ScotlandsPeople Centre: Archivists' Garden, Famous Scots

African Blue Lily

Agapanthus africanus, family Alliaceae

Season - August to September

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Francis Masson

Francis Masson, a famous plant collector, was born in Aberdeen in 1741 and began working life as a garden boy. Travelling to London in the 1760s he took up a gardener post at Kew under the direction of Joseph Banks.

As Captain Cook was preparing for his second great voyage of exploration in 1772, Banks appointed Masson as the first plant collector to go out from Kew.

Sailing to Cape Town, South Africa, Masson commenced a series of expeditions over two years, through some of the world's most rugged terrain. Between expeditions he explored Table Mountain.

The Cape's rich flora must have seemed like paradise. He introduced many exotics from here, including Cape heaths and proteas. Returning to Kew he was crowned in glory, his reputation as an introducer of new, exciting plants sealed.

Agapanthus

In 1778 he collected in Madeira, the Canary Isles, the Azores and West Indies. He was imprisoned by a French expeditionary force on Grenada in 1779, returning to England after release. He revisited South Africa between 1786 and 1795, sending large numbers of plants, seeds and bulbs home, including arum lilies, agapanthus, amaryllis, pelargoniums, crassulas, stapelias and mesembryanthemums, gladioli, gardenias and Strelitzia reginae, the bird of paradise flower.

In 1797 he sailed to N. America but was captured by French pirates before being transferred to a German ship, eventually landing in New York. He then collected in the Great Lakes and Canada for seven years, sending back many new species including the beautiful Trillium grandiflorum.

Masson died in Montreal, Canada in 1805. His greatest legacy is perhaps that he was the first of over 120 famous Scottish plant collectors to explore worldwide during the next 150 years.

Strelitzia reginae

Trillium grandiflorum

Almond

Prunus dulcis, family Rosaceae

Season - March to April

(Associations - Birth, Marriage, Famous Scots)

Almond blossom

Originally from Asia, the almond has been grown in Britain since the 16th century. The seed is used in confectionery, baking and as gin flavouring. It also provides almond oil for use in medicine and as a skin and hair conditioner. Since ancient times it has been linked to the goddess of fertility, Cybele. As a result for centuries they have featured in the celebrations surrounding birth and marriage. For example almonds were once scattered in front of newly weds leaving the ceremony.

Other accounts refer to sugared almonds being presented by the godfather and the godmother to guests after a christening ceremony was complete. Today they are occasionally seen on wedding cakes or they may be given out by the bride and groom as a favour or memory to special guests.

In the same plant family as roses, almonds are a relative of the native Scottish bird cherry or gean. This tree Prunus avium, which is still grown as an ornamental may have been what the Edinburgh poet and author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was referring to in his well known work A Child's Garden of Verse (1912).

Foreign Lands
Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked upon foreign lands.

He was clearly fond of plants and gardens writing of both, for example in Memories and Portraits we find in An Old Scotch Gardener the line "Foxgloves he not only spared but loved". He is also reputed to have said:

Do not judge each day by the harvest you reap, but the seeds you sow.

Robert Louis Stevenson
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Almond blossom, close-up

Bear's Breeches

Acanthus spinosus, family Acanthaceae

Season - July to August

(Associations - Death, Famous Scots)

Bear's Breeches

Bear's Breeches was introduced into cultivation from Italy in 1548. The name acanthus is derived from Acantha, a nymph loved by Apollo who is said to have turned her into the flower. The distinct shape of the foliage has inspired many.

Their first use in architecture is said to have been by the Greek Sculptor Kallimachos (5th century BC). According to myth, he witnessed a basket of toys being placed on a child's grave and covered with a cloth. Passing by the grave the following Spring he noted the basket was still present, but plants of bears breeches had pushed up the cloth and foliage now caressed the sides of the basket. This gave Kallimachos the idea for what became the classic Corinthian column favoured by the famous Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728-1792) who was particularly fond of the Corinthian Order.

Born in Kirkcaldy, Robert Adam studied in Edinburgh and Italy. By 1758 he had established a practice in London which, for more than 30 years, dominated the British architectural scene, transforming London and other major cities, as well as country houses.

One of his most famous works in Scotland, apart from New Register House and the 'Old Quad' at the University of Edinburgh, is the vast oval staircase at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.

If you look closely at the tops of the classical columns designed in the Corinthian manner by Adam at the front of New Register House and his other buildings in the city you will see carved in the stone multilayered acanthus leaves. These can also be even be found in the ornate plaster work ceilings inside the buildings.

Corinthian column,
inspired by Acanthus spinosus

Robert Adam
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Bell Heather

Erica cinerea (C.D. Eason) and Erica cinerea (Hookstone White), family Ericaceae

Season - June to September

(Associations - Tartan, Homecoming, Marriage, Heraldry, Famous Scots)

Bell Heather

Native to Britain and many parts of Western Europe, bell heather has had various domestic uses including bedding, thatch, tanning and even brewing. It is also the source of a purple ochre dye which was produced from the flowering tips.

Today having been written about in verse and song for centuries, the plant is deeply embedded in our culture and as such is perhaps the plant which means homecoming more than most. It was even dried and transported overseas as a symbol of home. Sprigs of white heather in particular were thought to bring good fortune and prosperity. At weddings it was given away as favours and still is today. Linked with romance, who could forget the words to the famous folk song, Will You Go Lassie, Go written by Northern Irish Folk singer, William McPeake, and recorded in 1957.

Will ye go, lassie, go,
And we'll all go together
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will ye go, lassie, go.

It is also the plant badge of the Clan MacDougall which dates back to 1164 when they formed a seat near Dunstaffnage in Argyll. Duncan MacDougall founded the priory at Ardchattan near Oban in 1230.

The Clan has a rich history central to both the political and social life of Scotland, from the time when they supported King John Balliol (1249-1313) in his claim to the throne against King Robert the Bruce of Annandale (1274-1329), to their role in the both the 1715 and 1745 rebellions.

The Arms of John Balliol

Bell Heather
MacDougall plant badge

Birch

Betula pendula, family Betulaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Birth, Marriage, Death, Tartan, Famous Scots)

Birch

Birch does not feature in Greek or Roman mythology, which is not surprising as it does not native to the Mediterranean. However, it appears in Celtic tradition as a symbol of the awakening of new life. This was once reflected by the use of birch twigs by the corn sheaf bridal figures used in the celebrations surrounding St Bridges Day each spring. Saint Brigid was the Celtic goddess of rebirth. In the language of flowers birch represents modesty and grace, hence it was refered to by Coleridge as the 'Lady of the Woods'.

In some parts of Europe it was known as the 'rod of life' and the bride and groom were often asked to step over a birch pole as they entered their new home, in the hope this would aid the coming of a family. In contrast, the dead were often covered in birch twigs - perhaps in protection from evil?

Birch had many practical uses which made it central to daily life. The timber was utilised in construction, basket-making and the manufacture of domestic items. The bark was used for candles, paper and tanning. A tea was produced from the leaves and used medicinaly; they were also made into dye for wool used in weaving tartan and tweed. Wine was made from the sap and still is today. Through destructive distillation the sap was also processed into a sticky waterproof tar for the fishing and construction industries.

The traditional fiddler and composer James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) was also known as the 'Strathspey King'. Born in Banchory, Skinner went on to travel and perform extensively in Britain and America. Writing over 600 tunes, one of these was the slow air 'The Weeping Birch of Kilmorack'. The tune commemorates Skinner's visit to the Falls of Kilmorack on the river Beauly and the Pass of Dhreim with his two great friends Donald Morrison and Dr. McDonald. During this visit Morrison told Skinner how previously a traction engine had fallen 100 feet from the road into the gorge, killing two men. After this happened a phenomenon reputedly occurred with most of the birches within 30 yards of the accident withering away without regeneration.

Extremely attractive, birches have often featured in oil and watercolour paintings. Even the Scottish portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823) although not renowned for illustrating plants, could not resist their beauty. He often set his subjects, particularly women, in a romantic landscape featuring a wooded background. The especially fine portrait is of Mrs Downey of Prestonpans (c.1787-1790). We see her in an imaginary mixed woodland of birch and beech.

James Skinner

Sir Henry Raeburn
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'Mrs Downey of Prestonpans'

Birch (ornamental)

Betula albosinensis, family Betulaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Ornamental Birch

This attractive ornamental birch from West China is often seen in modern gardens. It was first introduced into cultivation by English plant collector E. H Wilson for Veitch's nursery in 1901, and again by the Falkirk-born Scottish plant collector George Forrest (1873-1932). Forrest was one of the most prolific collectors of all time, carrying out seven expeditions to China from 1902 until his death in the field in 1932. Originally an employee of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, his funding came from several sources, including English cotton merchant E. K. Bulley.

