Origin

Apart from having their origin in India, the gooseberries have been grown in Britain since the time of Henry Vlll. There is also an ancient belief narrating how fairies would shelter from danger in the prickly bushes, and hence gooseberries became known as fayberries. Gooseberry juice was also used as a medicine in the treatment of fevers and in the sixteenth century they were recommended to plague victims. In the north of England, gooseberry clubs were popular, with members fiercely competing for the varieties that produced the biggest, best and juiciest fruit of the year.