72 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



year Thomas Edwards became a militia-man in Aberdeen, 

 he was attached to the " Aberdeen Militia regiment or 

 battalion for the parish of Keithhall." In all, he con- 

 tinued connected with the service for some twenty years. 



John liked the life and training, and made the most 

 of them, attending to orders, and never having to get extra 

 drill in the awkward squad, as he used to tell with pride. 

 The effects of the drill upon the little man appeared 

 in his firm step and erect bearing, traceable even in old 

 age. Long after he had ceased soldiering, he used to 

 shoulder a stick and show his paces in martial form before 

 his more intimate friends. The solitary exhibition, in 

 which he represented in his own person at once officer, 

 private and battalion, gone through with great vigour, 

 was, it seems, a sight to see, raising many a kindly laugh. 



Drill was carried on in the courtyard of the barracks, 

 and, when weather was favourable, on the extensive links 

 that skirt the sea near Aberdeen, the scene where the 

 "mad" Edwards rushed out of his ranks, in 1831, to 

 chase a butterfly. Many of the men were very rough, 

 but not a few were, according to their companion, " smug 

 eneuch," that is, smart enough. He met much kindness 

 from every one, he said, and the sergeant became a great 

 friend of his, doing him good service when his wife troubled 

 him about one of her children. Flogging was then not 

 uncommon in the militia ; indeed, it was not till 1814 that 

 an enactment was made, authorizing courts-martial to inflict 

 imprisonment instead of the lash ! On more than one 

 occasion, John witnessed its infliction, and he saw three 

 men flogged in one day, for being intoxicated and giving 

 insolence to their officers during drill. But he affirmed 



