185 7.J ' TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 7 



fir- wood of Finlarig ; an equally fruitless visit^ for our search for 

 Linn(sa borealis was in vain. Though we were disappointed in 

 the chief object of our long walk up the glen^ a few novelties re- 

 warded our perseverance. 



Meum athamanticum, '' the Highlander's Tobacco/' was one of 

 our captures. The Highlanders_, however, disowned " the soft 

 impeachment;" they recognized the plant, but ignored the 

 name. The search for Linncea in the woods of Finlarig resulted 

 in our gathering of Oxyria reniformis and Saxifraga oppositifolia, 

 just out of flower. There is a fine burn rushing through the wood, 

 "with many a rapid and cascade, and on its green banks the bomiie 

 flowers are plentiful. Whether LiniKBa horealis be of the number 

 or not, it was then rather too early to see. But if any botanist 

 goes to look for the plant in the upper part of this wood, we re- 

 commend the right side of the burn, not above a stone's throw 

 below its entrance into the enclosure. If he has more definite 

 instructions for the Linncea, and consequently no occasion to use 

 these, he may still find in this spot something interesting to a 

 botanist ; and if not^ he will, in the ceaseless roar of the head- 

 long, rushing brook, in the beauty of the scene, and in its peace- 

 ful seclusion_, find something exceedingly pleasing to a lover of 

 nature. This lovely spot is but a very short distance from KiUin : 

 not above two miles. 



On this day (14th July) Campanula rotundifolia was observed 

 in flower for the first time. It was then barely in flower about 

 KiUin on the 17th, but on the 19th, when we went to Kenmore, 

 it was found in full flower. This little fact shows that the tem- 

 perature about KiUin is less favourable to early vegetation than 

 that of the other end of the lake is. The appearance of the crops 

 at the upper and at the lower end of Loch Tay, showed us that 

 productions of more importance were afiected by the same causes, 

 whatever they may be, which influenced the flowering of the blue 

 beU of Scotland. 



The 15th, St. Swithin's, was, as usual, a rainy day. This su- 

 perstition is not prevalent in Scotland. In that ancient king- 

 dom the Saints are quite forgotten ; and the days on which they 

 are commemorated in England, and in Christendom generally, 

 are there neither religiously nor superstitiously regarded. In the 

 highlands of Perthshire, neither St. Paul nor St. Swithin rule 

 the clouds and winds, as they are vulgarly supposed to do here. 



