248 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND JSOTANIST. 



He was often absent all day, and more than once all 

 night, subsisting on his bag of meal and crust of bread. 

 When he went on any of these wanderings, his master, 

 Sandy Smith, would say, " I hae lost my man the day ; 

 I suppose he's awa' amang the floors as uswal." Few saw 

 him return, for he could steal up the ladder to his bed 

 above the byre, unnoticed by anybody. He always came 

 back with a bundle of plants, and often with wet clothes 

 and moss-coloured boots that told of many a scramble. A 

 villager brought the news one day, that he had actually 

 seen John away in Aberdeen, looking at the ships in the 

 harbour, " wi' a nievefu' * o' girses " even there ; concluding 

 with the remark, "but Johnnie never was like onybody else." 



Duncan generally went alone, but sometimes he had a 

 companion. The shoemaker occasionally accompanied him, 

 more for the sake of his general conversation than for the 

 weeds ; and they used to talk of the stars as they came home 

 in the dark. As William says, John delighted to discourse to 

 others of the subjects he studied, and was grateful to any one 

 that would listen to him about those things he held so dear. 

 But he confesses that he got few auditors it was too often 

 a mere waste of good time. His speech was not very fluent, 

 but most abundant, for " he never had ony end " to what he 

 had to say ; there was so much in his mind that he could 

 not express. He generally concluded any expositions to 

 friendly ears by saying, " Oh, I cu'd tell ye a great heap, a 

 great heap ! " 



John succeeded in interesting Sandy Smith's children 

 not a little in flowers, and they used to gather them, to 

 show them to him in the weaving shop. At these times, 

 * Handful. The Scotch nieve or neive means the fist. 



