Stirling Castle
Apple
Stirling Castle
Origin and History
First brought to notice about forty years ago (c. 1845) by Mr. Christie, an officer of Inland Revenue in Stirling, known under the soubriquet of "Pookum Christie," who was a great amateur horticulturist. However, local tradition attributes the introduction to "Auld Johnnie Christie," a nursery gardener operating on a small scale at Causewayhead (on the road to the Bridge of Allan), about sixty years prior (c. 1825). The wide dispersion of the variety is probably due to the appreciation of its merits by Messrs. Wm. Drummond & Sons, nurserymen and seedsmen at Stirling.
Tree
Well adapted for bush or pyramid culture. An immense bearer.
Fruit
Size and Form: Rather large, sometimes very large; round and oblate, and when of moderate size even and regularly shaped.
Skin: Clear pea-green, which becomes yellow when ripe; with a blush and broken stripes of pale crimson on the side next the sun; several large dots sprinkled over the surface.
Eye: Half closed, set in a pretty deep, wide, saucer-like basin.
Stalk: An inch long, slender, inserted in a deep and wide cavity.
Flesh and Flavor: White, very tender, juicy, and of the character of that of Hawthornden.
Core and Seeds: Not described in source.
Season and Use
Excellent culinary apple, particularly valued for jelly-making (described by a Herefordshire grower as "one of the best for making jelly"). May be used in August and September, but is best in flavour from October to December.
Other
Described as "a gem of apples" by a Herefordshire grower. Rivers regards it as an improvement on Small's Admirable, "and the improvement is certainly very great." Will certainly become a general favourite when it is better known.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 5 catalogs (1897–1917) from England
- Kelway & Son , Langport, Somerset , England — 1897
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917
View original book sources (1)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- STIRLING CASTLE.
Messrs. Wm. Drummond & Sons, the nursery and seedsmen at Stirling, state that this apple was first brought to their notice about forty years ago by a Mr. Christie, an officer of Inland Revenue in Stirling, well known under the soubriquet of "Pookum Christie," who was a great amateur horticulturist. An "Auld Citizen" of Stirling, however, a man particularly well up in the archives of the "Sons of the Rock," informs us that the Messrs. Drummond are mistaken, and that the illustrious introducer of the Stirling Castle apple was a man known, some sixty years ago, as "Auld Johnnie Christie," a nursery gardener, in a very humble scale, out at Causewayhead, on the road to the Bridge of Allan. However this may be, the wide dispersion of the apple is probably due to the appreciation of its merits by Messrs. Drummond & Son.
Description.—Fruit; rather large, sometimes very large, round and oblate, and when of moderate size even and regularly shaped. Skin; clear pea-green, which becomes yellow when it ripens; with a blush and broken stripes of pale crimson on the side next the sun, and several large dots sprinkled over the surface. Eye; half closed, set in a pretty deep, wide, and saucer-like basin. Stalk; an inch long, slender, inserted in a deep and wide cavity. Flesh; white, very tender, juicy, and of the character of that of Hawthornden.
An excellent culinary apple; "a gem of apples" a Herefordshire grower calls it, and says that "in addition to its other good qualities it is one of the best for making jelly." Rivers speaks of it as an improvement on Small's Admirable, and the improvement is certainly very great. It may be used in August and September but is best in flavour from October to December.
The tree is well adapted for bush or pyramid culture. It is an immense bearer and will certainly become a general favourite when it is better known.