THE HAPPY AND HONOURED CLOSE. 467 



side of the Droichs burn, which flowed, under John's 

 aromatic flowers, 



" Dancing to its own wild chime, 

 As laughing at the lapse of time." 



The procession then wended its solemn way down the 

 Leochel, along which John's eager feet had so often trod, 

 to the old churchyard of Alford, amidst its tall trees, where 

 he had wished to be laid. There, surrounded by uncovered 

 heads, his dust was reverently deposited, while a handful 

 of earth and a flower were dropped by the author on the 

 coffin. Then the whole was buried from sight and covered 

 over with kindly sod, embedded with wild flowers, which 

 now blossom over the quiet heart that had loved and studied 

 them so long. 



He rests close by the entrance to the church, beside 

 honoured dead of the Vale of Alford, the lowly weaver not 

 the least of these. 



A tall granite obelisk now marks the spot, bearing the 

 simple inscription : " To the Memory of John Duncan, 

 Weaver and Botanist. Born at Stonehaven, iQth December, 

 1794. Died at Droughsburn, Qth August, 1881. Erected 

 with part of the Gifts of Admirers throughout Britain, the 

 rest being devoted to the Promotion of Science amongst 

 the Young in the Vale of Alford." After the date of his 

 death, across the middle of the tablet, a sprig of his favourite, 

 the retiring and uncommon Linncza borealis, is sculptured, 

 with its double leaves and drooping florets ; as an appro- 

 priate symbol of the rare and enthusiastic love of nature 

 that had brightened and blessed the life of him who sleeps 

 so well below. In accordance with his dying wish, a rough 

 block of one of " nature's stones," on which no tool has ever 

 passed, will be placed upon his grave. 