He collaborated with Sir William Wright Smith (1875-1956) VMH, Queen's Botanist who was born in Lochmaben and rose to become Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Smith described many of the new plant introductions made by Forrest which included primulas, meconopsis and rhododendrons, many of which were new to science.

The contribution made by Forrest to both science and the modern garden is enormous as he introduced innumerable new species of these genera and lilies to cultivation. He also sent back over 31,000 dried herbarium specimens. A prolific photographer and an expert naturalist with an interest in birds, mammals and insects, there are many plants named after him and his photographic collection still exists in the archives of the RBGE today.

George Forrest

Sir William Smith

Bluebells

Scilla non- scripta, family Hyacinthaceae/Liliaceae

Season - April to May

(Associations - Famous Scots, Heraldry, homecoming)

Bluebells

Native to Britain the bluebell features heavily in the music and culture of Scotland. Many poets, authors and musicians including Robert Burns, James Hogg and Lady Carolina Nairne have celebrated it's qualities and contribution to our landscape.

The most recent of these the Scottish classical composer Iain Ellis Hamilton (1922-2000) wrote a piece entitled Wild Garden, five pieces for the clarinet and the piano. You cannot help but wonder if this, one of his last works was inspired by the bluebell woods of the West of Scotland. Sadly it is unlikely if we will ever know, but what a fantastic celebration this piece of music is about our living heritage.

Like the thistle and rowan, bluebells are so evocative of our landscape they can rightly be seen as a plant of homecoming. Bluebells are also the plant badge of the Clan Grierson.

Iain Ellis Hamilton

Bluebells
Grierson plant badge

Common Dog Violet

Viola riviniana, family Violaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Death)

Dog Violet

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them'.

The words of David Hume (1711-1776) the Scottish Philosopher and historian born in Edinburgh.

The natural world was a constant source of inspiration to Hume providing the basis for much of his thinking and arguments. Although Hume resided in Edinburgh he regularly spent long periods of time at the family home Nine Wells near Chirnside in Berwickshire,where he enjoyed walking in the garden and surrounding natural woodlands which were dotted with this tiny spring flowering native violet which would have been familiar to him.

Violets are surrounded in mythology and popular belief, in some parts of Britain they are seen as the flowers of the dead and it was thought that to pick them with dew drops on would result in the death of a loved one. They are also associated with love. Other beliefs associate them with openness and innocence.

David Hume
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Cowslip

Primula veris, family Primulaceae

Season - April to May

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Famous Scots)

Cowslip

The flowers of this native plant have been used to flavour wine and make medicinal ointments and creams to improve complexion, memory and sunburn for a long time.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) wrote of it in his flattering song The Lass of Cessnock Banks which was written to celebrate his love for Alison Begbie (with 'rogeish een' - mischievous twinkling eyes) the daughter of a farmer from the Parish of Galston who turned down his request for marriage in 1781-82.

"She is stately like yon youthful ash,
That grows the cowslip braes between..."

It also appears in his Elegy on Captain Mathew Henderson with whom he once shared accommodation in Edinburgh. The poem contains many references to this and other plants in the garden, including foxgloves and roses, reflecting the deep affinity Burns had for the natural world.

"Mourn, Spring, thou darling of the year!
Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear"

The ancient Greeks named the flower paralisos after a youth who was said to have died from grief after the sudden death of his sweetheart, Melicerta, whom the gods were thought to have turned into a primrose or cowslip. Shakespeare first wrote of it in Hamlet, using it as reference to a path of uncertain pleasure. He also used it as a symbol of death in Cymbeline.

In Christianity Catholics link it to both St Agatha and St Bertulf. It is also known as Our Lady's Keys as it is thought to represent the keys held by Mary Mediatrix to the store houses of heavenly grace.

Robert Burns
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Cowslip, used to flavour wine

Dog Rose

Rosa canina, family Rosaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Heraldry, Famous Scots)

Dog Rose

Rosa canina is native to Britain, Europe and parts of western Asia. The scented flowers are very variable in colour and have resulted in several cultivated hybrids. These include R. canina (Abbotswood) which was found in the garden of Irish engineer Mr Harry Ferguson who founded the tractor company which made the famous 'Little Grey Fergie' which changed the face of Scottish agriculture forever.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) also makes over 60 references to it in his many songs and poems as it was clearly one of his favourite flowers.

Shrouded in mythology and strongly linked to the Christian faith, the dog rose is symbolic of purity, love and marriage, it was also linked to the prediction of death, as it was once thought that if you were ill and dreamt of roses you would die!

The bright red hips which are produced in the autumn were once used to make medicinal syrup; they were also thought to give protection from sorcery and witches. This is perhaps why it often features in medieval and gothic architecture and works of art, especially, the wood and stone carving found with ecclesiastical buildings.

On the authority of the Court of the Lord Lyon the rose is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and in the Matriculations of Arms of Chiefs as being the official plant badge of the Clans Borthwick, Erskine and Lennox.

Robert Burns
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Dog Rose
official plant badge of Clans
Borthwick, Erskine and Lennox

Grape Hyacinth

Muscari azureum, family Liliaceae

Season - May

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Famous Scots)

Grape Hyacinth

This form of the grape hyacinth is originally from the Mediterranean and Turkey. Like other hyacinths it was closely associated with the earth goddess Demeter. As she was the guardian of women it was often worn as part of a bridal crown.

The Ancient Greeks regarded it as a flower of death and in many European cultures it was associated with remembrance. This is a reflection of its connection with the myth of Hyakinthos, who through an act of the gods was killed by his friend Apollo whilst throwing a discus. Weeping for his friend, Apollo stated that a flower would eventually bear his tears, instantly blossoms are said to have sprouted from the blood of Hyakinthos, these were reputedly what we know as hyacinths today.

In the Christian faith it is seen as a symbol of wisdom, and tranquility and like many other plants it often appears in religious works of art. In the language of flowers the various colours have different meanings ranging from white for discreet love, to mauve for mourning.

The respected Scottish Zoologist and Classical Scholar Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) wrote about his theory of transformation involving the body as a whole and the mathematics behind nature. In his classic of modern science and biology 'On Growth and Form' (1942) he stated in the chapter on leaf arrangement: "The beautiful configuration produced by the orderly arrangement of leaves or florets on the stem have long been an object of admiration and curiosity".

In a subsequent chapter he also describes the science behind the form of a hyacinth leaf, which grows continuously from the base. The garden is in fact filled with the natural wonders, shapes and forms he strove to understand mathematically.

Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

Guelder Rose

Viburnum opulus (Compactum), family Adoxaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Birth)

Guelder Rose

This plant is native to Britain, Europe and parts of Asia; it has been grown in our gardens since before 1600.

It is sometimes known as Cramp Bark as it was used in herbal medicines associated with childbirth. The fruit which is high in vitamin C, can be eaten fresh but it is very bitter; however it is made into a sauce similar to cranberry and served with poultry. The twigs were used as cooking skewers. Its common name is derived from the Dutch Province of Gueldres, where it was first cultivated.

The Scottish artist and writer Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) who often drew inspiration from nature, celebrated the plant in a work he created at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills. A visit to the garden will reveal the following inscription on a tablet of stone at the entrance to Huff Lane within the area known as the English Park Land.

A Woodland Flute

BETULA
PENDULA
CARPINUS
BETULUS
VIBURNUM
OPULUS
POPULUS
TREMULA
PRUNUS
Silver Birch, Hornbeam
Guelder Rose, Aspen, Plum

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Old herbal remedy

Hairy Thyme

Thymus polytrichus, family Labiatae/Laminaceae

Season - April to August

(Associations - Famous Scots, Birth, Death, Heraldry

Hairy Thyme

Thyme, like many other scented plants, is steeped in mythology. The ancient Greeks and Romans saw it as a symbol of strength, power, courage and sacrifice; it was even embroidered on the togas of the generals. During the crusades it was given to knights about to go into battle to give them strength.

Perhaps because of this thyme is the plant badge of the Clan Armstrong, which originates from around Liddlesdale in Roxburghshire. Renowned for their strength, by 1528 the clan was said to have been able to put 3,000 horsemen in the field. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the clan had a turbulent relationship with the Scottish Kings, particularly King James V (1512-1542) who as a result of a ruse captured and hung some 50 members of the clan, including the famous border reiver Johnny Armstrong (d.1529) of Gilnockie near Langholm. His last words were reputed to be "I am but a fool to seek grace at a graceless face, but had I known you would have taken me this day, I would have lived in the Borders despite King Harry and you both." This defiance is commemorated in the famous Border ballad:

Johnny Armstrong
Farewell! my bonny Gilnock Hall
Where on Esk side thou standest stout
Gif I had lived but seven yeirs mair
I wad a gilt thee round about
John Murdered was at Carlinrigg
And all his gallant companie;
But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae wae
To see sae mony brave men die.

