[Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English

[Terry Decker]

> Here are a few Middle English quotes which contain the poor, misunderstood 
> lemon...
>
> Early English versions of the Gesta Romanorum / edited by Sidney J.H. 
> Herrtage
> [ XL. ]SELESTINUS A WYSE EMPEROURE. (THE "BOND" STORY IN THE "MERCHANT OF 
> VENICE.")Harl. MS. 7333.
>
> [Story.]
>
> yenst him, she kytte of al the longe her of hir hede, and cladde hir in 
> precious clothing like to
> a man; and yede to the palys þere as hir lemon was to be demyd, and saluyd 
> þe Iustice; and al they
> trowid þat she had be a knite. And þe Iuge Enquerid

I think the lemon in this writing is actually leman, a(n illicit) lover.

>
>
> Treatises of fistula in ano : haemorrhoids, and clysters / by John Arderne
> NOTES.
>
> te and unripe, so they want colour. The stone laid whole to the forehead 
> stays the bleeding at the
> nose. You may dissolve it in juice of Lemons or Spirit of Vinegar and so 
> use it; drunk in wine it
> helps against the stinging of scorpions. You may a
>
>
> John Arderne was an English surgeon who lived during the 1300's in 
> England, and his prescription
> of lemons proves, at the very least, that they were known in medicinal 
> circles in England, even if
> they do not appear in Middle English cookery books.
>
>
> William de Grandfort

Now this is more like it, however, the claims being made triggered a vague 
memory of some of the claims made about vinegar and citrons in Pliny.  I 
don't think this is cribbed from Pliny, but I think you better check out 
Dioscorides De Materia Medica.  I have a feeling the author is copying from 
some of the great texts of the field and doesn't have first hand knowledge 
of the subject.

Bear