NATURE 



yjan. 20, 1 88 1 



account I then gave of him. This account appeared in 

 Good Words for April, May, and June, 1S7S, with pictures 

 of himself and his cottage. It has recently been incor- 

 porated in whole into " Leaders of Men," by H. h. Page 

 (Marshall, Japp, and Co., London); and he was visited 

 by not a few kindly spirits whose open-handedness 

 lightened somewhat the growing pressure of age and 

 want. Since then he has worked at his loom, winning his 

 daily bread with heroic struggle, till a short time ago, 

 A-hen decaying power andjsome paralytic touches, in his 

 eighty-si.xth year, compelled him reluctantly to give it up 

 and^remove from his small but honourable workshop and 

 study to be kindly tended by the ditcher's widow. Many 

 years ago his hard-won earnings — for he was always a 

 most careful man — were dissipated through domestic 

 causes over which he had no control, attended with heavy 

 griefs. Since then his growing age has barely enabled 

 him to live more than from hand to mouth, and now for 

 some time he has had to do what must be inexpressibly 

 keen to an independent soul like his, to accept from the 

 parish a pauper's portion. 



From his earliest days, when he used to play upon the 

 green cliffs of the high conglomerate coast of Kincardine, 

 John Duncan had an intense love of plants, and long 

 before he began their scientific study collected them for 

 their medicinal uses, guided by Culpepper's " Herbal." 

 It was not till he was forty years of age, when he was 

 introduced in 1835 to Charles Black, that he commenced 

 the study of botany as a science. Charles was a remark- 

 able man, of great individuality and ability, and though 

 twenty years his junior, at once gained over him an 

 ascendency of the best kind, and inspired him with an 

 ardent friendship that has been the sweetest solace of his 

 long solitude. He still lives as the gardener he was then, 

 a botanist, geologist, ornithologist, numismatist, scientific 

 student, theologian, and omnivorous reader at .■\rbigiand 

 in Dumfries, near the mouth of the Nith. When these 

 two men met, Charles was settled as gardener near 

 Alford, and under his guidance John at once began the 

 systematic study of botany. They soon conquered the 

 flora of the Vale of Alford ; the curious peak of Ben-a-chie, 

 where they found at an early date the Rubus chamainorus, 

 or cloudbeny, being a favourite haunt. John, having his 

 time, as a home weaver, more at his own command, by 

 and by extended his excursions to greater distances, and 

 before very long did the most of the county. The 

 enthusiasm with which these two humble men prosecuted 

 their studies was wonderful, the morning light often 

 surprising them at their work of classifying, drying, and 

 arranging their accumulating treasures. The want of 

 te.xt-books of the science was sorely felt by them, and 

 excited them to ingenious devices to supply it ; a certain 

 country inn, for example, being frequented by them, not 

 for convivial purposes, but to obtain a sight ot '• Hooker," 

 which had belonged to the innkeeper's dead son. The 

 details of John's continued studies under poverty, diffi- 

 culty, and trial are interesting and honourable, but these 

 cannot be given here. In order to extend his knowledge 

 of botany and the flora of Scotland he used to take 

 harvest work in different parts of the country, studying in 

 iuccession the plants of each district, till he had m this 

 way traversed the most of the land from Northumberland 

 to Banft", except some parts of the West and the High- 

 lands ; bringing home specimens living and dead, 

 planting the one in his own neighbourhood, and adding 

 the other to his rapidly-increasing herbarium. His 

 knowledge of plants was minute and scientific, and the 

 abundant technical terms were used with ease and in- 

 telligently understood by the help of a Latin dictionary he 

 had purchased for the purpose ; nor was it confined to mere 

 technicalities, but extended to an unusual acquaintance 

 with their habits, history, and uses. His collection of 

 botanical works is surprisingly large and valuable, all 

 purchased by his own hard-won earnings. His memory 



being as strong as his use of the pen was weak, he did 

 not write down any details of the plants thus collected, 

 but he could tell all these when asked with unerring 

 precision, as well as relate the varied incidents, inter- 

 esting, humorous, happy or hard, connected with their 

 discovery. The names and localities have however been 

 successfully obtained from him and written down, by the 

 help of one of his disciples, Mr. J. M. B. Taylor, of 

 Aberdeen, who prepared the herbarium for the University. 

 John kept his collection neatly laid down in volumes 

 made by himself of newspapers of the period, of tea 

 paper, which he thought a good protection against moths, 

 and of other homely materials scented with camphor. 

 Many of them of course decayed or were destroyed 

 during the forty and more years they were in his 

 possession, but even after discarding all imperfect 

 specimens there remained 1131 plants now fully named, 

 localised, and arranged by Mr. Taylor from John's 

 unfailing memory. They are divided in four books, put 

 together by John himself. 



1. A general collection of some 500 specimens includ- 

 ing ferns arranged according to the Linnaean system, 

 100 of which are described by Prof. Dickie, author of the 

 "Flora of Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine," as rare or 

 very rare. 



2. An almost perfect collection of the flora of the Vale 

 of Alford, many of the plants now uncommon. 



3. Specimens of about 50 of the grasses from the Alford 

 district. 



4. Specimens of some 50 of the Cryptogamia of the 

 district, chiefly mosses and lichens, 



John never possessed above a few of the very rarest of 

 our British plants, not having visited the higher moun- 

 tains and outlying regions where only such are found, but 

 had been fortunate in obtaining a large number of local 

 and very local, rare and very rare species. They were 

 mainly found along the eastern half of the country from 

 Banff to Northumberland, excluding the Highlands. 



Such is a very slight sketch of the life and labours of 

 this remarkable weaver. The presentation of his herbarium 

 has revealed the sad fact that, independent and toil-worn 

 as he has ever been, even to nigh eighty-six, he has been 

 lately compelled to bear the pain and shame of depending 

 on the parish for his daily bread. His books are of value, 

 and would alone fetch a considerable sum ; but these, the 

 dear companions of his life, he cannot bring himself to 

 part with, though now unable to enjoy more than a sight 

 of them. His beloved plants he would not barter for 

 heaps of gold, and he has therefore presented them to 

 .Aberdeen L'niversity, there, it is to be hoped, not only to 

 do good educational work, but to exercise an inspiring 

 impulse over many generations of students privileged to 

 examine these far-fetched treasures. 



An appeal has recently been publicly made in favour of 

 the aged botanist, to enable him to spend his few remain- 

 ing days in comfort and independence, supported by the 

 free-will offerings of the scientific and generous, which 

 have been amply won by scientific work admirably 

 achieved. Scientific societies throughout the country 

 could not better aid research than by recognising his 

 merit, and making a contribution for such a worthy 

 obje;t. Shortly after my account of him in Good Words 

 the Largo Field Naturalists' Club elected John an 

 Honorary Member, and the same has been recently done 

 by the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club, which 

 also made a donation to him of 5/., examples that might 

 be honourably followed by other societies. A lively 

 interest has been excited in his case, and has been 

 already substantially expressed. It is devoutly to be 

 hoped that such a man will not be allowed to go down to 

 his grave dishonoured and neglected.' 



WiLLi.\M Jolly 



' Subscriptions may be sent to William Jolly, H,M. Inspector of Schools, 

 Inverness. 



