in the palace garden filled with Rose-water. The acffion of the
sun speedily concentrated the oleaginous particles floating on the
surface, and the careful attendant, fearing lest the Rose-water should
have become corrupt, hastened to skim it in order to remove the
oily flakes. The globules burst whilst this operation was being
performed, and emitted such an exquisite odour, that the idea of
preparing the delicious attar was at once suggested. Avicenna, an
Arabian doctor of the tenth century, was the first to extraét frorn
Roses their fragrant perfume by distillation. He selected the Rosa
centifolia for his experiments, and succeeded in producing the delicious
liquid known as Rose-water, which is held in such repute in
the East, that when a stranger enters a house, it is considered a
mark of distinction and welcome to sprinkle him over with Rose-
water. When Saladin entered Jerusalem in 1187, he had the floor
and walls of Omar’s mosque entirely washed with this delicate,
perfume.
At all times, in all coiintries, Roses have been employed for
planting and strewing upon graves. The dying Antony begged
Cleopatra to scatter perfumes on his tomb and cover it with Roses ;
and both Greeks and Romans were desirous of having their graves
bedecked every year with the fragrant flowers. So religiously did
they observe the pradtice of planting Roses round graves, that they
annexed codicils to their wills, as appears by an old inscription at
Ravenna, and another at Milan, by which Roses are ordered to be
yearly strewed upon the graves. In the German portions of Switzerland,
churchyards are called “ Rose gardens.” A Rose is
sculptured on the tombs of maidens in Turkey. In Poland, the
coffins of little children are covered with Roses, and Roses are
thrown from the windows as the funeral procession passes along
the streets. In the South of England, a chaplet of white Roses is
borne before the corpse of a maiden, by a young girl of the same
age as the deceased, and afterwards hung up over her accustomed
seat in church. In South Wales, and in many parts of England,
it was formerly customary to strew Roses and plant Rose-
trees on graves, and, indeed, the custom is still extant. Camden
says that at Ockley, in Surrey, the custom of planting Rose-
trees on graves had been observed “ time out of mind.”
The Rose is one of the plants used for love divinations on
Midsummer Eve. In Cornwall, Devon, and other counties, if a
young lad}!^ will, on Midsummer Eve, walk backwards into the
garden, and pluck a Rose, she is reputed to have the means of
knowing who is to be her husband. The Rose must be cautiously
sewn up in a paper bag, and put aside in a dark drawer, there to
remain until Christmas morning, when the bag must be carefully
opened in silence, and the Rose placed by the lady in her bosom.
Thus she must wear it to church. Some young man will either ask
her for the Rose or take it from her without asking ; and that
young man is destined eventually to become the lady’s husband.
Herrick probably refers to this charm in the ‘ Hesperides,’ when, in
allusion to a bride, he says :—
“ She must no more a-maying,
Or by Rosebuds divine
Who’ll be her Valentine.’'
There is a curious old divination rite to be employed on the 27th of
June, according to which maidens are enjoined on that morning to
gather secretly a full-blown Rose, between three and four o’clock.
The flower is then to be held for about five minutes over the
smoke of a chafing-dish containing some brimstone and charcoal;
then, before the Rose gets cool, it is to be placed on a sheet of
paper, on which is inscribed the maiden’s name and that of the
swain she loves, together with the date of the year, and the name
of the morning star. This paper, having been folded and thrice
sealed, is to be buried at the foot of the Rose-tree from which the
flower was plucked, and allowed to remain there until the 6th of
July, when it is to be taken up, and placed beneath the maiden’s
pillow, with the result that, before' morning, she will, in a dream,
have her fate revealed. The Rose is utilised as a love-charm in
Thuringia ; there a maid who has several lovers will name a Rose-
leaf after each, and then scatter them upon the water; that which
sinks the last representing her future husband.
It was a common belief formerly, that when Roses or Violets
flourished in Autumn, there would be a plague or some pestiferous
disease during the ensuing year. Lord Bacon points out that a
profusion of Roses in their season predias a severe Winter, and the
belief is still extant.
“ Tbe Tborns and Briars, vermilion bue,
Now full of Hips and Haws are seen ;
I f village prophecies be true,
They prove that Winter will be keen.”
A writer in the Gardeners Chronicle tells us, that “ in some parts
of Germany it is customary to throw Rose-leaves on a coal-fire as
a means of ensuring good luck. In Germany, as well as m France
and Italy, it is believed that if a drop of one’s blood be buried
under a Rose-tree, it will ensure rosy cheeks. The Rose is also
associated in Westphalia with a charm against nose-bleeding and
other hemorrhages. This charm consists in the repetition of the
words • ‘ In Christ’s Garden stand three Roses, one for the good
God, the other for God’s blood, the third for the angel Gabriel:
blood, I pray you, cease to flow.’ In Suabia, it is somewhat
different: ‘ On our Lord’s grave spring three Roses; the first is
Hope, the second is Patience, the third is the will of God: blood,
I pray you be still.’ ” • r 1 • j
Strangely enough, the Rose has the reputation of being a death
portent. In England, it is on that account deemed very unlucky
to scatter the leaves of a red Rose on the ground. In Italy, this
flower is deemed an emblem of an early death; and it is thought