284 MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 



pool to pool through their pebbly beds : all this 

 bordered perhaps by a back-ground of ivy-covered, 

 hollow oaks (thus clothed as if to hide their age), 

 of elms, willows, and birch, which seem kindly to 

 offer shelter to an under-growth of hazel, whins, 

 broom, juniper, and heather, with the wild rose, 

 the woodbine, and the bramble, and beset with 

 clumps of fern and foxglove ; while the edges of 

 the mossy braes are covered with a profusion of 

 wild flowers, "born to blush unseen," which peep 

 out amongst the creeping groundlings the blea- 

 berry, the wild strawberry, the harebell, and the 

 violet ; but I feel a want of words to enable the 

 pen to give an adequate description of the beauty 

 and simplicity of these neglected spots, which 

 nature has planted as if to invite the admiration 

 of such as have hearts and eyes to appreciate and 

 enjoy these her exquisite treats, while she may 

 perhaps smile at the formal, pruning efforts of the 

 gardener, as well as doubt whether the pencil of 

 the artist will ever accomplish a correct imitation. 

 But, be all this as it may, she has spread out her 

 beauties to feast the eyes, and to invite the admira- 

 tion of all mankind, and to whet them up to an 

 ardent love of all her works. How often have I, in 

 my angling excursions, loitered upon such sunny 

 braes, lost in extasy, and wishing I could impart 

 to others the pleasures I felt on such occasions : 

 but they must see with their own eyes to feel as 

 I felt, and to form an opinion how far the scenes 

 depictured by poets fall short of the reality. The 

 naturalist's poet Thomson has done much : so 

 have others. Allan Ramsay's 



" Habbies Howe, 

 Where a' the sweets of spring and summer grow," 



