I70 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Garden, and there William Evans, the second youngest of 

 a family of six, was born on 9th May 185 1. 



The love of nature, developing at first lightly and 

 naturally in a garden, was soon to receive a new direction, 

 when, in 1857, the Royal Botanic Garden swamped the old 

 Experimental Gardens, and the father decided to migrate 

 to Tynefield Farm, between East Linton and Dunbar. If 

 heredity gifted young Evans with his first love, the outside 

 influences of a fortunate environment can be ranked only 

 second in confirming and directing the inborn passion. The 

 years at Tynefield caught the boy at a formative period, 

 and there, in a district well known for the interest of its 

 wild life, and particularly for the numbers of its winter 

 migratory birds, the bow of his life was bent. 



The influences compelling him were varied and each 

 seems to have left its mark. There was his father's influence, 

 instilling a knowledge of plant life ; there was the particular 

 influence of the district itself, pulling the youth as well 

 towards animal, and especially bird, life. This latter force 

 took definite direction under the guidance of Dr Charles 

 Nelson and his brother John, of Pitcox, whose collections 

 of stuffed birds, mounted butterflies, and natural history 

 books, backed by a friendly interest, were factors of prime 

 importance in his early education. Finally, strong artistic 

 influences played intermittently about the boy. The district 

 was frequented by a band of young artists, which included 

 Pettie, Chalmers, Orchardson, and Graham, and Tynefield 

 was the favourite resort. The results were seen even in 

 these early years in a close association between the 

 naturalistic and artistic spirits, when the boy, now only 

 between 7 and 9 years of age, expressed his interest 

 in bird life in a long series of miniature models of birds, 

 cut with his penknife in wood, and each bearing, not only 

 in its colouring, but in its pose as well, unmistakable evidence 

 of nature knowledge and of art. The artistic impulse never 

 died out : throughout his life William Evans continued to 

 sketch in water-colour, and his holidays in this country, as 

 well as in Norway, Spain, and the United States, were 

 commemorated by volumes of careful drawings. 



