O.E. æcern "nut," originally the mast of any forest tree, and ultimately related (via notion of "fruit of the open or unenclosed land") to O.E. æcer "open land". The sense gradually restricted in Low Ger., Scand. and Eng. to the most important of the forest produce for feeding swine, the mast of the oak tree. Spelling changed by folk etymology from oak (O.E. ác) + corn

back to top

Notes:

acorns used in times of famine to bulk out flour
a grant by Æthelweard, king of the Hwicce, to Bishop Ecgwine in 706, of an estate at Ombersley, frees it of all secular dues 'except that if the island belonging to the estate shall bring forth an unusually large crop of acorns, beech-mast (sic) sufficient for one herd of swine shall be contributed to the royal provender-rent'. This implied that the acorns/beech-mast were gathered and transported to the pigs
acorns and beech-mast are specifically mentioned in charters.

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

possibly English Oak (Quercus robor)

at Broadwater Crescent, Stevenage, a small hoard of charred acorns split down the middle were found on the floor of a Saxon hut
in 5th century charcoal from hearths, pits and ditch features at Mucking, Essex
oven fill - Victoria Street, Hereford (640-810 AD)
pit fills - St. Barnabas Hospital, Thetford (late Saxon 900-1050 AD)
occupation floors - Lloyds Bank, York (Anglo-Scandinavian 900-1100 AD)

almond

almond amigdala drupe

back to top

Season:

August - October

Culinary:

Medical:

Leechdoms recommends them to calm vomiting

Agricultural:

Etymology

c.1300, from O.Fr. almande, from V.L. *amendla, from L. amygdala, from Gk. amygdale, of unknown origin, perhaps a Sem. word

Notes:

botanically a fruit; but in culinary uses its edible seed is termed a nut
drupe - a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone containing the seed, e.g. a plum, cherry, almond, or olive
imported

Literary:

identified in the St. Gall Plan and in Charlemagne's Capitulare de Villis

Species and Find sites:

Archaeologically Prunus dulcis found 1100-1250, Bristol, Avon.

B

barley

barley bere(n/s); bæres; bærlic; beras cereal

back to top

Season:

Spring barley is planted in the Autumn for harvesting in Spring
Winter barley is planted in the Spring for harvesting in Autumn

Culinary:

milled by pounding in a hollow stone with a pestle: 'as a pestle pounds upon barley hulls' (swylce berenhula púnigendum bufan púnere)
cooked in floured bags in a cauldron with beans and bacon
commonly used in stews, brewits and soups
hulled barley (hordeum vulgare) the commonest form and may have been used for brewing ale
barley probably the main raw material for malt
'half rye and half wheat make very good bread' or 'half wheat, a quarter rye and a quarter barley, nay a third of each' - maslin bread

Medical:

Tipsana, berengebered corn, appears in a list of diseases in Aelfric's Vocabulary of the Tenth Century (see Books TW 114, 27.)
Genim rigen healm and beren 'take rye and barley straw
genim bean mela oþþe ætena - oþþe beres 'take bean meal or of oats or of barley'

Agricultural:

grown in the wetter Western and Northern counties
can be fed to ruminant animals during winter
stored in a rick, which was thatched to keep the rain off; in a bere-ærn (barn) on large estates (after c.950AD); those without ricks or barns in a pit; or in the house
Grains - barley and oats - were sown by the broadcast method, and were sometimes sown together in a mixture known as dredge
harvested in August
stored while still on the stalk
only enough threshed as was required

Etymology

O.E. bærlic, originally an adj., "of barley," from bere "barley" (from P.Gmc. *bariz, *baraz) + -lic "body, like." First element is related to O.N. barr "barley," and cognate with L. far (gen. farris) "coarse grain, meal"

Notes:

In monastic institutions special penitential bread was made from the lower grades of unsifted flour of rye, barley, oats and pulses, or a mixture of these flours.
a coomb of barley weighed 16 stones (2 hundredweight). A bad harvest was when there was not much as 3 coombs per acre of barley
wheat and barley mentioned within a charm for bewitched land

