Mark, when I was at Trinidad in the middle '60s as a very young man, we referred to most Juglans Regia as French or Circassian especially if it had a darker tint. The Juglans Regia with a lighter color is what we called English at that time and it was not as commonly available at that time as it seems today. As a matter of fact at that time and place, the lighter 'English' was largely denigrated as being both weaker and less visually attractive than the darker 'French' or 'Circassian' of that time, and it was substantially cheaper when found. Not as cheap as Juglans Nigra (American Black Walnut) but not as dear as the redder darker 'French' or 'Circassian'. I remember buying one batch of 6 'Circassian, best quality' from Flaig's in 1967, all of it was the darker type with much marbling, fiddleback, crotch, etc. It was so dark that it didn't need any alkanet root or other red tint. I still have the last one of those blanks & am preparing to make a Mauser stock out of it. It looks like it's already been stained when I put it next to a couple of the much lighter 'English' blanks I just bought. An excellent example of this distinct color difference can often be found in factory Browning European Walnut stocks, some are almost yellow while others are quite a dark brown. And the lighter color is not sapwood, at least it's no sapwood I've ever seen.
It's my impression that the term English more-or-less gradually replaced the French and Circassian nomenclature, as the lighter-colored wood seems to have gradually replaced the darker color on most available blanks today. JMOFWIW.
Regards, Joe
