130 BOTANICAL RAMBLES. [.^O,'!/} 



over to themselves a verse of the " Botanist's Battle of Glen 

 Tilt :"— 



" Some folk 'U tat' a heap o' fasli 

 For unco little end, man, 

 An' meikle time an' meikle cash 



Tor nocht aya they'll spend, man. 

 Thae chaps had come a' hunder mile 

 For what was hardly worth their whUe — 

 'Twas a' to poo 

 Some gerse that grew 

 On Ben M'Dhu, 

 That ne'er a coo 

 Would care to pit her moo till." 



Nevertheless I would not apologize for our seeming monopoly 

 of enthusiasm, but simply repeat our leader's motto, " Excursions 

 are the life of the botanist !" 



After partaking of a sumptuous breakfast at the Beattock 

 Hotel, ■which is a little way off from the railway station, we were 

 joined by the Rev. Mr. Little, of Kii'kpatrick-Juxta, who very 

 kindly conducted us along the hillside to a beautiful wild ravine, 

 known as the Girpel Linn, where we were likewise met by the 

 Eev. J. G. M'Vicar, D.D., of Moffat, On the hill slopes we 

 gathered a few good plants, perhaps not unworthy of notice. 

 Jasione montana, a somewhat rare plant in the country, occurred 

 here and there pretty abundantly. Campanula rotundifolia, An- 

 tennaria dioica, Galium saxatile, G. verum, Digitalis purpurea, 

 Erica cinerea, Triodia decumbens, Blechnum boreale, and Lastrea 

 Oreopteris, Avere all common on the drier parts, while in wet 

 spots Erica Tetralix, Myosotis palustris, Pinguicida vulgaris, 

 Orchis latifolia, Narthecium Ossifragum, etc., occurred plenti- 

 fully. We searched in vain for Ophioglossum vulgatum and 

 Botrychium Lunaria on the banks where we had seen them 

 growing on a former occasion. 1 fear, however, that some sordid 

 nurseryman's collector has been in that neighbourhood, as well 

 as in many others ; hence the mysteriously rapid disappearance 

 of not a few of our rarest gems from their wonted hiding-places. 

 On the moist rocks at the Linn we met with, in great abun- 

 dance, Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, as well as with Cystopteris 

 fragdis, Polysiichum aculeatum, Asplenium Filix-foemina, Hype- 

 ricum perforatum, Valeriana officinalis, Lysimachia nemorum, and 

 many others of less note. Mosses, as well might be expected 



