NOVEMBER 211 



wood.' Pont writes it Bardrochat, giving the sound of 

 the Gaelic barr drochaid the hill by the bridge, which 

 is the true meaning. 1 



Bitter must have been Font's chagrin when, having 

 finished his great work, he failed in means to get his 

 maps engraved. That would have been the moment 

 for a far-seeing Maecenas ; but King James had moved 

 his court to London, taking with him ' Jingling 

 Geordie ' 2 and almost every Scots capitalist, and 

 leaving his ancient realm distraught by the fury of 

 sects and virulence of faction, besides being racked by 

 excessive poverty. The literary noon of Edinburgh 

 was still far below the horizon. Gordon of Straloch, 

 writing forty years later, blames the niggardliness of 

 ' the trade ' for Font's disappointment ; 3 but the most 

 enterprising publisher might surely hesitate to embark 

 on a work of such magnitude, having regard to the 

 disturbed state of the country and the prevailing 

 indigence. ' While awaiting more propitious days,' 

 says Straloch, 'untimely death carried him off.' If, 

 as may be surmised, this was about the year 1614, 

 Pont must have been about fifty. Only one of his 

 maps is known to have been published during his life, 

 entitled A New Description of the Shires Lothian and 



1 When a fresh ordnance survey was being conducted in this 

 district some years ago, I obtained the consent of the owner of 

 Bardrochwood on Stinchar to allow the name to be rendered as 

 Bardrochat on the new map ; but the owner of Bardrochwood on 

 Moneypool declined to agree to the change, and the name remains as 

 before. 



* George Heriot, the king's jeweller and financier. 



* Typographorum et librariorum avaritia victus. 



