How Certain Fruits Gained their Names.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8083, 12 April 1906, Page 4

How Certain Fruits Gained their Names.

Strawberry—oh, from straw and berry, of eowsel That must be the meaning of the name. You see, gardeners always put straw down under the berries before they begin to ripen. But this is not so. The real name is " stray " berry, and the fruit obtains it because the runners stray in every direction from the parent plant. Names of fruits are very deceiving. Take gooseberry, for instance. It has nothing whatever "to do with the bird whose name it bears. If we wished to be pedantically, correct, we should talk about " gorse " berries. The Saxon world ls " eorst," and refers to the thorny nature of the shrub upon which the toothsome fruit grows. Damson is at first a bit of a puzzle. But when one understands that Damascus was the fruit's first home it is easy to see that Damaslt plums easily became damsons. So, too, with ourrants. They take their name from Corinth, in Greece, the city where these delectable little grapes first originated. Greengages are so called for a double reason. Lord Gage was their godfather. He took them to England from the Carthusta Monastery at Grenoble, but it is doubtful whether the first syllable of the latter p ace has more to do with their n» menclatare than their green hue when rn»\ The quince is named from the town «J Cydonia. m Crete, and cherries have ok. Aained their title from the once famous city of Cerasus, in Asia Minor. Chestnuts alse owe their present name to a place in tbr .samepart of the world. Castana, the ancient city once famed for its chestnut groves was in Pontus. Walnut should properly be spelt wahl nut. It has nothing whatsoever to do with a wall, but is Saxen for foreign nut. The walnut is a Persian production. Some of these corruptions in the names of common fruits or vegetables are most ourious. Jerusalem artichoke, for instance. We ought really to speak of a girasole artichoke. Girasole is Italian for sunflower, which plant the artichoke strongly resembles. Tomato comes from two West Indian words, which mean love apple, and by that name the tomato used often to be called when first introduced into the old country. Mayduke cherries owe their name to another corruption. They came to us from the famus Medoc winegrowing district of France.

Indian Betrothals. In India, the custom has prevailed from time immemorial to betroth children at a very early age. This is, perhaps, to save them the trouble of selecting for themselves, since the law decrees that a man may not marry an irreligious girl, nor one of a family in which the " Veda " has not been read ; neither may bis future wife have reddish hair nor an immoderately talkative tongue; while her name must bear no reference to a constellation, a tree, a river, a barbarous nation, a mountain, a> winged creature, a snake, a stone, or any image which occasions terror. Besides having an agreeable name, she must walk gracefully, and her teeth must be moderate, both in size and in number. The Bishop of St Albans' Motor-ear. The idea of a Bishop going about his diocese in a motor-car is decidedly novel, and the " Church Times " comments on the gift of the diocese of Newcastle to Dr. Jacob on bis translation to the see of St. Albans thus: When Jacob was to Egypt called, The old man's heart grew gay, Seeing the thoughtful Joseph's gift Of wagons for the way. Another Jacob leaves his home, Southward to travel far j And filial piety provides A handsome motor-car.

Some Humorous Toasts. 1 The following humorous, and in some cases appropriate toasts were reported to have been proposed at various banquets:—At a dinner given to a writer of comedies in honour of his latest production, a waggish guest proposed his health in the following may-be appropriate, but disheartening words: " The author's very good health. May he live to be as old as his jokes." Upon the occasion of a legal dinner the toast was given: " The

Bench and the Bar. If it were not for the Bar there would be little use for the Bench." A pithy toast, and one very much to the point, was given at a shoemakers' gathering: " May we have all the women in the country to shoe, and all the men to boot." A printer, at a'trade dinner, gave a good toast, when he proposed: " Woman—the fairest work in all creation. The edition is large, and no man should be without a copy." At a fashionable wedding once, the band, after the toast of " The Bride," struck up an orchestral version of the well-known song, " Trust her riot.'* She is fooling thee." A conspiracy between the conductor of the band and the best man was suspected. r