ruk. 273 



of the plant in various diseases ; but this is rather a forced 

 derivation, and unsatisfactory as to the true root of the word. 

 In Sclavonic it was called rutiza, and in Anglo-Saxon, rude, 

 ruta, or rutu. Rue is frequently mentioned by Hippocrates, 

 Theophrastus, and Dioscorides *, under the name of Trvyavov ; 

 the latter does not describe it, but he compares the leaves of 

 many other plants to the folia rutoe. 



Gerard mentions Herb-Grace, as one of the common names of this plant, 

 and Shakspeare calls it Herb of Grace. It is still called Ave-grace in some 

 parts of England, most probably in allusion to the expression Ave- Maria 

 gratia plena. It appears to have received this name from its use in the 

 exorcisms ordained by the Romish church. Ophelia, in Hamlet, says to 

 the Queen, " There's rue for you, and here's some for me ; we may call it 

 herb of grace a Sundays : " referring to the great need her majesty had of 

 absolution for her crimes. Greene, in his Quip for an Upstart Courtier, 

 has this passage — " Some of them smiled, and said Rue was called herb 

 grace, which though they scorned in their youth they might wear in their 

 age, and that it was never too late to say miserere" The gardener in 

 Richard II. says of the Queen: — 



" Here did she drop a tear ; here in this place, 

 I'll set a bank of Rue, sour herb of grace : 

 Rue even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen. 

 In the remembrance of a weeping queen." 



He here plays upon the name, and represents rue as the herb of remem- 

 brance, a title which belongs to the rosemary, as already observed. It 

 might more correctly be called Herb of repentance. 



M Rue seems to have been used formerly in nosegays ; for the clown in 

 ' All's well that Ends Well,' having said of the Countess, — ' she was the 

 sweet marjoram of the salad, or rather the herb of grace.' Lafeu replies, 

 4 They are not salad herbs, you knave, they are nose-herbs ; ' upon which 

 the Clown remarks, 'I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir, I have not 

 much skill in grass ; ' thus punning upon the name of grace."* 



Alston observes, " I have not seen Rue infested with insects, and it is 

 said to be hated by toads, and therefore planted among sage. Hence, ' Salvia 

 cum ruta faciunt tibi pocula tuta.' " 



Qualities. Rue has a strong, stimulant, disagreeable odour, 

 and a hot, pungent, bitter, and nauseous taste. The wild plant 

 is said to possess these qualities in a greater degree than 

 the cultivated kind. In the recent state, the leaves have suf- 

 ficient acrimony to inflame and blister the hands ; but much of 



* Mat. Med. lib. iii. c. 52. 

 f Martyn. 



