The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-11-28 00:00:00

THE ORCHARDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE.

Me Dreher& of Somersethhire are as ancient as the
fthie rriod of the British history. The apple seems
otipniCy to have been brought into Britain by the Hest
eosin from Gaul, and in particular by the British Iltedui.
s(4& tribe, who settled in the north and eastern parts of
&present Somersctsbire. It was not unusual among the
arkst Britons to retain the names of the tribes of which
Ott were originally members, and from which they
colonies to this island. Such were these Htedui,
Cr) ette descended from the lEdui of Gaul. Hence we
foil the the of the present Glastonbury to hove been din-
tin,73l-hel, before the Roman Advent, by the discrimi-
ns:ing title of Avallonia, or the Apple Orchard ; and the
soft lava relish of the fruit no strongly recommended it
to the Britons that another Avellana arose in the north of
Digital. And before the third century of the Christian
to. the fruit appeara to have been disseminated over the
zcl,mil to have even stocked the distant and unro-
testa regions of frindand,- with large plabTations of the

Nene Aram, in his " Collections for a Dictionary of
tlechic language," says that the name of the apple tree
iterrupor. of " Apollo's Tree." And that this is its
• will be easily deducible from a little reflection on
tiic profs in support of it. The prizes in the sccred games
vre the (diva crown, apples, parsley, and the pine. Lucian,
Book of Games, affirms that apples were the reward
':.e sacred games of Apollo; and Curtius asserts the
• It arpears also that the apple tree was consecrated
t,!.-olio Wore the laurel; for both Pindar and Callima-
e.)3 (+serve ll'at Apollo did not put on the laurel until
sfizr his trnquest of the Python, and that he appropriated
et::',"-iself on =mint of his passion for Daphne, to whom
the hue! was sacred. The victors wreath at first was a
h;7:11 with its apples hanging upon it, sometimes with a
lerdt of laurel ; end antiquity united these together as
i!e reward of the victor in the Pythian games.
The scarcity of the native, and the dearness of the fo-
rtii-a wines in Italy, several ages before tha conquest of
&...;n lv Agricola, had called out the inventive fa-
, !!es of the Roman mind, and occasioned the ori-

tliscovery of factitious wines. Those were still
ned by the Romans and naturally taught to the
; they were made of almost all the products
012 tirc:iaril and the garden, the pear, the applo,
rarlixtry, and other fruits. Two of them, therefore,
tlTre t oe apreable liquors which we still extract from the
pear, and which we still deuomin.te cider
'.• 1 P:77y. The latter must have been called pyrints by the
anti was therefore called per-id, perry, or pear-
...44er, be the Britons. The former actually received the
ri'si..cra among the Romans, the word being
c3.lNvaiAlly lennunced by them " sidera," as the same
tforuinciatiou along the present Italians satisfactorily
therefore, the appellation of " cider"
.nintig the Britons.
or:!::-rds of the rich and delh,htful Vale of Taun-

it= which delve is made in the greatest perfection,
L!: seedy of being mentioned here in terms of the high-
".;'"'Lv• There are many farmers in the neii,libourbood
a ftar.ton, who sell their best elder for eight, ten, and even
%Lve 1.• one:: a Itegshead ; and it is supposed they pew.
(3 dart, pocestiar to thems2lves, of conducting the fer-
r"t''', thereby preserving a rich and delicious fla-
Th! h_st fruit delights in a strong clayey soil. Unless
Ectrit:3 be observed in making, the labour is in
; f(r c' ler requires much greater nicety of manage-
: tt:ut nealt liquors. The apples are sufored to fall
t!l'e!teLx, or when thoroughly ripe arc picked with great
acy are put into betties to ferment, and remain in
fts:c for titree or four weeks ; after they are ground
•t the ll,:uor is expressed, it is suffered to remain in tubs,
•:3 to to hours, when a scum or froth will rise on the
this they narrowly watch, and when it breaks, they
for the t! rst time into vessels ; after which unremit-
, .:!,t,!to7.n is necessary to prevent excessive fermentation
" Lit,: ati,l frequent rackings.

i:•e Committee of Mem:lan's of Cork have found it
'ATI.' t.) 2.)ply to Government on the scarcity of new
r en n 17e in that city, upwards of 39,0001. of the old
1,-Itg abstracted from circulation, and only about
;11,. new furnished instead. The want of a suffi-
J,l:.
.1.•
' • amp and sixpences in much complained of,
snich NIL Secretary Goulburn has promised an expe-
- rt•-.l;etly.—Linteriele Chroni, le.
I Saturday, a fine cock uheasant was killed by Mr.
guo-maker, of Illack.friars, in the street where he
• cs most of our millers know. is completely in
torm.—.llanchealer Pape r.
..!„y morning, at a quarter before one o'clock,
at t Ere hi oke out in the bowie of Mr. Powis. rope-
mxi --wall, which threatened destruction to
; hut, by the prompt arrival of the
ri two oder engines, the fire WU got under, after
• '. • • the house Rile, furniture, argil estriaging several
:tars were lost, thet!glt n fitnily of small
t y mitred by th... 1 a::: rimires.

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