Chapter Rose Sunday to Rothschild of R by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Rose Sunday to Rothschild

Rose Sunday The fourth Sunday in Lent, when the Pope blesses the “Golden Rose.” He dips it in balsam, sprinkles it with holy water, and incenses it. Strange as it may seem, Pope Julius II., in 1510, and Leo X. both sent the sacred rose to Henry VIII. In 1856 Isabella II. of Spain received the “Rose;” and both Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, and Eugénie, Empress of France, were honoured by it likewise.
   The Rose Alley ambuscade. The attack on Dryden by hired ruffians in the employ of Rochester and the Duchess of Portsmouth, December 18th, 1679. This scandalous outrage was in revenge of a satire by Mulgrave, erroneously attributed to Dryden.
   Attacks of this kind were not uncommon in “the age of chivalry;” witness the case of Sir John Coventry, who was waylaid and had his nose slit by some young men of rank for a reflection on the king's theatrical amours. This attack gave rise to the “Coventry Act” against maiming and wounding. Of a similar nature was the cowardly assassination of Mr. Mountford, in Norfolk Street, Strand, by Lord Mohun and Captain Hill, for the hypothetical offence of his admiration for Mrs. Bracegirdle.
   The Rose coffee-house, formerly called “The Red Cow,” and subsequently “Will's,” at the western corner of Bow Street, where John Dryden presided over the literature of the town. “Here,” says Malcolm, “appeal was made to him upon every literary dispute.” (Spence: Anecdotes, p. 263.)
   This coffee-house is referred to as “Russell Street Coffee House,” and “The Wits' Coffee-house.”

“Will's continued to be the resort of the wits at least till 1710. Probably Addison established his servant [Button] in a new house about 1712.”- Spence: Anecdotes, p. 263.

   This Button had been a servant of the Countess of Warwick, whom Addison married; and Button's became the head-quarters of the Whig literati, as Will's had been of the Tory.

Rose of Jericho Also called Rosa Mariae or Rose of the Virgin.

Rose of Raby (The). Cicely, the twelfth and youngest daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland. (1415-1495.)

Roses The Wars of the Roses. A civil contest that lasted thirty years, in which eighty princes of the blood, a larger portion of the English nobility, and some 100,000 common soldiers were slain. It was a contest between the Lancastrians and Yorkists, whose supporters wore in their caps as badges a red or white rose, the Red rose (gules) being the cognisance of the House of Lancaster, and the White rose (argent) being the badge of the House of York. (1455-1485.)

Rosemary is Ros-marinus (seadew), and is said to be “useful in love-making.” The reason is this: Both Venus, the love-goddess, and Rosemary or sea-dew, were offspring of the sea; and as Love is Beauty's son, Rosemary is his nearest relative.

“The sea his mother Venus came on;
And hence some reverend men approve
Of rosemary in making love.”
Butler: Hudibras, pt. ii. c. 1.

   Rosemary, an emblem of remembrance. Thus Ophelia says, “There's rosemary, that's for remembrance.” According to ancient tradition, this herb strengthens the memory. As Hungary water, it was once very extensively taken to quiet the nerves. It was much used in weddings, and to wear rosemary in ancient times was as significant of a wedding as to wear a white favour. When the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet asks, “Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a [i.e. one] letter?” she refers to these emblematical characteristics of the herb. In the language of flowers it means “Fidelity in love.”

Rosemary Lane (London), now called Royal Mint Street.

Rosewood So called because when cut it yields a perfume like that of roses.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Time-serving courtiers, willing to betray anyone, and do any “genteel” dirty work to please a king. (Shakespeare: Hamlet.)

Rosetta (Africa). The orchards of Rosetta are filled with turtle-doves.

“Now hangs listening to the doves
In warm Rosetta.”
T. Moore: Paradise and the Peri.