TEANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



alitral Jistorg Batut^ ai ^lasgofo/ 



In Memoriam — Professor Thomas King, 



[Read 29th September, 1896.] 



Thomas King [PI. I.] was born on 14th April, 1834, at Yardfoot, 

 a farm in the Parish of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. The farm 

 had been purchased towards the close of last century by his grand- 

 father, and remained in the possession of his father, James King. 

 It is pleasantly situated on a gentle slope on the south-west 

 side of the railway, about half-a-mile from Lochwinnoch Station, 

 and commands an extensive view of grassy and heather-topped hills, 

 with the town of Lochwinnoch nestling at their base, and the 

 silvery expanse of Lochwinnoch, or Castle Semple Loch, gleaming 

 in the foreground, and fringed here and there with wood and 

 coppice. Few spots in the lowlands present a prospect more peace- 

 ful and pleasing than this, whether viewed in spring, when the vale 

 is clothed in a mantle of softest green j in summer, when the trees 

 hang with thick clusters of rich foliage, and the plain is 

 brishtened with mvriads of flowers : in autumn, when the distant 

 hills are purple with blooming heather, and the woods glow with 

 vivid tints of red and gold ; or in winter, when loch and river are 

 ice-bound, and spotless snow lies all around. How greatly this 

 fair prospect was appreciated by him may be gathered from a few 

 lines pencilled by his own hand, in which he says : "I have seen 

 many views, but none to this day more satisfactory than the view 



from Yardfoot across the valley." 



A 



