42 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



after, the touch of a vanished hand is seen there 

 by some curious passer-by. 



It is not many years since gentle hands scattered 

 English wildlings over a Scots park, and planted 

 garden flowers in a Scots woodland. And there 

 they are now to witness if I lie. I could take any- 

 one to the scene and point them out. By the 

 somewhat sad fortune which banishes daughters 

 from their homes when a property changes hands, 

 the planters are no longer there to watch their 

 coming and going, as they did for many 

 seasons. 



And there they are likely to remain. I thought 

 at the time that greater care might have been 

 taken in the choosing : that double flowers and 

 those of strange hues might have been left out. 



But nature will be sure to put that right by 

 and by. The plants will revert to the simpler 

 state : will yield up all their petals save one outer 

 rim ; will agree on some single hue, probably that 

 they wore before their captivity : and so recover 

 their lost likeness to their wild brethren. And, in 

 years to come, delighted wanderers over the grass, 

 or within the shades, will wonder why this corner 

 is so much richer than the rest of the scene of 

 which it forms a part. - 



