The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare Part 91

There's Rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it Herb-grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your Rue with a difference.

_Hamlet_, act iv, sc. 5 (181).

(5) _Clown._

Indeed, sir, she was the Sweet Marjoram of the salad, or rather the Herb of Grace.

_Lafeu._

They are not salad-herbs, you knave, they are nose-herbs.

_All's Well that Ends Well_, act iv, sc. 5 (17).

Comparing (2) and (3) together, there is little doubt that the same herb is alluded to in both; and it is, perhaps, alluded to, though not exactly named, in the following:

_Friar Laurence._

In man, as well as herbs, grace and rude will.

_Romeo and Juliet_, act ii, sc. 3 (28).

Shakespeare thus gives us the two names for the same plant, Rue and Herb of Grace, and though at first sight there seems to be little or no connection between the two names, yet really they are so closely connected, that the one name was derived from, or rather suggested by, the other. Rue is the English form of the Greek and Latin _ruta_, a word which has never been explained, and in its earlier English form of _rude_ came still nearer to the Latin original. But _ruth_ was the English word for sorrow and remorse, and _to rue_ was to be sorry for anything, or to have pity;[260:1] we still say a man will rue a particular action, _i.e._, be sorry for it; and so it was a natural thing to say that a plant which was so bitter, and had always borne the name _Rue_ or _Ruth_, must be connected with repentance. It was, therefore, the Herb of Repentance, and this was soon transformed into the Herb of Grace (in 1838 Loudon said, "It is to this day called Ave Grace in Suss.e.x"), repentance being the chief sign of grace; and it is not unlikely that this idea was strengthened by the connection of Rue with the bitter herbs of the Bible, though it is only once mentioned, and then with no special remark, except as a t.i.thable garden herb, together with Anise and c.u.mmin.

The Rue, like Lavender and Rosemary, is a native of the more barren parts of the coasts of the Mediterranean, and has been found on Mount Tabor, but it was one of the earliest occupants of the English Herb garden. It is very frequently mentioned in the Saxon Leech Books, and entered so largely into their prescriptions that it must have been very extensively grown. Its strong aromatic smell,[261:1] and bitter taste, with the blistering quality of the leaves, soon established its character as almost a heal-all.

"Rew bitter a worthy gres (herb) Mekyl of myth and vertu is."

_Stockholm MS._, 1305.

Even beasts were supposed to have discovered its virtues, so that weasels were gravely said, and this by such men as Pliny, to eat Rue when they were preparing themselves for a fight with rats and serpents.

Its especial virtue was an eye-salve, a use which Milton did not overlook--

"To n.o.bler sights Michael from Adam's eyes the filme removed Which that false fruit which promised clearer sight Had bred; then purged with Euphrasie and Rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see:"

_Paradise Lost_, book xi.;

and which was more fully stated in the old lines of the Schola Salerni--

"n.o.bilis est Ruta quia lumina reddit acuta; Auxilio rutae, vir lippe, videbis acute; Cruda comesta recens oculos Caligine purgat; Ruta facit castum, dat lumen, et ingerit astum; Cocta facit Ruta et de pollicibus loca tuta."

After reading this high moral and physical character of the herb, it is rather startling to find that "It is believed that if stolen from a neighbour's garden it would prosper better." It was, however, an old belief--

"They sayen eke stolen sede is b.u.t.t the bette."

_Palladius on Husbandrie_ (c. 1420) iv, 269.

"It is a common received opinion that Rue will grow the better if it bee filtched out of another man's garden."--HOLLAND'S _Pliny_, xix. 7.

As other medicines were introduced the Rue declined in favour, so that Parkinson spoke of it with qualified praise--"Without doubt it is a most wholesom herb, although bitter and strong. Some do rip up a bead-rowl of the virtues of Rue, . . . but beware of the too-frequent or overmuch use therof." And Dr. Daubeny says of it, "It is a powerful stimulant and narcotic, but not much used in modern practise."

As a garden plant, the Rue forms a pretty shrub for a rock-work, if somewhat attended to, so as to prevent its becoming straggling and untidy. The delicate green and peculiar shape of the leaves give it a distinctive character, which forms a good contrast to other plants.

FOOTNOTES:

[260:1]

"Rewe on my child, that of thyn gentilnesse Rewest on every sinful in destresse."

CHAUCER, _The Man of Lawes Tale_.

[261:1] "Ranke-smelling Rue."--SPENSER, _Muiopotmos_.

RUSH.

(1) _Rosalind._

He taught me how to know a man in love; in which cage of Rushes I am sure you are not prisoner.

_As You Like It_, act iii, sc. 2 (388).

(2) _Phbe._

Lean but on a Rush, The cicatrice and capable impressure Thy palm some moment keeps.

_Ibid._, act iii, sc. 5 (22).

(3) _Clown._

As fit as Tib's Rush for Tom's forefinger.

_All's Well that Ends Well_, act ii, sc. 2 (24).

(4) _Romeo._

Let wantons light of heart Tickle the senseless Rushes with their heels.

_Romeo and Juliet_, act i, sc. 4 (35).