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Rosemary

Rosemary, the herb of remembrance, is my favorite herb. We grow it in pots and outside along the fence. Unfortunately, it is Hub's least favorite, so I rarely get to use it in cooking.  On warm days, I pinch off a twig from the pot on the front porch and put it in my car.  It deodorizes the whole car, making it smell like a herb garden instead of old coffee.


Put rosemary leaves under thy bedde and thou shalt be delivered of all evill dreames. ~Banckes' Herbal, 1525

As for Rosemarine, I lett it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance. . .that maketh it the chosen emblem of our funeral wakes and in our buriall grounds. ~Sir Thomas More, 1478-1535

The Ancients were well acquainted with rosemary, which had a reputation for strengthening the memory. On this account it became the emblem of fidelity for lovers.  It holds a special position among herbs from the symbolism attached to it.  Not only was it used at weddings, but also at funerals.  Maud Grieve, A Modern Herbal, 1931

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