304. The Daisy and the Dandelion, [Sess. 
To return to our botanical metaphor, we are the daisies of 
the human race. As already said, we have retained our 
corollas and our involucres, though we have lost our palea. — 
We must accept our position. The ray flowers must help the 
disk flowers, but not give up their ligulate shape nor their 
attractive colours, for if they did they would be injuring, 
not benefiting, the flowers of the disk. Above all, let them 
not listen to the Fabian Society, and vainly seek to be dande- 
lions. I believe that, on the whole, the daisy is more beautiful 
than the dandelion; but whether it be the case or not, we 
are daisies, and must make the best of it. As the Latin has 
it, Spartam nactus es, hance exorna. In English, “You are a 
daisy ”—to my present audience I may add “ Flowers of the 
ray, do your duty as such.” 
In addressing the members of this Society as daisies, I am 
presuming they are of Teutonic extraction. The Celts are 
different. They are more inclined to Socialism, and therefore 
in character they somewhat approach the dandelion. It isa 
favourite flower of the Celts. In the Autumn Part of Pro- 
fessor Geddes’s book, ‘The Evergreen, there is a beautiful 
story by Fiona Macleod in which she calls the dandelion 
the flower of St Bridget, so that it is a sacred plant to 
the Gael. Its seeds with abundant pappus soon leave the 
parent plant, reminding us of the custom of fosterage so 
characteristic of Celtic nations. "We Lowlanders all love the 
daisy sung by our national poet, 
“Wee, modest, crimson-tippéd flow’r.’ 
The true Lowlander thinks the daisy the sweetest plant in 
the whole world; but with inveterate national prejudice we 
dislike the Celtic dandelion, and, not content with forcing the 
Highland crofters to emigrate to America, we root out from 
our garden-plots the lovely flower of St Bridget. It is too 
gay for us. But the Highlander loves gay colours, variegated 
tartans, Socialism, and its emblem the dandelion. 
