Rosemary has been around for thousands of years, although it was not introduced into Britain until the 14th Century.
There is an old Christian belief that a rosemary bush cannot grow taller than a man or exceed the lifespan of Christ, thirty-three years.
One of the most romantic legends associated with rosemary comes from Italy.
It involves a queen who was unable to have children. One day in her garden she came upon a rosemary plant and, feeling jealous of its fresh new growth, wished she could also produce new life. In the fullness of time her wish was granted and she gave birth to a small rosemary plant. Undaunted she lavished all her affection upon it. However, her nephew, who was the King of Spain, decided to play a trick upon her and stole it. A rather nasty trick it might be said although he did continue to look after it, even watering it with goat's milk. Imagine his surprise when one day as he played his flute nearby a beautiful young girl stepped out from the plant. Obviously, otherwise there wouldn't be much point to the story, he fell madly in love with her. The time came when his royal duties called upon him to leave for battle, presenting the problem of what to do about his secret. He gave his gardener strict instructions to care for the plant and to ensure that no-one ever played music anywhere near it. Unfortunately, one day he forgot his master's orders and absent-mindedly began to play his flute. The young maiden appeared but the king's sisters, seeing this lovely intruder, attacked her and she vanished, whereupon the plant began to whither and die. The terrified gardener ran away in order to avoid the king's anger. On the way he came across a dragon who told him that the plant could only be revived by feeding it with dragon's blood. Whereupon he killed the dragon, took it's blood and fed the plant, which recovered. The king returned to find his plant with its mystical maiden just as he had left it. Needless to say the king thanked his gardener and married the maiden, the beautiful Rosa Marina.