FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES 45 



The sede wt[ith]yn wul schewe blake 

 Then thu schalt hem vp take 

 They wul be rype at the full 

 At lammasse of Peter Apostull." 



Saffron was used in cookery in astonishing quantities, and the 

 price paid for it was very high — from ten to twenty shillings per 

 pound. It was chiefly grown in the Eastern Counties. Wal- 

 singham, in Norfolk, was famous for its saffron in early times, 

 and the plant gave its name to the town of Saffron Walden, in 

 Essex. 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. 1 John 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 

 Percely clarey and eke sage 

 And all othex 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 w'ou3t eny blame 

 May for somer ys al the best 

 July for eruyst 2 ys the nexst 

 Novembr' for wyntey mote the thyrde be 

 Mars for lent so mote y the 3 



* * * * 



And so fro moneth to moneth 

 Thu schalt bryng 'thy wurtys forthe." 



1 " Brassica . . . wortes aut cole aut colewortes " (Turner's Libellus, 

 1538). 



* ^harvest. 3 —so may I thrive. 



