A widely-believed adage from England says “rosemary flourishes where the woman rules.” So vexing did some husbands find this, they would secretly injure the bush in an effort to destroy evidence of their lack of domestic authority.

Blue-flowered rosemary, both magical and holy, reputedly had white flowers until the flight into Egypt, when the Virgin Mary spread Christ’s garments on a rosemary bush to dry. The flowers then turned blue. It is said to bloom at midnight on Old Christmas Eve (Jan. 5).

A rosemary tea is a color-enhancing hair rinse, but only for brunettes, as it has a slightly darkening effect. Wearing sprigs in your hair can improve memory.

Susan Wittig Albert, in her “China Bayles’ Book of Days,” offers this simple hair conditioner recipe:

ROSEMARY

AND EGG CONDITIONER

1 egg yolk

2 tsps. Almond oil

5 drops rosemary essential oil

1 cup water

Beat yolk until frothy, then beat oils into it. Add this mixture to water, stirring to blend. Massage into hair and scalp. Rinse and shampoo gently.

Tudor brides, including Anne of Cleves, wore rosemary dipped in scented water in their bridal wreaths. Gilded rosemary decked the bridal bed and appeared in bridal bouquets until the Victorian age. Rosemary under your pillow brings pleasant dreams.

All those June brides must have had an abundance of this fragrant herb available. People often married in June, by the way, because it was also the occasion of their annual bath.

When a child first entered a garden, the plants it touched revealed its future. Rosemary promised a happy life.

Another of the plants believed to protect against plague, its price skyrocketed in epidemic years. These beliefs had a tiny foothold in truth; pungent herbs helped banish fleas and the vermin that carried them, thereby possibly preventing the plague germs from entering in the first place.

As an evergreen associated with remembrance, rosemary was also carried at funerals and placed in the hands of the corpse, right up until the 20th century. Shakespeare has Ophelia say, while handing flowers round, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.”

Was she perhaps foretelling her own death?

Today’s science is confirming rosemary’s health-giving properties. The eucalyptol in this aromatic herb is study-proven to loosen chest congestion. A rosemary-infused steam bath lets a cold sufferer breathe much more easily and makes phlegm easier to expel.

Lastly, rosemary on the doorpost keeps out thieves and witches. It’s cheaper than an alarm system, too.

– A reference librarian, Lisa Karen Miller has been gardening and researching plant lore for many years. Have plant lore to share? Email lisa lisa13131313@gmail.com.