222 



THE YOUNG 



NATUEALIST. 



of the muirburn" : — 

 " Not faster o'er thy heathery braes 

 Balquither, speeds the midnight blaze." 

 and a less-known poet sings — 

 " How grand the scene yon russet down dis- 

 plays, 



While far the withering heaths with moor- 

 burn blaze : 



The pillared smoke ascends with ashen 

 gleam ; 



Aloft in air the arching flashes stream ; 

 With rusty, crackling noise the flames aspire, 

 And roll one deluge of devouring fire ; 

 The timid flocks shrink from the smoky heat, 

 Their pasture leave and in confusion bleat. 

 With curious look the flaming billows scan, 

 As whirling gales the red combustion fan." 



In the Language of Flowers the heath 

 signifies solitude. Thus Wordsworth 

 pictures the musing Solitary : — 



And on these barren rocks, with juniper. 

 And heath, and thistle, thinly sprinkled o'er, 

 Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hour 

 A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here 

 An emblem of his own unfruitful life." 



As is well known, the various clans in 



the highlands of Scotland adopted some 



floral badge as a symbol of recognition 



and an emblem of mutual fidelity : 



thus E. tetralix was the badge of the 



Macdonalds, E. cinerea of the Macai- 



listers, and Calluna of the Macdonells. 



To Scotsmen all the world over the 



heather still awakens patriotic feelings 



and the stirring lines of Scott^ in which 



he gives utterance to the sentiment 



with all the energy of poetic fervour — 



" Breathes there the man with soul so dead.'* 



always strikes a responsive chord in 

 the sons of the — 



" Land of brown heath and shaggy wood." 



There seems just a suspicion of ill-luck 

 attending the heather : thus in that 

 most mournful ballad, "The dowie 

 dens o' Yarrow : " 

 " Yestreen I dreamed a dolefu' dream ; 



I fear there will be sorrow ; 

 I dreamed I pu'd the heather green 

 Wi' my true love in Yarrow.'* 



Perhaps this involves nothing more 

 than the general association of misfor- 

 tune with the dreaming of gathering 

 nosegays or plucking flowers. 



In geographical distribution the 

 heaths prefer cold and temperate regi- 

 ons. They extend over Europe, being 

 most frequent in the north-west from 

 Norway to Spain,occurring in Northern 

 Asia, North Africa, and particularly a- 

 bundant in South Africa. Before it was 

 discovered, only six or eight species were 

 known ; now the number is increased 

 to four hundred, having their head- 

 quarters at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 where numerous forms of marvellous 

 grace and beauty abound. There their 

 range is longitudinally restricted by 

 enclosing masses of water, and it is the 

 only place south of the Equator where 

 they occur. They are entirely absent 

 from A.merica, although Calluna is 

 found there, but very sparingly. In 

 cultivation heaths require careful treat- 

 ment, and their successful growth is a 

 good test of the ability and skill of a 

 gardener. In Britain the vertical 

 range of E. cinerea is 2,200 feet in 

 the Highland mountains ; tetralix^ 

 2,400 feet ; and Galium stops at 3,300 



