This is the photo of Rose-hips that was taken on my walk up the lane a couple of weeks ago, there are so many this year, bright orangey-red and huge and full of Vitamin C.
During World War II the sea blockade cut off imports and soon there was a lack of citrus fruit and the threat of the disease Scurvy, well known to sailors, could have quickly become a National problem. Rosehips were know to contain 20 times the amount of Vitamin C than oranges and in 1941 The Ministry of Health started a scheme for the collection of Rosehips for processing into a syrup. 120 tons were gathered by volunteers. The next year the scheme was transferred to the Vegetable Drugs Committee of the Ministry of Supply and 344 tons collected. For the next 3 years collection averaged 350 tons a year. The syrup was sold at a controlled price of 1s 9d (one shilling and ninepence or 9 new pence decimal) for a 6oz bottle.
I'll not be making any - although I might buy a bottle just to remind me of it's taste as I'm sure it was something we were dosed up with as children (although that was years after the war and I might be imagining it).
Here is Cecily Mary Barkers lovely painting of the Rose-Hip fairy and her song from her Flower Fairy books.
Searching through my folklore books I failed to find any associated folklore for Rose-hips except for the mention of many Hips and Haws foretelling a hard winter - which is rarely true as the amount of fruit in Autumn is usually a reflection of the spring and summer weather.
I have heard of rose hip jelly not the syrup.
ReplyDeletecathy
The jelly would be much like the syrup only with more sugar and pectin to set it
DeleteI did not know Rose Hips is high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is an important nutrient and the syrup was a great invention. How would you describe the syrup flavor? Have you tried it on pancakes and porridge? I recently learned Kiwi is high in Vitamin C and also very good for the digestive tract.
ReplyDeleteI've not had Rosehip syrup since I was a small child. Can't eat Kiwis - they make my mouth very sore and puffy
DeleteIn 1959 when my sister was born they gave out rosehip syrup at the mother and baby clinic. On rare occasions my brother and I were allowed a sip. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy sister was born in 1959 too so maybe that's when I got to try it
DeleteI remember those years. Collecting rosehips was a job for kids. Those volunteers were very young country kids who knew rose hips when they saw them. I was too young to reach, so I didn't get pocket money from picking. I think it was a penny a pound and they had to be turned in to the local Food Office for collection to be processed into syrup.
ReplyDeleteI meant to look up about what people were paid but didn't get time.
DeleteI had no idea. My father grew some roses from hips, but they were unreliable.
ReplyDeleteI guess roses are usually grown from cuttings?
DeleteI had no idea about the vitamin c or using them in the war. Fascinating.I just thought they were pretty!
ReplyDeleteIt's the irritation of the hairs and seeds problem that puts me off making any
DeleteHow lovely. Reading your post made me think of a possible photography project I might do next year lol.
ReplyDeleteYou always have such interesting facts about different subjects .
Happy to help with ideas for your lovely photos!
DeleteI remember my mother buying bottles of rosehip syrup when we were children and just did a quick check to see if it was still for sale. No such luck! If I want to try some again I will have to make it, and I don't think that is going to happen :)
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely still around here - health food shops and chemists and online
DeleteI must belong to a small minority who can remember being given rosehip syrup. It was yellow in colour and quite viscous. It was too sweet and cloying for my taste. I recall my mother telling me that one of her friends when pregnant mixed rosehip syrup with gin as a cocktail. Roderick
ReplyDeleteI remember it being more of a peach colour and very nice
DeleteYou can buy rosehip jam here, and it is my absolute favourite. I make a lot of jam myself, but never rosehip - I tried it once and it was full of the tiny hairs.
ReplyDeleteHilde in Germany
The hairs must be avoided as they are an irritant .
DeleteIt sounds delicious. I have made rosehip syrup before, but I found it a bit of a faff. X
ReplyDeleteI'd be too concerned about the hairs getting into it - and I'd rather have Strawberry!
DeleteI've only made this a couple of times as it's a bit of a palaver. I remember including some big fat rose hips off of one of our garden roses last time. Gorgeous drizzled over ice cream!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine it being nice on ice cream but too fiddly to make and I don't eat ice cream at home anyway!