Literary:

St. Cuthbert asked for 'barley seed' (beresæd) when his first choice, wheat, did not grow
The Laws of Ine (688-726 AD) state that as barley rent 6 'weys' of barley must always be given for each labourer. A 'wey' seems to have been roughly equal to 182 lbs
At Hurstbourne Priors c. 1050 AD, the peasants were to give 'three pounds of barley as rent' (ðréo pund gauol bæres)
Rectitudines Singularum Personarum refers to the gebur's right as 23 sesters (1 sester - 2 gallons) of barley at Martinmas (Gebúr sceal syllan .xxiii. systra beres)
thirty bushels (1 bushel - 63 lbs) of barley were part of a land lease in 866 AD
stored in a bere-ærn (barn) on large estates (after c.950AD)
bread made from barley is treated contemptously in Aelfric's Metrical life of Saint Basilus, Bishop
(bere-gafole) barley-rent mentioned in Laws - the weight seems to differ between 'manors'

Species and Find sites:

impressions of barley grains found in cremation urns at Spong Hill. (Early Saxon cemetery)
Fladbury, Worcs. associated with a bread oven - Hordeum testrastichum
Sussex Street, Winchester (10th/11thc) + Hordeum nudum (naked barley)
Hamwih (Southampton) - a large sample of Hordeum vulgare with a dryer or kiln + evidence of two-row barley (Hordeum distichum). 700-900 AD in date (Mid Saxon)
Norwich Castle Bailey, Norwich - last 25 years of 11thC (Hordeum secalinum - meadow barley)
very many other sites from all periods

beech-mast béce-mæst nut

Season:

September - October

Culinary:

rich in oil and protein, could be used to make flour in famine times
Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire hams were considered superior as these pigs were fed on beech-mast which gave the meat a special nutty flavour
may have been used for oil as described by Walter de Henley in his treatise Husbandry, written in Norman French in the mid-13th cent (c. 1250 AD), when a quarter (28 lbs / 12.7kg) of nuts produced 4 gallons of oil

Medical:

Agricultural:

back to top

Notes:

the edible nuts of the beech tree, especially when lying on the ground

Literary:

A grant by Æthelweard, king of the Hwicce, to Bishop Ecgwine in 706, of an estate at Ombersley, frees it of all secular dues 'except that if the island belonging to the estate shall bring forth an unusually large crop of acorns, beech-mast (sic) sufficient for one herd of swine shall be contributed to the royal provender-rent'.
This implied that the acorns/beech-mast were gathered and transported to the pigs
acorns and beech-mast are specifically mentioned in charters.

Species and Find sites:

Fagus sylvatica (European beech) found as wood and seeds at many settlement sites throughout history

Etymology

O.E. bece, from P.Gmc. *bokjon (cf. O.N. bok, Ger. buche, M.Du. boeke "beech"), from PIE base *bhagos (cf. Gk. phegos "oak," L. fagus "beech," Rus. buzina "elder"), perhaps with a ground sense of "edible" (and connected with the root of Gk. phagein "to eat;")
and
O.E. mæst, from P.Gmc. *mastaz (cf. Du., Ger. mast "mast," O.E. verb mæsten "to fatten, feed"), perhaps from PIE *mazdo-/*maddo- "to be fat, to flow" (cf. Skt. meda "fat," Goth. mats "food,")

beech

bran syfeða cereal

Season:

Culinary:

eggs may have been preserved in bran
flour keeps better if there is less bran in it and white flour is better for making bread (the bran makes the dough 'heavy')

Medical:

Agricultural:

Etymology

c.1300, "the husk of wheat, barley, etc., separated from the flour after grinding," from Old French bren

syfeða = siftings; related to O.E. sife "sieve," from P.Gmc. *sibi (cf. M.Du. seve, Du. zeef, O.H.G. sib, Ger. sieb), of unknown origin. Related to sift. The verb is recorded from 1499.

