£| The ^Aromatic Herbs ^ 



with it, but this is doubtful. Rue has always been famed 

 for its property of warding off infection, and even as late 

 as the nineteenth century sprigs of rue were placed before 

 the Judges at Assizes to counteract possible infection 

 from the prisoners. It is still used by country folk to 

 counteract the poison of bee and wasp stings. It was also 

 used in spells to ward off evil spirits and as an amulet 

 against the evil eye. From the earliest times it was re- 

 garded as of sovereign efficacy to preserve eyesight and to 

 strengthen it when vision was becoming dim. It was with 

 ' euphrasy and rue ' that the angel cleared Adam's eyes 

 in Paradise Lost. Rue is one of the few ' herbs ' which 

 figure in heraldry. Frederick Barbarossa in 1181 gave the 

 first Duke of Saxony the right to bear a chaplet of rue on 

 his arms, and six hundred years later the first King of 

 Saxony created the Order of the Crown of Rue. This 

 order was conferred on King George when he was Prince 

 of Wales, in 1902. 



The various aromatic sages make a delightful group in 

 the scented garden, and some of them, particularly 

 Salvia sclarea (the old ' Clary '), with its huge leaves and 

 4 feet high heads of pale pink and blue flowers, are hand- 

 some enough for the choicest herbaceous border. It 

 remains in full beauty till cut down by the first frosts. 

 Picked for indoor decoration it fades almost at once, but 

 I have found that if one hammers the stalks (literally 

 with a hammer, just as one does Christmas roses) they 

 will usually last well, especially if one picks the young 

 branches. A few days ago I filled a huge bowl with 

 clary and the giant catmint, which grows to nearly the 

 same height (incidentally, why is this lovely catmint so 

 seldom grown ?), and foxgloves, and the clary is still 



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