Rosemary for Weddings and Funerals

Rosemary served at both ends of life. At weddings it was carried in the hand, strewn before the bride, dipped in scented water or even gilded, used to deck the bridal bed and stirred into the cup to drink the couple’s health. At funerals a servant handed each mourner a sprig, which they carried to the grave and threw in after the coffin, as Hogarth shows. Country people had a jocular saying that where rosemary flourished in a cottage garden the grey mare was the better horse, meaning the wife ruled the husband.