back to top

Notes:

Literary:

Osuulf's will leaves '30 clean [loaves]' (xxx clenra), i.e. without the bran, for almsgiving a year
From Alfred's translation of Boethius: 'just as men sift meal - the meal goes through the holes and the siftings are thrown away' (swa swa mon meolo seft: ðæt meolo ðurgcrypð ælc dyrel 7 þa syfeða weorðað asyndred)

Species and Find sites:

the bran of rye and wheat found in faecal layers of Anglo-Danish York may indicate the mixed crop maslin
found in 11th c London rubbish and cess pits
found with corncockle seeds and parasite ova in fossil remains
found with parasite ova at York indicating that elements of that population ate 100% flour (flour from which nothing had been removed by sieving)
meal could be sieved then bolted through various grades of cloth to retain or exclude more or less of the bran

bran

C

cereal

Season:

Culinary:

used in black pudding/hagis, etc
eaten as gruel or porridge probably formed a significant part of the Anglo-Saxon diet
brewits could be fermented
cereal-derived flummery produced a slightly acid, solid jelly
commonly used in stews, brewits and soups

back to top

Notes:

grain size much smaller than modern varieties

Species and Find sites:

Literary:

Medical:

can become infested with flour mite which causes digestive disorders in those who eat infected foodstuffs.
ergot is a fungus disease of cereals and could produce convulsions, gangrene and abortions in humans and animals. Ergotism is also known as ignis sacer, St. Anthony's fire or erysipelas

Agricultural:

after harvesting and carting, when they were reasonably dry, sheaves were stacked outside, with heads to the centre of the rick, which was then thatched to keep the rain off, or in granaries (after 950AD)
sewn in autumn, mature in late spring or early summer, harvested mid to late summer
land suitable for growing cereals was scarcer in Anglo-Saxon times due to lack of drainage, for example in the fens
surplus cereals produced from large fields formed the basis of all wealth and power

Etymology

1832, "grass yielding edible grain," originally an adj. (1818), from Fr. céréale, from L. cerealis "of grain," originally "of Ceres," from Ceres, Roman goddess of agriculture, from PIE base *ker-, *kre- "to grow."

chestnut cistel, cisten nut

back to top

Season:

mid September - November

Notes:

Culinary:

Medical:

Leechdoms says of the Dragon arum & on sw%ce swylce grene cystel 'and in flavour like green chestnut'

Species and Find sites:

Castanea sativa wood is found at some sites
the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa aka Castanea vesca aka Castanea vulgris aka Fagus castanea) was brought here by the Romans

Literary:

an 8th century gloss (possibly written by Ælfric) gives cystel and cystbeam for castanea
MS. Cotton, Cleopatra A. III. an 11th century glossary has cistenbeam
identified in the St. Gall Monastery Plan

Agricultural:

Etymology

1570, from chesten nut (1519), from M.E. chasteine, from O.Fr. chastaigne, from L. castanea, from Gk. kastaneia, which the Greeks thought meant either "nut from Castanea" in Pontus, or "nut from Castana" in Thessaly, but probably both places are named for the trees, not the other way around, and the word is probably borrowed from a language of Asia Minor

chestnut

corn corn cereal

Season:

Culinary:

handmills consisting of two circular stones - the upper moveable with a hole near its outside edge for the handle by which it was rotated were used to grind corn. The moveable stone was the 'quern stone' (cwyrnstan).
'as one does to the corn - grinds it up - with a pilstaff' (swa mon corn deð [portige] mid pilstafe).
called 'meal' (meolu, melu) after grinding
milled corn was kept for 1 or 2 months and then made stronger, more elastic dough.

Medical:

a charm states that corn should be placed on a wound and then thrown to the chickens as a remedy

Agricultural:

had to be protected from mice, rats and other pests by the reeve and he had to pay attention to corn and sheaf so that nothing would go wrong.
corn was dried in dedicated corn-drying kilns ready for storage and to help it last 'til sowing the following year.

