IS'JO. 



TIII'J A Mh'U/c. 1 N li KK- K i-:h:ri:ii. 



liS-i 



you what it is, Goody, old chap, it's a 

 clear case of telepathy." 



"But I had the telegram, " 1 said. 



"You fancied ycu did," was his re- 

 ply. "That's part of the busiuess. You 

 were thinkiuK of Dixey. Disey was 

 thinking of you. Dixey thought he 

 would send you a wire. You thought 

 you received it. That's all." 



And that is the true story of bow I 

 received my "telepathic tip." — Ex- 

 change. 



"Auld Robin Gray." 



Lady Anne Barnard wrote "Auld 

 Robin Graj'" when she was 21. It was 

 published auonyniou.sly iu 1776, and 

 various persons claimed tiie authorship. 

 Ladj' Anne did not acknowledge it was 

 her own until two years before her death, 

 when she wrote to Sir Walter Scott and 

 confided the history of the ballad to 

 him. It appears that the gifted lady was 

 induced to write the song by a desire te 

 see an old Scottish air, "The Bridegroom 

 Grat When the Sun Gaed Doon," fitted 

 with words more suitable than the rib- 

 aldry which, for Wiiut of better, had 

 been sung to it. The name of "Auld 

 Robin Gray" was taken from an auciejit 

 herd of Balcarres. Lady Anne was a 

 daughter of James Lindsay, fifth earl 

 of Balcarres. She married Andrew Bar- 

 nard, sou of Thomas, bishop of Limer- 

 ick, and they went out to the Cape, 

 where he died in 1807. Lady Anne re- 

 turned to London and lived with her sis- 

 ter in Berkeley square until 1812. The 

 sister's house was a literary center and 

 was frequented by Burke, Sheridan, 

 Windham, Douglas and the Prince of 

 Wales, who were all habitual visitors. 



Lady Anne won tiie lifelong attach- 

 ment of the prince regent. She died in 

 1825, in her seventy-fourth year. No 

 one has ever questioned Lady Anne 

 Barnard's claim to the authorship of 

 the words of "Auld Robin Gray," and, 

 though I am not going to cast doubt 

 upon the word of the writer at this late 

 day, it is necessary to menrion that 

 prior not only to the appearance but to 

 the writing of the world famous song 

 there was a French ballad extant co i- 

 taiuing the gist of the story and th • 

 plot, by Paradis de Moncrif, ertitlod 

 "Les Constautes Amuur.s d'/. lix e^ 

 d'Alexis. " — S. J. Adair Fitz Ccr.:l.! :. i 

 Llovd's. 



IVew Plants Are £xpetiNive. 



Our beds and our borders become 

 crowded, and yvt we are always meet- 

 ing with plants we should like to pos- 

 sess and might (>asilygrow; while, as 

 if in despair of keeping pace with the 

 times, societies are formed which de- 

 vote themselves to the cultivation of 

 some particular flower; firms associate 

 themselves primarily with roses, lilies, 

 chrysanthemums or orchids and are rec- 

 ognized as authorities, and costly illus- 

 trated books make their appearance at 

 such frequf'nt intervals that in some di- 

 rections they bid fair to develop into 

 libraries, with the varieties of one flow- 

 er as their subject. No pains or ingenu- 

 ity or money is spared, and unique 

 specimens are searched for in the most 

 distant parts of the world. The outlay 

 iu some cases is enormous. 



Orchids being a very special branch 

 of the gardener's art, it is well we 

 should refer to the enormous sums that 

 are expended in forming a collection of 

 these fascinating flowers. Syndicates 

 are constituted for their importation 

 and a uuuiber of skilled collectors, who 

 often carry their lives iu their hands, 

 are always at work in the East Indies, 

 in Mexico, in the hot, steamy swamps 

 of Brazil, in Madagascar, searching 

 for new specimens. Twenty thou-sand 

 pounds and more, it is said, may be 

 easily spent upon acollection; 310 guin- 

 eas have been paid for Cypripediuu 

 stouei, 300 for Vanda sanderiana, 235 

 for ^rida^ laurencise, 220 for Cattle- 

 ya mendelli bluntii and the prices of 

 a large number of others range from 

 100 to 200 guineas a plant. — Saturday 

 Rfivip.vp. 



Printing Early In the Century. 



It is said that the first book printed 

 in this country from stereotype plates 

 v,as a catecuism by a Mr. Watts. This 

 work was issued iu New York in the 

 year 1813, and was compiled for the 

 benefit of the children of several New 



YorJi churches. __^___ 



Pat Was Astonished, 



An Irishman was run over by a troop 

 of horse and miraculously escaped un- 

 hurt. "Down upon your knees and 

 ^hank God, you reprobate," said one of 

 the ip^ctators. "Thank God for what? 

 Is it for letting a troop horse run over 

 me?" asked Pat. — London Spectator. 



