24 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



does it seem any longer to crave the sea-dew for its 

 well-being, for — albeit a little tender in a very 

 severe winter — it thrives on land just as happily 

 as by the sea. 



No English garden, indeed, should be without 

 rosemary. It is rooted in our history and in our 

 literature no less than in the everyday customs of 

 our rural life. Two faithful virtues, constancy to 

 the Uving and remembrance of the lost, have 

 always been close entwined about the rosemary 

 branch, which in the West Country we still 



Grow for two ends, it matters not at all 

 Be't for my bridall or ray buriall. 



In olden days, no bride went to church without 

 rosemary in her wedding posy, and tradition has it 

 that Anne of Cleves, staking her life's happiness on 

 a poor venture, wore the green sprays wreathed 

 in her hair — a feeble spell on which to trust in a 

 hazard so fraught with peril. At country funerals 

 it is still customary, in many localities, to drop 

 sprigs of rosemary into the open grave. 



Rosemary makes as good a hedge as lavender 

 and gives a different tone of colour, so that there 

 should be room for both in most gardens. Some- 

 times it may be seen covering the gable-end of a 