Due to its antiseptic qualities and connections with birth thyme has since the time of Dioscorides (c. 50AD) been thought of as a woman's herb, it was even placed under the bed of those about to give birth. Like many other sweetly scented plants it was thought to contain the souls of the dead.

James V

Plant badge of Clan Armstrong

Hazel

Corylus avellana (Contorta), family Betulaceae

April - October

(Associations - Birth , Marriage, Famous Scots, Heraldry)

Hazel

The hazel is native to Britain, Europe and Asia. The durable timber has many uses ranging from hurdles, wattle and daub to walking sticks, bean poles and even divining rods. It has been considered sacred in many cultures since ancient times being seen as a gift from the gods.

In the Celtic world it is sacred to the sea god Manannan. It was also associated with fairies and considered to ward off evil. St Patrick is reputed to have driven the snakes out of Ireland with a hazel wand. It was also seen as a tree of knowledge and many thought that wisdom was imparted from it through the edible nuts, which make excellent eating. In Scotland they were also processed into milk in the autumn to feed new born babies in the belief that it would provide them with good luck and fine health. The nuts are also associated with fertility and marriage, being given out at weddings in the hope that the couple would be blessed with numerous children.

Hazel is the plant badge of the Clan Colquhoun which dates back to the 13th century and a grant of land near Dunbartonshire. Famous members of the Clan include Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820), a former provost of Glasgow and tobacco merchant, who later became a reformer and statistician founding the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the oldest of its kind in Britain and the Thames River Police.

More recently the Scottish painter, printmaker and set designer Robert Colquhoun (1914-62) became one of the leading artists off his generation after studying at the Glasgow School of Art and later throughout Europe.

The twisted ornamental form growing in the garden is affectionately known as 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick' in deference to the well-known comic singer, born in Portobello in Edinburgh, Sir Harry Lauder (1870-1950). Lauder regularly appeared on-stage with a gnarled old twisted staff whilst singing his famous song 'Roamin in the Gloamin'.

Robert Colquhoun

Sir Harry Lauder
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Flowering Hazel

Leopard Lily

Lilium pardalium

Season - July to August

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Leopard Lily

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them'.

The Scottish American naturalist and author John Muir (1838-1914) was born in Dunbar, East Lothian. He emigrated to the USA with his parents in 1849 and studied engineering before setting off to walk the High Sierra following an accident in which he lost an eye. From this first adventure he went on to spend his life time studying the natural history of the American west, especially in the area around Yosemite. A vigorous and determined campaigner, he fought for the establishment of a national park and the protection of the Giant Redwood Trees. Charismatic and erudite he wrote several books and many consider him to be the father of modern conservation. This quote from his first book 'My First Summer in the Sierra' (1911) talks about the majestic native American wild flower Lilium pardalinum.

"What grand bells these lilies have! Some of them are big enough for children's bonnets - more beautiful and better kept gardens cannot be imagined".

Found through most of the cool Californian coastal woods where it grows to almost two metres tall, and produces leaf whorls over thirty centimetres wide above which sit a mass of bright orange purple spotted flowers.

Today the John Muir Trust which was founded in Scotland in 1984 for the protection of wild land is one of the nation's premier conservation bodies.

John Muir
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Lesser Periwinkle

Vinca minor, family Apocynaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Famous Scots, Marriage, Heraldry)

Lesser Periwinkle

Now naturalised in parts of Britain the lesser periwinkle is thought to have been introduced from Europe prior to 1600. It is pollinated by long-tongued bees and bee flies. Traditionally it has been planted in gardens as a symbol of good fortune and a happy marriage.

Herbalists used it as a tonic, a laxative and as a gargle; it was also prepared into ointment for skin conditions. Recently it has been important in providing the drug vincamine, used in treating brain disorders.

On the authority of the Court of the Lord Lyon, periwinkle is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and in the Matriculations of Arms of Chiefs as being the official plant badge of the Clan Hannay, originally from South West Scotland.

Perhaps the most famous Clan member was James Hannay (d.1661), the Dean of St Giles in Edinburgh. Reputedly, it was during one of his sermons on the 23 July 1637 that he became the target of a stool flung by one Jenny Geddes (c.1600-c.1660), a market trader, who was outraged at his use of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for the first time in Scotland. The incident turned into a full scale riot which brought out the town guard, depicted in a contemporary print.

Cluster of Lesser Periwinkle

A contemporary print of the riot provoked by the Anglican Book of Common Prayer

Anglican Prayers used in Presbyterian service
provoke riot, 1637

Ling (White Heather)

Calluna vulgaris (Kinlochruel), family Ericaceae

Season - June to September

(Associations - Homecoming, Famous Scots, Tartan, Heraldry)

White Heather

Native to Britain, Europe and parts of North America no plant apart from the thistle is more associated with the romance of Scotland than heather. For generations it has featured in our literature, poetry, music and song. Yet few realise that many of the vast expanses of heather that dominate our landscape are the result of deforestation, sheep and the establishment of grouse moors.

Martin Martin (?- 1719) a Gaelic factor from Skye famed for his book A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland (1703) discussed the health-restoring qualities of ling when it was used as a mattress.

Osgood Mackenzie (1842-1922) the founder of the famous west coast subtropical garden at Inverwewe also talks about its use in domestic life in his book A Hundred Years in the Highlands, 1921 which also explains the establishment of the garden. Evidence exists that heather has been used in brewing in Scotland since 2000 BC and today it is still produced in Argyll and marketed as Fraoch the Gaelic word for the plant.

This brew was celebrated by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) in his poem:

Heather Ale
From the bonny bells of heather,
They brewed a drink lang syne
Was sweeter than honey
Was stronger than wine.

Bee keepers still take their bees to the heather in the flowering season as the honey produced is extremely sweet with a distinctive taste favoured by many around the world. The foliage and flowers were used to prepare a wide range of coloured dyes ranging from yellow through green to orange and brown. It was also used medicinally. The dried stems are made into besoms and brushes; this was once an important cottage industry in many rural areas. The stems were also bundled and bonded to make floor tiles, similar to the process used to make jewellery today.

White heather is the plant badge of the Clan McPherson who have a clan seat on land granted by Robert the Bruce near Badenoch. The clan was a strong supporter of the crown during the Jacobite uprising.

Osgood Mackenzie

Robert Louis Stevenson
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White Heather, the badge of Clan MacPherson

Male Fern

Dryopteris felix-mas, family Dryopteridaceae

Season - March to October

(Associations - Tartan, Famous Scots)

Male Fern

Some ferns especially Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, were a traditional source of a yellow natural dye used in the manufacture of tartan and tweed. It was prepared from a mixture of the root and the mordant or fixative copperas (iron sulphate). They were also burnt in large quantities to obtain potash for the soap used to bleach linen.

The influential Scottish biologist, sociologist and town planner Patrick Geddes (1854-1932, left) first became interested in biology and the natural world as he wandered in the hills in search of ferns to establish in his parents garden.

From these humble beginnings Geddes would go on to become one of the most influential thinkers of his day, putting his ideas in to practice in the restoration of part of Edinburgh's Old Town including Riddles Court, Ramsey Garden and the Outlook Tower, before developing the master plan for Tel Aviv and then working in India. He was a polymath and an advocate of ecology and conservation as well as the need to control pollution even then; recent years have seen a renaissance in his work and writings. His most quoted phrase 'By leaves alone we live' derives from a larger statement on his view of the world.

"This is a green world, with animals comparatively few and small, and all dependent on leaves. By leaves alone we live. Some people have strange ideas that they live by money. They think energy is generated by the circulation of coins. Whereas the world is mainly a vast leaf colony, growing on and forming a leafy soil, not a mere mineral mass: and we live not by jingling coins, but the fullness of our harvests". Patrick Geddes.

No wonder he was respected by both Darwin and Einstein. Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) wrote of him "...he was one of the outstanding thinkers of his generation, not merely in the world, and not only one of the greatest Scotsmen of the past century but in our entire history".

Patrick Geddes

Male Fern or bracken

Pears

Pear (Conference), family Rosaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Marriage, Birth, Death, Famous Scots)

Pears

The pear was dedicated by Ancient Greeks to goddess Hera who represented women, especially wives and fidelity in marriage. Perhaps because of the feminine shape of the fruit and the sweet flavour they have also been associated with early fertility cults.

