A BUNDLE OF HERBS. 



103 



contagions as well as to be an antidote to poisons. Rue leaves and salt 

 are said to have been the antidote which Mithridates took to guard him- 

 self against being poisoned. Though usually, if not always, considered 

 nauseous by us moderns, Pliny tells us that " the ancients held rue in 

 peculiar esteem, for I find that honeyed wine flavoured with rue was 

 distributed to the people in his consulship. Rue was called ' herb o' 

 grace ' in the sixteenth century. Thus Ophelia says in the play of 

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

 the herb of grace o' Sundays." It is said to be still called 'Ave grace' 

 in Sussex, apparently a remnant from the common invocation " Ave Maria, 

 gratia plena." Jeremy Taylor refers to an employment of rue in 

 "exorcisms," which plant, he says, thence, as we suppose, came to 

 be called 'herb of grace.' Others have suggested different sources for 

 the expression. Thus, as the word "rue" means repentance, and requires 

 God's grace, it became the basis of a play upon words in the older 

 dramatists, as in "King Richard II.": "Ill set a bank of rue, sour 

 herb of grace," &c. And again from "Winter's Tale" come these 

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

 savour all the winter long." Cimaruta, sprig of rue (herb of grace), forms 

 part of one of the amulets or charms worn by Neapolitans against the evil 

 eye, and dates from pagan times. 



Bosmarinus officinalis, the common rosemary, is a native of the 

 southern parts of France, Spain, and Italy, and the basin of the Medi- 

 terranean, growing to the height of three or four feet on the hills. The 

 cultivated and garden plants differ very much in the shape and number 

 of their leaves, on which account Millar describes them as two species. 

 The size of the leaves varies with the soil and situation in which the 

 plant grows. It is generally observed that the broader and longer the 

 leaves the more vigorous is the plant. The rosemary is a very desirable 

 plant for the garden, both on account of its evergreen character and its 

 flowers, which appear from January to April. There are three varieties 

 known in gardens — the green or common, the gold-striped, and the 

 silver-striped — which are distinguished principally by the colour of their 

 leaves. The green variety is the hardiest and the most generally used. 

 It may be propagated by seeds, or cuttings of the young shoots. The 

 striped varieties may be propagated by layers of the young wood : they 

 should be planted in a warm situation, as they are far more tender than 

 the green, and are only cultivated as ornamental plants on account of 

 their variegated leaves. The rosemary abounds in the district of Narbonne, 

 in France, where it is used to form hedges for gardens &c. ; and it is 

 supposed to be the aroma of this plant, gathered by the bees, that gives 

 to the honey of this district its peculiarly fine flavour. Rosemary was 

 formerly held in high esteem, especially on the Continent, and in the 

 songs of the troubadours it is frequently mentioned as an emblem of 

 constancy and devotion to the fair sex. It was thought to be a comforter 

 of the brain and a strengthener of the memory, and on the latter account 

 used as a sign of fidelity between lovers. Shakespeare makes Ophelia 

 say, " There's rosemary ; that's for remembrance." In some parts of 

 Germany rosemary is grown in large quantities in pots, for the purpose 

 of selling small sprigs of it, when in flower in winter and early spring, 