Etymology

"grain," O.E. corn, from P.Gmc. *kurnam "small seed," from PIE base *ger- "wear away" (O.Slav. zruno "grain," Skt. jr- "to wear down," L. granum). The sense of the O.E. word was "grain with the seed still in" rather than a particular plant. Locally understood to denote the leading crop of a district

back to top

Notes:

grinding corn was women's work and took considerable time
7 mills in Battersea that yielded 42 pounds, 9 shillings and 8 pence or corn to that value, must have produced flour for a substantial number of London bakeries
a fother of corn contained 8 thraves; a thrave = 20-24 sheaves. At Longbridge on the estates of Glastonbury after the conquest the measure of a sheaf was to put it in the mud and then pass it through the circle made by the arm whilst holding the hair. If the clothes or hair were not soiled the measure was short.
a quarter of corn (4 hundredweight) = 2 ambers or a mitta.
corn was one of the blessings asked for at the coronation of Æþelred II
Offa retained 30 ambers of unground corn from part of an estate at Westbury, Glos.
Eadred was to pay 30 ambers of corn to Rochester annually from land given him by Ealdorman Alfred (871-8).
at Hurstbourne Priors, a 10thC estate workers brought the corn to the barn as part of their services owed.
the corn from 200 acres was part of a land lease at Seckley in 866 from Burgred to Wulferd and his heir.
the church on the royal manor at Lambourne, Berks., received 2 sesters of corn at Martinmas.
when the hospital of St. Peter at York was founded (about 937 with the help of King Æþelstan) it was endowed with 1 thrave of corn from every carucate of land in the bishopric of York.

Literary:

St. Eostorwine 'threshed corn and winnowed it' (corn þærsc and þæt windwode)
Bishop Oswald assured an ealdorman at Edgar's court that among the other benefits brought about by the prayers of monks 'corn springs up more abundantly, famine and pestilence withdraw'. The nobleman was so impressed he founded Ramsay Abbey!
the laws of Æthelbert of Kent which date from the first decade of the seventh century punish the rape of a king's maiden by a fine of fifty shillings. 'If she be a grinding slave, 25 shillings compensation' (Gif hio grindende þeowa sio, xxv scillinga gebete).
Quite a few entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refer to corn shortages either through poor harvest or destruction by Vikings (from burning or being spoilt)
- (7 þæt corn eall forbærndon) 'and the corn all burnt-off'
- (hie wæron benumen ægþer ge þæs ceapes ge þæs cornes) 'they were deprived both of the cattle and the corn'
in an inventory 'fifty fothers of corn' ([he]alf hund foþre cornes) and 'three ores to Leofric of Stretham for his corn' (iii oran Leofrice at Strætham æt his corne).
Rectitudines Singularum Personarum
- states (Anan esne gebyreð to metsunge · xii · pund godes cornes . . . Ðeowan wifmen · viii · pund cornes to mete . . .) 'One serving-man be given as provisions 12 pounds of good corn . . . Unfree women 8 pounds of corn as food . . .'.
- (Berebryttan gebyreð corngebrot on haerfeste aet bernes dure · gif him his ealdorman ann 7 he hit mid getrywðana geearnoð) 'To the barnkeeper is due the corn dropped at harvest-time at the barn's door, if to him his superior grants it, and he it with dilligence earneth'. This proviso would probably stop the chicanery of obviously unnecessary spillage.
- (béd-ríp) or 'command-reaping' was the term for the reaping of corn by request. Originally the tenant came to reap corn at his lord's request: in time, it grew into a custom or duty, but its old designation béd-ríp was still used. (Eác he sceal hwíltídum geára beón on manegum weorcum to hláfordes willan, to-eácan bényrþe and bédrípe and mædmæwecte) 'Also he shall sometimes a year be in many works of lord's wish, besides service-ploughing and command-reaping and meadow-mowing'.
- One benefit of working for another was (aet cornlade) 'food for corn loading'.
- 'each geneat [had to pay] a sester of corn for church dues' (ælc heneat ænne sester cornes to cyricsceatte).
The Julius and Tiberius (left) Calendars both show a deep wicker basket presumably holding grain being carried, which was perhaps a measure as the load is being checked on a notched stick by the reeve