Throughout the centuries and within living memory pears have be seen as a 'Tree of Life' until recently many families planted a pear tree to celebrate the birth of a girl. How good it would be to renew that tradition.

With so much mythology surrounding them it is no wonder that they feature in the folklore and fairy tales of several European countries, interestingly these stories highlight the wisdom and importance of women in society.

Pears are also associated with remembrance and death, it was thought unlucky to bring the blossom into the house, as it was said to hasten a family bereavement.

In the garden they are growing as cordons against the back wall. A sight which was clearly familiar to Adam Smith (1723-1790) the Scottish Economist born in Kirkcaldy and renowned for his role in shaping the modern science of economics, with his famous work the Wealth of Nations (1776), which evens details the importance and value of growing fruit.

"In Great Britain, and some other northern countries, the finer fruits can not be brought to perfection but by the assistance of a wall. Their price, therefore in such countries must be sufficient to pay the expense of building and maintaining what they cannot be had without. The fruit-wall frequently surrounds the kitchen garden, which thus enjoys the benefit of an enclosure which its own produce could seldom pay for".

Adam Smith
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Primrose

Primula vulgaris, family Primulaceae

Season - March to April

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Famous Scots)

Primrose

Native to Britain and many parts of Europe the sweetly scented primrose has many medicinal and cultural values similar to the cowslip and is considered by some to be more important medicinally.

In the language of flowers it represented both the joy of youth and young love. In some parts of the country balls of flowers were once used by girls as a predictor of marriage, during the game they sung the names of potential suitors. Like the cowslip, the primrose is associated with the story of Melicerta, whose lover pined away after her sudden death. Shakespeare also associates the plant with death referring to it as the funeral flower for youth in Cymbeline, Act 4.

On a brighter note Robert Burns (1759-1796) wrote of it with a fondness several times, for example it appears in the well known song Sweet Afton with the lines:

How pleasant thy banks and green vallies below,
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow ...

Interestingly Charles Darwin (1809-1882) discovered its complex pollination system, involving pin and thrum-eyed flowers which ensure proper cross-fertilization by long-tongued insects such as bees and moths.

Like so many of our wild flowers it is protected by law and you should not pick it under any circumstances.

Robert Burns
For further information visit
our Famous Scots Archive

Primrose, sweetly scented

Quamash

Camassia quamash, family Hyacinthaceae/Liliaceae

Season - May

(Associations - Birth, Famous Scots)

Quamash

This ornamental bulb originally from North America was used by Native Americans in the preparation of medicines associated with childbirth. The bulbs were also an important part of the staple diet for many tribes.

The famous Scottish plant collector and explorer David Douglas (1799-1834) was the first European to discover it and write about its beauty and use. We know from his journal that he ate it himself during his exploration of the Columbia River in 1825 and again during his search for the Sugar Pine, Pinus lambertiana, in 1826.

Douglas who was born near Scone in Perthshire is better known for the significant range of forest trees he introduced, one of which included the Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, named after another famous Scottish plant collector, Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) who first discovered it in British Columbia around 1792 prior to its introduction by Douglas in 1826.

Today this tree plays a significant role in the nation's modern forestry industry and it is fair to say that no other plant collector has had a greater impact on the appearance of Scotland's landscape than Douglas.

David Douglas

Archibald Menzies

Quamash,
important to forestry

Rosa rugosa

Rosa rugosa var. rubra, family Rosaceae

Season - July to October

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rosa rugosa

Originally from China and Japan Rosa rugosa var. rubra is widely grown and has now naturalised in many parts of Britain. It is thought to have been introduced around 1796 by Messers Lee and Kennedy who founded the famous Vineyard Nursery in Hammersmith, London around 1745. James Lee (1715-1795) was a Scot born in Selkirkshire; he later moved south to become a gardener at Syon House and Whitton Place. A respected scholar and botanist he corresponded regularly with Linnaeus and wrote an Introduction to Botany published in 1760, but is perhaps best remembered for his introduction of the fuchsia.

Another Scot connected with the red rose is the world renowned Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) although when he penned his famous lines:

My Luve Is Like a Red, Red Rose
O, my luve is like a red, red rose,
That is newly sprung in June.
O, my luve is like a melodie
That is sweetly play'd in tune
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry

It is possible he was writing about the Provence or Old Cabbage Rose, Rosa ? centifolia, which were brought to Scotland around 1596. Equally he may have been referring to a dark form of the native dog rose Rosa canina it is unclear, but we do know that it was one of his favourite wild flowers.

Robert Burns
For further information visit
our Famous Scots Archive

Rosa xanthina

Rosa xanthina (Canary Bird), family Rosaceae

Season - April to June

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rosa xanthina

The famous Scottish surgeon and reformer Dr Elsie Inglis (1864-1916) was actually born in India, however she grew up and was educated in Edinburgh.

Her contribution to the needs of women's health in Scotland, especially in the field of maternity medicine paved the way for modern practices. Her contribution through the foundation of the Scottish Suffragette Federation to the improvement of conditions within the First World War military hospitals in Serbia cannot be underestimated. In a reflection of her international outreach she is recognised in the garden with a yellow rose the symbol of the suffrage movement in the United States of America.

Dr Elsie Inglis

Rose 'Glenfiddich'

Rose (Glenfiddich), family Rosaceae

Season - June to August

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rose 'Glenfiddich'

Rose 'Glenfiddich' was bred in 1976 by the internationally renowned Scottish rose breeders, Cockers of Aberdeen. Named after a Speyside single malt within the garden it celebrates the renowned Scottish violinist, composer and songwriter Neil Gow (1727-1807).

Born near Dunkeld, he was talented from an early age which is perhaps why he was sponsored by the Duke of Atholl. This allowed him to concentrate on his music and he wrote over a hundred significant and well known fiddle tunes, to which we have danced and tapped our feet for generations.

Commercially minded, he went on to perform in London and Edinburgh and from 1784 onwards his tunes appeared as printed sheet music making them even better known. One of these 'Fare Well to Whisky' marks the feelings of the nation in 1799 when the making of whisky was prohibited due to a poor harvest that year. Legislators thought better to use the grain for food and for next year's seed rather than for the still.

Neil Gow

Rowan

Sorbus aucuparia (Sheerwater Seedling), family Rosaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Birth, Marriage, Death, Heraldry, Tartan, Homecoming)

Rowan

Not surprisingly the Rowan is at the heart of Scottish plant lore, associated with all areas of lives and culture. It has several practical uses - dyes, food, medicine. Our elders believed a heavy berry crop in autumn foretold many births the following year. It was believed to protect against evil, the devil, witches, death and disease; hence it was often seen planted near the house. Even today in parts of west Scotland foresters and gardeners refuse to cut the plant down.

Many of the nation's famous poets and song writers have written about its qualities including Robert Burns. However perhaps the best remembered work is that of the Scottish song writer Lady Carolina Nairne (1766-1845), a Jacobite laird's daughter, born Gask, Perthshire.

The Rowan Tree
Oh! Rowan Tree Oh! Rowan Tree, thou'lt aye be dear to me / Intwin'd thou art wi mony ties o' hame and infancy. / Thy leaves were aye the firt o' spring, the flow'rs the simmers's pride; / There was nae sic a bonny tree, in a' the countryside. / Oh! Rowan Tree.

Renowned Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown (1921-1996) wrote about it in his acrostic work Lullaby for Lucy (1980), celebrating the birth of Lucy Rendall of Rackwick, the first baby born on the island for 32 years. This was set to music by English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, who had adopted Orkney as his home.

Lullaby for Lucy
Let all plants and creatures of the valley now / Unite
Calling a new / Young one to join the celebration.
Rowan and lamb and waters salt and sweet
Entreat the / New child to the brimming
Dance of the valley / A pledge and a promise.
Lonely they were long, the creatures of Rackwick, till
Lucy came among them, all brightness and light.

Lady Nairn

George MacKay Brown

Lucy Rendall parents

Rowan Tree

The fruits were mixed with madder to make traditional black and orange dyes for use in the manufacture of tartans and tweed. They were also made into jelly, a fermented punch and medicine for whooping cough. Also the plant badge of several clans including Clan Scrimgeour, Clan Wigan and Clan MacLachlan, it is no wonder with such strong cultural links that the seed was taken to other parts of the world by departing Scots who hoped to grow a reminder of home in foreign lands. Next to the thistle it is undoubtedly one of the best living emblems of homecoming.

