Dccomber  10,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
56 
taate,  refinement,  industry,  the  late  Sir  William,  who  died  in  1878, 
must  have  almost  equally  excelled,  and  it  seems  astonishing  that 
any  one  man,  even  with  boundless  wealth,  could  have  collected 
such  treasures  and  produced  such  results  on  his  own  initiative  and 
by  his  own  devotion  to  intellectual  work,  as  abound  at  Keir  as  the 
precious  possession  of  the  present  young  laird.  Keir  is  well 
“  kept”  by  Mr.  Stirling,  but  not  for  himself  alone,  for  he  generously 
permits  the  public  to  enjoy  it  on  specified  days. 
A  detailed  description  of  what  is  noteworthy  at  Keir  would  fill 
many  pages  ;  even  a  citation  of  the  mottos  produced  by  Sir  William 
and  carved  in  appropriate  positions  would  fill  a  column.  “  Salve  ” 
cut  in  stonework  over  the  entrance  gates  conveys  its  greeting  of 
“  Welcome,”  while  the  motto  in  letters,  some  2  to  3  feet  long,  in 
clipped  Box,  forming  the  outer  rim  of  a  circle  of  lawn  in  front  of 
filled  with  his  works — huge  tomes,  splendidly  printed,  illustrated, 
and  bound,  veritable  idiiinm  de  luxe,,  rare,  as  for  private  circulation, 
and  in  literary  style  os  well  as  bulk  of  matter,  such  as  to  quite 
take  the  conceit  out  of  the  ordinary  scribe  and  make  him  feel  very 
small  indeed  in  comparison.  It  is  well  that  this  should  be  so,  as 
even  modest  men  are  prone  to  be  vain. 
What  can  be  said  of  the  grounds  and  gardens  ?  Multum  in 
parvo  must  be  the  guiding  motto  here.  The  grounds  are  delightful, 
some  parts  high,  others  low,  with  flights  of  steps  and  connecting 
tunnels,  with  balustrades  and  vases,  avenues  and  vistas.  Conifer- 
margined  walks  and  broad  lawns,  imposing  glades,  picturesque 
rocks  and  ferny  dells,  noble  deciduous  trees  and  Conifers,  semi- 
wild  woodland  scenes  in  contrast  with  terrace  walks  and  trimmed 
evergreens,  with  flowers  enough  to  brighten  but  not  to  overbalance 
Fig.  96.— keir  HOUSE 
the  living  temple  of  Yew,  conveys  a  great  truth  to  all  who  read  and 
understand  them.  “  Homo  ([uasi  flos  egreditur  et  conteriturj  which 
may  be  freely  interpreted  “  Man  like  a  flower  passes  away  and  is 
■pent.’'  This  sermon  in  Box.  ought  never  to  be  obliterated. 
Sentiments  good  and  well  placed  abound  almost  everywhere  in  the 
mansion.  They  are  excellently  and  attractively  carved  round  the 
cornices  of  room  after  room.  One  must  suffice  as  an  example  in 
the  first  room  entered,  and  its  appositeness  will  be  admitted. 
“  Peace  be  with  all  who  ’neath  this  roof  tree  rest — Peace  with  the 
coming  and  the  parting  guest.”  Not  only  round  all  the  compart¬ 
ments  of  the  magnificent  library  do  we  find  the  same  method  of 
decoration — admirable  maxims — but  round  the  sloping  margins  of 
the  tables,  also  on  the  backs  of  every  chair,  and  even  round  some 
of  the  inkstands.  What  time  they  must  have  taken  to  carve  may 
in  some  sense  be  imagined  when  it  is  stated  that  they  took  nearly 
an  hour  to  read.  In  the  gallery  of  this  fine  structure  with  its 
arched  colonnade  is  what  is  -considered  the  most  complete  Spanish 
library  in  the  kingdom,  for  among  his  scholarly  attainments  Sir 
William  was  a  great  linguist,  a  great  author  too,  a  room  being 
AND  ROMAN  CYPRESSES. 
the  more  permanent  features  that  surround  them.  Of  the  ancient 
trees  a  Spanish  Chestnut  on  one  side  of  the  mansion  and  a 
Sycamore  on  the  other,  are  veritable  monarchs  without  evidence  of 
senility,  though  they  have  endured  the  storms  of  some  400  years. 
Then  there  are  the  reputedly  oldest  Larches  in  Scotland,  except 
those  at  Dunkeld,  in  transit  to  which  it  it  said  these  Keir  trees  were 
I  “  lost  ”  on  their  way  as  a  portion  of  the  original  consignment, 
i  They  are  noble  and  cherished  specimens. 
In  the  dressed  grounds  the  herbaceous  border  and  Begonia 
garden  were  attractive  features  in  September.  Extending  from  the 
mansion  westward  some  100  to  200  yards,  an  ancient  stone  wall 
12  or  14  feet  high  supports  the  higher  ground.  This  wall,  once 
entirely  covered  with  Cotoneaster  microphylla,  has  had  large  panels 
cut  out,  which  are  being  clothed  with  variegated  Ivies.  On  the  higher 
ground  along  the  top  of  the  wall  embrasured  Portugal  Laurels 
1  command  attention,  the  whole  forming  an  effective  background 
j  for  the  wide  and  well-furnished  border  of  bardy  flowers  along  the 
front,  facing  the  lawn.  In  the  distance  is  an  enclosure  each  as 
