28 ALEXANDER WIIvSON : POET-NATURAUST 



closures, "herds" had to watch the flocks in order 

 that one man's property should not be injured by 

 another's or else hopelessly confused with it. The 

 unsightly and uncomfortable houses were rarely 

 shaded by trees or beautified by gardens, and in the 

 whole of Renfrewshire there had been no forest 

 since ancient days. Even the streets of Paisley, and 

 the country roads around it, were but scantily 

 shaded by a few lone trees. 



The agricultural methods were primitive, the 

 crops few and unprofitable. Up to nearly the 

 middle of the century the small supply of turnips 

 that were raised were regarded as a great delicacy 

 and served at meals as a dessert. Even after radical 

 changes began to be well under way, and the revo- 

 lution of things, which later transformed all Scot- 

 land, was being led by a few cultured and enterpris- 

 ing gentlemen, the ignorant and prejudiced country 

 people bitterly resented every innovation, and under 

 the shadow of night would demolish the new en- 

 closures, and pull up the young trees and hedges 

 that had been planted, for fear, as they ingenuously 

 declared, they might harbor birds that would de- 

 stroy their crops. 



With affairs in such a condition as this it required 

 glasses of a very rosy hue indeed to make even a 

 Scotchman, if he were familiar with the more cul- 

 tured society of England, see things in a very hope- 

 ful light. No wonder then that almost all English- 

 men thought with Dr. Johnson that the high-road to 

 London was Scotland's best prospect. Even then, 

 however, there were silent forces moving beneath 

 the surface of things that were making for a new 



