12 THE PLANTS OF HOLY ISLAND. \JaUUary , 



be readily obtained by boat* It was by the latter route that I 

 visited the island last July (1861) ; and if the reader will kindly 

 accompany me, I will try to describe the interesting objects which 

 were presented to my view, and which are now reproduced for 

 his delight and information. 



The first point of approach is the little isle of St. Cuthbert. 

 About half an acre of the islet is covered with a scanty vegeta- 

 tion ; and though rarities are scarcely to be looked for on so 

 barren a spot, yet I saw a small quantity of Artemisia mari- 

 tinia, and an abundance of the Sea Lavender [Statice Limo- 

 nium) . The foundations of the little chapel, formerly inhabited 

 by the patron saint of the island, and still traceable, are ob- 

 jects of great veneration to the fishermen, one of whom told me, 

 as I was crossing in his boat, that the bones of the saint could find 

 no rest there, he was so much disturbed by their oaths from the 

 adjacent landing-place. They were exhumed, he said, and buried 

 at the opposite side of Holy Island, but the change of place 

 brought no peace ; for the sea-fowl were as clamorous and dis- 

 turbive as the fishermen ; so the brethen of the monastery were 

 obliged to transport the holy relics to Durham. 



Leaving St. Cuthbert's, I proceeded along the treacherous 

 slippery ridge of rocks that connect the islet with the island, and 

 was glad when I placed my feet on the greensvA'ard again. I 

 was not long in making important captures, which consisted of 

 an abundance of Convolvulus arvensis and Glyceria maritima, also 

 Carduus Marianus and Silene noctiflora. Proceeding through 

 the town, I noticed the two commoner Mallows, Malva sylvestris 

 and M. rotundifolia, occupying their usual habitat by the way- 

 side. A little patient search of some waste ground was also re- 

 warded by a few small plants of Senebiera Coronopus. 



Winding my way through the town, I soon reached the ruins 



* When the illustrious botanist Ray visited the north of England in 1661, he 

 iiea^d it confidently asserted that the ebbs are so great on the Lord's-day that a 

 man might go over the narrow strait in the morning and return in the evening dry- 

 shod. Is this legend still cui-rent, or has it been contradicted by long experience ? 



When Ray, with his companion Willisel, visited Holy Island ten years later, in 

 1671, on a simpling tour, as he says, tliey found the following plant, viz. Aspervgo 

 procumbens. 



See Memorials of Ray (Itineraries), p. 151 note: "In the Holy Island I 

 found growing Aparine major Plinii ; Asperngo procumbens, Jj'mn. Upon the 

 walls of Berwick, by the seaside, Erysimum latifolium Neapolitatmm {Sisymbrium 

 Irio, Linn.)." 



