The lemon's travels began in the early Middle Ages on Arab vessels, and it was introduced into Europe near the end of the 12th century. The lemon was closely associated with long sea voyages and slavery, and in 1493 it crossed the Atlantic with Christopher Columbus and arrived in Haiti. To protect sailors from the scourge of scurvy that could make a man's teeth fall out in several week - or kill him if the illness had struck too far from land - there was only one remedy: lemon.

A writer serving under the French King Louis XIV wrote in his journal that the lemon had to be used whole, together with a good salad of raw onions in order to keep this curse away.

This theory was taken up again by Dr. James Lind, a surgeon in the Royal Navy in the mid-18th century. Cook experimented with the recipe during his second voyage and was proud to have lost only a single man over the course of his long journey.

Lemons became so associated with seafaring that their use was dictated by an English ordinance on all warships and trade vessels. British ships were given the nickname of "limejuicers" and the sailors "Limeys."

At the Palais Précieux in the Paris of the Sun King, courtesans were treated to every witty diversion, and on evenings of balls and theatre, the women were entitled to receive sweet oranges and lemons from Portugal.

In the list of Canadian plants drawn up by the Jesuits in the days of New France, it was recorded that "the fruit of this plant, which they call citronnier in the country is good to eat; but the root is a violent poison which the natives sometimes used to resort to when they could not endure their sorrow."

Beliefs
Lemons haven't always had good press. Their yellow color was at one time associated with infamy. Catalan priests excommunicated the lemon, claiming that the devil had not succeeded in making it as round and perfect as the orange and that it had come from his hands as a deformed fruit. Virgil on the other hand, attributed it with protective powers against evil spells: "The sour apple with the persistent flavor is an unrivalled remedy when cruel stepmothers have poisoned a drink." Casanova thought it a miraculous aphrodisiac.