SCOTTISH GAEDENS 



But our errand to-day is not to gather up on the 

 spot the threads of this sad story, nor to view the 

 lordly castle, nor yet to explore the foundations of 

 S. Mary's Priory, built by Fergus Earl of Buchan 

 in 1179 for the Tironensian monks of S. Benedict, 

 or to deplore the completeness of its demolition. There 

 stands the castle, but there does not stand the 

 priory, though its site is well marked by a tall Celtic 

 cross, set up in 1868 on a green knoll, and far seen up 

 and down the strath. The object of our mission 

 lies close to " the green kirkyard of Fyvie/' whither 

 Miss Wilson's instinct for fair flowers directed her, 

 with the result shown in Plate XIX. 



A keen instinct it is shown to be, for it is a 

 melancholy but general truth that the manse garden 

 is about the last place in a Scottish parish that one 

 expects to find well-tended borders. In England it 

 is different ; it is among the English clergy that you 

 may look for some of the most accomplished amateurs, 

 and, as high authorities in horticulture, it would be 

 hard to beat Dean Hole for roses, Mr. Engleheart 

 for daffodils, or Canon Ellacombe for all sorts of 

 flowering things. The Scottish clergy, as a class, 

 are strangely indifferent to the fluctuating hopes and 

 fears, joys and woes, of horticulture. There are 

 notable and praiseworthy exceptions, but I speak of 

 the class, with the necessary caveat about generalising. 

 I scarcely think that our pastors of to-day can be 

 deterred from seeking solace in an occupation so 

 natural and congenial to men whose avocation keeps 



134 



