lorn Biblical Garden in Pittsburgh, revealing some of the hidden mysteries of garden plotting.

4. My thanks go to Madalene Hill, Texas herbalist and past president of the Herb Society of America, for the reminder that rue is a powerful rubefacient-that it has the ability to redden skin and even to blister. In Southern Herb Growing (Shearer Publishing, 1987, p. 113), Madalene and her daughter Gwen Barclay relate this interesting anecdote, contributed by Mary Jo Modica, from the University of Alabama Arboretum:

Several volunteers and I were working in the herb garden in shorts on a very sunny day… We were weeding near a large rue that was in flower and fruit. Two days later we all had second-degree burns on our legs and arms… After a great deal of research, we discovered the rubefacient power of rue is not to be taken lightly. Evidently, everywhere the glandular flowers and fruits touched us, the oils they released magnified the rays of the sun, resulting in very painful burns.

5. Another older book, Plants of the Bible, by Harold N. and Alma L. Moldenke (1952, republished by Dover), gave me much rue lore, including the fascinating reference to the superstition about guns. From Mrs. Grieve's A Modern Herbal I also learned that rue-water sprinkled here and there repels fleas, along with other fascinating oddities. (For instance, in Pliny's day, rue was thought to be good for the eyes, so painters ate quantities of it.) I also drew from Eleanour Sinclair Rohde's A Garden of Herbs (1936, republished by Dover). She offers this puckery, "rue-full" recipe, from The Good Housewife's Jewell, 1585.

Preventive Against the Plague A handful each of rue, sage, sweet-briar and elder. Bruise and strain with a quart of white wine, and put thereto a little ginger and a spoonful of the best treacle, and drink thereof morning and evening.

6. Rue is said to derive its name from the Greek word reuo, to set free, which may be a guarded reference to its virtue as an abortifacient. Etymologically speaking, the word has nothing to do with the English verb "to rue" (to regret, to wish one had acted otherwise), which comes from the Anglo-Saxon noun hreow, regret. But these two homonyms were inevitably associated, linking the plant rue with the idea of ruing or regretting, making it a "sour herb of grace." The archaic English noun "rath," meaning compassion and mercy, along with the modern English adjective ' 'ruthless'' also derive from hreow. Thus, Shakespeare finds "ruth" and "rue" synonymous: "rue, even for ruth, shall shortly here be seen…" These mysterious inter-weavings of symbol and meaning are too tempting for the novelist to ignore.

7- Susan and Bill Albert publish an occasional newsletter called Partners in Crime, containing information about their books. If you would like to be on the mailing list, send a one-time subscription fee of $3 to Partners in Crime, PO Box 1616, Bertram TX 78605-1616. You may also visit the Partners in Crime Web site at http.//www. mysterypartners. com.

About Susan Wittig Albert

Susan Wittig Albert is a mystery writer from Vermilion County, Illinois. She currently resides in Bertram, Texas, near Austin, with her husband, Bill Albert.