HEATHER BEDS. 



. . . The stranger's bed 

 Was there of mountain heather spread, 

 Where oft a hundred guests had lain 

 And dreamed their forest sports again. 

 But vainly did the heath-flower shed 

 Its moorland fragrance around his head. 



Allan Cunningham remarks : "A lover's plaid 

 and a bed of heath are favorite topics with the Northern 

 muse ; when the Heather is in bloom it is worthy of 

 becoming the couch of beauty. A sea of brown blos- 

 soms undulating as far as the eye can reach and 

 swarming with bees is a fine sight" ; a statement which 

 Leigh Hunt said he could well believe, although never 

 having enjoyed the scene. 



The Heather on the open moorland and hills has 

 often proved an acceptable couch to the clansman, the 

 shepherd, the hunter, the botanist and tourist. The 

 literature of Scotland teems with references to the 

 wearied warrior who wrapped himself in his High- 

 land plaid, and sought the soothing embrace of Mor- 

 pheus amid the fragrance of the Heather bells. 

 Ossian makes one of his characters in Fingal say: 

 "We moved to the chase together, and one was our 

 bed on the heath." 



Macmillan, journeying in the Highlands, thus 

 describes the advantages of the Heather bed on the 

 mountains : "A Heather bed in the full beauty of its 

 purple flowers, newly gathered, and skillfully packed 

 close together, is as fragrant and luxurious a couch 

 as any Sybarite could desire." He also tells us that 

 Don, the botanist, that great enthusiast in Alpine 

 72 



