MEMOIR OF KAY. 27 



short, but he visited the principal public buildings, 

 and gives a brief account of them. From Edin- 

 burgh he proceeded to Stirling and Glasgow ; from 

 thence to Hamilton and Douglas, the latter of which 

 he calls a pitiful, poor, small place, with scarce a 

 house in it that will keep a man dry in a shower of 

 rain ; and re-entered England by way of Dumfries 

 and Carlisle. 



Ray does not appear to have derived much satis- 

 faction from his northern tour. He was disappoint- 

 ed in one of his principal objects, as he failed in dis- 

 covering any new plants.* His remarks on Scotland 

 are frequently made in a spirit of acrimony, which 

 was foreign to the natural placability of his temper. 

 It is probable that he was subjected to much incon- 

 venience on the road, as the country was in a very 

 disturbed state, and the accommodation for travellers 

 of the most indifferent description. Neither were 

 some of his observations on the social condition of 

 the inhabitants of a kind calculated to awaken re- 



* We know not on what authority it is asserted (Brews- 

 ter^s Edin. Encyc.} that Ray discovered many new plants 

 in Scotland, since he expressly affirms in a letter to Mr 

 Wiliisel that he found none. The southern division of the 

 country bears so much resemblance to England in all the 

 circumstances that seem to influence the distribution of 

 plants, that scarcely any appreciable dissimilarity is to be 

 expected. The primitive and alpine districts of the north 

 present of course a very distinct vegetation, but these do 

 not appear to have ever been visited by Hay* 



