Chapter Three

Appears in
Fool's Gold: A History of British Saffron
Fool's Gold

By Sam Bilton

Published 2022

  • About
  • 1 Wale (1883), pp. 5-6.
  • 2 CCA 71/T101; Wale (1883), pp. 76-8.
  • 3 Douglass (1728), p, 567; Wale (1883), pp. 132-4.
  • 4 Wale (1883), p. 133.
  • 5 Barker, Morris and Maynard (1913).
  • 6 Bradley (1726), pp. 48-9; Howard (1678), pp. 945-6; Douglass (1728), p. 567; Wale (1883), p. 135.
  • 7 Howard (1677), p. 948; Wale (1883), p. 135; Neale (1996), p. 237; Harrison, 1994, p. 348. It appears that progressively fewer saffron corms were planted per acre between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. In Harrison’s day twenty quarters of corms were planted per acre ‘placed in ranks two inches one from another’. By Howard’s time the corms were spaced a little further apart. Around a century later, Clarke announced that only six quarters of heads were required per acre (he expected to pay anywhere between eight and fourteen shillings per quarter for the bulbs). This seems rather low given Howard’s and Harrison’s estimates. Like Harrison, Clarke says the corms should be planted two inches (about 5 cm) apart, although there is a greater distance between the rows. I do wonder whether the six quarters listed in the 1883 book have been incorrectly transcribed.
  • 8 Ellis (1747), p. 116. Although this work is attributed to Ellis it is a revision of an earlier work by Samuel Trowell (A New Treatise of Husbandry, Gardening, and other Curious Matters relating to Country Affairs, 1739). This particular information comes from ‘A Supplement on the Chapter on Saffron’, so it is assumed to have been written by Ellis rather than Trowell,
  • 9 Douglass (1728), p. 569; Francis and Ramandi (2001), p. 57; Wale (1883), p. 133; Braybrook (1836), p. 145.
  • 10 Wale, 1883, p. 133.
  • 11 Howard (1677), pp. 945-9; Ellis (1747) p. 116; Harrison (1994), pp. 350-1; Douglass (1728), p. 568; Wale (1883), p. 132; ERO Q/SR 76/22.
  • 12 Howard (1677), pp. 945-6; Douglass (1728), p. 567; Bradley (1726), p. 108; Wale (1883), pp. 133-4.
  • 13 Bradley (1726), p. 111; Wale (1883), p. 134.
  • 14 Bradley (1726), p. 109-10
  • 15 Bradley (1726), p. 109-10
  • 16 Douglass (1728), pp. 570-2; Bradley (1727), pp. 159-161.
  • 17 Bradley (1726), pp. 109-10.
  • 18 Bradley (1727), p159; Wale (1883), p. 134.
  • 19 Douglass (1728), p. 572, Bradley (1727), p. 161.
  • 20 McKenny Hughes (1917), p. 103; Harrison (1994), p. 352. Harrison also uses the term ‘ross’ to describe the outer layer of skin on a corm.
  • 21 Douglass (1728), p. 573; Harrison, 1994, p. 352.
  • 22 Douglass (1728) p. 573; Wale (1883), p. 134. The rent for an acre of saffron ground was a little lower in Clarke’s time at 13s 6d per year.
  • 23 Pliny (1951), p. 185.
  • 24 Beckmann (1846), pp. 179-180.
  • 25 Turner (1687), p. 194. Marigold is frequently found in medicinal recipes sometimes alongside true saffron. Francis (2020, p. 12) notes that marigold petals have been used to gently colour dairy products in the past but lacks saffron’s aroma or vibrancy.
  • 26 Harrison, (1994), p. 352-353; Beckman, (1846), p. 180; Bradley (1727), p. 103; Wale (1883), p. 134; Carew (1607), p. 38
  • 27 Pliny (1951), p. 185; Harrison (1994), p. 353-354; Beckman (1846), p. 180.
  • 28 Milmo (2022); David (1977), p. 147.
  • 29 Francis and Ramandi (2021), pp. 18-9.
  • 30 David (1977), p. 147.
  • 31 Webb (2015).
  • 32 Francis & Ramandi (2021), pp. 17-20.