RUE, THE * HERB OF GRACE ' 83 



Germany informs us that Rue sandwiches just 

 hke these are quite the fashion with them for 

 afternoon tea ! 



It is not so very long ago that Rue was strewed 

 about the prisoners' dock when criminal trials were 

 on at the Old Bailey Sessions. As children, we 

 were told by our gardener 'it kept off fleas.' 

 Perhaps the lawyers were of the same opinion. It 

 has always been thought to possess great powers 

 of purification. 



' What savour is better, if physic be true. 

 For places infected than Wormwood and Rue ?' 



Rue was a Herb much used in exorcism, and at 

 the present day in churches abroad we sometimes 

 find branches of it brought in to sprinkle holy 

 water. Some people find the smeU of Rue detest- 

 able ; as a child I could not endure it, but now 

 have grown to think its clean and wholesome 

 bitterness quite pleasing. We love the sturdy 

 little shrub, too, for its hardiness ; the bushy small- 

 leafed plants hold their own bravely through all 

 the wintry weather, smiling their blue-green placid 

 smUes unruffled. The flowers of Rue are yellow, 

 and not at all conspicuous. 



Camomile has quite a different character. For 

 one thing, the virtue of the plant is in the flowers. 



