Primæval, interdicted plant, that won
Fond Eve, in hapless hour to taste, and die.
This, of more bounteous influence, inspires
Poetic raptures, and the lowly muse
Kindles to loftier strains; even I, perceive
Her sacred virtue. See! the numbers flow
Easy, whilst, cheer’d with her nectareous juice,
Her’s, and my country’s praises, I exalt.”
but its reputation began to decline about the beginning of the last century, for we find Nourse saying, “As for the liquor which it yields, it is highly esteemed for its noble colour and smell; ’tis likewise fat and oily in the taste, but withal very windy, luscious and fulsome, and will sooner clog the stomach than any other cider whatsoever, leaving a waterish, raw humour upon it; so that with meals it is no way helpful, and they who drink it, if I may judge of them by my own palate, will find their stomachs pall’d sooner by it, than warm’d and enliven’d.”
The Red Streak seems to have originated about the beginning of the 17th century, for Evelyn says “it was within the memory of some now living, surnamed the Scudamore’s Crab, and then not much known save in the neighbourhood.” It was called Scudamore’s Crab, from being extensively planted by the first Lord Scudamore, who was son of Sir James Scudamore, from whom Spencer is said to have taken the character of Sir Scudamore in his “Fairie Queen.” He was born in 1600, and created by Charles I. Baron Dromore and Viscount Scudamore. He was attending the Duke of Buckingham when he was stabbed at Portsmouth, and was so affected at the event that he retired into private life, and devoted his attention to planting orchards, of which the Red-Streak formed the principal variety. In 1634 he was sent as ambassador to France, in which capacity he continued for four years. He was a zealous royalist during the civil wars, and was taken prisoner by the parliament party, while his property was destroyed, and his estate sequestered. He died in 1671.