Scotch Thistle

Onopordon acanthium, family Asteraceae/Compositae

Season - all year

(Associations - Heraldry, Homecoming, Death, Famous Scots)

Scotch Thistle

The plant we know as the Scotch thistle Onopordon acanthium is not native. It was most likely introduced from Europe pre-16th century and has now naturalised in many areas. Chosen by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) as the emblem for George the IV's visit to Scotland in 1822, it has been accepted as a national emblem. The most likely candidate for the true Scotch thistle is the native spear thistle Cirsium vulgare - abundant in Scotland and very similar to the depictions on early Scottish coins.

The plant has many heraldic connections and is associated with the Order of the Thistle which in the 17th century adopted the wonderful motto, Nemo me impune lacessit (nobody attacks me with impunity) no doubt in reference to the spines.

This ancient order may date to Emperor Charlemagne in the 9th century or, as some suggest, Scotland's James III (1488-1513).

Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) had the thistle's image incorporated into the Great Seal of Scotland, making it a national symbol for longevity.

Perhaps the most famous poem about this plant is by Hugh MacDiarmid. Christopher Murray Grieve (1892-1978) who in his masterpiece A Drunk Man Looks at a Thistle (1926) writes the following wonderful lines:

"Rootit on gressless peaks, whar its erect / And jaggy leaves, austerely cauld and dumb / Haud the slow scaly serpent in respect / The Gothic thistle, whar the insects hum"

The following words from the same work are engraved on MacDiarmid's gravestone in Langholm:

"I ha'nae hauf-way hoose, bu aye be whaur / Extremes meet - it is the only way I ken
To dodge the curst conceit o' bein' richt / Tha Dams the vast majority o' men."

Another famous Scot who wrote about its merits was James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) 'the Strathspey King', a traditional fiddler. Born in Banchory, Skinner performed extensively in Britain and America, composing over 600 tunes. Time permitting, he was also a keen gardener. After witnessing his gardener friend Dee Morrison's magnificent thistle display he declared: 'I will compose a tune with the title Dee Morrison's Seven Thistles'. The march is still played on radio and at ceilidhs.

Sir Walter Scott
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Mary Queen of Scots
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King James III (1488-1513)

Hugh MacDiarmid

James Scott Skinner

Snake's Head Fritillary

Fritillaria meleagris, family Liliaceae

Season - April to May

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Snake's Head Fritillary

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) is probably the most popular Scottish architect, designer and water colourist of the last century. Today his distinctive and radical designs are available in all forms from household items to furniture and jewellery. Many of his buildings are still in use today such as The Willow Tea Room, Glasgow, The Glasgow School of Art and Scotland Street School. Whilst others such as The Hill House, Helensburgh are in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.

Mackintosh was an accomplished botanical artist and his watercolour illustration of the Snakes Head Fritillary 1915 is perhaps the best known example of his work in this area. Many others can be seen at the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow. Although listed by John Gerard (1545-1612) in 1597, it was not recorded in the wild in Britain until 1796. Native to Britain but not Scotland, it can only be seen in specialised gardens and collections here in the north. One of the most famous locations in Britain to see it growing naturally and in bloom is in the meadows to the front of Magdalen College, Oxford.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh
For further information visit
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Sweet Violet

Viola odorata, family Violaceae

Season - March to May

(Associations - Famous Scots, Marriage, Death)

Sweet Violet

This scented and seductive violet is linked to Aphrodite the goddess of love. Traditionally it was presented to bride or the bridegroom on the day of their wedding, the flowers were often dried and kept as a memento, hence they are occasionally found in family bibles.

The plant also has a dark side as it is dedicated to Persephone or Proserpina who in classical mythology was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter who whilst picking flowers in the meadow including violets and daffodils was carried off by Hades to the underworld, where she became his Queen Consort. Later she would be released to return to the earth briefly for a few months each year.

The Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg (1770-1835) clearly enjoyed the native flora and fauna. For instance, in his work The Forest Minstrel (1810) he often writes about his love of specific plants including the sweet violet which grows in the Scottish Borders.

How Foolish are Mankind
Far dearer to me is the humble ewe-gowan,
The sweet native violet, or the bud of the broom,
Than the fine fostered flowers in the garden a growing,
Though sweet be their savour and bonnie their bloom.
Far dearer to me is the thrush or the linnet,
than the fine bird from a far foreign tree.

James Hogg

Wild Daffodil or Lent Lily

Narcissus pseudo-narcissus, family Primulaceae

Season - March to April

(Associations - Death, Famous Scots)

Wild Daffodil

The wild daffodil is native to many parts of Britain and Europe. It takes its Latin name from the myth surrounding the river god Cephissus and the story of his son Narcissus who through his beauty had many admirers, including the nymph Echo. Narcissus refuted them all including her. Angered at his refusal she made him fall in love with his own reflection in the river, unable to move he wasted away until he died. This myth was studied by the famous Scottish classicist and anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941) who wrote in his renowned work The Golden Bough (1890) about his conviction that the myth originated from the belief that man's soul is situated in his reflection.

Ancient mythology also tells us about Hades the Greek god of the underworld capturing Persephone and taking her to the underworld as she was picking daffodils in the Elysian Fields. It is this myth which probably led to the common idea that the daffodil was a flower of the underworld. As such it was associated with death and was therefore used in wreaths and planted on graves, as it still is today.

In the Christian Faith it is linked to the Virgin Mary and several of the saints, it is even occasionally referred to as Mary's Star. Look closely in renaissance religious art and you will often see it present as a symbol of the resurrection, self-sacrifice and eternal life. To the Chinese it represents prosperity and happiness.

Sir James George Frazer

Wild Daffodil, often present in
Renaissance art

Wild Flag Iris

Iris pseudacorus, family Iridaceae

Season - April-October (Form), April-May (Flowers)

(Associations - Tartan, Famous Scots, Death, Heraldry)

Wild Flag Iris

The wild flag iris was a traditional natural dye used for both tartan and tweed. The roots were harvested and processed with bog iron or copperas as a mordant to make either black or dark blue dyes; they were also made into ink. The leaves were also made into dyes for tartans and tweed providing a bright green dye when mixed with alum as mordant.

The roots were also used medicinally in many parts of the Highlands. In his History of Scottish Medicine (1932), J. D. Comrie speaks of their use as a laxative by Gaels in the Middle Ages. The author Martin Martin (c. 1660-1719) from Bealach in Skye, in his famous work A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Circa 1695, first published in 1793, writes of iris roots being dried and ground into a powder for use as snuff to treat headaches and colds. Martin's book was used by Boswell and Johnson during their famous tour of the Western Isles in 1773 and is still in print today.

To the Greeks Iris was the messenger of the gods, she is also said to have brought the souls of women to the land of Eternal Peace. This could be why they were often planted near graves.

The plant is the origin of an important heraldic symbol, the fleur-de-lis, the use of which dates back into antiquity. Around 1060, it was adopted by the French Kings as a heraldic symbol, it has featured in the Royal Arms of Scotland, since the time of King James I of Scotland (1394-1437).

Traditional tartan dye

James I

Bear's Breeches

Acanthus spinosus, family Acanthaceae

Season - July to August

(Associations - Death, Famous Scots)

Bear's Breeches

Bear's Breeches was introduced into cultivation from Italy in 1548. The name acanthus is derived from Acantha, a nymph loved by Apollo who is said to have turned her into the flower. The distinct shape of the foliage has inspired many.

Their first use in architecture is said to have been by the Greek Sculptor Kallimachos (5th century BC). According to myth, he witnessed a basket of toys being placed on a child's grave and covered with a cloth. Passing by the grave the following Spring he noted the basket was still present, but plants of bears breeches had pushed up the cloth and foliage now caressed the sides of the basket. This gave Kallimachos the idea for what became the classic Corinthian column favoured by the famous Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728-1792) who was particularly fond of the Corinthian Order.

Born in Kirkcaldy, Robert Adam studied in Edinburgh and Italy. By 1758 he had established a practice in London which, for more than 30 years, dominated the British architectural scene, transforming London and other major cities, as well as country houses.

One of his most famous works in Scotland, apart from New Register House and the 'Old Quad' at the University of Edinburgh, is the vast oval staircase at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.

If you look closely at the tops of the classical columns designed in the Corinthian manner by Adam at the front of New Register House and his other buildings in the city you will see carved in the stone multilayered acanthus leaves. These can also be even be found in the ornate plaster work ceilings inside the buildings.

