ARDGOWAN 



Miss Wilson might have hesitated long before 

 deciding on a single subject where there is so much 

 to choose from ; she has chosen rightly, I think, to 

 depict a scene and a season in which Ardgowan 

 has no rival known to me ; for nowhere else have 

 I been able to walk a mile on end through acres 

 of snowdrops in blossom. 



Round three sides of the plateau referred to 

 runs a steep slope, in places precipitous, of red 

 conglomerate. At the apex of this green promontory, 

 where the cliff is sheer, is poised the ancient keep 

 of Inverkip. At the neck of the promontory stands 

 the Georgian mansion of Ardgowan, built in 1798, 

 a period when Scottish lairds were beginning to 

 find the fortalices of their ancestors inconveniently 

 cramped for modern households. Between the cliff 

 and the sea is a wide belt of that raised beach 

 which forms such a marked feature in coast scenery 

 of the west, known to geologists as the 25 foot 

 beach, formed when the general land level was 

 that distance below the present one. Woods of pine 

 and broad leaved trees clothe the flat land, the 

 slopes and the cliff itself, wherever foothold can be 

 found, and all these woods are carpeted with snow- 

 drops, primroses, and blue hyacinths. Empty enough 

 they seem in winter time. Cover-shooters, pursuing 

 their pastime in the dark days of November, little 

 think what wealth of flowers is stored in millions 

 of modest little bulbs beneath their feet ; but he 

 must indeed be insensible to natural beauty who, 



27 



