24 WILD FLOWEKS. 



The natives of Brittany also have selected it for 

 their emblem, and appear to hold it in high estima- 

 tion. In their popular songs the lover compares his 

 loved one to " the yellow flower of the broom/' 



" Evel ar bleun melen balan." * 



While a brother bard, in a popular song of Wales, 

 called, T Fwyalchen, or, The Blackbird, makes a 

 somewhat similar comparison : 



" Lliw'r Banadl melyn ei gwallt." 

 " The colour of the yellow broom is the hair of her head." 



And, again, in that which relates the tale of the 

 betrothed Azdnor the Pale, we are told that : 



" La petite Azenor 6tait assise, 

 Aupres de la fontaine, 

 Vdtue d'une robe de soie jaime, 

 Au bord de la fontaine, 

 Toute seule, 



Assemblant des fleurs de gent, 

 En faire un bouquet, &c." f 



In short, the broom plays a conspicuous part in all 

 affairs connected with a Breton marriage, the " inter- 

 mediary" chosen by the contracting parties usually 

 the father of the bridegroom is designated for the 



* " Chants populaires de la Bretagne," as collected by the 

 Comte de la Villemarque. 



f Zenorik oa tal feunten 

 Ha gant-hi eur bronz sei melen ; 

 Ar lez ar feunten, hi eunan 

 O pak-ad 6no bleun balan 

 Da ober eur bouk6dik koant," &c. 



VILLEMARQUE, op. cit. 