Corinthian column,
inspired by Acanthus spinosus

Robert Adam
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Bell Heather

Erica cinerea (C.D. Eason) and Erica cinerea (Hookstone White), family Ericaceae

Season - June to September

(Associations - Tartan, Homecoming, Marriage, Heraldry, Famous Scots)

Bell Heather

Native to Britain and many parts of Western Europe, bell heather has had various domestic uses including bedding, thatch, tanning and even brewing. It is also the source of a purple ochre dye which was produced from the flowering tips.

Today having been written about in verse and song for centuries, the plant is deeply embedded in our culture and as such is perhaps the plant which means homecoming more than most. It was even dried and transported overseas as a symbol of home. Sprigs of white heather in particular were thought to bring good fortune and prosperity. At weddings it was given away as favours and still is today. Linked with romance, who could forget the words to the famous folk song, Will You Go Lassie, Go written by Northern Irish Folk singer, William McPeake, and recorded in 1957.

Will ye go, lassie, go,
And we'll all go together
To pick wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will ye go, lassie, go.

It is also the plant badge of the Clan MacDougall which dates back to 1164 when they formed a seat near Dunstaffnage in Argyll. Duncan MacDougall founded the priory at Ardchattan near Oban in 1230.

The Clan has a rich history central to both the political and social life of Scotland, from the time when they supported King John Balliol (1249-1313) in his claim to the throne against King Robert the Bruce of Annandale (1274-1329), to their role in the both the 1715 and 1745 rebellions.

The Arms of John Balliol

Bell Heather
MacDougall plant badge

Rowan

Sorbus aucuparia (Sheerwater Seedling), family Rosaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Birth, Marriage, Death, Heraldry, Tartan, Homecoming)

Rowan

Not surprisingly the Rowan is at the heart of Scottish plant lore, associated with all areas of lives and culture. It has several practical uses - dyes, food, medicine. Our elders believed a heavy berry crop in autumn foretold many births the following year. It was believed to protect against evil, the devil, witches, death and disease; hence it was often seen planted near the house. Even today in parts of west Scotland foresters and gardeners refuse to cut the plant down.

Many of the nation's famous poets and song writers have written about its qualities including Robert Burns. However perhaps the best remembered work is that of the Scottish song writer Lady Carolina Nairne (1766-1845), a Jacobite laird's daughter, born Gask, Perthshire.

The Rowan Tree
Oh! Rowan Tree Oh! Rowan Tree, thou'lt aye be dear to me / Intwin'd thou art wi mony ties o' hame and infancy. / Thy leaves were aye the firt o' spring, the flow'rs the simmers's pride; / There was nae sic a bonny tree, in a' the countryside. / Oh! Rowan Tree.

Renowned Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown (1921-1996) wrote about it in his acrostic work Lullaby for Lucy (1980), celebrating the birth of Lucy Rendall of Rackwick, the first baby born on the island for 32 years. This was set to music by English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, who had adopted Orkney as his home.

Lullaby for Lucy
Let all plants and creatures of the valley now / Unite
Calling a new / Young one to join the celebration.
Rowan and lamb and waters salt and sweet
Entreat the / New child to the brimming
Dance of the valley / A pledge and a promise.
Lonely they were long, the creatures of Rackwick, till
Lucy came among them, all brightness and light.

Lady Nairn

George MacKay Brown

Lucy Rendall parents

Rowan Tree

The fruits were mixed with madder to make traditional black and orange dyes for use in the manufacture of tartans and tweed. They were also made into jelly, a fermented punch and medicine for whooping cough. Also the plant badge of several clans including Clan Scrimgeour, Clan Wigan and Clan MacLachlan, it is no wonder with such strong cultural links that the seed was taken to other parts of the world by departing Scots who hoped to grow a reminder of home in foreign lands. Next to the thistle it is undoubtedly one of the best living emblems of homecoming.

Cowslip

Primula veris, family Primulaceae

Season - April to May

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Famous Scots)

Cowslip

The flowers of this native plant have been used to flavour wine and make medicinal ointments and creams to improve complexion, memory and sunburn for a long time.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) wrote of it in his flattering song The Lass of Cessnock Banks which was written to celebrate his love for Alison Begbie (with 'rogeish een' - mischievous twinkling eyes) the daughter of a farmer from the Parish of Galston who turned down his request for marriage in 1781-82.

"She is stately like yon youthful ash,
That grows the cowslip braes between..."

It also appears in his Elegy on Captain Mathew Henderson with whom he once shared accommodation in Edinburgh. The poem contains many references to this and other plants in the garden, including foxgloves and roses, reflecting the deep affinity Burns had for the natural world.

"Mourn, Spring, thou darling of the year!
Ilk cowslip cup shall kep a tear"

The ancient Greeks named the flower paralisos after a youth who was said to have died from grief after the sudden death of his sweetheart, Melicerta, whom the gods were thought to have turned into a primrose or cowslip. Shakespeare first wrote of it in Hamlet, using it as reference to a path of uncertain pleasure. He also used it as a symbol of death in Cymbeline.

In Christianity Catholics link it to both St Agatha and St Bertulf. It is also known as Our Lady's Keys as it is thought to represent the keys held by Mary Mediatrix to the store houses of heavenly grace.

Robert Burns
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Cowslip, used to flavour wine

Dog Rose

Rosa canina, family Rosaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Heraldry, Famous Scots)

Dog Rose

Rosa canina is native to Britain, Europe and parts of western Asia. The scented flowers are very variable in colour and have resulted in several cultivated hybrids. These include R. canina (Abbotswood) which was found in the garden of Irish engineer Mr Harry Ferguson who founded the tractor company which made the famous 'Little Grey Fergie' which changed the face of Scottish agriculture forever.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) also makes over 60 references to it in his many songs and poems as it was clearly one of his favourite flowers.

Shrouded in mythology and strongly linked to the Christian faith, the dog rose is symbolic of purity, love and marriage, it was also linked to the prediction of death, as it was once thought that if you were ill and dreamt of roses you would die!

The bright red hips which are produced in the autumn were once used to make medicinal syrup; they were also thought to give protection from sorcery and witches. This is perhaps why it often features in medieval and gothic architecture and works of art, especially, the wood and stone carving found with ecclesiastical buildings.

On the authority of the Court of the Lord Lyon the rose is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and in the Matriculations of Arms of Chiefs as being the official plant badge of the Clans Borthwick, Erskine and Lennox.

Robert Burns
For further information visit
our Famous Scots Archive

Dog Rose
official plant badge of Clans
Borthwick, Erskine and Lennox

Primrose

Primula vulgaris, family Primulaceae

Season - March to April

(Associations - Marriage, Death, Famous Scots)

Primrose

Native to Britain and many parts of Europe the sweetly scented primrose has many medicinal and cultural values similar to the cowslip and is considered by some to be more important medicinally.

In the language of flowers it represented both the joy of youth and young love. In some parts of the country balls of flowers were once used by girls as a predictor of marriage, during the game they sung the names of potential suitors. Like the cowslip, the primrose is associated with the story of Melicerta, whose lover pined away after her sudden death. Shakespeare also associates the plant with death referring to it as the funeral flower for youth in Cymbeline, Act 4.

On a brighter note Robert Burns (1759-1796) wrote of it with a fondness several times, for example it appears in the well known song Sweet Afton with the lines:

How pleasant thy banks and green vallies below,
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow ...

Interestingly Charles Darwin (1809-1882) discovered its complex pollination system, involving pin and thrum-eyed flowers which ensure proper cross-fertilization by long-tongued insects such as bees and moths.

Like so many of our wild flowers it is protected by law and you should not pick it under any circumstances.

Robert Burns
For further information visit
our Famous Scots Archive

Primrose, sweetly scented

Rosa rugosa

Rosa rugosa var. rubra, family Rosaceae

Season - July to October

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rosa rugosa

Originally from China and Japan Rosa rugosa var. rubra is widely grown and has now naturalised in many parts of Britain. It is thought to have been introduced around 1796 by Messers Lee and Kennedy who founded the famous Vineyard Nursery in Hammersmith, London around 1745. James Lee (1715-1795) was a Scot born in Selkirkshire; he later moved south to become a gardener at Syon House and Whitton Place. A respected scholar and botanist he corresponded regularly with Linnaeus and wrote an Introduction to Botany published in 1760, but is perhaps best remembered for his introduction of the fuchsia.

Another Scot connected with the red rose is the world renowned Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) although when he penned his famous lines:

My Luve Is Like a Red, Red Rose
O, my luve is like a red, red rose,
That is newly sprung in June.
O, my luve is like a melodie
That is sweetly play'd in tune
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry

It is possible he was writing about the Provence or Old Cabbage Rose, Rosa ? centifolia, which were brought to Scotland around 1596. Equally he may have been referring to a dark form of the native dog rose Rosa canina it is unclear, but we do know that it was one of his favourite wild flowers.

