196 Chh Jedburgh Pears, by Mr. James Tate. 



market gardener took a cartload of Worrycarles across the 

 Border to a fair at Wooler, and the country people readily 

 purchased the Jedburgh Pears, but as the honest burgher 

 trotted homeward in the evening he was pelted all along the 

 road by the disgusted purchasers, who had tried in vain to 

 masticate the hard knots of pears. Mr. Deans, nursery and 

 seedsman, relates that his father once had a large quantity 

 of the Worrycarle Pear in his possession, which he laid past 

 in a corner of the stable, and there they lay for twelve- 

 months without any apparent change ; their dusky-green 

 colour being nearly as fresh as when they were taken from 

 the tree. As they continued hard and insipid, he thought 

 of boiling them, after which they became very eatable, and, 

 as Mr Deans says, "as sweet as honey." This seems to 

 confirm the idea that the monks used the pears as a staple 

 article of food, just as we now use turnips and potatoes ; 

 and for that reason they chose a kind which was sure to 

 produce a crop even in the worst of seasons. Thus they 

 would be valuable articles of food at a time when the means 

 of subsistence were not over-abundant. 



Another Pear that nobody now cares to cultivate, but 

 that grows in great abundance and never fails a crop, is the 

 Warden, or Monk's Pear. Like the Worrycarle, the Warden 

 used to grow in great abundance at Jedburgh, and seems to 

 have been much used, as " Warden pies " are mentioned in 

 history as common articles of diet. It is said that in the 

 beginning of this century, when carriages were generally 

 performed on the backs of horses, the Newcastle carrier 

 kept five horses constantly employed for one season, carry- 

 ing to Newcastle pears of the White W'arden, the produce 

 of one orchard alone, and that not the largest in the town. 

 The Grey Warden is a coarse and harsh pear; but the White 

 Warden is of more value, as it often bears a good crop when 

 other sorts fail, and in a good season is not only large and 

 handsome but really of good quality, being mellow and 

 and pleasant tasted when pared. It possesses the quality of 

 never chilling the mouth when eaten in cold weather, like 

 the Achan and other juicy pears. In the Lady's Yard, a 

 garden not far from the Abbey, and called in old title-deeds 

 •' the Convent yards of the Monastery," are two specimens 

 of Warden trees which are worthy of notice. One of them 

 is near the house of Mr. William Hilson, manufacturer, who, 

 in the spirit of a true lover of Nature, has taken precau- 



