562 
r'iOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENElt 
December  io,  1806. 
A  RESTING  TOUR. 
Snows  !  Who  has  felt  their  overwhelming  power  of  late  more 
preasingly  or  their  attractive  force  more  cruohingly  than  he  who  has 
had  no  “  rest  ”  because  of  them  for  a  month  in  dealing  with  more 
than  threescore  and  ten.  Now  “guarded  by  the  police”  in  judging, 
to  keep  the  crowds  at  bay,  then  wedged  in  a  mass  of  humanity  and 
struggling  to  be  free  ;  at  one  moment  receiving  the  blandishments 
of  a  smiling  champioh  in  his  class  for  acumen  in  recognising  the 
merits  of  his  blooms,  at  another  meeting  the  scowls  of  hi»  less 
fortunate  rival  for  obtuseness  and  knowing  nothing  at  all  about 
them.  “What!  he  a  judge?”  said  one  of  these  worthies  to 
another,  in  the  hearing  of  his  victim,  “  why,  he  ought  to  he  in  jail !  ” 
and  the  scornful  way  in  which  he  said  it  was  almost  worthy  of  an 
Irving.  Such  are  the  risks  that  judges  run,  and  if  it  were  not  for 
moderating  influences  they  would  soon  all  be  “in  jail and  then, 
what  ?  The  millennium  of  jumble  of  each  judging  his  own.  But, 
happily,  disappointments  are  usually  only  for  the  moment.  Time, 
the  healer,  steps  in,  putting  all  things  right,  and  the  loser  at  one 
show  becomes  a  chief  winner  at  the  next,  the  judges  thus  atoning 
for  the  errors  of  the  past — at  least,  in  his  particular  estimation. 
Thus  does  the  whirligig  of  time  bring  round  its  changes  ;  and  now, 
after  this  “  resting  ”  in  reflections  on  matters  near,  we  pass  to 
scenes  afar,  some  remnants  of  which  still  linger  in  the  memory, 
but  on  which  the  kindness  of  friends  is  indelibly  impressed. 
When  the  northern  tour  was  over  in  September,  and  the  home¬ 
ward  train  was  entered,  Mrs.  Scribe  was  asked  for  her  imprestions 
of  our  four  last  “  rests  ” — Melville  (referred  to  on  page  413),  Keir, 
Rothesay,  and  Drumlanrig.  With  all  her  faults  (which  she  thinks 
many,  but  which  I  have  not  discovered  in  forty-six  years)  she 
cannot  be  charged  as  a  chatterer.  One  is  enough  in  a  family,  and 
she  taught  him  a  lesson  in  laconics,  thus  : — “  Melville  is  fine,  Keir 
beautiful,  Rothesay  charming,  Drumlanrig  grand,  and  everybody 
so  very  good  and  very  nice.”  Quite  a  lady’s  term  the  last,  and  a 
masculine  old  editor  once  advised  me  never  to  use  it,  but  leave  it 
to  those  with  whom  it  more  gracefully  associated.  Rather  a  hard 
hit  ;  but  the  advice  was  followed,  and  readers  will  have  to  watch 
in  vain  for  the  soft,  smooth  word  to  fall  from  this  rugged  and 
garrulous  pen — so  garralous  that  it  turns  trifle*  to  account,  and 
therefore  seizes  as  texts  the  above  train  descriptions,  surely  the 
most  concise  on  record,  of  the  three  reating  places  to  be  farther 
referred  to,  commencing  with  beautiful  Keir. 
Leaving  fine  old  Melville,  haunted  by  its  noble  trees  and 
imposing  family  portraits,  the  mind  soliloquised  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  dual  name  of  the  family,  Leslie-Melville,  and  search  led  to  the 
following  historical  records  : — Sir  Alexander  Leslie  having 
served  with  distinction  in  the  Swedish  army,  became  Field 
Marshal  under  the  King  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  1638.  Returning 
to  Scotland  he  took  command  of  the  Covenanters’  army,  and  at 
the  treaty  of  peace  signed  at  Ripon,  was  created  Earl  of  Leven  in 
1641.  Ilis  portrait,  also  that  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  are  prominent 
in  the  Melville  collection.  He  subsequently  joined  the  Parlia¬ 
mentary  army,  and  defeated  the  Royalists  at  Marston  Moor  in 
1616,  Sir  Robert  Melville,  twice  Ambassador  to  England,  and 
hereditary  keeper  of  Linlithgow  Palace,  with  the  title  of  Lord 
Murdocarnie  (1594),  was  subsequently  created  Baron  Melville, 
dying  in  1621.  One  of  his  successors,  being  connected  with  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth’s  rebellion  and  attainted  by  Act  of  Parliament 
in  1685  escaped  to  Holland,  whence  he  returned  to  England 
three  years  later,  with  the  Prince  of  Orange  (William  III.)  ;  the 
attainter  was  rescinded  and  he  was  created  Earl  of  Melville  of 
Monymail  in  1690,  the  pariih  in  which  Melville  House  is  situated. 
