26o pPant "bore, "bcgcT^^/, anil "bijrlcf, 



would be destroyed. The water of the stream has ever since been 



held sacred, and effects miraculous cures. The Bramble is said 



to be a plant of Mars. To dream of passing through places 

 covered with Brambles, portends troubles ; if they prick you, 

 secret enemies will do you an injury with your friends; if they 

 draw blood, expecft heavy losses in trade. To dream of passing 

 through Brambles unhurt, denotes a triumph over enemies. 



Breakstone. — See Saxifrage. 



BROOM. — The English royal line of Plantagenet undoubtedly 

 derived its name from the Broom [Planta genista), the Gen of the 

 Celts, the Genet of the French, and from time immemorial the badge 

 of Brittany. According to Skinner, the house of Anjou derived the 

 name of Plantagenet from Fulke, the first earl of that name, who, it 

 is said, having killed his brother in order that he might enjoy his 

 principality, afterwards, touched by remorse, undertook a pilgrimage 

 to Jerusalem as a work of atonement ; and being there soundly 

 scourged with Broom-twigs, which grew plentifully on the spot, 

 he ever after took the surname of Plantagenet, and bore the Genet 

 as his personal cognisance, which was retained by his noble pos- 

 terity. Another legend, however, relates that this badge was first 

 adopted by Gefroi, Earl of Anjou, the father of Henry II., and 

 husband of Matilda, Empress of Germany. Passing on his way 

 to the battle-field through a rocky pathway, on either side of which 

 bushes of yellow Broom clung firmly to the boulders, or upheld 

 the crumbling earth, Gefroi broke off a branch and fixed it as a 

 plume in his cap, saying, " Thus shall this golden plant ever be my 

 cognisance— rooted firmly among rocks, and yet upholding that 

 which is ready to fall." He afterwards took the name of Planta- 

 genet [Planta genista) and transmitted it to his princely posterity. 

 His son Henry was called the Royal Sprig of Genista, and the Broom 

 continued to be the family device down to the last of the Planta- 

 genets, Richard HI. It may be seen on the great seal of Richard I., 



its first official heraldic appearance. In 1234, St. Louis of 



France established a new order of Knighthood, called VOrdre du 

 Genest, on the occasion of his marriage with Queen Marguerite. 

 The Knights of the Genest wore a chain composed of blossoms of 

 the Genet (Broom) in gold alternately with white enamelled Fleurs de 

 Lis, from which was suspended a gold cross with the motto "■Dens 

 exaltat himiles.'' One hundred Knights of the Order of the Genest 

 acted as a body-guard to the King. The order was long held in 



high esteem, and one of its recipients was Richard II. The Broom 



may well be symbolic of humility, for, according to a Sicilian 

 legend, it was accursed for having made such a noise in the garden 

 of Gethsemane during the time that Jesus Christ was praying there, 

 that His persecutors were thus enabled to surprise Him. Hemmed 

 in by His enemies, Jesus, turning towards the traitorous shrub, 

 pronounced on it this maledi(5tion : " May you always make as 



