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 Veter 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/ 1 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 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 w t ou3t eny blame , 
May for somer ys al the best 
July for eruyst 2 ys the nexst 
Novembr’ for wynt ev mote the thyrde be 
Mars for lent so mote y the 3 
* * * * 
And so fro moneth to moneth 
Thu sehalt bryng ’thy wurtys forthe.” 
1 “ Brassica . . . wortes aut cole aut colewortes ” (Turner’s Libellus, 
I 53 8 )- 
2 —harvest. 3 —so may I thrive . 
