Northern Spy

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hey, how are you guys?

Fine, how are you?

Who’s this?

I’m Kevin, I’m from Rochester, Michigan, and I have a question for you guys about apples.

Apples, shoot, let’s hear it.

Apples, yep, the fruit.

So, you have the Honeycrisp, right?

The Honeycrisp is one of the most loved apples. It tastes like honey, and it’s super crispy, so the name makes sense.

You have the Red Delicious, it’s red, and it’s delicious, so the name makes sense.

But there’s an apple called the Northern Spy, and I can’t put together where it got its name from.

Now, how is it that you’re such an expert on apples?

I’m a general manager at a cider mill, so I spend most of my time with apples.

So you have Northern Spy apples there on site?

Yeah, we did for last week. They’re only available for like five or six days.

Oh, really?

Yeah, and they’re so good.

For eating, baking, cider?

Most people use them to make pies. I like just eating them, though.

I think when we started getting ours, I probably ate six or seven within a day or two.

Really?

Is there anything mysterious about a Northern Spy? Is there something that makes you, is it disguised as a pear, or is there any physical characteristic that gives any kind of clue to its name?

Nope. It looks like just a normal apple. It’s a little tartar than sweeter apples, like the Honeycrisp.

Yeah, I like a tart apple myself. Tart apples go really well with peanut butter.

Oh, so it kind of fakes you out then? You think it’s going to be less tart and you bite into it?

It could be that, yeah.

Northern Spy apples. This sounds so mysterious and wonderful.

It does. I’m hoping there’s some big drama-filled story how it got its name.

Well, there sort of is.

What?

Okay.

Yeah, there was a book called The Northern Spy that was circulated among abolitionists in the 1830s.

Are you familiar with that book?

I’m not.

Okay. Well, the Northern Spy was this guy who set up a bunch of safe houses for people who were fleeing slavery. And he went down to the south and he would go to these plantations and present himself as a slave catcher and asked to speak to the slaves so he could get information.

But he would actually be tipping them off.

And telling them where to go?

Yeah, on how to escape.

Okay.

Are we sure that that’s the origin or is it a coincidence? Is that how the apple came from?

Well, that’s a good question because I believe the Northern Spy was originated before that. So it might be a bit of a mystery about the origin, but it’s pretty cool that it’s associated with that book, the Northern Spy.

I didn’t know. That’s really cool. That’s an excellent story.

Now, I’m Googling the heck out of this here, and it looks like it has a ton of names. Is Northern Spy, like, the official name, Kevin? Is this the one that—

That’s, that’s the name I’ve always heard it called. A lot of people call it Northern, or Northern Space Pie, which is where I was thinking maybe it got its name from.

Oh, Northern Pie or Northern’s Pie.

Well, like Northern Pie, essentially, because everyone uses it to make pies.

Oh. Interesting.

Yeah, and I’m seeing here that one of the names is Northern Spice, too.

Yep.

Oh, interesting.

But I love the story that this might have been named after an abolitionist tract.

Yeah. That’s pretty great.

Maybe, or at least that popularized it, I think.

Right, but all the memes gives me the idea that perhaps the name wasn’t fixed and placed early on.

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. And that’s the reason it has this name and other names.

Yeah.

Okay.

Cool, Kevin.

Cool. Thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate it.

And if anything else cool in language happens in the Apple kingdom that you rule, you have to call us.

I’ll let you guys know.

All right. Have a great day, you guys.

Bye.

All right. Bye-bye.

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