The  King  and  Queen  not  being  able  to  carry  out  an  intention  to 
vi*it  Melville  sent  their  portraits,  which  have  remained  in  their 
positions  to  the  preient  day.  In  the  course  of  time  the  families 
became  united  and  have  lince  remained  the  Leslie-Melvilles. 
A  connection  of  the  family  with  Keir  was  effected  by  Lady 
Anna  Maria  marrying  the  late  Sir  William  Stirling-Max  well,  Bart., 
the  latter  name  being  assumed  on  his  succeeding  to  the  Pollock 
estate.  This  lady  died  through  a  sad  accident  in  1875  (and  Sir 
William  shortly  afterwards),  Lady  Susan  Leslie-Melville  taking 
charge  of  her  sister’s  then  youthful  sons  (the  present  Sir  John 
Stirling-Maxwell,  Bart.,  of  Pollock,  and  the  present  Master  of  Kair, 
Archibald  Stirling,  Esq.,  an  officer  in  the  Life  Guards,  and 
unmarried),  has  occupied  the  position  of  mistress  of  Keir  to  the 
present  time.  This  estimable  lady  (though  ab*ent  from  home) 
learning  of  our  visit  to  Scotland,  wrote  a  cordial  welcome  to  Keir 
on  the  part  of  herself  and  Mr.  Stirling,  at  the  same  time  intimating 
that  Mr.  Stockley  and  Mrs.  Allan,  who  were  in  charge,  would  do  all 
that  was  necessary  for  our  comfort.  This  they  did  right  well,  and 
a  more  agreeable  rest  amidst  more  beautiful  surroundings  it  would 
be  difficult  to  conceive. 
En  route  for  Keir,  a  call  was  made  at  the  “  Fair  city  of  Perth,” 
and  all  that  can  be  said  about  it,  in  result  of  a  drive  round 
“between  trains,”  is  that  there  was  nothing  “ Reekie  ”  about  it, 
that  its  surroundings,  on  one  side  at  least  are  beautiful,  and  that 
far  more  flowers  were  observed  in  its  suburbs  than  in  those  of 
Edinburgh,  where  they  were  only  seen  here  and  there,  while  around 
Perth  they  appeared  to  be  everywhere,  even  in  the  smallest 
frontages  where  they  could  be  grown,  while  the  dwellings  were 
draped  with  climbers.  Yet  the  modern  Athenians  must  love  flowers 
or  they  would  not  patronise  the  shows  so  well.  The  Caledonian 
Railway  from  Perth  to  Stirling  runs  along  the  lower  part  of  the 
slope  of  a  southern  declivity,  and  overlooks  on  the  left  a  great 
expanse  of  alluvial  country,  excellent  land,  no  doubt,  and  splendidly 
farmed.  The  Wheat  in  stooks  waiting  to  be  carried  was  an  impres¬ 
sive  sight,  even  to  travellers  who  were  brought  up  in  the  largest 
Wheat-growing  county  in  England.  There  were  miles  of  the 
“  Golden  Grain,”  if  it  is  “  Golden  ”  in  these  days,  the  sheaves  in 
many  caies  piled  so  closely  that  it  would  need  careful  driving  to  pass 
a  large  waggon  and  pair  between  the  stooks.  It  was  thought  and 
said  that  if  Wheat-growing  did  not  pay,  there  must  be  a  great 
amount  of  skill,  labour,  and  money  lost  in  that  fine  vale.  But  such 
crops  might  still  be  expected  to  “  pay  ”  if  (a  most  serious  “  if,” 
remembering  the  weather  that  followed)  the  produce  were  safely 
stored.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  Scottish  farmers  seem  to 
have  a  quicker  way  of  securing  the  harvest  than  generally  prevails 
in  England.  They  gather  up  the  sheaves  sooner,  do  not  carry  them 
so  far,  and  pile  them  in  an  enormously  greater  number  of  infinitely 
smaller  stacks — round,  tall — or  as  tall  as  they  will  stand — chimney 
like  columns.  In  these,  instead  of  the  mass  heating  and  sweating, 
as  it  would  if  twenty  to  forty  of  such  stacks  were  packed  in  one 
huge  rick  (as  they  easily  might  be)  the  itraw  and  grain  gradually 
become  dry,  at  least  that  is  the  rule,  and  if  the  plan  did  not 
answer  it  would  scarcely  have  become  the  custom  of  the  country. 
