526 pPant "bore, "begel^ti/, and. TSLjrle/*, 



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 wed- 

 dings, 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 VIII. 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 protecflion 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 Jesus; 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 demanding presents from women on Good Friday, at the 



same time striking them with a branch of Rosemary or Fir. 



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 distri(fts 



of Portugal, it it called Alecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin 

 (Ellegrim), signifying Elfin-plant. Rosemary occupied a promi- 

 nent 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 



