BROOM. 81 



Clorin, in the Faithful Shepherdess, reproves 



" the lazy clowns 



That feed their heifers in the budded brooms." 



Mr. Seward observes, in a note upon this passage, that 

 this instance of laziness is taken from Spenser's Shepherd^s 

 Calendar for February, and supposes it to mean that they 

 leave their herds among the broom, which grows on the 

 worst soil, instead of driving them into the best pastures *. 



" So loitering live you little herd-grooms, 

 Keeping your beasts in the budded brooms." 



SPENSER. 



Dr. Hall complains much of the negligence of the farmers 

 in taking so little heed to check the growth of thistles, furze, 

 broom, &c. even in the fields in the neighbourhood of Edin- 

 burgh. " It is well known," says he, " that the seeds of 

 thistles, rag-weed, and the like, are blown with the wind, 

 and that though furze, as Lord Kaimes observes, is the 

 only shrub in Britain that flowers all the year round ; and 

 broom in bloom is one of the most beautiful shrubs we 

 have, and appears like gold at a distance, yet they ought, 

 if possible, to be completely extirpated out of those parts 

 of the country where sheep are not reared. And it is to be 

 hoped the day is not far distant when the farmers who 

 allow thistles, ragweed, and the like, to seed on their fields, 

 without having attempted to prevent them, will be sub- 

 jected to a penalty -fV 



Browne alludes to the use of Broom in thatching : 

 " Among the flags below, there stands his coate, 



A simple one, thatched o'er with reed and broom ; 



It hath a kitchen, and a several room 



For each of us." 



BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS. 



A Russian poet speaks of the Broom as a tree : 



* See Beaumont and Fletcher, vol. iv. p. 127. 

 t Hall's Scotland, p. 605. 



o 



