MISUNDERSTANDINGS UNDER WHICH HE LIVED. 333 



They said they knew this plant quite well, and that it grew 

 " etnach * berries." But one lad " kent a buss, a great big 

 buss, an' nae leevin ever saw a single berry on't ; " and all 

 the others knew the same bush well. John at once saw a 

 chance of both amusement and rebuke, if it should turn 

 out to be a female plant. He asked if there was only one 

 bush, and was told that there were none for miles around 

 but itself ; at least they had never seen any. After learning 

 that this bush, which had thus become famous in the neigh- 

 bourhood, was not far off, he asked them to lead him to 

 the place, as he wished to see it. So off the whole party 

 marched to the spot. 



They soon found the juniper, a solitary female plant, as 

 he expected, in full bloom ; and there and then he resolved 

 to read them a lesson and " prove his ability as a man and 

 a botanist, who knew something of nature and nature's 

 laws," as James Black remarks. John said, " Nae doobt, ye 

 think yoursel's clever chiels, but cu'd ony o' ye mak' that 

 buss bear fruit ? " " Na, faith, na, John," they all exclaimed, 

 " we canna dee that ; nor cu'd ye, 'less ye hae mair airt 

 than yer ain, man." John asserted that he could and would ; 

 and then, stretching out his hands over the bush, he 

 muttered several words in the manner of a magician, 

 which his astrological lore had made him familiar with, and 

 ended by declaiming " Thou shalt bear berries for once ! " 

 The young men were more than amused, they were aston- 

 ished at the little man's whole style in a vein so serious 

 and unexpected, but they drowned their surprise in 

 laughter. John arranged with them, however, that at a 



* This is the name of the juniper in various parts of the country, 

 and is a bit of Gaelic^;/ being the Gaelic name of the plant. 



