A Belly full of Fruit.

I have another old food phrase for you today from A dictionary of archaic & provincial words, obsolete phrases ... (1852), by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps. It is said to come from Lancashire:

Croghton-Belly: A person who eats a great deal of fruit.

 An edition of the Transactions of the Philological Society (1855) gives a similar definition, with an attempt at an etymological explanation:

Croghton-Belly: One who has eaten too much fruit. I give this word on the authority of Halliwell. It is probably from the W. croth, what swells or bulges out, a rotundity; croten, a plump little girl.

Just before this definition, the same source gives the word crogged as meaning ‘filled,’ which seems to me could be connected. What do you think? Any Lancastrians dialect experts out there?  The Oxford English Dictionary is no help, and I cannot find any other written context. Where I grew up in Yorkshire, the word for ‘full to bursting’ was pogged – which the OED also does not know.

I grieve the loss of any words, but especially food words, and very especially those which were rare and obscure in the first place. The language is less rich for their loss, don’t you think?

For those Croghton-Bellies out there, I give you a couple of nice ideas to help you to indulge your passion.

Summer Fruit Salad.

The fruit must be fine, quite ripe and fresh gathered. Strip off the stems. Mix in equal quantities red currants and raspberries, or white currants and strawberries. To every pint of fruit add three tablespoonfuls of sifted sugar, a dessertspoonful of sherry, and a dessertspoonful of cold water. Stir frequently, with a silver spoon, and let it remain to saturate for six hours or longer. Serve either at dessert or instead of tart.

The young housewife's daily assistant: on all matters relating to cookery ... (1864) by Cre-Fydd.

Fruit Pudding.

Cut nice, pared apples into pieces; mix with these a few currants, raisins, chopped figs or dates, dried cherries or dried plums—in fact, almost any kind of dried or fresh fruits or berries; put into a baking dish. Now make a batter (do not make it stiff) of wheat meal or corn meal, or both, mixed with water, either hot or cold (boiling water is best if you use all corn meal), and pour over the fruit until all is covered.

What to Eat, and how to Cook it: With Rules for Preserving, Canning and Drying

Fruits and Vegetables (1870)