34 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



dells " of sunnier lands. And we echo the senti- 

 ment, without being quite sure what is meant. 



There happen to be two bells, or rather bell-like 

 flowers, each of which might well advance its 

 claims. And the unstinted praise may well lead to 

 a battle or duel of the flowers. The earlier in the 

 field is the wild hyacinth. 



I bend one of the stalks gently toward me. 

 The petals close, and turn out at the tip into a 

 delicate vase shape. It is a Scots bell, although 

 not distinctively so. And there is no valid reason 

 to be found in the beauty of the plant, in the 

 charm it lends to hundreds of our dells, in the 

 character it gives to our spring woodlands, in the 

 delight it yields to all lovers of nature, and in the 

 gap it would leave if it deserted its haunts for 

 what else would fill up the space which divides the 

 primrose and the summer flowers ? why it should 

 not be the Scottish Blue Bell. 



True, it is not found everywhere. Many country- 

 sides are without it. Many shady places may be 

 searched without the tell-tale odour revealing its 

 presence, and guiding to its twilight domain. 

 Many dells as promising as this have to supply the 

 want as best they can. 



But wherever it is, it can scarcely escape the 



