THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE APPLE AND PEAR. 
19 
The fruiterers bills of Edward I. (1292) also enumerate the following pears : Martins , 
Dreyes , Sorells, Gold-Knobs ( Gold-Knopes ) and Cheysills. By their price, St. Regie and Passe 
Pucelle pears seem to have been the most esteemed. They cost from \od. to 3^. per 100 ; Martins 
sold at 8d. and Caillou , at is. per 100 ; the rest at 2 d. or 3d. per 100. 
To the above list must be added one of native origin, the War don pear. It was raised by 
the Cistercian monks of Wardon, in Bedfordshire, a foundation of the twelfth Century. It was a 
baking pear of great repute, and supplied the contents of the celebrated" Wardon pies.” 
“ The Canon sighed, but rousing cried, I answer to thy call, 
And a “ Warden pie's” a dainty dish to mortify withal 
Barham—Nell Cook , “Ingoldsby Legends .” 
Wardon pies were supposed at one time erroneously to be made of venison and other meats. 
From the celebrity of these pears, the term “Wardens” or “Wardens” came into common 
use for all kinds of large baking pears, which required keeping. In an old account book of the 
household expenses of Henry VIII. remaining in the Exchequer, there are the following items 
among - others of the same character. 
V w. 
“ For Medlars and Wardens . o 3 4 
Item to a woman who guff the Kyng pears ” ... o o 2 
Lawson ( New Orchard and Garden , 1597) says “hard winter fruit and Wardons are not fit 
to gather until some time after Michaelmas,” and the Husbandman’s Fruitful Orchard, of about the 
same date says, “Wardons are to be gathered, carried, packed, and laid as winter pears are.” The 
sort now known as Uvedales Wardon , or Uvedales St. Germain is thought to be an improvement 
on this pear. The Arms of Wardon Abbey were “ar: three Wardon pears, or: two and one,” 
but the counter seal appended to the Deed of Surrender, preserved among the “Augmentation 
Records' bears the Abbatial Arms, namely, “ a demicrosier between three Wardon pears.”—It is 
dated December 4th, 29th Henry viii. (1538). 
Worcestershire has been celebrated for its pear orchards for a very long time ; and, indeed, 
so characteristic of the County is the pear tree, that Drayton in his poetical marshalling of the 
troops of Henry V. at the Battle of Agincourt, makes the Worcestershire men display it, as their 
standard :— 
“ Worcester a pear tree laden with its fruit.” 
Drayton. 
An achievement on the Arms of the City of Worcester is “ Argent , a fess between three 
pears sable.” The story goes that when Queen Elizabeth visited Worcester in August, 1575, the 
City authorities caused a pear tree heavily laden with fruit to be taken from a garden and planted 
at the gate by which her Majesty was to enter the City. The Oueen, it is said, noticed the tree 
with admiration, and either directed or permitted those pears to be added to the City Arms ; but 
why they are figured “ sable” instead of “ proper,” does not appear. It is scarcely probable that 
the pears the Queen saw could have been black. It is much more likely that the present pear 
called “ Black Worcester ,” a large iron hearted stewing pear (.Parkinson s Warden, a Pound pear ) 
