^ Spring Flowering Hulks $£ 



Scandinavian ellegren — literally ' elfin plant.' In very 

 early days, therefore, rosemary was connected with elves, 

 and in Sicily they tell one that the baby fairies sleep in 

 the rosemary flowers. The lowest petals of the flowers 

 are certainly perfect cradles for the baby fairies, and one 

 loves to think of them swinging in them. According to 

 a Spanish legend rosemary flowers were originally white, 

 but during the Flight into Egypt the Holy Family rested 

 beside a rosemary bush, and the Virgin Mary, having 

 thrown her robe over it, the flowers preserved the 

 memory of her having thus honoured them by turning 

 the colour of her robe. 



In Tudor days no herb was more widely grown and 

 used. Hentzner mentions in his 'Travels (1598) that in 

 English gardens the walls were frequently covered with 

 rosemary, and at Hampton Court he says ' it was so 

 planted and nailed to the walls as to cover them entirely.' 

 Both in cookery and medicine the uses of this herb were 

 manifold. The flowers were candied, a conserve was made 

 of them and rosemary cordial was used in every household. 

 Rosemary was one of the chief ingredients in the famous 

 \ Hungary Water,' the recipe for which, tradition says, 

 was given to Queen Elizabeth of Hungary by a hermit. 

 The original recipe is treasured in what was formerly 

 the Imperial Library of Vienna. Hungary Water was the 

 favourite toilet water in most European countries for at 

 least two centuries. 



It is curious how few people trouble to dry and keep 

 rosemary seeds, but their pungent, aromatic fragrance is 

 most pleasant when kept in bags in the same way as 

 lavender. Bushes which have been allowed to grow with- 

 out severe clipping are as massed with these fragrant 



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