THE AUTHOR'S FIRST VISIT TO DROUGHSBURN. 3Q5 



The cretur has sense ! " He was exceedingly taken with 

 the phenomenon,* and frequently repeated to himself, " Ay, 

 man, ay ! ay, ay ! " as if pondering over the sight and its 

 suggestive relations. 



We climbed at length to " the croon o' the hill," where 

 he wished me " to see the view." It certainly commanded 

 a splendid prospect, looking down, on the one side, across the 

 fine Vale of Alford, with Benachie at its far extremity ; and 

 on the other, away to the south, over a sea of rounded, 

 rolling hills, like heaving waves on a calm day in mid-ocean, 

 the taller peaks of the Grampians rising beyond, still 

 adorned with gleaming patches of snow and surmounted 

 by the fine top of Loch-na-gar. We rested there for some 

 time, enjoying the far-stretching scene and the warm sun- 

 shine. He talked fluently of the various plants and places 

 and features of the hill and landscape, which afforded him 

 abundant matter for remark ; and I exceedingly enjoyed 

 his interesting communications and picturesque speech. 



Near the top of the hill, there is a shallow loch or marsh, 

 where he had found some good water plants. He pointed 

 out the site of a wood, now cut down, on the other side of 

 the valley, just opposite, where he had discovered the rare 

 Pyrola secunda, or Serrated Winter-green. 



That short saunter with the old man revealed him more 

 than ever, and I enjoyed it immensely. I was delighted to 

 see him out in the field, under the blue sky, and amidst the 



* This property, which he knew, as John Taylor informs me, he had 

 forgot for the time. We have several British sensitives, with active 

 and striking powers, such as this one ; the barberry stamens ; the open 

 stigma of the mimulus, which smartly and firmly closes when touched, 

 especially under sunlight ; and the spurred spores of the horse-tail, which 

 move like long-legged insects, as seen under low microscopic power. 



