SC - Food & Feast in Medieval England

[Acanthusbk@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/26/99 8:50:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, nannar at isholf.is 
writes:

<< John Evelyn says in his Diary (9 August 1661): "The famous Queen Pine
 brought from Barbados ... the first that were ever seen in England were
 those sent to Cromwell foure years since". The term pineapple had earlier
 (15th to 17th century) been used to mean pinecone but the ananas (as the
 fruit was originally called in English) soon took it over. (John Ayto, A
 Gourmet´s Guide.) Jane Grigson says, in her Fruit Book, that at Ham House
 near Richmond there is a painting of John Rose, the royal gardener, handing
 Charles II the first pineapple grown in England.
  >>
Caveat:  I'm only asking this because I'm a historian whose expertise is not 
so far into the modern time period, and I don't know who John Evelyn was, but 
I'd like to know the answers to the following questions, if there is an 
expert on this time period out there to hear the asking.

Question 1:  Remembering that CNN is a modern innovation, and mass 
communication, well, wasn't, who was John Evelyn, and was he in a position to 
KNOW, for certain sure, that the one he reports on in his diary for that day 
WAS the first one?  Random knowledge, especially before the last century or 
so, was possible.  

Question 2: Do we know who the artist of the painting is, or does anyone 
possibly have an art history book handy to give us some info?  IF we know who 
painted it, we may be able to ascertain approximately when he/she painted it.

Question 3:  Regarding the use of pineapple to mean pine cone, it would make 
sense that someone who had never seen one of those fruits would describe it 
as, well, y'know, kinda looks like a pine cone, doesn't it?  It's a fruit, as 
is a pine cone.  If pine cone is a fruit, it would also be probable that 
they'd use that term, just like with the other fruits they called "apples".  
Weren't we just talking about tomatoes being referred to as apples?   
Potatoes, in French (northern Europe, post-1600 as we have established <for 
now> by the history of the tuber), are still pommes de terre, n'est pas?  
Apples of the earth?  Apples from the earth?  Apples what grow in da dirt.  
;-)  
So, pine cones are the fruit of the pine.  What's the dateline for the word 
"cone" to be used in a "pine" context?  Anybody with access to an OED should 
be able to find this one out for me.

I apologize for not doig my own research, but I spend most of my life on the 
road, and library access is often just not possible.  I'd appreciate any help 
y'all could give me on this one.  I'm a cook, and I'd really like to know the 
answer to this one.

My point in this ramble is that I, at this point, am unwilling to take the 
word of one diarist in the establishment of whether something is "period" or 
not.  Too many open questions for me right now.  If I get some of the answers 
to the questions above, I can change that opinion.  But right now, I'm not 
convinced.

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother
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