KELBUKNE CASTLE 



the old-world borders, the paths of smooth sward 

 and the ancient yews which seem to set time at 

 defiance. Nobody now notes the shadow of the 

 gnomon, for every man carries a time-keeper in his 

 pocket, and ladies, who have no pockets, bind 

 untrustworthy watches on their wrists or pin them 

 on their bosoms; but we are none of us the worse 

 of the warning conveyed by this grey column in a 

 pleasure ground, which seems to echo the old Scots 

 saw 



"%*' tent 0' time ere time be ipnt." 1 



A charming example is Kelburne of Scots building 

 of the sixteenth century, the original tower of " Johne 

 Boll" standing clear, unimpaired, and unmutilated 

 by the first Earl's addition. On the south-west front 

 of it is the old herb garth enclosed in high walls, 

 now converted into a pleasaunce, with flower beds and 

 shrubberies lying fair to the sun, with the broad 

 waters of the firth shimmering beyond. Shady alleys 

 run round the enclosure, not laid with crunchy gravel 

 but with greensward of seductive texture, bordered 

 with shrubs, among which are just so many of the 

 choicer kinds to cause one to wish for more. Rhodo- 

 dendron Thomsoni and campanulatum are each over 

 12 feet high; the common myrtle forms a great bush 

 without the protection of a wall; samples these of 

 what a rare collection might be ranged here if some 

 of the common stuff were cleared away. In one of 

 the gardens in the town of Fairlie I noticed Cordyline 



*Take heed of time ere it be beyond recall. 

 163 



