“There’s Rosemary for you, that’s for remembrance; pray you, love, remember.”
Sprigs of Rosemary mingled in the coronal which bound the hair of the unfortunate Anne of Cleves on the occasion of her nuptials with King Henry VIII. In olden times, Rosemary garlanded the wassail bowl, and at Christmas the dish of roast beef, decked with Rosemary and Bays, was ushered in with the carol beginning—
“The boar’s head in hand bring I,
With garlands gay and Rosemary.”
The silvery foliage of this favourite plant mingled well with the Holly, Mistletoe, and Bays employed in decking rooms, &c., at Christmas-tide—a custom which may perhaps be accounted for by a Spanish tradition that the Rosemary (like the Juniper in other legends) afforded shelter and protection to the Virgin Mary during her flight with the infant Saviour into Egypt. The plant is said to flower on the day of the Passion of our Lord because the Virgin Mary spread on a shrub of Rosemary the under linen and little frocks of the infant Jesus; and according to tradition, it brings happiness on those families who employ it in perfuming the house on Christmas night.——In Germany, there exists a curious custom of demanding presents from women on Good Friday, at the same time striking them with a branch of Rosemary or Fir.——It is a common saying in Sicily, that Rosemary is the favourite plant of the fairies, and that the young fairies, under the guise of snakes, lie concealed under its branches.——In the rural districts of Portugal, it is
called Alecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin (Ellegrim), signifying Elfin-plant.——Rosemary occupied a prominent place in monastic gardens, on account of its curative properties, and in Queen Elizabeth’s time, its silvery foliage grew all over the walls of the gardens at Hampton Court. Now-a-days the plant is rarely seen out of the kitchen garden, and indeed a common saying has arisen that “Rosemary only grows where the mistress is master.” The plant was formerly held in high estimation as a “comforter of the brain,” and a strengthener of the memory. In England, Rosemary worn about the body is said to strengthen the memory, and to afford successful assistance to the wearer in anything he may undertake.——In an ancient Italian recipe, the flowers of Rosemary, Rue, Sage, Marjoram, Fennel, Quince, &c., are recommended for the preservation of youth. In Bologna, there is an old belief that the flowers of Rosemary, if placed in contact with the skin, and especially, with the heart, give gaiety and sprightliness. Spirit of wine distilled from Rosemary produces the true Hungary water. By many persons Rosemary is used as tea for headaches and nervous disorders.——An Italian legend, given in the Mythologie des Plantes, tells that a certain queen, who was childless, one day, whilst walking in the palace gardens, was troubled with a feeling of envy whilst contemplating a vigorous Rosemary-bush, because of its numerous branches and offshoots. Strange to relate, she afterwards gave birth to a Rosemary-bush, which she planted in a pot and carefully supplied with milk four times a day. The king of Spain, nephew of the queen, having stolen this pot of Rosemary, sustained it with goat’s milk. One day, whilst playing on the flute, he saw to his astonishment a beautiful princess emerge from the Rosemary-bush. Captivated by her beauty, he fell desperately in love with this strange visitor; but being obliged to depart to fight for his country, he commended the Rosemary-bush to the special care of his head gardener. In his absence, his sisters one day amused themselves by playing on the king’s flute, and forthwith the beautiful princess emerged once more from the Rosemary. The king’s sisters, tormented by jealousy, struck her; the princess forthwith vanished, the Rosemary began to droop, and the gardener, afraid of the king’s wrath, fled into the woods. At the midnight hour, he heard a dragon talking to its mate, and telling her the story of the mystic Rosemary-bush. The dragon let fall the fact, that if the Rosemary was to be restored, it could only be by being fed or sprinkled with dragons’ blood: no sooner did the gardener hear this, than he fell upon the male and female dragons, slew them, and carrying off some of their blood, applied it to the roots of the king’s Rosemary. So the spell was broken: the king returned, and soon after married the charming Princess Rosa Marina.——A curious charm, or dream-divination, is still extant in which Rosemary plays an important part; the mode of procedure is as follows:—On the eve of St. Magdalen, three maidens, under the age of twenty-one, are to assemble in an upper room, and between them prepare a potion, consisting of wine, rum, gin, vinegar, and water, in a ground-glass vessel. Into this each maid is then to dip a sprig of Rosemary, and fasten it in her bosom; and after taking three sips of the potion, the three maids are silently to go to sleep in the same bed. As a result, the dreams of each will reveal their destiny. Another elaborate spell for effecting the same result on the first of July, consists in the gathering of a sprig of Rosemary, a red Rose, a white Rose, a blue flower, a yellow flower, nine blades of long Grass, and a sprig of Rue, all of which are to be bound together with a lock of the maiden’s hair who wishes to work the spell. This nosegay is to be sprinkled with the blood of a white pigeon and some salt, and laid beneath the maid’s head when she retires to rest. Her dreams will then portend her fate.——Rosemary is deemed a herb of the Sun.
