PREFACE. Vll 



pleasures. There is not a floxver which blows but has some 

 beauty only unveiled to the minute inquirer, *-some peculiarity 

 in structure fitting it for its destined place and purpose, and 

 yet not patent to a casual glance. Many are full of remem- 

 brances and associations, in which it is good for us to indulge. 

 To the student " a yellow primrose on the brim" should be 

 something more than a yellow primrose. He should, to bor- 

 row the words of the author of the " Sketch Book," be conti- 

 nually coming upon some little document of poetry in the blos- 

 somed hawthorn, the daisy, the cowslip, the primrose, or some 

 other simple object that has received a supernatural value from 

 the muse. And, as his pursuit leads him into the most wild 

 and beautiful scenes of nature, so his knowledge enables him 

 to enjoy them with a higher relish than others. They are full 

 of his " familiar friends," with whom he holds a kind of intel- 

 lectual communion ; he can analyse the landscape, and assign 

 to every individual its share in the general effect. 



The district, whose native vegetable productions I "have 

 attempted to describe, is bounded on the south by a ridge of 

 basaltic rocks, which take their rise at Buddie, and run in a 

 westerly direction to Belford. From this we suppose a line 

 drawn across the elevated moor, until it reaches the river Till, 

 which forms the western boundary, until it joins the Tweed. 

 To the north of this river the political bounds of Berwickshire* 

 are considered those of this Flora; and the sea bounds the 

 whole district on the east. 



* It is necessary, however, to remark, that I have had few opportunities of 

 botanizing in the west of Berwickshire. The plants of the Fem Islands, Bam- 

 borough Castle, and Cheviot, though a little beyond our limits, are included, 

 as these places are often visited from curiosity. 



