118 



THE HERB-GARDEN 



and used to season poultry. Sprigs of it, gilded or 

 bound with ribbons, were distributed at weddings, 

 and branches of it would be thrown into graves, as 

 they were into that of the hapless Ophelia. 



' Dry up your tears and stick your Rosemary 

 On this fair corse." 



It was a pretty custom for bridesmaids to present 

 a bridegroom with a bunch of Rosemary at his 

 first appearance on his wedding morn. Rosemary 

 was an emblem of love and loyalty, so he was to 

 carry the green sprays in his hand while the warm 

 feelings they represented were glowing in his heart. 

 Bees greatly love the flowers of Rosemary. Sir 

 Thomas More wrote of it : ' As for Rosmarine, I 

 let it runne all over my garden walls not onlie 

 because my bees love it, but because it is the herb 

 sacred to remembrance and therefore to friendship ; 

 whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language.' A 

 legend of the Rosemary, not so well known as 

 some, tells how the plant came by its blue flowers. 

 The Blessed Virgin threw her linen over a white - 

 flowered shrub to bleach it ; ever afterwards the 

 flowers were as blue as the Virgin's robe. 



Rosemary is best grown from cuttings, which 

 may be planted in August, either in the open or in 

 light loam in boxes, kept under cover during the 



