First Catch Your Gingerbread

Gingerbread is a lovely, squidgy treat which has played a part in almost everyone's childhood. But do you know what gingerbread was made of when it first arrived on our plates? Was it flavoured with honey? When did treacle, dark, sticky, and fairly strong tasting, which adds moisture, depth of flavour and character to baking, first become available? Then there's the question of when gingerbread migrated from the home kitchen to commercial products. And why did the gingerbread man leap from the tin, and run so fast with a fox snapping at his heels?