92 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



The thistle, which is thus only a cheese-bearer 

 to the undeveloped patriotism of these children, is 

 the symbol of Scotland par excellence. It is 

 supposed to bristle all over with the national 

 spirit. The prickles, which the little fingers 

 crush with their pinnies, illustrate, if they did 

 not suggest, the proud motto, " Nemo me impune 

 Idcessit" 



Altogether, there is a softness about it which 

 belies its warlike aspect, and convicts it as a bit of 

 a braggart. Its pulpy stem, albeit four or five 

 inches in diameter, barely succeeds in holding it 

 upright. A cut with a thin walking stick 

 would double it up, and level its pride with 

 the ground. 



Nevertheless, he is a buirdly chiel, and there 

 is much in his look to warn the timid who do not 

 know him so well as these children do from 

 trifling. No would-be Scotsman of foreign ex- 

 traction, north for a fortnight's holiday, is satisfied 

 till he has a tin effigy pinned to his newly-acquired 

 Glengarry bonnet. Possibly, he owes part of his 

 respect for the reality to the fact that he has made 

 its acquaintance while masquerading in his bran- 

 new kilt. 



All this presupposes that the thistle is so pecu- 