No  apology  is  made  for  a  reference  to  this  subject,  seeing  that 
many  agriculturists  read  the  Journal  of  Horticulhire,  while  it  may 
be,  and  in  fact  ha*  been,  of  advantage  to  not  a  few  gardeners  to 
learn  all  they  can  about  the  methods  of  good  farmers.  On  several 
small  to  medium-sized  estates  proprietors  in  these  days  of  low 
prices  do  not  feel  any  longer  justified  in  keeping  both  a  bailiff  and  a 
gardener,  and  are  gradually  finding  the  combination  profitable, 
though  they  naturally  allow  something  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
emolument  of  the  gardener  on  bis  taking  additional  duties,  and 
thus  the  change  satisfies  both.  Still,  after  the  best  that  the  best  of 
farmers  and  bailiffs  can  do  they  are  powerless  to  save  the  harvest 
when  the  rain  falls  before  it  is  by  any  means  ready,  and  continues 
till  much  of  the  grain  is  spoiled.  A  large  and  ungrudging  measure 
of  sympathy  ought  then  to  be  accorded  them,  and  every  possible 
allowance  made  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  It  is  hard 
for  men  to  be  ruined  who  have  made  no  mistake  in  their  methods 
in  trying  to  nullify  the  effects  of  adverse  circumstances  absolutely 
beyond  human  control.  _ _ 
At  Dunblane  we  detrain ;  a  conveyance  is  there,  and  we  go 
bowling  along  to  beautiful  Keir.  It  is  only  some  two  miles  distant ; 
half  along  the  high  road,  which  is  practically  a  “  covered  way  ”  by 
the  arched  canopy  of  Beechei,  the  remaining  half  through  the  park. 
It  is  about  the  same  distance  from  the  Bridge  of  Allan,  the  station 
from  or  for  the  South.  Keir,  or  caer,  signifie*  a  fort  or  castle,  and 
is  sufficiently  elevated  to  overlook  the  carse  of  Stirling,  a  flat,  low- 
lying  expanse,  with  the  famous  castle  as  a  prominent  object  in  the 
distance,  about  four  miles.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  favourite 
patronymic  with  the  introducers  of  some  of  our  fruit*,  for  we  have 
the  Stirling  Castle  Apple,  Stirling  Castle  Peach,  and  Stirling  Castle 
Strawberry — whether  because  they  were  considered  prominent  or 
remarkable  is  not  known.  Thi*  ancient  fortress  i*  certainly  remark¬ 
able,  or  the  rock  is  on  which  it  stands — a  stupendous  upheaval,  on 
one  side  almost  perpendicular,  rising  out  of  a  low,  flat  plain. 
The  Stirlings  of  Keir  date  back  from  an  early  period.  History 
records  that  in  the  reign  of  James  YT.  the  Laird  of  Keir,  Sir 
Archibald  Stirling,  had  charge  of  the  young  Prince  Henry  in 
Stirling  Castle;  and  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  and  II.  took  an 
active  part  as  a  Royalist  soldier  under  the  Duke  of  Montrose.  Keir 
as  it  is  to-day  is  a  remarkable  monument  of  a  remarkable  man — 
not  a  man  of  war  but  of  peace.  The  greatness  of  his  intellect  i* 
apparent  everywhere,  not  in  the  planting  and  disposition  of  the 
grounds  alone,  but  equally  if  not  more  so  in  the  mansion,  and 
especially  the  wonderful  library.  In  literature,  art,  inventiveness. 