ROSE OF JERICHO.—From the Casa Nuova Convent of Jerusalem pilgrims bring away little dried-up plants, which after a time appear to be quite dead, but if they are placed in water their branches will soon be covered with fresh bursting buds. These are the Roses of Jericho, or Resurrection Flowers, which grow among the sands of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, and are also found in Barbary. The Anastatica Hierochuntina is cruciform; and when its flowers and leaves have withered and fallen off, the branches as they dry curl inwards, and form a round mass, thence called a Rose. The roots die; the winds tear the plant up, and blow it about the sands till it lodges in a moist spot, or is wetted with the rain; then the curled-up globe expands, and suffers the seeds to escape from the seed vessel in which they were enclosed, and becoming embedded in the sands, they germinate anew; hence its name Anastatica—Resurrection. The Holy Rose of Jericho is regarded with peculiar reverence in Palestine and other places in the East, and is supposed to be the plant alluded to in Ecclesiasticus: “I was ... as a Rose-plant in Jericho.” The Arabs call this plant Kaf Maryam (i.e., Mary’s hand); it is also known as Rosa-Mariæ (Rose of the Virgin). The pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre fancied it sprang up wherever the Holy Family rested in their flight into the Egypt, and called it the Rosa Hierosolymitana. There is a cherished legend that it first blossomed at our Saviour’s birth, closed at the crucifixion, and opened again at Easter, whence its name of Resurrection Flower. The tradition that it blossomed at the moment when our Lord was born, and was endowed with qualities propitious to nativity, caused the plant to be greatly esteemed by the Eastern women, who, when occasion requires, are anxious to have one of these dried plants expanding in a vase of water beside them, firmly believing it has a salutary effect. In like manner, the matrons of Bologna, who call the plant the Rose of the Madonna, believe in its efficacy at the birth of children. They place the plant in water at the bedside with the conviction that at the moment when it has fully expanded itself the expected infant will first see the light.——In Germany, a similar belief exists, and the Rose of Jericho is called (after its Arabic name) Mary’s Hand, in allusion to the office assigned to the Madonna of patroness of matrons.
ROSE OF SHARON.—The Hebrew word rendered in Canticles ii., 1, and Isaiah xxxv., 1, as “Rose,” is thought by some to signify “Tulip.” Interpreters, indeed vary between Rose, Lily, Narcissus, and Tulip; so that it is impossible to say with any certainty what flower we are to understand by the Rose of Sharon. According to travellers, the Narcissus, or Jonquil (Narcissus Jonquila), grows abundantly on the plain of Sharon, yet so low that it may be unobserved among more showy plants; and again we find it stated that, in the season, the plain is literally covered with Tulips. Though Palestine abounds in flowers, it is doubtful whether the Rose of our gardens is alluded to in the Bible. In the Apocrypha (Wisdom xi., 8), it may, perhaps, be intended, but more probably the Oleander is there referred to.
ROWAN-TREE, or MOUNTAIN-ASH.—The Mountain Ash (Pyrus Aucuparia), called also by the old names of Rodden, Rowan-tree, Quicken-tree, and Witchen-tree, is a tree of good omen. In Scandinavian mythology, it is Thor’s Helper, because it bent to his grasp when he was crossing the river Vimur, on his way to the land of the Frost Giants. The wood of the Rowan was also used to preserve the Norse ships from Ran, who delighted in drowning mariners. The Rowan is generally considered to have been one of the sacred trees of the Druids. Stumps of the Mountain Ash have frequently been found within or near the circle of a Druid temple, thus proving that the tree must have been an object of great veneration with the Druids, who doubtless practised their sacred rites beneath its shade. This connection of the tree with Druidic customs affords some explanation of the many superstitious ideas appertaining to the Mountain Ash which are still extant. Lightfoot tells us that the Rowan-tree is discovered in the Druidic circles of North Britain more frequently than any other, and that even now pieces of it are carried about by superstitious people as charms to protect them from witchcraft. Like the Indian Mimosa (a tree of the same genus and of a similar character), or the Palasa, which it resembles in its graceful foliage and berries, the Mountain Ash has for ages been held in high repute as a preservative against magic and sorceries. Thus we find in Jamieson’s ‘Scottish Dictionary,’ that “the most approved charm against cantrips and spells was a branch of the Rowan-tree planted and placed over the byre. This sacred tree cannot be removed by unholy fingers.” The Scotch peasantry considered the Rowan a complete antidote against the effects of witchcraft and the Evil Eye, and, in consequence, a twig of it was very commonly carried in the pocket; but that it might have complete efficacy, it was necessary that it should be accompanied by the following couplet, written on paper, wrapped round the wood and secured by a red silk thread:—
“Rowan Ash and red thread