TURNIP. |65 



mixed with suet or lard, as a good cataplasm 



for the gout and pain in the joints. 



From the remarks of Gerard it would ap- 

 pear, that turnips were not much grown in 

 his time, except for domestic- purposes. He 

 says of this root, " It groweth in fields and 

 diuers vineyards, or hoppe-gardens, in most 

 places of England. The small turnep grow- 

 eth by a village neere London, (called Hack- 

 ney,) in a sandie ground, and are brought to 

 the Crosse in Cheapside by the women of 

 that village to be sold, and are the best that 

 euer I tasted. The bulbus or knobbed roote, 

 which is properly called rapum or turnep, 

 and hath given the name to the plant, is many 

 times eaten raw, especially of the poor peo- 

 ple in Wales, but most commonly boiled." 



Turnips were also eaten either baked or 

 roasted in the ashes, in the time of Henry 

 the Eighth ; and the young shoots were used 

 as a spring salad in those days, although 

 they were sometimes boiled as at present. 



The use of turnips at our modem tables 

 is principally with boiled meats : tbey arc 

 esteemed in broths, and make one of our 

 best white soups. In France we often met 

 with them served up with ducks, to which 

 they make an excellent sauce. Tbis root i- 



