BOTANICAL WANDERINGS IN THE SOUTH. 22$ 



loom," and the Jacquard machine in connection with it for 

 his interest in the mechanics and improvements of his 

 trade was always strong and active and he " took in his 

 lesson pretty weel." Both here and at Paisley " a pretty 

 toon," where his fellow weavers Tannahill and Wilson had 

 lived he also examined recent improvements, recalling 

 "the little bellie that rang up i' the riggin' at sick and 

 sick pairts o' the figured shawl napkins " they were weaving. 

 In these towns, also, he noticed for the first time, with 

 commendation, the new practice of numbering the houses, 

 which had not then been done in Aberdeen. At Dunferm- 

 line, he did not hear of Bruce's grave till he had left it, 

 though he would have liked greatly to have visited the 

 last resting-place of " that great Scottish chief, whom they 

 hae guid reason to brag aboot." Here and at Tillicoultry 

 and Kirkcaldy, he visited the weavers. They asked him 

 if he knew what "ticking" was. "Ye're big aboot that, 

 are ye ? " said the Aberdeen workman, proud of his 

 county ; " I hae woven plenty o't' ! " 



Near Dundee, he visited Claverhouse Castle, on account 

 of its Covenanting interest ; but his indignation did not 

 shut his eyes to the abundant flowers, for " there was a 

 guid curn * there that are na i' the north," and, amongst 

 these, rest harrow (Ononis arvensis).\ At Perth, he climbed 

 to the top of Kinnoul Hill, to see the splendid view of the 

 Tay there. When near Perth, he would "never hae been 



* This word seems to be another form of corn; and hence came 

 to mean, in Scotch, a small quantity. 



t John found this plant at the farm of Oldtown in Leochel-Cushnie, 

 in 1872, a station unusually inland for it, and took a specimen of it 

 to Professor Dickie. It grew in a seam of rotten granite in a field, 

 and John thought the seed had been carried to the spot by a bird. 



Q 



