i 82 
NATURE NOTES. 
mary that was in my thoughts on the hot July morning of which 
I write, and each narrow leaf with its underside of grey was in- 
vested with a strange interest and charm. A little while before 
I had come out into the garden, I had been reading a letter from 
Cintra, in which a most graphic account had been given of 
a Portuguese peasant’s death-bed. Amongst other things it 
had been mentioned that, after reciting some prayers, the priest 
had taken a sprig of rosemary, and, dipping it in holy water, had 
sprinkled the room and bed of the dying man. This mention of 
the use of rosemary had set me thinking, and as I stood beside 
the herb bed I began to recall what I could of the rosemary’s 
history, and of the old customs with which its name is associated. 
Rosmarinus officinalis, the “ dew of the sea ” of classic ages, 
Ovid’s ros inaris,* winning its name perhaps from some fancied 
resemblance between its delicate pale blossoms and the sea- 
spra}% or more probably from its knotvn affection for the shores 
of the Mediterranean, where the traveller southwards in early 
spring sees large tracts of land covered with the grey-flowered 
bushes. 
“ Rosemar}’, flotver of remembrance and of rejoicing!” I 
know it has been said that the rosemary owes its dedication to 
nothing deeper than an alliterative jingle, yet how evident it is 
from the records of the past, from the high esteem in which it 
was ever held, that something more was intended. Indeed, 
what better emblem of rejoicing and of remembrance could be 
found than this fragrant evergreen plant ? It was reputed alike 
to strengthen the heart and memory ; and perhaps these happy 
qualifications had something to do with the double part it was 
called upon to play in the drama of life. And this brings me to 
one of the most interesting features in the rosemary’s history. 
Days of mourning and days of feasting belonged to it alike, and 
its branches were gathered alike to adorn a marriage-bed or to 
lay upon a newly-made grave. 
Amongst the old writers reference is made again and again to 
these twofold characteristics of the rosemary. For example, in 
Rowley’s “ Noble Soldier ” some of the people come upon the 
stage wearing sprigs of rosemary in their hats. They are con- 
spiring to kill the king, and one of them says ; — 
“ There’s but one part to play ; shame has done hers, 
But execution must close up the scene, 
And for that cause these sprigs are worn by all 
Badges of marriage, now of funeral.” 
Again in Shakespeare, when Juliet is supposed to be dead, the 
Friar tells the people to take the rosemary that was to be used 
at her wedding and lay it on her dead bod}\ 
*• Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary 
On this fair corse ; and as the custom is. 
In all her best array bear her to church ; 
For though some nature bids us all lament 
Vet Nature’s tears are reason’s merriment.” — Act iv., sc. 5. 
See Metam. xii., 410. 
