46 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. 



Saffron was used in cookery in astonishing quantities, and the 

 price paid for it was very high, from ten to twenty shilhngs 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 in Essex, Saffron Walden. The 

 beds of saffron required considerable care. John Gardener says 

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

 thay schal here." 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.^ Jolm 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 

 Pt'rcely 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 wtou3t eny blame 



May for somer ys al the best 



July for eruystf ys the nexst 



Novembr' for wyntcr mote the thyrde be 



Mars for lent so mote y thej 

 * « * 



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 colcwortes." — Tuvncr' s Lihelhts , 1538. 

 ■|- =; liai'vest. X =^ ^^ '""y ^ tJii'ive, 



