1121 



as the celebrated and somewhat hackneyed anecdote of lannean wor- 

 ship is concerned. Gardiner tells us that one of the dearest associa- 

 tions awakened in the mind by beholding the broom in flower, " is 

 the remembrance that the gorgeous luxuriance of its golden blossoms 

 so enraptured the illustrious Linneus when he first beheld it in profu- 

 sion on his first visit to England, that he fell down upon his knees in 

 an ecstasy of pleasure to enjoy such a glorious sight." The anecdote 

 applies to the furze, and the delight of Linneus was occasioned by 

 the beauty of the plant, amid the inclement eastern blasts of early 

 spring, and would not apply to the broom, which flowers so much 

 later. Dr. Johnston omits the story altogether, and gives us informa- 

 tion about the broom far more acceptable. 



" Spartium scoparium = Sarothamnus scoparius. The Broom. 

 May, June. There are several places in Berwickshire the names of 

 which indicate the former prevalence of this beautiful shrub in their 

 localities ; e. g., Broomhouses, Broomilaw, Broomhill, Broomdykes, 

 and Broomknowes ; — but its habitat of greatest celebrity is Cowden- 

 knowes, an undulatory rising ground of great beauty in the West of 

 the county : — 



' More pleasant far to me the broom 

 So fair on Cowdeuknowes, 

 For sure so sweet, so soft a bloom, 

 Elsewhere there never grows.' 



The progress of agriculture has greatly thinned and depauperated our 

 broomie shaws, but still the ' lang yellow broom ' is plentiful enough 

 in many of our deans, and on many a steep brae, in upland districts 

 especially. It is, says Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, ' a curious fact in 

 regard to the history of the plant, that it grows to perfection in a very 

 few years, some seven or eight, we believe, and then dies entirely 

 away, and then some years must generally elapse before the seed, with 

 which the ground must necessarily have been filled, will vegetate : of 

 this we have ourselves had large experience.' ' Tait's Magazine,' 

 Oct. 1847, p. 657. — Sheep are very fond of the broom, and they may 

 be pastured upon it and whins, in favourable situations, during win- 

 ter, as an intelligent farmer, on the border of the Lammermuirs, 

 informed me, he had often done with profit and advantage. The 

 sheep invariably first pick off, and greedily devour, the pods, which 

 produce a sort of intoxication, but this effect is transient, and leaves 

 no inconvenience behind. ' Spartium scoparium si ovis ingurgitet, 

 statim temulenta evadit, decumbit, et pro tempore ambulare nequit. 

 Haec affectio autem usui continuo plantse cedit.' Rev. Dr. Walker. 



