HISTORY IN YOUR GARDEN: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
At 11am on Tuesday, I shall pluck a sprig of rosemary for Remembrance Day. Hamlet's Ophelia holds rosemary and says, 'There's rosemary, that's for remembrance' and Thomas More wrote 'As for Rosemarine, I lett it runne all over my garden wals, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and, therefore, to friendship.'
The plant has featured in funerals and weddings since Egyptian times. At funerals a sprig was placed in the hands of the corpse, and at weddings the bride wore it dipped in scented water them twined into her bridal wreath. This connection comes from the plant's original dedication to Aphrodite, the goddess of Love.
The oil was once used to deter grazing animals, but it does not deter us, and its pungent scent stirs the memory like nothing else.