November 28. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
153 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
D 
M 
Weather near London in 1853. 
Clock | Day of 
af. Sun. Year. 
W 
NOV. 28-DEC. 4, 1854. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R,&S. 
Age. 
28 
To 
Song Thrush again sings. 
30.291—30.126 
45—37 
S. 
_ 
41 a 7 
55 a 3 
0 1 
8 
11 52 i 332 
29 
w 
Common Flat-body Moth. 
30.086—29.980 
50—39 
S. 
05 
43 
54 
1 22 
9 
11 31 333 
30 
Th 
St. Andrew. 
30.058—30.025 
52—47 
S.E. 
01 
44 
53 
2 40 
10 
n 9 334 
1 
F 
December Moth. 
. 30 . 096 - 29.971 
48—24 
S.E. 
— 
46 
52 
3m 57 
11 
10 47 335 
2 
8 
Winter Tortrix Moth. 
29 . 937 — 29.899 
42—21 
— 
— 
17 
52 
5 14 
12 
10 24 ! 336 
3 
Sun 
Advent Sunday. 
29-959—29.951 
41-36 
E. 
02 
49 
51 
6 31 
13 
10 1 337 
4 
M 
Carabus morbillosus. 
29 . 964 — 29.901 
43—35 
E. 
50 
51 
rises. 
© 
9 37 338 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-seven years, the averag 
pcrat.ures of these days are 48°, and 36°, respectively. The greatest heat, 60°, occurred on the 28th, in 1828; and 
the 29 th, in 1846 . During the period 99 days were fine, and on 90 rain fell. ^ 
e highest and lowest tem- 
the lowest cold, l6 a , on 
MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
When a man is requested to write the history of his 
life and pedigree at his leisure, as in the present 
instance, it must be his own fault if he is not well 
chronicled. Some men, it is true, would rather dwell 
on the weaker points of their character under such 
circumstances; but we have, all of us, our shades and 
shadows on the wrong sido of the line; and if a man is 
not well spoken of by himself, he runs the risk of being 
set down lower in the scale of merit than he ought to be. 
The best point amoug my qualities is a good memory. 
I am more indebted for my success in life to my reten¬ 
tive memory, than to all other helps put together. I 
could now rehearse almost every instance of life since 1 
was nine months old, if that were of any use. I was 
not intended for the garden by any of my relations or 
friends. I only took to it from necessity, and under 
very unfavourable circumstances. According to the 
genealogy of my family, I am the representative of the 
twenty-third generation of a race of valiant men,—not 
one of whom had ever put a pen on paper, except, 
perhaps, to make his cross on his wedding-day. At five 
years of ago I learned the first lettor of the alphabet; at 
twelve, I could read every word in the English version 
of the. Bible, as well as I can today; but, long aftor 
that, I did not know the meaning of a single syllable of 
the English language, or of the Scotch language either. 
At fourteen, I was looked upon as a prodigy by somo 
relatives, because I could count how many Barley-corns 
would reach round the world. When I was sixteen, 
I could translate a passage from Ovid or Virgil into 
English, or a sentence of English into their tongue ; 
but, at that time, I did not know the meaning of but 
ten or twelve words of the Euglish language. The 
Whipcord Cactus {O. Jlagelliformis) was the first name 
of a plant I learned,—I mistook one of the shoots for a 
rat’s tail, when I was about seventeen years of age; and 
I was full twenty before 1 took a tool in hand to do a 
regular day’s work; and the first six days I shall 
remember as long as I live; for I could hardly dress 
myself for the pains and penalties of earning bread by 
the sweat of my brow. I was nine years a journeyman, 
and twenty-one years head-gardener. I was married 
twice; but having no children to provide for, and not 
having learned any expensive habits, I was enabled to 
retire from service at fifty years of age, on an allowance 
sufficient for all my wauts, but not enough to allow me 
to indulge in hazardous speculations, or foolish experi¬ 
ments. I might have settled down farther from London, 
and lived cheaper, but then I should forego the pleasure 
of meeting with old friends and associates so easily; 
and, above all, I should lose the pleasure of seeing now 
plants, of hearing about all new projects in gardening, 
as they appear ; and thus, of feeding the ruling passion 
iu my old age. 
I was born on the 8th of March, 1802, about sixteen 
miles from the then parish church of Urray, in Stratli- 
conon, Rosshire; but soon after that my father removed 
to the neighbourhood of Inverness, where he joined in 
partnership with one of the largest cattle dealers and 
breeders in the country—Hugh McLean, Esq., of Craig- 
scone. My father was acting manager, but Mac kept the 
purse strings; they rented large tracts of grazing lands 
round Beaufort Castle, under the late Lord Lovat, 
together with a few square miles of summer pasture, 
farther up among the hills, a place called Corycharbie, 
then celebrated for its free-trade in highland sports, 
including deer stalking, shooting grouse, and fly-fishing, 
without certificates; a bad place for young Norvals, 
and for conjugating verbs, active or passive. Thither 
my father removed from the “ Lowlands ” every season, 
in May, with his family, herds, flocks, and glireiglis 
(droves of young horses), and returned with them to 
Beaufort Castle, at the beginning of October, just as we 
now do with bedding-plants. In this land of Goshen, 
I might be some twenty miles from the parish school 
—every parish in Scotland has an endowed school— 
but still I learned some useful things, if I forgot my 
lessons; I learned to knit and darn stockings ; to make 
and mend shoes, and coarans, a kind of sandal made of 
nntanued hides; to tan leather, and dye worsted yarn 
with lichens; to roastor boil potatoes; to make oat-cakes 
and porridge; to milk cows and goats, feed calves and 
kids, strain milk and cream, make butter and cheese; 
and “kill and dress” any animal fit for t.lio shambles. 
I also learned to make fishing-lines and rods ; dress 
fly-hooks for different seasons, lochs, burns, and rivers; 
and for my proficiency in this branch, I often went 
without my dinner, and there was no “tea” in those 
days. I learned to load and unload guns and rifles, 
and clean them; to shoot grouse and to stalk deer, more 
after the way taught by Mr. St. John, in his “Highland 
Sports," than that practised by the Prince Consort when 
he was at Blair Athol; though I believe his deer-stalking 
has been sportsman-like since he has been fiefed a Scotch 
laird ; but I never poached; the late Lord Lovat allowed 
No. CCCXXIL, Vol. XIII. 