Species and Find sites:

Two corn-drying kilns at Victoria Street, Hereford produced 24% of oats

corn

H

hazelnut

hazelnut hæselnutu nut

Season:

September - October

Culinary:

may have been used to bulk out flour in times of famine

Medical:

Agricultural:

young hazel trees yield about a pound of nuts at 6 years old, an amount which steadily increases.

back to top

Notes:

when kept in a cool place, and not shelled, the seed should store for at least 12 months

Literary:

hæselnutu glosses Latin abelana in an 8th c Kentish glossary.

Species and Find sites:

Corylus avellana (Hazel) seeds and wood very abundant at many Anglo-Saxon sites nationwide

Etymology

O.E. hæsl, from P.Gmc. *khasalaz (cf. O.N. hasl, M.Du. hasel, Ger. hasel), from PIE *koslos (cf. L. corulus, O.Ir. coll "hazel").
and
"hard seed," O.E. hnutu, from P.Gmc. *khnut- (cf. O.N. hnot, Du. noot, O.H.G. hnuz, Ger. nuß "nut"), from PIE *knu- "lump"

hip heópe

back to top

Season:

Culinary:

Medical:

Genim brér ðe hiópan on weaxaþ 'take a briar on which hips grow'

Agricultural:

Etymology:

"seed pod" (especially of wild rose), a 16c. alteration of Middle English hepe, from Old English heope, hiope "seed vessel of the wild rose," from Proto-Germanic *hiup- (source also of dialectal Norwegian hjupa, Old Saxon hiopo, Dutch joop, Old High German hiafo, dialectal German Hiefe, Old English hiopa "briar, bramble"), of unknown origin.

Notes:

The Roman naturalist Pliny attributed the name 'dog rose' to a belief that the plant's root could cure the bite of a mad dog.

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Rosa canina (dog rose)
- Full St., Derby (later 11thc.) pit fill
- Silchester, nr Reading (c. 5AD - c. 450AD) wel;l and pit fills
- Milk St., London (Saxo-Norman) pit fills
Rosa (sp.)
- Graveney Boat, Kent (900-1000) alluvial clay
- Magistrates Court. Norwich (Saxo-Norman 1000-1150) pit fill
- Coppergate, York (Anglo-Scandinavian)

hip

M

mast

mast mæste nut

Season:

Culinary:

Medical:

Agricultural:

Etymology

"fallen nuts; food for swine" O.E. mæst, from P.Gmc. *mastaz (cf. Du., Ger. mast "mast," O.E. verb mæsten "to fatten, feed"), perhaps from PIE *mazdo-/*maddo- "to be fat, to flow" (cf. Skt. meda "fat," Goth. mats "food,"

back to top

Notes:

Literary:

mentioned in the Will of Ælfhelm (dated 975-1016 AD) (buton ic wylle þæt man mæste minum wiue twa hund swynaþænne þær mæsten syþider hire leouest sy) 'but it is my wish that when there is mast, two hundred pigs be fed for my wife's sake, to benefit whatever foundation she pleases.'
mentioned in the Will of Wulfsige (dated 1022-34 AD) (.XII. swine mesten þat schal habben Wlwine hire day) 'mast for twelve swine which Wulfwyn shall have for her life'

Species and Find sites:

N

nut

nut hnutu nut

Season:

Culinary:

nuts could be eaten during Lent
and at feasts

Medical:

