FURTHER INTERCOURSE WITH CHARLES BLACK. 1 95 



and Black rented the whole place from the trustees except 

 the mansion, which was let to others. He lived in a small 

 thatched cottage close by the Skene Road, standing 

 between it and a large enclosed garden. He cultivated that 

 for the market. In this kind of life, he was pretty successful 

 for four years, till the estate was bought by a Mr. Gordon, 

 who employed him as his own gardener for two years 

 more, till he also failed. Black left in 1848, and became 

 gardener to Sir Andrew Leith Hay, of Leithhall, near 

 Kinnethmont. 



While at Raeden, Charles still carried on his botanical 

 studies, and to these added several others, which he 

 pursued with his usual ardour, especially Ornithology. In 

 this he rapidly became proficient. In 1842, for instance, 

 he was the first to obtain that rare bird in northern regions, 

 the honey buzzard, which he shot near his house, the first 

 recorded notice of it in Aberdeenshire. In 1846, when 

 Thomas Edwards made his unfortunate and distressing 

 journey to Aberdeen, Charles and he became very intimate, 

 united by that instinctive freemasonry felt by all kindred 

 souls engaged in higher pursuits. They visited each other 

 during the whole time of Edwards' stay in town. Charles 

 called almost daily at the deserted Exhibition, and did his 

 best to cheer and strengthen the downcast naturalist ; while 

 Edwards came out to tea at Raeden, to his brother 

 scientist, for sympathy and support, when the Exhibition 

 was closed on Sundays. Before Edwards returned to 

 Banff, he presented Charles, as a parting gift, with a 

 beautifully stuffed specimen of the land-rail. He received 

 in return the first specimen then discovered in the county, 

 or in the north, of the true Egyptian locust, which Black 



