A BROKEN STRA W. 



and perfume when in bloom. It is grown for feeding sheep 

 in France, and in Spain is much used for cordage. Scott 

 notices the toughness of the fibrous roots, which would make 

 them useful for such a purpose : — 



" And now, to issue from the glen, 

 No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 

 Unless he climb, with footing nice, 

 A far projecting precipice. 

 The Broom's tough roots his ladder made ; 

 The hazel's saplings lent their aid ; 

 And thus an airy point he w^on." 



An indigenous species {S. scoparinni) is very beautiful in 

 its native wilds, where the Broom bears her blossoms, 



" Yellow and bright as bullion unalloyed," 



in the pleasant months of April, May, and June, of which 

 Wordsworth was thinking when he wrote, — 



" Twas that delightful season, when the Broom, 

 Full-flowered, and visible on every steep, 

 Along the copses runs in veins of gold." 



In bushy places, thickets, and on sandy hills, it displays its 

 beauties most charmingly ; and Burns admired it so greatly 

 that it inspired him with the following exulting lines, — 



" Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon, 

 Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume ; 

 Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green breckan, 

 Wi' the burn stealing unckr tlic lang yellow Broom. 



40 