Leechdoms recommends pregnant women avoid nuts

Agricultural:

were available from summer into autumn

Etymology

"hard seed," O.E. hnutu, from P.Gmc. *khnut- (cf. O.N. hnot, Du. noot, O.H.G. hnuz, Ger. nuß "nut"), from PIE *knu- "lump" (cf. L. nux "nucleas")

back to top

Notes:

A hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent (non-opening) seed. Culinary usage of the term is less restrictive. Everyday common usage of the term often refers to any hard walled, edible kernel, as a nut
Botanical nuts: Beech, Chestnut, Acorn, Hazelnut, Pine nuts
Culinary nuts: Almonds, Walnuts

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

O

oats

oats ate cereal

Season:

late summer, early autumn

Culinary:

In monastic institutions special penitential bread was made from the lower grades of unsifted flour of rye, barley, oats and pulses, or a mixture of these flours

Medical:

genim bean mela oþþe ætena - oþþe beres 'take bean meal or of oats or of barley'
Nim átena grátan 'take groats of oats'

Agricultural:

The wetter western and northern counties were more suited to growing oats or barley
Small rural and semi-urban sites produce greater evidence of oats, suggesting their primary use as provender - they were not the preferred cereal of those who purchased their food
rye can cope with drier summers than wheat, oats with damper conditions, so yields of these crops would vary with climatic conditions
rye and oats will yield better than wheat on acid soils
Grains - barley and oats - were sown by the broadcast method, and were sometimes sown together in a mixture known as dredge

Etymology

O.E. ate "grain of the oat plant" (pl. atan), possibly from O.N. eitill "nodule," denoting a single grain, of unknown origin.

back to top

Notes:

impressions of oats found on Spong Hill cremation urns
a coomb of oats weighed 12 stones, probably equal to a sackful.
oat and salt markets in Canterbury were recorded in the twelfth century and may have existed earlier.

Literary:

The account of the royal palace at Annappes c. 820 lists oats.
According to Walter of Henley, plough oxen were fed three and a half sheaves of oats a week from 18 October to 3 May.
the envoys of Charlemagne could exact on their own and the servants' behalf forty loaves, a pig or sheep, two sucking pigs, four hens, twenty eggs, eight pints of wine, two measures of ale, and two measures of oats for their horses.

Species and Find sites:

Avena sativa (common oat) Fishergate, Norwich (10th - 11th c.)
Portsdown, Portsmouth, chaff in 6th century pottery - A. sativa and A. strigosa (lopsided, bristle or black oat)
Walton, Bucks, early/mid Saxon carbonised grain of A. sativa and A. fatua (common wild oat)
At the mid/late site of Fuller's Hill, Great Yarmouth, 55% of avena was found, the density being highest in an oven rake-out.
Two corn-drying kilns at Victoria Street, Hereford produced 24% of oats

P

pine

pine nuts pinhnyte nut

Season:

July - November

Culinary:

Medical:

20 cleansed kernels of pine nuts are required in one remedy (pinhnyte .xx. geclænfodra cyrnela)
kernels from pine tree nuts are called for in another (cyrnlu of pintrywenum hnutum)

Agricultural:

back to top

Notes:

Literary:'

according to Bede 'The earth stands in the likeness of a pine nut' Seo eor#e stent on gelicnysse anre pinnhnyte

Species and Find sites:

Stone pine (Pinus pinea); Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seems only the wood is found in this period. . .

Etymology

"coniferous tree, tree of the genus Pinus," Old English pin (in compounds), from Old French pin and directly from Latin pinus "pine, pine-tree, fir-tree," which is perhaps from a PIE *pi-nu-, from root *peie- "to be fat, swell".

The native Old English word was furh.

