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to distribute sprigs of the plant at funerals, in order that those
attending may cast them into the grave. Gay refers to this custom
in his ‘ Shepherd’s Week ’ :—
“ Sprigg’d Rosemary the lads and lasses bore,
While dismally the parson walked before.
Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw,
The Daisy, Butter-flower, and Endive blue^”
Sprigs of Rosemary were, however, in olden times, worn at weddings,
as well as at funerals. Herrick says :—
“ Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,
Be’t for my bridal or my burial.’ ’
Shakspeare and others of our old poets make frequent mention of
Rosemary as an emblem of remembrance, and as being worn at
weddings, possibly to signify the fidelity of the lovers. Thus
Ophelia says :—
“ There’s Rosemary for you, that’s for remembrance ; pray you, love, remember.”
Sprigs of Rosemary mingled in the coronal which bound the hair
of the unfortunate Anne of Cleves on the occasion of her nuptials
with King Henry V I I I . In olden times, Rosemary garlanded the
wassail bowl, and at Christmas the dish of roast beef, decked with
Rosemary and Bays, was ushered in with the carol beginning—
“ The boar’s head in hand bring I,
With garlands gay and Rosemary.”
The silvery foliage of this favourite plant mingled well with the
Holly, Mistletoe, and Bays employed in decking rooms, &c., at
Christmas-tide—a custom which may perhaps be accounted for by
a Spanish tradition that the Rosemary (like the Juniper in other
legends) afforded shelter and protecffion to the Virgin Mary during
her flight with the infant Saviour into Egypt. The plant is said to
flower on the day of the Passion of our Lord because the Virgin
Mary spread on a shrub of Rosemary the under linen and little
frocks of the infant Je su s ; and according to tradition, it brings
happiness on those families who employ it in perfuming the house
on Christmas night. In Germany, there exists a curious custom
of deraanding presents from women on Good Friday, at the
sarne time striking them with a branch of Rosemary or F ir .------
It is a common saying in Sicily, that Rosemary is the favourite
plant of the fairies, and that the young fairies, under the guise of
snakes, lie concealed under its branches. In the rural districits
of Portugal, it it called Alecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin
(Ellegrim), signifying Elfin-plant. Rosemary occupied a prominent
place in monastic gardens, on account of its curative properties,
and in Queen Elizabeth’s time, its silvery foliage grew all over the
walls of the gardens at Hampton Court. Now-a-days the plant
is rarely seen out of the kitchen garden, and indeed a common
saying has arisen that “ Rosemary only grows where the mistress
is master. The plant was formerly held in high estimation as a
“ comforter of the brain,” and a strengthener of the memory. In
England, Rosemary worn about the body is said to strengthen the
memory, and to afford successful assistance to the wearer in anything
he may undertake. In an ancient Italian recipe, the
flowers of Rosemary, Rue, Sage, Marjoram, Fennel, Quince, &c.,
are recommended for the preservation of youth. In Bologna, there
is an old belief that the flowers of Rosemary, if placed in contacff
with the skin, and especially, with the heart, give gaiety and
sprightliness. Spirit of wine distilled from Rosemary produces the
true Hungary water. B y many persons Rosemary is used as tea
for headaches and nervous disorders. An Italian legend, given
in the Mythologie des Plantes, tells that a certain queen, who was
childless, one day, whilst walking in the palace gardens, was
troubled with a feeling of envy whilst contemplating a vigorous
Rosemary-bush, because of its numerous branches and offshoots.
Strange to relate, she afterwards gave birth to a Rosemary-bush,
which she planted in a pot and carefully supplied with milk four
times a day. The king of Spain, nephew of the queen, having
stolen this pot of Rosemary, sustained it with goat’s milk. One day,
whilst playing on the flute, he saw to his astonishment a beautiful
princess emerge from the Rosemary-bush. Captivated by her beauty,
he fell desperately in love with this strange visitor; but being obliged
to depart to fight for his country, he commended the Rosemary-bush
to the special care of his head gardener. In his absence, his sisters
one day amused themselves by playing on the king s flute, and
forthwith the beautiful princess emerged once more from the
Rosemary. The king’s sisters, tormented by jealousy, struck her;
the princess forthwith vanished, the Rosemary began to droop, and.
the gardener, afraid of the king’s wrath, fled into the woods. At
the midnight hour, he heard a dragon talking to its mate, and
telling her the story of the mystic Rosemary-bush. The dragon
let fall the fadt, that if the Rosemary was to be restored, it could
only be by being fed or sprinkled with dragons’ blood: no sooner
did the gardener hear this, than he fell upon the male and female
dragons, slew them, and carrying off some of their blood, applied
it to the roots of the king’s Rosemary. So the spell was broken:
the king returned, and soon after married the charming Princess
Rosa Marina. A curious charm, or dream-divination, is still
extant in which Rosemary plays an important p a r t; the mode of
procedure is as follows:—On the eve of St. Magdalen, three maidens,
under the age of twenty-one, are to assemble in an upper roonr,
and between them prepare a potion, consisting of wine, rum, gin,
vinegar, and water, in a ground-glass vessel. Into this each maid
is then to dip a sprig of Rosemary, and fasten it in her bosom;
and after taking three sips of the potion, the three maids are silently
to go to sleep in the same bed. As a result, the dreams of each
will reveal their destiny. Another elaborate spell for effeiiting the
same result on the first of July, consists in the gathering of a sprig