188 HISTORY OF FRUITS. 



now flourishing in the garden of the late Sir Joseph 



Banks. 



Historians and antiquaries appear remiss in not ac- 

 counting for the total neglect of the British vineyards ; 

 but we may conclude, that as our intercourse increased 

 with the continent, it was found more advantageous to 

 import wine than to depend on the product of our own 

 crop, which must have been an uncertain one, from the 

 variableness of our climate. Again, the low price of fo- 

 reign wines must have contributed much to the neglect of 

 making it in England ; as in the year 1342, according to 

 Stow, the price of Gascon wines in London was fourpence, 

 and that of Rhenish, sixpence per gallon ; and, in 1389, 

 the price of foreign wine was only twenty shillings per 

 tun, for the best sort, and thirteen shillings and fourpence 

 for the second quality, which was about three halfpence 

 per dozen. 



French wines would naturally be brought to this coun- 

 try in considerable quantities at the time we had so much 

 command of that kingdom; and this would also operate to 

 the neglect of our own vineyards. The advancement of 

 agriculture must likewise have contributed to their being 

 relinquished. 



It is stated by several authors, that foreign wines were 

 sold by apothecaries only, as a cordial, in the year 1300. 

 I am of opinion, that it was Portugal wine only which the 

 apothecaries sold, and not foreign wine in general ; for 

 about that time we find that the merchants of Gascoin 

 were settled in London in great numbers ; and that in the 

 year 1317, an order was made to this effect, " That mer- 

 chants, who are not of the freedom of the city, are not to 

 sell, by retail, wines or other wares, within the city or 

 suburbs. Witness the King, at York, the eighth day 

 of June." 



The suppression of all the monasteries in England must 