R

rye

rye ryge cereal

Season:

Winter rye can be planted from August to October for harvest the next Summer (June, July, August)

Culinary:

In monastic institutions special penitential bread was made from the lower grades of unsifted flour of rye, barley, oats and pulses, or a mixture of these flours
rye has its own gluten, but this does little to aid the expansion of the dough
'half rye and half wheat make very good bread' or 'half wheat, a quarter rye and a quarter barley, nay a third of each' - spoken in the 18th century of maslin bread

Medical:

'make a brewit from rye meal' (rigenum melwe wyrceað briwas).
Wyrc clam of súrre rigenre grút oððe dáge 'work a paste of sour rye grout or of dough'
Genim rigen healm and beren 'take rye and barley straw'
riges seofoþa seóþ on geswéttum wætere 'rye's siftings cooked in sweet water'
ergot aka erysipelas (claviceps purpurea - a fungus disease) is more common on rye than other cereals

Agricultural:

rye can cope with drier summers than wheat, oats with damper conditions, so yields of these crops would vary with climatic conditions.
rye and oats will yield better than wheat on acid soils
in the region around Worcester rye was apparently used more than elsewhere.

Etymology

O.E. ryge, from P.Gmc. *ruig (cf. O.S. roggo, O.N. rugr, O.Fris. rogga, M.Du. rogghe, O.H.G. rocko, Ger. Roggen), probably originally from Balto-Slavic (cf. O.C.S. ruzi, Rus. rozhi "rye;" Lith. rugys "grain of rye," pl. rugiai)

back to top

Notes:

impressions of rye grains found in hand-made pots and cremation urns at Spong Hill

Literary:

Þritig ómbra rues cornes 'thirty ambers of rye corn'

Species and Find sites:

Secale cereale identified at:
- St. Barnabas Hospital, Thetford (9th/10th century)
- ? West Stow, nr Bury St. Edmunds - 5th-7thc
- Fishergate, Norwich (10th - 11th c.)
- Marefair 77, Northampton (late Saxon)
- Miles Lane and Milk St., City of London
- Castle Acre, Norfolk
- Magistrates Court, Norwich (Whitefriars St site)
- Abbots Worthy, nr Winchester, Hampshire
- Sidbury 76, Worcester
- Coppergate 76-81, York

S

seeds

seeds sædas seeds

Season:

Culinary:

Medical:

seeds of various plants are called for in many remedies

back to top

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Agricultural:

Etymology

O.E. sed, sæd, from P.Gmc. *sædis, *sæda- (cf. O.N. sað, O.S. sad, O.Fris. sed, M.Du. saet, O.H.G. sat, Ger. Saat), from root *sæ- "to sow," from PIE base *se- "to sow"

W

walnut

walnut walh- or Frencisc hnutu drupe

back to top

Season:

Culinary:

Notes:

a 9th c well at North Elmham contained Walnut wood
walnuts or their oil may have been imported from France.

Medical:

an invalid diet for asthma gives the instruction to stew chickweed in wine and then add ' oil that comes from French nuts' (ele to þe beo of frencissen hnutu)

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Juglans regia found at:
- General Accident, York (Anglo-Scandinavian)
- Whitefriars St, Norwich (830 C.E.)
- Lloyds Bank, 6-8 Pavement, York (Anglo-Scandinavian)
- Lurk Lane, Beverley, Humberside (9th c.)
- Coppergate, York (Anglo-Scandinavian)
- Staunch Meadow, Brandon, Norfolk (Middle Saxon)

Agricultural:

Probably introduced by the Romans

Etymology

O.E. walhnutu "nut of the walnut tree," lit. "foreign nut," from wealh "foreign" + hnutu "nut". Cf. O.N. valhnot, M.L.G. walnut, M.Du. walnote, Du. walnoot, Ger. Walnuß, So called because it was introduced from Gaul and Italy, distinguishing it from the native hazel nut. Cf. the L.L. name for it, nux Gallica, lit. "Gaulish nut."

wheat hwæte cereal

back to top

Season:

planted in the spring will be ready to harvest after about 4 months from planting. If it's planted in the fall it will be ready to harvest about 8 months after planting

Notes:

wheat and barley mentioned within a charm for bewitched land

Culinary:

