32 A REPORT ON THE FLOWERING PLANTS
I am informed by the Rev. Canon Marsden that he was told when
young that presents of the candy were made to George III.
The secret probably remained in the hands of the Greats till
about 1797, that being the date of the death of Christopher Great.
The candy was afterwards made by a Mrs. Thorn, who lived in a
house in the same parish in which the original maker resided. The
house is now the property of Messrs. Wicks, who kindly allowed me
to examine the title-deeds, with a view to ascertain whether Eryngo
had always been prepared on the same premises. There was, how-
ever, no evidence that the house had ever belonged to the Greats or
the Buxtons. Mrs. Thorn handed the secret to her grand-daughter,
the maiden lady alluded to by Harrod—who probably in or about
1858 offered to sell it to Messrs. Smith and Shenstone, druggists.
Upon making inquiries, however, they found that the sale of the
candy had dropped off, in consequence of suitable roots being un-
obtainable, rather than from any loss of fame, and they consequently
declined the offer.
Mrs. Seaman, now residing at Lexden, sister to the Miss Thorn
alluded to above, has recently given me the old receipt for the pre-
paration of the candy, which is as follows :
" The roots must be dug up from a depth of at least six feet; then peeled and
boiled till quite tender. They should then be immersed in cold water for several
days, the water being changed occasionally. The pith is removed and the roots
spread open with a bone mash. They must then be cut into very small strips, and
twisted to resemble barley sugar. The strips are immersed in very strong syrup,
prepared from refined sugar with a little orange flower water, the syrup being boiled
from time to time with fresh sugar. The strips were then dried in the front of a
fire, on trays made of plaited cane."
The following extract from Gerard's "Historie of Plants" (John-
son's Edition, 1633), p. 1163, leads me to the conclusion that the
making of the candied Eryngo-root was not originated by Thomas
Buxton, but that his preparation probably owed its fame to his
care in selecting the roots and skill in preparing them :—
" Refine sugar fit for the purpose, and take a pound of it, the white of an egge,
and a pint of cleere water ; boile them together, and scum it, then let it boile
vntill it be come to a good syrrup, and when it is boiled as it cooleth, adde thereto
a saucer-full of rose-water, a spoone-full of Cinnamon water, and a graine of
muske, which have been infused together the night before, and now strained ; into
which syrrup being more than halfe cold, put in your roots to soke and infuse
vntill the next day ; your roots being ordered in the manner hereafter following :—
These your roots being washed and picked, must be boiled in faire water by the
space of foure houres, vntill they be soft, then must they be pilled cleane, as ye
pill parsnips, and the pith must bee drawne out at the end of the root; and if there
be any whose pith cannot be drawne out at the end, then you must slit them, and
so take out the pith : these you must also keepe from much handling that they