Robert Burns
For further information visit
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Hazel

Corylus avellana (Contorta), family Betulaceae

April - October

(Associations - Birth , Marriage, Famous Scots, Heraldry)

Hazel

The hazel is native to Britain, Europe and Asia. The durable timber has many uses ranging from hurdles, wattle and daub to walking sticks, bean poles and even divining rods. It has been considered sacred in many cultures since ancient times being seen as a gift from the gods.

In the Celtic world it is sacred to the sea god Manannan. It was also associated with fairies and considered to ward off evil. St Patrick is reputed to have driven the snakes out of Ireland with a hazel wand. It was also seen as a tree of knowledge and many thought that wisdom was imparted from it through the edible nuts, which make excellent eating. In Scotland they were also processed into milk in the autumn to feed new born babies in the belief that it would provide them with good luck and fine health. The nuts are also associated with fertility and marriage, being given out at weddings in the hope that the couple would be blessed with numerous children.

Hazel is the plant badge of the Clan Colquhoun which dates back to the 13th century and a grant of land near Dunbartonshire. Famous members of the Clan include Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820), a former provost of Glasgow and tobacco merchant, who later became a reformer and statistician founding the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the oldest of its kind in Britain and the Thames River Police.

More recently the Scottish painter, printmaker and set designer Robert Colquhoun (1914-62) became one of the leading artists off his generation after studying at the Glasgow School of Art and later throughout Europe.

The twisted ornamental form growing in the garden is affectionately known as 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick' in deference to the well-known comic singer, born in Portobello in Edinburgh, Sir Harry Lauder (1870-1950). Lauder regularly appeared on-stage with a gnarled old twisted staff whilst singing his famous song 'Roamin in the Gloamin'.

Robert Colquhoun

Sir Harry Lauder
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Flowering Hazel

Quamash

Camassia quamash, family Hyacinthaceae/Liliaceae

Season - May

(Associations - Birth, Famous Scots)

Quamash

This ornamental bulb originally from North America was used by Native Americans in the preparation of medicines associated with childbirth. The bulbs were also an important part of the staple diet for many tribes.

The famous Scottish plant collector and explorer David Douglas (1799-1834) was the first European to discover it and write about its beauty and use. We know from his journal that he ate it himself during his exploration of the Columbia River in 1825 and again during his search for the Sugar Pine, Pinus lambertiana, in 1826.

Douglas who was born near Scone in Perthshire is better known for the significant range of forest trees he introduced, one of which included the Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii, named after another famous Scottish plant collector, Archibald Menzies (1754-1842) who first discovered it in British Columbia around 1792 prior to its introduction by Douglas in 1826.

Today this tree plays a significant role in the nation's modern forestry industry and it is fair to say that no other plant collector has had a greater impact on the appearance of Scotland's landscape than Douglas.

David Douglas

Archibald Menzies

Quamash,
important to forestry

Bluebells

Scilla non- scripta, family Hyacinthaceae/Liliaceae

Season - April to May

(Associations - Famous Scots, Heraldry, homecoming)

Bluebells

Native to Britain the bluebell features heavily in the music and culture of Scotland. Many poets, authors and musicians including Robert Burns, James Hogg and Lady Carolina Nairne have celebrated it's qualities and contribution to our landscape.

The most recent of these the Scottish classical composer Iain Ellis Hamilton (1922-2000) wrote a piece entitled Wild Garden, five pieces for the clarinet and the piano. You cannot help but wonder if this, one of his last works was inspired by the bluebell woods of the West of Scotland. Sadly it is unlikely if we will ever know, but what a fantastic celebration this piece of music is about our living heritage.

Like the thistle and rowan, bluebells are so evocative of our landscape they can rightly be seen as a plant of homecoming. Bluebells are also the plant badge of the Clan Grierson.

Iain Ellis Hamilton

Bluebells
Grierson plant badge

Guelder Rose

Viburnum opulus (Compactum), family Adoxaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Birth)

Guelder Rose

This plant is native to Britain, Europe and parts of Asia; it has been grown in our gardens since before 1600.

It is sometimes known as Cramp Bark as it was used in herbal medicines associated with childbirth. The fruit which is high in vitamin C, can be eaten fresh but it is very bitter; however it is made into a sauce similar to cranberry and served with poultry. The twigs were used as cooking skewers. Its common name is derived from the Dutch Province of Gueldres, where it was first cultivated.

The Scottish artist and writer Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) who often drew inspiration from nature, celebrated the plant in a work he created at Little Sparta in the Pentland Hills. A visit to the garden will reveal the following inscription on a tablet of stone at the entrance to Huff Lane within the area known as the English Park Land.

A Woodland Flute

BETULA
PENDULA
CARPINUS
BETULUS
VIBURNUM
OPULUS
POPULUS
TREMULA
PRUNUS
Silver Birch, Hornbeam
Guelder Rose, Aspen, Plum

Ian Hamilton Finlay

Old herbal remedy

Birch (ornamental)

Betula albosinensis, family Betulaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Ornamental Birch

This attractive ornamental birch from West China is often seen in modern gardens. It was first introduced into cultivation by English plant collector E. H Wilson for Veitch's nursery in 1901, and again by the Falkirk-born Scottish plant collector George Forrest (1873-1932). Forrest was one of the most prolific collectors of all time, carrying out seven expeditions to China from 1902 until his death in the field in 1932. Originally an employee of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, his funding came from several sources, including English cotton merchant E. K. Bulley.

He collaborated with Sir William Wright Smith (1875-1956) VMH, Queen's Botanist who was born in Lochmaben and rose to become Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Smith described many of the new plant introductions made by Forrest which included primulas, meconopsis and rhododendrons, many of which were new to science.

The contribution made by Forrest to both science and the modern garden is enormous as he introduced innumerable new species of these genera and lilies to cultivation. He also sent back over 31,000 dried herbarium specimens. A prolific photographer and an expert naturalist with an interest in birds, mammals and insects, there are many plants named after him and his photographic collection still exists in the archives of the RBGE today.

George Forrest

Sir William Smith

Wild Daffodil or Lent Lily

Narcissus pseudo-narcissus, family Primulaceae

Season - March to April

(Associations - Death, Famous Scots)

Wild Daffodil

The wild daffodil is native to many parts of Britain and Europe. It takes its Latin name from the myth surrounding the river god Cephissus and the story of his son Narcissus who through his beauty had many admirers, including the nymph Echo. Narcissus refuted them all including her. Angered at his refusal she made him fall in love with his own reflection in the river, unable to move he wasted away until he died. This myth was studied by the famous Scottish classicist and anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941) who wrote in his renowned work 'The Golden Bough' (1890) about his conviction that the myth originated from the belief that man's soul is situated in his reflection.

Ancient mythology also tells us about Hades the Greek god of the underworld capturing Persephone and taking her to the underworld as she was picking daffodils in the Elysian Fields. It is this myth which probably led to the common idea that the daffodil was a flower of the underworld. As such it was associated with death and was therefore used in wreaths and planted on graves, as it still is today.

In the Christian Faith it is linked to the Virgin Mary and several of the saints, it is even occasionally referred to as Mary's Star. Look closely in renaissance religious art and you will often see it present as a symbol of the resurrection, self-sacrifice and eternal life. To the Chinese it represents prosperity and happiness.

Sir James George Frazer

Wild Daffodil, often present in
Renaissance art

Lesser Periwinkle

Vinca minor, family Apocynaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Famous Scots, Marriage, Heraldry)

Lesser Periwinkle

Now naturalised in parts of Britain the lesser periwinkle is thought to have been introduced from Europe prior to 1600. It is pollinated by long-tongued bees and bee flies. Traditionally it has been planted in gardens as a symbol of good fortune and a happy marriage.

Herbalists used it as a tonic, a laxative and as a gargle; it was also prepared into ointment for skin conditions. Recently it has been important in providing the drug vincamine, used in treating brain disorders.

On the authority of the Court of the Lord Lyon, periwinkle is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and in the Matriculations of Arms of Chiefs as being the official plant badge of the Clan Hannay, originally from South West Scotland.

Perhaps the most famous Clan member was James Hannay (d.1661), the Dean of St Giles in Edinburgh. Reputedly, it was during one of his sermons on the 23 July 1637 that he became the target of a stool flung by one Jenny Geddes (c.1600-c.1660), a market trader, who was outraged at his use of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for the first time in Scotland. The incident turned into a full scale riot which brought out the town guard, depicted in a contemporary print.

