Origin of the Word Spruce

Felling a Spruce today. Reminded me that a couple of days ago we where working on a building site and got speaking to a Polish joiner. He was telling us that the word "Spruce" originated in Poland.

Apparently when the British empire was running low on timber they would import from Poland, however some timber was a better quality than others.

When the British buyers asked the Polish timber merchants what this superior wood was they answered "z Prus", which means "from Prussia". Z Prus sounds like Spruce, and here we are! Everyday is a School day.