Many, again, are the proverbial sayings associated with roses--most
of these being employed to indicate what is not only sweet and lovely,
but bright and joyous. Thus, there are the well-known phrases, "A bed of
roses," and "As sweet as a rose," and the oft-quoted popular adage:--"The rose, called by any other name, would smell as sweet,"Which, as Mr. Hazlitt remarks, "although not originally proverbial, or
in its nature, or even in the poet's intention so, has acquired that
character by long custom."An old adage, which is still credited by certain of our country folk,
reminds us that:--"A parsley field will bring a man to his saddle and a woman to her grave,"A warning which is not unlike one current in Surrey and other
southern counties:--"Where parsley's grown in the garden, there'll be a death before the year's
out."
In Devonshire it has long been held unlucky to transplant parsley,
and a poor woman in the neighbourhood of Morwenstow attributed a
certain stroke with which one of her children had been afflicted after
whooping-cough to the unfortunate undoing of the parsley bed. In the
"Folk-lore Record," too, an amusing instance is related of a gardener at
Southampton, who, for the same reason, refused to sow some parsley
seed. It may be noted that from a very early period the same antipathy
has existed in regard to this plant, and it is recorded how a few mules
laden with parsley threw into a complete panic a Greek force on its
march against the enemy. But the plant no doubt acquired its ominous
significance from its having been largely used to bestrew the tombs of
the dead; the Greek term "dehisthai selinou"--to be in need of parsley--
was a common phrase employed to denote those on the point of death.
There are various other superstitions attached to this plant, as in
Hampshire, where the peasants dislike giving any away for fear of some
ill-luck befalling them. Similarly, according to another proverb:--"Sowing fennel is sowing sorrow."But why this should be so it is difficult to explain, considering that by
the ancients fennel was used for the victor's wreath, and, as one of the
plants dedicated to St. John, it has long been placed over doors on his