138 WILD FLOWERS. 



for common as it is in England, it is very rare 

 in Scotland ; almost the only spot of that coun- 

 try in which it is known to grow is on the 

 rocky cliffs near Dunbarton castle ; and tradi- 

 tion tells, that the unhappy Mary, queen of 

 Scots, planted it there with her own hand. 

 The beautiful cotton thistle, {Onopordmn acan- 

 thhim,) which grows by Scotia's highways, is 

 cultivated by Scotsmen, as the Scottish thistle ; it 

 seems to have some claim to be regarded as the 

 national insignia, for the hard and sharp spines 

 well accord with the proud defiant motto which 

 accompanies it. The adoption of this flower as 

 the national emblem is said to have arisen from 

 the following circum.stance : the Danes were 

 invading the Scottish nation, and, according 

 to their usual practice, attacked them during 

 night, when they were sleeping; they had just 

 reached the Scottish camp, when a Dane placing 

 his naked foot on the spiny leaves of a this- 

 tle, instinctively uttered a cry, which roused the 

 slumbering warriors, who quickly chased the 

 mvaders. 



Several thistles have a large quantity of cot- 

 tony down on their stems and leaves, which, 

 is picked off by country children for tinder; 

 and their large number of seeds are eaten by 

 birds, especially by the goldfinches, which feed 

 almost entirely on the downy grains of flowers. 



One of our wild thistles, the musk thistle, 

 (Carduus nutans,) has beautiful purple blos- 

 soms, most powerfully fragrant in the evening ; 

 and a more common species, the carline thistle^ 



