B is for Besom

Besom is a historical word for broom.  Brooms started out as twigs tied to a sturdy pole.  The besom is round because of the way it’s made, usually with birch sticks and the handle is made of hawthorn.  Willow wood was used to secure the twigs.  Modern construction uses wire or string to secure the twigs onto a pole with a nail instead of a wooden dowel.

Besoms were the first brooms and were used for sweeping just like today’s common broom.  In North America the traditional besom died out around 1800.  The twigs were replaced by broomcorn (sorghum) because there was plenty of wide open space to grow corn.  In Europe they didn’t have this space and picked heather from the countryside for brooms sometimes.

The besom is the broom witches were thought to fly about on.  Today besoms are used as magical tools for sweeping by pagans.

The current broom comes in all shapes, sizes, and different colors.  They can be made of many materials and some come with dustpans.  We have industrial ones, household ones and even small ones called whisk brooms for small jobs.  Every household and most businesses have at least one broom today.

Sometimes when I’m sweeping, the Jimi Hendrix song, The Wind Cries Mary, pops into my head.  “A broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life.”  When you think about it, this is so true.