Dinhur Castle, its Gardens and its Gardeners. 579 



be of great use to them to be acquainted with the measuring 

 units of the land-surveyor, the carpenter, the glazier, the mason, 

 and bricklayer. It sometimes happens that gardeners are re- 

 quired to measure artificer's work, and they sometimes look 

 awkward enough when they cannot do it. It was not a bad 

 thing in some of the old works on gai'dening, to have a chapter 

 giving directions how to measure, divide, and lay out land : for, 

 although there are many books on the subject to be had, yet 

 many journeymen gardeners may be without them ; and, though 

 it may be a simple thing to measure a square, a parallelogram, 

 or a triangle, or to raise a perpendicular, or draw an oval figure, 

 yet there are not a few who may be looked upon as good gar- 

 deners, who would perhaps find some difficulty in doing them 

 properly, when it was requii-ed of them to do them. I speak 

 from what I have seen in royal gardens and downwards. There 

 are few gardeners but have some works on gardening, and, if a 

 few simple directions were given how to measure geometrical 

 figures in some part of the book, it might assist them greatly at 

 times. But, towai-ds acquiring a knowledge of the superficial or 

 solid contents of bodies, nothing is equal to the doing of the 

 thing ; an hour's practice is worth many hours' study with books. 



The gardener of Dinbur Castle was well aware of the ad- 

 vantages that were gained by active perseverance after know- 

 ledge, and he wished to impart to his men such information as 

 would be useful to them ; he was destitute of that narrow-minded 

 imbecility which will not communicate with other minds which 

 are reckoned beneath him ; he believed tha^ the more useful 

 knowledge was disseminated, the probability would be greater 

 of having physical obscurities dispelled, and, though one failed in 

 accomplishing the object of his desire, others might be successful 

 in discovering some of the inexhaustible fountains of knowledge 

 which a bountiful Creator has placed within the reach of finite 

 minds to open. 



One evening in summer when the labours of the day were 

 past, when the lads in the bothy had partaken of their evening 

 meal, and had rested themselves a little, their master came among 

 them Avith his measuring-chain and cross-stafi", picket staves, 

 and arrows. He soon told them that the object of his visit was 

 to give them a few lessons in land-surveying, and, though it was 

 ujion their own time, he hoped they would give him their attend- 

 ance for a few hours, for he trusted it would be to their own 

 advantage in after life, when they would have charges of their 

 own. All showed their readiness to attend their master. They 

 went into a pastui'e field, where they were to commence opera- 

 tions, and, although some of them knew a little of land-surveying 

 already, yet he thouglit it would be as well to give them a few 

 instructions relating to the geometrical figures in Avhich pieces 



