I am trying to find any information on the Copmanthorpe Crab, an apple named after a village outside York. Although Hogg and others record it as a synonym for Dutch Mignonne, Lindley questioned how a local apple grown outside York could be mixed up with a well known continental variety and called for closer comparison. I noticed that the Copmanthorpe Crab is also listed in the 1903 Apples of New York report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, N.Y.
These are the most recent references I can find on the net, so I would be grateful if anyone could shed any light on a very well travelled local Yorkshire variety! Was it the same apple as the Dutch Mignonne and what is its history as a Yorkshire apple?
It would also be interesting to know if the variety is still maintained at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, now part of Cornell University. Sadly, it is doubtful that it could still be found in Copmanthorpe itself.
Nick Burrows
André Leroy(1873), the French pomologist, has a long discussion concerning Copmanthorpe under the name Reinette de Caux. Not having seen the apple I am not clear from a hasty look at Leroy’ s notes whether he thinks Dutch Mignonnne and Reinette de Caux are synonyms or different varieties. I rather think he believes the latter! We need ‘live’ apples to help untangle the problem!
Leroy’s notes are comprehensive and interesting. He illustrates two types suggesting that it must be a variable apple hence perhaps the confusion in its naming.
In the unlikely event that Copmanthorpe is Dutch Mignonne, I don’t find it surprising that it might turn up in a Yorkshire village. Scion material travels easily. Dutch Mignonne (and Reinette de Caux for that matter,) were widely grown in the 19th century. Dutch Mignonne was introduced from Holland to Norwich around 1770 and was growing in the Norfolk village of Catton in the1820s
See Leroy A (1873) ‘Dictionnaire de Pomologie’ Tome IV Pommes M-Z. Reprinted by Naturalia Publications Transfaire SA , 04250 Turriers, Printed at Cahors pp644-647.