Stray Leaves from a Border Garden 
There is an old Scotch word, “ dambroded,” meaning 
marked with square figures, and a draughtboard used to be 
called a Dambrod, from the ancient Swedish Dambrcede . 
There is a so-called Golden Fritillary. I think I must try 
and get it. As it is rather more delicate, I will try it in a 
pot, as I have seen fritillaries make very pretty pot-plants. 
I should like to see a field full of fritillary; it must be a 
pretty sight. I believe they grow freely near Oxford, and 
also in old days near Bury St. Edmunds. It is curious 
that the name Fritillary comes from fritillus , meaning a 
chequered board (a game). Jeu de Dames the French 
called the game of draughts, anciently known as “ chequers.’’ 
The German name for the fritillary is rather nice : 
Kubulzerblume , or the Lapwing Flower. 
The Broom (A.S. brom) is golden now in the lanes and 
on the banks and braes. There is an old song about the 
broom of the Cowdenknowes, well known in the Merse. 
The slopes of the Cowdenknowes used to be celebrated for 
the wonderfully high and thick growth of broom, through 
which tradition declares a man could ride on horseback 
and not be seen. Certainly the broom grows pretty high 
in these parts still, though not in such abundance as it did 
in old days ; here with us it is sometimes nearly nine feet 
high. The name Cowdenknowes is said to be derived 
from a Gaelic word Choille Dun , meaning the “ wooded 
hill,” and there is an old mansion-house and tower called 
Cowdenknowes on the river Leader, where Mary Queen 
of Scots is said to have once spent a night in the course 
of one of her circuits of justice among the Border towns. 
Broom bushes were supposed to be favourite steeds with 
witchwives when they rode forth to their midnight revels, 
though they did not disdain hemlocks, ragworts, or bay-trees 
either. Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, describes the witches’ 
rides very finely. It is curious that a Spanish grandee, the 
Due d’Aliaga, takes his title from the broombush. Aliaga 
means “wild broom” in Spanish, Genet the French, Genistre 
the Latin, Genistra the Italian, while the German is 
Pfriemen Krai'it. 
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