284 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



when Juliet is supposed to be dead, the rosemary 

 that was to have been used at her wedding was yet 

 to serve to deck her corpse ; while in reading in 

 Dekker of a bride who died on her wedding-day, 

 we find the same suggestion " Here is a strange 

 alteration : for the rosemary that was washed in 

 sweet water to get out the bridal is now wet in 

 tears to furnish her funeral." An old ballad 

 declares that 



u Rosemary is for remembrance 

 Between us dale and night," 



and we find the idea again in " Hamlet " " There's 

 rosemary, that's for remembrance," while in the 

 1 'Winter's Tale" rosemary and rue are beautifully 

 associated together in the lines 



" For you there's rosemary and rue, these keep 

 Seeming and savour all the winter long : 

 Grace and remembrance be to you both." 



The rosemary is really a plant of the Mediterranean 

 littoral, but has for centuries been cultivated in the 

 British herb-garden. The botanical name Ros- 

 marinus signifies dew of the sea, the greyish appear- 

 ance of the plant and its favourite locality being 

 herein suggested. The leaves, while green above 

 are whitish beneath, and the flowers are of a pale 

 blue colour, variegated with purple and white, and 

 of labiate type. 



