Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
Samphire is a name given to a number of very different, edible plants, that happen to grow in coastal areas.
- Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in the United Kingdom. This is probably the species mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear - "Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!"
- Golden samphire, Inula crithmoides is a coastal species with yellow flowers that grows across Eurasia.
- Marsh samphire is another name given to the edible glassworts, genus Salicornia.
- Samphire is commonly used to describe plants from the Australian genus of succulent coastal plants Tecticornia, and from the cosmopolitan genus Sarcocornia.
Samphire is also the name of a short story by Patrick O'Brian.
[edit] Etymology
Originally "sampiere", a corruption of the French "Saint Pierre" (Saint Peter), Samphire was named for the patron saint of fishermen because all the original plants with its name grow in rocky salt-sprayed regions along the sea coast of northern Europe or in its coastal marsh areas.
All the plants bearing the name are annuals that begin growing in late autumn and vegetate throughout the winter until the first warm weather arrives. Then the first stems and internodes form and by mid-spring the plant measures 6 to 8 cm.
[edit] Uses
Marsh samphire ashes were used to make soap and glass (hence its other old English name, "glasswort.") In the 14th century glassmakers located their workshops near regions where this plant grew, since it was so closely linked to their trade.
Samphires of all kinds have long been eaten in England. The leaves were gathered early in the year and pickled or eaten in salads with oil and vinegar. It is even mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear:
- Half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!
This refers to the dangers involved in collecting Rock samphire on sea cliffs.
[edit] External links
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1893 text
Samphire was formerly a favourite pickle; hence the “dangerous trade” of the samphire gatherer (“King Lear,” act iv. sc. 6) who supplied the demand. It was sold in the streets, and one of the old London cries was “I ha’ Rock Samphier, Rock Samphier!”
Annotations
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Definition from hyperdictionary.com
SAMPHIRE
Pronunciation: ‘sam`fIr
WordNet Dictionary
Definition: [n] fleshy maritime plant having fleshy stems with rudimentary scalelike leaves and small spikes of minute flowers; formerly used in making glass
Synonyms: glasswort, Salicornia europaea
See Also: genus Salicornia, herb, herbaceous plant, Salicornia
Webster’s 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \Sam”phire\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F. l’herbe de Saint
Pierre. See {Saint}, and {Petrel}.] (Bot.)
(a) A fleshy, suffrutescent, umbelliferous European plant
({Crithmum maritimum}). It grows among rocks and on
cliffs along the seacoast, and is used for pickles.Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
—Shak.
(b) The species of glasswort ({Salicornia herbacea}); —
called in England {marsh samphire}.
(c) A seashore shrub ({Borrichia arborescens}) of the West
Indies.
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Rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum).
The cliff-growing rock samphire described in King Lear, in a scene near Dover, has Edgar say to Gloucester,
References in the diary
- 1660
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Sep: 21