[From David Austin's English Roses, p. 44-5:] Many of the earliest varieties of English roses had an almost unique, spicy fragrance sometimes described as that of myrrh... Exactly how this scent occurred in [these] roses is something of a mystery. The only answer [Austin] can suggest is that 'Belle Isis', one of the founding parents of the English Roses, may have had among its antecedents a variety of the Ayrshire Roses called 'Ayrshire Splendens', also known as the 'Myrrh-scented Rose', the only rose, as far as [Austin is] aware, to have this particular fragrance. The first English Rose, 'Constance Spry', has this scent to a marked degree.

Other roses with myrrh scent include the Buck rose, 'Distant Drums,' the dwarf sport of Félicité Perpetué, 'White Pet,' and the rambler 'Long John Silver.'