Stirling Castle

Origin / History

Stirling Castle was raised at Stirling, Scotland, about 1830 (Bunyard catalog, 1914; E. A. Bunyard, 1920). The 1914 catalog names the raiser as a nurseryman named John Christie.

The Herefordshire Pomona (1885) records two accounts of its introducer. Messrs. Wm. Drummond & Sons, nursery and seedsmen at Stirling, stated that the apple was first brought to their notice about forty years earlier by a Mr. Christie. He was an officer of Inland Revenue in Stirling and a great amateur horticulturist, well known under the soubriquet of "Pookum Christie." An "Auld Citizen" of Stirling, "particularly well up in the archives of the 'Sons of the Rock,'" held that the Drummonds were mistaken. In his account the introducer was a man known some sixty years earlier as "Auld Johnnie Christie," a nursery gardener "in a very humble scale" out at Causewayhead, on the road to the Bridge of Allan.

E. A. Bunyard says the variety was introduced by Messrs. Drummond of Stirling. The Pomona attributes its wide dispersion probably to the Drummonds' appreciation of its merits. Rivers spoke of it as an improvement on Small's Admirable, and the Pomona calls the improvement "certainly very great." A Herefordshire grower called it "a gem of apples," and the Pomona predicted that it "will certainly become a general favourite when it is better known." Veitch (1911) calls it "a desirable early apple." E. A. Bunyard calls it "a valuable fruit, remarkable for its fertility."

Tree

Growth compact but spreading. Leaf long, pale, nearly flat, shallow serrate (E. A. Bunyard). An immense, great and constant bearer, prolific and extremely fertile. A little liable to canker (E. A. Bunyard).

Well adapted for bush or pyramid culture (Herefordshire Pomona). Veitch says it forms a small pyramid and a good standard. The 1914 Bunyard catalog calls it "valuable for bush culture, but recommended for standards" and advises grafting it on crab stock. The 1901 Bunyard catalog says it "bears too freely to support itself as a grass Orchard Standard," but is "grand on Paradise as a bush."

Fruit

Size: Medium to very large, mostly given as large, rather large, or fairly large. The Herefordshire Pomona adds that it is sometimes very large, and the 1901 Bunyard catalog calls it very large. E. A. Bunyard gives 3¼ by 2¼. The 1914 Bunyard catalog alone calls it medium.

Form: Round and oblate, round flattened; regular and even. The Herefordshire Pomona says it is even and regularly shaped when of moderate size.

Stem: Slender, an inch long (Herefordshire Pomona).

Cavity: Deep and wide, with russet veins (E. A. Bunyard).

Calyx: The Herefordshire Pomona gives the eye as half closed. E. A. Bunyard gives it as open.

Basin: Pretty deep, wide, and saucer-like (Herefordshire Pomona). E. A. Bunyard calls it "remarkably wide and deep."

Skin: Clear pea-green or pale green, becoming yellow when it ripens. A blush and broken stripes of pale crimson on the side next the sun (Herefordshire Pomona).

Dots: Several large dots sprinkled over the surface (Herefordshire Pomona).

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, soft, very tender, juicy, "of the character of that of Hawthornden" (Herefordshire Pomona). E. A. Bunyard calls it acid. The 1914 Bunyard catalog describes "green soft flesh."

Core and seeds: Not described in source.

Season

The recorded season runs from August into December. The early-season sources give August or September through September or October. The Herefordshire Pomona says it may be used in August and September but is best in flavor from October to December.

Uses

Culinary; cooks well. The Herefordshire Pomona calls it an excellent culinary apple. Its Herefordshire grower adds that "in addition to its other good qualities it is one of the best for making jelly." The 1901 Bunyard catalog calls it a "bush market or garden tree, invaluable for small gardens and plantations."

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.