Dinbur Castle, its Gardens and Gardeners. 107 



faster than I was able to follow, at last it took a turn awa to the 

 auld kirkyard of Mbkness, which was near by. When I 

 entered Jenny's father's house I nearly fainted. — ' What's 

 wrang wi' ye the night, Geordie lad, ye are no yersel ava?' 

 — * Come awa to the dooi% and ye'll see something that will 

 maybe mak ye wonder. 'Do ye see yon blue low dancing in 

 the corner of the kirkyard?' — ' That's nae ferlie,"said the auld 

 carle ; " whar did it come frae?' — ' It cam frae the clauchan airt, 

 and up the cairny loan.' — ' Weel, weel, there will be a funeral 

 in a few days come the same gate, and if ye wait awee ye will 

 see it gang awa the road it cam.' And I stood upon a knowe and 

 saw it gang awa again, and in three days after the auld miller o' 

 Melderston was brought to his lang hame." 



Geordie was beginning another spunkie story when another 

 brilliant light Avas seen, and he cried out : " Come awa, bodies, 

 come awa, we are lang enough here ; there will be waur news 

 than piper's news heard o' ere long. We will, maybe, soon hae 

 to read Bauldy's epitaph, puir chield, for he deserves ane as weel 

 as Habbie Simson the piper o' Kilbarchan, or anither fiddler, 

 whose name I forget, but it is said of him : — 



' Here lies dear John, whose pipe and drone, 

 And fiddle oft has made us glad ; 

 Whose cheerfu' face our feasts did grace, 

 A sweet and merry lad.' " 



Next morning the young men were greatly amused by the 

 remarks Geordie Lowrie made concerning the " awfu' lights he 

 had seen coming frae the bothy yestreen." They, however, 

 took care, the next time that Sandy Macalpine made chemical 

 experiments, to hang up one of their aprons over the window, to 

 prevent any of their neighbours imagining that they were I'ais- 

 ing the devil. 



In a few nights after Sandy Macalpine had delivered his 

 remarks on oxygen, Walter Glenesk was prepared to give a short 

 outline of geology, a branch of knowledge which he thought 

 every gardener ought to be acquainted Avith. It was well, he 

 said, to be acquainted with mathematical, physical, and political 

 geography, to know the general form of the earth, and be able to 

 determine the relative positions of places upon the earth's sur- 

 face ; also to know something about the principal features of the 

 surface of our globe, to have some knowledge of the mountain 

 ranges of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, as well as of the 

 valleys and plains of these extensive districts ; to be acquainted 

 with the subject of climate and temperature, and how these and 

 other natural causes aifected the condition of the human race ; 

 also Avith the moral and social condition of the various nations 

 of the Avorld. All these Avere subjects Avell Avortli the study of 



