ue, sour herb of grace;
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping Queen.'

The herb was believed to be endowed with high moral and medicinal
properties, yet was supposed to prosper better in one's garden if stolen
from that of a neighbour. But originally it was associated with sorrow
and pity. The word rue is doubtless of the same root as 'ruth,' and to
rue is to be sorry for, to have remorse. Ruth is the English equivalent
of the Latin _ruta_, and in early English appeared as 'rude.' As regret
is always more or less a mark of repentance, it was the most natural
thing in the world for the herb of ruth, or sorrow, to become the herb
of repentance; and as repentance is a sign of grace, so rue became known
as 'herb of grace.' This, in brief, is the connection, but it is worth
noting in passing that rue is only once mentioned in the Bible, and then
only along with a number of other bitter herbs, and without any special
significance.

There is this association between rue and rosemary, that both are
natives of some of the more barren coasts of the Mediterranean, and that
both were very early admitted to the English herb-garden. The old
herbalists make frequent mention of rue, and even in Anglo-Saxon times
it seems to have been extensively used in medicine. Three
peculiarities--a strong, aromatic smell, a bitter taste, and a
blistering quality in the leaves--were quite sufficient to establish it
in the pharmacopoeia of the herb doctors.

The curative qualities of what Spenser calls the 'ranke-smelling rue'
were reputedly of a very varied sort. Most readers will remember the
reference in Paradise Lost:

'Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed,
Which the false fruit which promised clearer sight
Had bred; then purged with euphraie and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see.'

And perhaps its most popular use was as an eyewash. The old writers have
recorded some hidden virtues known only to the animal world, such as
that weasels prepared themselves for a rat-fight by a diet of rue. Old
Parkinson, the herbalist, says that 'without doubt it is a most
wholesome herb, although bitter and strong.' He speaks of a 'bead-rowl'
of the virtues of rue, but warns people of the 'too frequent or
over-much use thereof.'

As both a stimulant and a narcotic the plant has even now recognised
virtues, and is not without its uses in modern medicine. The Italians
are said to eat th