the third year 

 of Edward the Sixth, when, it is most likely, 

 their arms were also given : from this it may 

 be presumed that the town was then famous 

 for the cultivation of this plant. Dr. Mori- 

 son in 1680 states, that saffron is no where 

 better or more flourishing than in England ; 

 and Mr. Houghton in 1698 affirms, that the 

 chief place in the world for saffron is Wal- 

 den in Essex. That town was evidently 

 called Saffron Walden, from the early culti- 

 vation of this plant in that neighbourhood, 

 which was once the chief market for saffron. 

 Tusser, who resided in Essex in the reigns 

 of Mary and Elizabeth, notices it in his 



