162 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



Picts, who drank a great quantity of ale, made it of the young heath 

 shoots. In the north of Scotland, ropes are made of it as strong, and 

 nearly as pliable as hemp. The highlanders also dye their cloth of 

 a yellow or orange colour*, wath an infusion made from the young 

 shoots ; and almost useless as the heather is frequently deemed, for 

 any other purpose than to enliven the moorland, to the hardy sons of 

 Scotland it is invaluable. 



The golden blossom of the furze and the broom render the aspect 

 of the moorland extremely brilliant. The furze or gorse ( JJlex 

 Europaiis) is a very valuable plant to the cottager. The furze is an 

 evergreen, and its flowers last from May till summer is ended; and 

 even during sharp frost it often biavely puts forth a few blossoms to 

 cheer the landscape. The furze is used to a great extent for hedges 

 and for fuel ; it is often gathered from the heath, and stacked up at 

 the cottage door during winter. It is very plentiful in Devonshire 

 and large quantities were formerly cultivated there for fuel and for the 

 feeding of cattle. Cows are particularly fond of the young tops ; at 

 Birmingliam there are several large dairy establisliments in whicli 

 gorse is used as an article of food. There is a small steam engine 

 attached to each, by which the gorse is crushed to a pulp, and in that 

 state is given to the ccws, which soon become extremely fond of it. 

 We have seen a thriving flock of goats which were fed entirely on 

 furze, and we have been informed that plough-hordes may be kept in 

 good condition upon it. It is highly use'ul to the birds, who soon 

 clear away its numerous pods, and the bees get a good store of honey 

 from its fragrant flowers. The summer wind comes from the moor 

 laden with the retreshing fragrance of this plant, and many a weary 

 traveller has been s othed and comforted thereby. And notwith- 

 standing the riches oi the conservatory, and tlie wonders of foreign 

 climes, the furze is still one of the most beautiful of flowers ; and 

 breathing as it does, on the wide moorland, or on the bonny hedge- 

 rows, the true language of home, and adding by its beauty to the 

 scenery of happy England, it must be ever mingled with the most 

 pleasing and poetical associations. 



It would be impossible to pass the ferns unnoticed ; for, among the 

 plants of the forest dell, or the lonely waste, ihe ferns are paramount 

 inutility. Then, to be brief, the ashes of the fern make the best 

 kind of kelp, a material of great value to the sonp-maker or the 

 nianvi:acturer of glass ; or, the same asbes may be used in a domestic 



