The companion for the orchard. An historical and botanical account of the fruits known in Great Britain / By Henry Phillips.

  • Phillips, Henry, 1775-1838.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The companion for the orchard. An historical and botanical account of the fruits known in Great Britain / By Henry Phillips. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    nut of the oak-tree, and was called by the Greeks Bcthixvo^, while in Latin it is called Gians. It appears to have been amongst the Grecian traditions that of all trees the oak was made first, and that among men the Arcadians were first created; who for this rea¬ son were compared to the oak. They were certainly celebrated for their partiality to that sort of diet, since they are distinguished in Lycophron by the name of (Su\ixvYi<payoi, acorn-eaters. Hence it was customary in the marriage festivals of the Athenians, for a boy to bring in a bough full of acorns and a plate covered with bread, proclaiming ^ E<pyyov xotxov, svpov ajxeivov.’—1 have escaped the worse and found the better—which was done in memory of their leaving the use of acorns for that of bread. Most other nations in Greece also made use of acorns. The inhabitants of Chios once held out a long siege, whilst they were destitute of all other food. Strabo tells us that in the mountainous parts of Spain the inhabitants ground their acorns into meal. In a raw state they are eaten to this day by the Spaniards, who long retained them as a delicacy at the desserts. Cer¬ vantes mentions them in his Don Quixote. But the Spa¬ nish acorns are certainly of a sweeter nature than those of England. Mrs. Stothard says in her tour in Brittany, ‘‘ I am informed that in the neighbourhood of Brest, the lower orders resort to acorns as well as chesnuts for food, which have some nutritious quality when boiled in milk.” In times of scarcity and dearth of corn, they have been ground and baked into bread both in this country and in France; but the taste of this bread is rough and dis¬ agreeable ; and indeed acorns are said to be hard of di¬ gestion and to cause head-aches and flatulence. Hence Turner, who is the earliest English author on this subject