rHlRTEEXTH CKXTrRV. 30 



with "sorells" and " cailloels " from "John the Fruiterer of 

 London." * 



Besides these fruits, which appear to have been common, t 

 there were a few choicer sorts, such as cherries, mulberries, 

 medlars, and even peaches. If proof were needed that this latter 

 fruit was to be had in England, we have it in the fact that King- 

 John, at Newark, in the midst of his despair and disappointment, 

 hastened his end by a surfeit of peaches and ale. J 



The various accounts which have been quoted, although 

 tedious, there being so much sameness in them, are nearly the 

 only trustworthy sources of information about the fruits and 

 gardens of this period. To supply such large quantities of fruit, 

 there must have been extensive orchards. For although a few 

 may have come from abroad, it is impossible to imagine that the 

 fruiterer to the king procured the thousands of apples and pears 

 required for his ro}al master, from France. By the early part of 

 the fourteenth century, many fine and old-established gardens 

 and orchards must have existed in this country, and were being 

 cultivated, not by the religious orders only, but under many 

 secular owners of land. Gardens were being made around the 

 various colleges at Oxford and Cambridge then coming into 

 existence. Trinity Hall, Cambridge, had a good garden, with 

 vines and a " herbaria," within a short time of its foundation, 

 and Peterhouse, a few years earlier. The gardens round 

 London have already been noticed ; something further about 

 them might be gained by searching old leases. The following 

 sample gives some idea of the number of gardens in one part of 

 London. It is a lease, dated 1375, § for " A garden situate in 

 Tower Ward, near the city wall, which John Seoh lately held : 

 being between the garden which Geoffery Puppc holds on the 

 North side, and the garden which William Lambourne holds on 

 the South." There is no better proof of this great increase, than 



* Exchequer O. R. Ancient Miscell. Wardrobe and Household Account, 

 oV. R. O. 



f Pipe Roll (printed 1S84, Vol. I.), 5th Henry H., 3s. for chestnuts 

 (castanear) sent to the Queen at Salisbury. 



% Ch)'0)iicle of Roger of Wendover. 



\ Letter Book. H. F. Xlll. ^q Vx\. HI. 