'half rye and half wheat make very good bread' or 'half wheat, a quarter rye and a quarter barley, nay a third of each' - of maslin bread referred to in the 18th century as falling out of favour

Medical:

Literary:

the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states:

1044 - (on ðisum gere wæs swyðe mycel hunger ofer eall Englaland, 7 corn swa dyre swa nan man ær ne gemunde swa þæt se sester hwætes eode to .lx. peninga 7 eac furðor.) 'in this year was very much hunger over all England, and corn as costly as no man ever remembered so that a sester of wheat went for 60 pennies and also more.'
references to wheat used in parables in King Alfred's copy of Gregory's Pastoral Care
in Boethius we are told to pull up all the weeds so $ se hwaete maege #y bet weaxian that the wheat may grow better
From Bede's Dreams - hwǽtas sume [h]andlian untrumnysse getácnað to handle some wheats betokens ailments
At Boile on the Canterbury lands, the provision of food in return for weeding service was three quarters of wheat, a ram, a pat of butter, a piece of cheese of second quality from the lord's dairy, salt, oatmeal for cooking a stew, and all the morning milk from all the cows in the dairy. [I presume this would be given to the group and not just to one man, or to every man!]

Agricultural:

rye can cope with drier summers than wheat, oats with damper conditions, so yields of these crops would vary with climatic conditions.
rye and oats will yield better than wheat on acid soils
it seems that mixed crops were sown to guarantee a decent yield with wheat and rye being a favoured combination

Etymology

O.E. hwæte "wheat," from P.Gmc. *khwaitijaz (cf. O.S. hweti, O.N. hveiti, Norw. kveite, O.Fris. hwete, M.Du., Du. weit, O.H.G. weizzi, Ger. Weizen, Goth. hvaiteis "wheat"), lit. "that which is white," from *khwitaz-, the source of O.E. hwit "white".

Species and Find sites:

Triticum aestivum compactum (club or bread wheat)
- Bishops Court, Dorchester, Dorset (well fill - 400-600 C.E.)
- Marefair 77, Northampton, Northamptonshire (occupation deposits and hearth material (Late Saxon)
- St Aldates, Oxford, Oxfordshire (Late Saxon)
- Castle Acre, nr Swaffham, Norfolk (ditch fill - 11th c.)
- Lloyds Bank York, 6-8 Pavement, York (occupation floors - Anglo-Scandinavian)
- Coppergate 76-81, York (Anglo-Scandinavian)
- Victoria St 68, Hereford (oven fill - 640-810 C.E.)
- Walton Lodge, Aylesbury - mid Saxon
Triticum aestivum (bread wheat)
- Saddler St, Durham City (pit and midden fills - 593-1203 C.E.)
- St Barnabas Hospital, Thetford, (900-1050)
- Magistrates Court, Norwich (Whitefriars St site) 1000-1150
Triticum cf. spelta (spelt wheat)
- Melbourne St, Southampton, Hamwih (750-870 C.E.)
- West Stow 5th c
- Rougier St, York (400-850 C.E.)
Triticum cf. spelta (spelt wheat) and Triticum aestivum compactum (club or bread wheat)
- Poundbury 66-82, Dorchester, 1987, Dorset (300-625 C.E.)
- Abbots Worthy, nr Winchester, Hampshire (middle Saxon)

wheat

Resources:

Anglo-Saxon Handbook of Food, Processing and Distribution, Ann Hagen
Anglo-Saxon Food, Production and Distribution, Ann Hagen
Leechdoms, Oswald Cockayne
Online Etymology Dictionary
The Place of Rye in the History of English Food, William Ashley. The Economic Journal, Vol 3, no 123 (Sept 1921)
http://www.witheridge-historical-archive.com/medieval-year.htm (The Medieval Farming Year Version 1.0, July 23, 1999 © Andy Staples, 1999)
Archaeobotanical Database
Spong Hill Excavation Report
East Anglian Archaeology 68 (Fishergate, Norwich)
Wikipedia
PFAF - Plants for a Future