WILD FLOWERS. 



able to suppose that its dedication to a regal and 

 national order might be connected with the acces- 

 sion of that family to the throne of Scotland. 

 James V. was the first Scottish king who stamped 

 it O7i his coins ; and James VI. adopted its well- 

 known and appropriate motto, "nemo me impune 

 lacessit."* This motto, indeed, speaks with some 

 force to all who seek to elucidate the subject ; for 

 if, wearied with the doubts and disputes which are 

 so antagonistic to human comfort and happiness, we 

 turn from these " vext questions/' and inquire what 

 plant the Scottish thistle really is, we find ourselves 

 still further from the point than in the inquiry 

 respecting the use as an emblem, and the establish- 

 ment of the order. Here again I will give the 

 opinions quoted by Dr. G. Johnston,")* though I con- 

 fess that my sympathies, as well as my convictions, 

 go rather with those who consider that it is the 

 thistle, par excellence, and not any one particular 

 species, which is the real national emblem ; in- 

 cluding under this head the tribes of cdrduus and 

 cnwuSj each of which is classed by the Scottish 

 peasant under the generic name of thristle. And in 

 truth, it is lamentable to think that even the grave 

 of Burns should have remained undecorated in con- 

 sequence of the correct thistle which was to be 

 placed there being so long under dispute among his 

 admirers. In this instance, however, the palm and 

 the place of honour were finally awarded to the 

 cotton-thistle (Onopordum acanthus), which is also 



* See Dr. Johnston's " Botany of the Eastern Borders." 

 t Op. Cit. 



