54 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



muckle i' their pob," that is, in the fluffy refuse of flax 

 that remains in the manufacture ; ending his observations 

 on the subject with the sentiment, that when we do any 

 piece of work, we should do it so thoroughly as " to leave 

 little in the pob." The firm had also a bleach-field at 

 Rubeslaw, now well known for its granite, where " green " 

 linen yard was bleached white, from which light-coloured 

 cloth was produced the first time John had seen it. His 

 old master Pirie had once tried bleaching, but the vitriol, 

 a necessary agent in the process, dangerous in the hands 

 of the unskilled, only burnt his yarns, and his fingers in 

 more senses than one, and he gave it up. 



Until now, John's work had been greatly confined to linen 

 cloth of various kinds, though he had had some practice, 

 even at Drumlithie, in woollen stuffs, especially wincey, 

 which consisted then of strong linen warp, across which 

 was woven woollen thread or weft of different colours, 

 hence known as " linsey-woolseys." In order to obtain 

 more practice in this kind of work, he by-and-by entered 

 a woollen factory at Windmill Brae, where winceys and 

 other woollen fabrics were woven. In a short time, he 

 was able to keep up with the best of them, as he used 

 to recall with pride, and soon became a superior weaver 

 of winceys, blankets, carpets, and the like. In proof of 

 this, a story is told of him by one of his Drumlithie friends, 

 which at once proves his skill as a weaver and his 

 strength of will as a man a lifelong characteristic, greatly 

 hidden beneath ' his quiet, shy exterior. He was once 

 engaged in a shop, in which Pirie's son, Duncan, and a 

 weaver called Sandy Hadden, worked along with him. 

 Hadden wore a woollen vest of an uncommon fancy 



