Plumsand Damsons

Sorry to be ignorant, but what is the difference between a plum and a damson??......apart from the fact that one is a plum, and one is a damson....if you get what I mean..

 

Erm, I'll try

A damson is a member of the same family as the domestic plum, cherry, bullace and sloe. There are squillions of varieties of the Prunus family, and they have been interbred to get different qualities of sweetness, sharpness, fruit or flower, etc.

From the Westmorland Damson Society website:

Originally damsons came from the area around Damascus, hence the name. Some say the Crusaders brought back damson stones to try in England. Damson trees are often found around sites of Roman camps - perhaps the Romans introduced them to Britain. Damson stones were found in a bag round the waist of a 4000 year-old 'Ice Man' uncovered recently in the Alps. Damson stones from the Viking era have been excavated in York.

Damson skins have been used for the manufacture of purple dye from Roman times.

At the height of the damson growing period, the white blossom was such a sight to see that charabancs came from all over Lancashire to drive through the Lyth Valley on Damson Sunday.