Cluster of Lesser Periwinkle

Anglican Prayers used in Presbyterian service
provoke riot, 1637

Male Fern

Dryopteris felix-mas, family Dryopteridaceae

Season - March to October

(Associations - Tartan, Famous Scots)

Male Fern

Some ferns especially Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, were a traditional source of a yellow natural dye used in the manufacture of tartan and tweed. It was prepared from a mixture of the root and the mordant or fixative copperas (iron sulphate). They were also burnt in large quantities to obtain potash for the soap used to bleach linen.

The influential Scottish biologist, sociologist and town planner Patrick Geddes (1854-1932, left) first became interested in biology and the natural world as he wandered in the hills in search of ferns to establish in his parents garden.

From these humble beginnings Geddes would go on to become one of the most influential thinkers of his day, putting his ideas in to practice in the restoration of part of Edinburgh's Old Town including Riddles Court, Ramsey Garden and the Outlook Tower, before developing the master plan for Tel Aviv and then working in India. He was a polymath and an advocate of ecology and conservation as well as the need to control pollution even then; recent years have seen a renaissance in his work and writings. His most quoted phrase 'By leaves alone we live' derives from a larger statement on his view of the world.

"This is a green world, with animals comparatively few and small, and all dependent on leaves. By leaves alone we live. Some people have strange ideas that they live by money. They think energy is generated by the circulation of coins. Whereas the world is mainly a vast leaf colony, growing on and forming a leafy soil, not a mere mineral mass: and we live not by jingling coins, but the fullness of our harvests". Patrick Geddes.

No wonder he was respected by both Darwin and Einstein. Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) wrote of him "...he was one of the outstanding thinkers of his generation, not merely in the world, and not only one of the greatest Scotsmen of the past century but in our entire history".

Patrick Geddes

Male Fern or bracken

Rose 'Glenfiddich'

Rose (Glenfiddich), family Rosaceae

Season - June to August

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rose 'Glenfiddich'

Rose 'Glenfiddich' was bred in 1976 by the internationally renowned Scottish rose breeders, Cockers of Aberdeen. Named after a Speyside single malt within the garden it celebrates the renowned Scottish violinist, composer and songwriter Neil Gow (1727-1807).

Born near Dunkeld, he was talented from an early age which is perhaps why he was sponsored by the Duke of Atholl. This allowed him to concentrate on his music and he wrote over a hundred significant and well known fiddle tunes, to which we have danced and tapped our feet for generations.

Commercially minded, he went on to perform in London and Edinburgh and from 1784 onwards his tunes appeared as printed sheet music making them even better known. One of these 'Fare Well to Whisky' marks the feelings of the nation in 1799 when the making of whisky was prohibited due to a poor harvest that year. Legislators thought better to use the grain for food and for next year's seed rather than for the still.

Neil Gow

Lesser Periwinkle

Vinca minor, family Apocynaceae

Season - all year

(Associations - Famous Scots, Marriage, Heraldry)

Lesser Periwinkle

Now naturalised in parts of Britain the lesser periwinkle is thought to have been introduced from Europe prior to 1600. It is pollinated by long-tongued bees and bee flies. Traditionally it has been planted in gardens as a symbol of good fortune and a happy marriage.

Herbalists used it as a tonic, a laxative and as a gargle; it was also prepared into ointment for skin conditions. Recently it has been important in providing the drug vincamine, used in treating brain disorders.

On the authority of the Court of the Lord Lyon, periwinkle is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and in the Matriculations of Arms of Chiefs as being the official plant badge of the Clan Hannay, originally from South West Scotland.

Perhaps the most famous Clan member was James Hannay (d.1661), the Dean of St Giles in Edinburgh. Reputedly, it was during one of his sermons on the 23 July 1637 that he became the target of a stool flung by one Jenny Geddes (c.1600-c.1660), a market trader, who was outraged at his use of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer for the first time in Scotland. The incident turned into a full scale riot which brought out the town guard, depicted in a contemporary print.

Cluster of Lesser Periwinkle

Anglican Prayers used in Presbyterian service
provoke riot, 1637

Sweet Violet

Viola odorata, family Violaceae

Season - March to May

(Associations - Famous Scots, Marriage, Death)

Sweet Violet

This scented and seductive violet is linked to Aphrodite the goddess of love. Traditionally it was presented to bride or the bridegroom on the day of their wedding, the flowers were often dried and kept as a memento, hence they are occasionally found in family bibles.

The plant also has a dark side as it is dedicated to Persephone or Proserpina who in classical mythology was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter who whilst picking flowers in the meadow including violets and daffodils was carried off by Hades to the underworld, where she became his Queen Consort. Later she would be released to return to the earth briefly for a few months each year.

The Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg (1770-1835) clearly enjoyed the native flora and fauna. For instance, in his work The Forest Minstrel (1810) he often writes about his love of specific plants including the sweet violet which grows in the Scottish Borders.

How Foolish are Mankind
Far dearer to me is the humble ewe-gowan,
The sweet native violet, or the bud of the broom,
Than the fine fostered flowers in the garden a growing,
Though sweet be their savour and bonnie their bloom.
Far dearer to me is the thrush or the linnet,
than the fine bird from a far foreign tree.

James Hogg

Common Dog Violet

Viola riviniana, family Violaceae

Season - April to October

(Associations - Famous Scots, Death)

Dog Violet

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them'.

The words of David Hume (1711-1776) the Scottish Philosopher and historian born in Edinburgh.

The natural world was a constant source of inspiration to Hume providing the basis for much of his thinking and arguments. Although Hume resided in Edinburgh he regularly spent long periods of time at the family home Nine Wells near Chirnside in Berwickshire,where he enjoyed walking in the garden and surrounding natural woodlands which were dotted with this tiny spring flowering native violet which would have been familiar to him.

Violets are surrounded in mythology and popular belief, in some parts of Britain they are seen as the flowers of the dead and it was thought that to pick them with dew drops on would result in the death of a loved one. They are also associated with love. Other beliefs associate them with openness and innocence.

David Hume
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Rosa xanthina

Rosa xanthina (Canary Bird), family Rosaceae

Season - April to June

(Associations - Famous Scots)

Rosa xanthina

The famous Scottish surgeon and reformer Dr Elsie Inglis (1864-1916) was actually born in India, however she grew up and was educated in Edinburgh.

Her contribution to the needs of women's health in Scotland, especially in the field of maternity medicine paved the way for modern practices. Her contribution through the foundation of the Scottish Suffragette Federation to the improvement of conditions within the First World War military hospitals in Serbia cannot be underestimated. In a reflection of her international outreach she is recognised in the garden with a yellow rose the symbol of the suffrage movement in the United States of America.

Dr Elsie Inglis

Wild Flag Iris

Iris pseudacorus, family Iridaceae

Season - April-October (Form), April-May (Flowers)

(Associations - Tartan, Famous Scots, Death, Heraldry)

Wild Flag Iris

The wild flag iris was a traditional natural dye used for both tartan and tweed. The roots were harvested and processed with bog iron or copperas as a mordant to make either black or dark blue dyes; they were also made into ink. The leaves were also made into dyes for tartans and tweed providing a bright green dye when mixed with alum as mordant.

The roots were also used medicinally in many parts of the Highlands. In his History of Scottish Medicine (1932), J. D. Comrie speaks of their use as a laxative by Gaels in the Middle Ages. The author Martin Martin (c. 1660-1719) from Bealach in Skye, in his famous work A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Circa 1695, first published in 1793, writes of iris roots being dried and ground into a powder for use as snuff to treat headaches and colds. Martin's book was used by Boswell and Johnson during their famous tour of the Western Isles in 1773 and is still in print today.

To the Greeks Iris was the messenger of the gods, she is also said to have brought the souls of women to the land of Eternal Peace. This could be why they were often planted near graves.

The plant is the origin of an important heraldic symbol, the fleur-de-lis, the use of which dates back into antiquity. Around 1060, it was adopted by the French Kings as a heraldic symbol, it has featured in the Royal Arms of Scotland, since the time of King James I of Scotland (1394-1437).

Traditional tartan dye

James I

Scotch Thistle

Onopordon acanthium, family Asteraceae/Compositae

Season - all year

(Associations - Heraldry, Homecoming, Death, Famous Scots)

Scotch Thistle

The plant we know as the Scotch thistle Onopordon acanthium is not native. It was most likely introduced from Europe pre-16th century and has now naturalised in many areas. Chosen by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) as the emblem for George the IV's visit to Scotland in 1822, it has been accepted as a national emblem. The most likely candidate for the true Scotch thistle is the native spear thistle Cirsium vulgare - abundant in Scotland and very similar to the depictions on early Scottish coins.