76' WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



them, so fresh looking on that early summer day, is 

 faded. Hands, face, and in some cases feet also, 

 show signs of exposure. The fair are fern-tickled, 

 as they call it, from the likeness of the blotches to 

 the spore-cases on the back of the fern ; the dark 

 are brown as mulattos. 



The lane, too, has changed, and at first sight does 

 not seem quite so attractive ; at least not nearly so 

 gay. The brambles are flowering instead of the 

 broom, and the alternate lime trees instead of the 

 laburnum. The white-throats are busy and silent 

 behind the big white flowers, and the greenfinch 

 is trilling in the cool shade of the soft leaves. 

 And what a delightful scent of lime blossom and 

 hum of bees ! How still and warm the air ; how 

 almost noiseless the woods, and shadowless the 

 fields ! Is not this the very height of summer ? 



Mountain ash and elder-flowers have passed into 

 berries. An arch of honeysuckle rises over the 

 latticing at the farm doorway. Endless roses are 

 growing at their own sweet will, and fast lapsing 

 back into wildness. One among the rest is yellow, 

 the like of which I have seen with single rows of 

 petals, by Scots lane-sides, in the quiet country. 

 But whether only " escapes " which had run wild, 

 I have been unable to determine. 