DeleteI remember my mum talking about rosehip syrup but don't recall wether she dosed us with it. She did used to give us Minadex and cod liver oil and malt in the wintertime as tonics, which she firmly believed fought off all ills!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I can remember Cod Liver Oil and a concentrated orange juice mixed with hot water and something called Parishes food which tasted like metal - for when we were poorly
DeleteAs a child I had rosehip syrup and also Metadone which you can still buy. Rosehip syrup was delicious. Recently I ate rosehip ice cream in a restaurant.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Metadone. Yes I remember Rosehip syrup being good too
DeleteI used to get Rosehip syrup from the baby clinic along with the National dried milk and orange juice. Rosehip syrup was given to all babies when my son was young, 50 years ago. It was given in water, as a drink. Luckily his teeth seem to have survived!!
ReplyDeleteI remember all those. and loved the orange juice which I remember having with sugar and hot water
DeleteOh that has stirred a memory for me. Dad sending us out to the waste ground behind our house to gather Rose hips for him to make syrup. We would be fed a spoonful along with a large spoonful of thick, dark, sticky malt. Yuk.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we missed out on the malt. Syrup of figs, cod liver oil concentrated orange juice and rose-hip syrup was enough!
DeleteWe had rose hip syrup as youngsters (born 1963) it was called Delrosa.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to definitely try some again after this post and so many comments
DeleteYou are supposed to strain it twice to get rid of the little hairs. Too much hassle imho. I do remember older people going on about being sent out to pick hips in WW2. A company called Atkins&Potts still sell it, as a fancy 'drizzle' for waffles, desserts and cocktails.
ReplyDeleteYes, I looked up who was still selling it when I did the post - a very fancy price too!.
DeleteStraining twice and with coffee filter is recommended - but not something I will be doing
I was born in 1958 and remember Delrosa Rose Hip syrup from my childhood in North Wales. My mother used to give it to us from the start of school in September until Easter. We all loved it, but not so much the Cod liver oil and Senokot granules that we also were given occasionally.
ReplyDeleteMust have been winter protection for you. We had syrup of figs rather than senokot - I quite liked it!
DeleteMemories for me too. We were given Rose Hip Syrup and Cod Liver Oil at the local clinic this was the early 1950s:)
ReplyDeleteChildren today don't know what they are missing!
DeleteI should see if I can get hold of a bottle of Rosehip Syrup to supplement my wartime rations. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe used to have lots growing on the hillside back in Wales and one year I was tempted to make some syrup, but then I found out about the very careful straining needed and decided not to bother. I left them for the wildlife instead.
I was going to say you'd better have cod liver oil too - but that's not very vegan - or very nice!
DeleteI'd like to make rosehip syrup again as they are plentiful and a gorgeous deep red this year along the East Yorkshire coast.
ReplyDeleteMore than ever we need our free/cheap sources of vitamins!
It's a very good year for them.
DeleteI didn't realise you could still buy Rose-hip syrup, I shall definitely look out for some. I remember it well (I am 71) and Mum used to put it on our rice pudding, plus I'm sure there was often a jug of it at school dinners.
ReplyDeleteIt's still around - I'm going to look for it next time I go shopping
DeleteI loved rose hip syrup but didn't have it that often as probably out of my grans budget.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to find some to buy after all the comments
DeleteI don't know anything about rose hips and so I enjoyed learning about them in your post. I love the pictures in your flower fairy book. You certainly get a lot of interesting posts from that book!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many pictures in the Flower Fairy book still to be used!
DeleteRosehip syrup sounds like a bit of a faff to make, Sue, but I think I was given some (the bought variety) as a child. The thing I remember most though was Virol, a thick sticky stuff given on a teaspoon!
ReplyDeleteJust looked to see what that was - a brand name of malt extract which I've used in Malt loaf but it would be quite nasty by the spoonful - ugh
DeleteI remember having this as a child. I feel tempted like you to get a bottle for health as well as nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago, while walking around a town in Sweden, I saw a flock of birds eating the hips of one rosebush. I had a taste of the hips to see what they tasted like. They were so sweet and juicy. Ever since, I try a taste of hips when I see them but have never found any as good.
ReplyDeleteRose hip tea is still sold as a dried herb type thing. It tastes disappointingly unrosey as I recall but purported to be full of vitamin C.
ReplyDeletececi
Like others I have heard of rose hip jelly but not the syrup. I have also heard about the tea.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
1960s NZ we got it as kids. We used to water it for a drink like a cordial. I recall my paternal grandmother telling us about collecting wild rosehips for this during the war. They grew wild over vaste areas of our undeveloped hinterland. Farming has erased them now.
ReplyDelete