156 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 28. 
was tlieu the best school in Scotland, and still is among 
the very best in the three kingdoms. Many of onr 
naval officers had to get the finishing stroke at Inverness, 
after going through at Oxford, or Cambridge. My fees 
here for the quarter were only 5s., and 2s. Cd. for entry 
in the books of the Institution. Twenty-five guineas a 
quarter would hardly school me so well now in England. 
I was examined, to see which class I was fit for; and 
through my bad English, I made such a blunder as got 
me a nick name for a long time. The master of the 
second Latin class examined my pupil and myself 
together; he told the head-master, the Rev.—Eraser, who 
officiated then in the parish church of Dorres, that I 
was fit for the first class. In my broken English and 
confusion, I told the head-master that I was fit lor any 
clans, and he called mo a second Crichton: by this nick¬ 
name I passed two sessions at the Inverness Academy, 
and contested for the head of the first Latin class, 
against two brothers of the name of Denoon, and 
another by the name of Kinloch ; we were the best out 
of seventeen. Yet, to my mortification, I soon found 
that I could not be a “ dux ” at tho examination, and, 
without that, I had no hopes of a bursary in Aberdeen. 
The first, second, and third places in the class were 
marked once a week ; but I might be first five days, and 
yet have only the third place on the sixth; by some 
fatality the class was never “ taken” when I was first; 
but partiality had more to do with it; I ought to bo first 
three times out of four, and that would tell in my 
favour at the examination for a “ dux,” or first fiddle in 
the class. Kinloch thought also that justice was not 
always blind in his own case, and, “ to cut tho governor,” 
he advised me not to stand the examination, and even 
put a quotation from Milton into my mouth as a reason. 
“ Governors ” like to bring up their best scholars to be 
examined once a year; but they lost two of them that 
year; and when I had been hard pressed to give the 
reason why I would not come to the examination, Milton 
asked, “ who and what art thou, you inexorable creature, 
who dared (est) to thwart my way to yonder gate,” 
pointing to the head of the class; and oft' I started, 
wishing I bad never seen a book. 
Here was a pretty mess,—a stuck person, a stuck 
officer, and a stuck-up gentleman, with plenty of friends, 
but no money. The present Lord Glenelg was then 
plain Mr. Charles Grant, M.P. for Inverness; and some 
of his strong adherents got a promise from him that he 
“ would keep the youth in mind.” To keep tho mind 
and body together, meantime, the “ youth ” went into 
Lord Lovat’s garden to work “ till something cast up.” 
His lordship was so kind as to order that I should 
receive full wages at once, whether I could work or not; 
and, knowing my inclination for sport, I was to be given 
out to the game-keepers whenever they asked for me, 
and I was never absent from the muster-roll on the 12th 
of August for the next few years. When tho last snipe 
of the season was bagged, I went back into the garden ; 
but I could get out on the least pretence about shooting. 
The “ tutor,” as I was now called, was an eye-sore to tho 
Beaufort gardeners, who had to rise from apprentice¬ 
ships ; and they took care I should see as little of 
gardening as they could the first season. This soon 
wore off, for I expected every day to be made a gentle¬ 
man, and I could afford to humour them; but it takes a 
long time to make a gentleman—so long, indeed, that I 
began to think seriously of being a gardener instead, 
when I “ came of age.” 
I was now “ brothered ”— an awful ceremony, by 
which a young fellow is admitted into the free masonry 
of gardening ; after that, overy one assisted me to make 
up for lost time: all their books were open to me, the 
news spread, and I was admitted to see other gardens 
and systems round about. 
Mr. Niven, lately of the Glasnevin garden, near 
Dublin, was then in his first place, Bealadrum, not 
far from Beaufort Castle. He came from Bothwell 
Castle, and was accounted the best gardener oeyond the 
Grampians. He had the best hothouses in those parts, 
and the best collection of house-plants. He was very 
kind, and would tell anything about plants and garden¬ 
ing. I often went to see him. He was the first gardener 
who fruited Vines in pots, and I saw them in 1823 or 
1824. I think ho wrote a paper on the subject in the 
“ Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society.’ 
Charcoal was then just introduced into the north, from 
English gardening ; so that pot-Vines and charcoal are 
not such new discoveries as one might think. 
1 was now complete master of the Linnean system of 
Botany, as I thought. I could tell the class and order 
of any fresh flower, and I could run over a wonderful 
quantity of hard words and names. I knew the name 
and class of almost every plant in that part of the 
country. This was only pastime, compared with school- 
difficulties, and with learning to speak English. 
A clever young man, from Beaufort, obtained a fore¬ 
man’s place in the garden of Sir Win. Cumming Gordon, 
of Altyre, near Forres, who wrote to mo to say, that if I 
really wished to follow out gardening, he could get me in 
there, one of the best gardens in Scotland. I jumped at 
the offer, first cancelling all tho applications for making 
a gentleman of me. Tho collection of plants there was 
immense, and 1 was at the head of them in less than a 
twelvemonth. I had access to all the books and 
periodicals on gardening. Sweet was then the best 
practical author, and he was conducting several works at 
the time. Here I first began crossing bedding plants 
and bulbs—three favourite pursuits with Lady Cumming, 
who, after many years, sent seeds of her crossed Rhodo¬ 
dendrons to Shrubland Park, at my instance. The great 
African lion-killer, Sir William’s second son, was then 
learniug his lessons in books and horsemanship; lie was 
tho handsomest boy in all Scotland, and so foud of fun 
and dancing, that we could have a ball and supper any 
night in the yoar, through his influence with mamma. 
There was a troop of young men in the garden, and 
plenty of maids in the house, and we ofton had “ the 
company ” from the dining-room to see us dancing. Sir 
William was the handsomest man in tho north, and so 
proud of his boys, that he seldom left us without 
dancing a reel or two himself. 
