LADY JOHN SCOTT SPOTTISWOODE S(f7 



Her marriage, in 1836, to Lord John Scott did not take her 

 far away, for though some part of each year was spent 

 at Cawston, his Warwickshire property, they always had a 

 home within sight of the Cheviots ; Oowdenknowes, Newton 

 Don, Stichill, or Kirkbank. From the latter they explored 

 all the nooks and corners of the hills. No one knew so 

 well every camp, standing-stone, or ancient drove road. 

 The things of the past were of absorbing interest to her 

 from her earliest childhood. From the papers in the old 

 charter-chest to the scraps of songs and traditions which 

 she picked up in the cottages, nothing came amiss, and 

 her wonderful memory preserved them all. In addition to 

 that natural intuition which marks the true antiquarian, 

 her historical and technical knowledge made it very difl&cult 

 to deceive her, whether the object in question was a flint 

 arrow-head, a bronze implement, or a would-be ancient 

 ballad. To the last she retained her keen interest in 

 archaeology, and when over eighty would spend hours, 

 regardless of wind and rain, watching the excavation of 

 what might prove to be a pre-historic burial place. Hardly 

 a likely-looking knowe on Spottiswoode was left unexplored, 

 and the valuable museum, which years of patient labour 

 had collected in the Eagle Hall, shows the thoroughness of 

 her researches. 



She was an extremely good botanist, and had a better 

 knowledge of mineralogy than most people, tastes which 

 she owed to her father's early training. No one was better 

 acquainted with the habitats of rare plants, and no one 

 took more pains to protect them from ruthless spoliation. 

 She always preferred to see flowers growing in their natural 

 surroundings, than to gather or transplant them; and though 

 her neighbours may have smiled at the railed enclosure 

 which she placed round the only known habitat in Berwick- 

 shire of the Osmunda regalis, it was her sole means of 

 protecting that rare fern, and a practical expression of her 

 opinions. 



Lord John died in 1860, Mr Spottiswoode in 1866, and 

 Mrs Spotiswoode in 1870 ; and as her two brothers had 

 already predeceased her, Lady John found herself on her 

 mother's death tenant for life of Spottiswoode, and from 



