WHITE HEATHER. 



the 20th, of his wishes, but we were uncertain on 

 account of her extreme youth, whether he should 

 speak to her himself or wait till he came back again. 

 However, we felt it was better he should do so, and 

 during our ride up Craig-na-Ban this afternoon he 

 picked a piece of White Heather (the emblem of 'good 

 luck'), which he gave to her, and this enabled him 

 to make an allusion to his hopes and wishes as they 

 rode down Glen Girnoch, which led to this happy con- 

 clusion." 



The Queen also makes the following reference to 

 the plant in describing her journey through Dunrobin 

 Glen, Sutherlandshire : "Half way up we stopped to 

 take tea and coffee; and before that Brown (who has 

 an extraordinary eye for it, when driving quite fast, 

 which I have not) espied a piece of White Heather 

 and jumped off to pick it. No Highlander would pass 

 by it without picking it, for it is considered to bring 

 good luck." 



William Black's novel entitled "White Heather" 

 has been referred to several times in these pages. The 

 following passages from that work are quoted, be- 

 cause they demonstrate most forcibly and interestingly 

 the potency of the influence exerted by a tiny spray of 

 White Heather on a life that well nigh was doomed to 

 destruction. They also convey an idea of the difficulty 

 experienced in finding White Heather on the Scottish 

 hills ; and although the tale is pure fiction, yet it is so 

 instructive and so pregnant with real pathos and mean- 

 ing approaching so near to real life, that this brief 

 summary offers its own apology for its intrusion. 



164 



