National Records of Scotland

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Famous Scots

Grape Hyacinth

Muscari azureum, family Liliaceae
Season: 
May

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.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Grape Hyacinth. Image credit: terri_bateman, Flickr. Public domain
Grape Hyacinths. Image credit: Ervins Strauhmanis, Flickr. Public domain

Male Fern

Dryopteris filix-mas, family Dryopteridaceae
Season: 
March to October
Associations: 

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) 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.

‘Peter Geddes’ birth in the Old Parish Register for Glenmuick, 1854

Entry for ‘Peter Geddes’ birth in the Old Parish Register for Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn. It is unclear if the name registered ‘Peter’ was a mistake, or if the family decided to use Patrick instead after registration.
Crown copyright, National Records of Scotland, OPR201/20 p123

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. 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".

 

 

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Male Fern. Image credit: Nicholas Turland, Flickr. CC license
Male Fern. Image credit: Leonora (Ellie) Enking, Flickr. CC license

Daffodil, Wild (Lent Lily)

Narcissus pseudonarcissus, family Primulaceae
Season: 
March to April

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 by 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 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.

Madonna of the Daffodils with the Child and Donors by Jan van Scorel. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Madonna of the Daffodils with the Child and Donors by Jan van Scorel. 
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Daffodil. Image credit: CameliaTWU, Flickr. CC license
Daffodil. Image credit: Anders Ademark, Flickr. CC license

Cowslip

Primula veris, family Primulaceae
Season: 
April to May

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 celebrates 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 his play Hamlet using it as reference to a path of uncertain pleasure, he also used it as a symbol of death in the play 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.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Cowslip. Image credit: Amateur with a Camera, Flickr. CC license
Cowslips. Image credit: In Memoriam: me'nthedogs, Flicker. CC license

Bluebell

Scilla non-scripta, family Hyacinthaceae/Liliaceae
Season: 
April to May

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 is the Scottish classical composer Ian Ellis Hamilton (1922-2000). His work, 'Wild Garden', consists of 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.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Bluebell. Image credit: Shelley & Dave, Flickr. CC license
Bluebells in woodland, Image credit: Eljay Flickr. CC license

Birch (ornamental)

Betula albosinensis, family Betulaceae
Season: 
all year
Associations: 

This attractive ornamental birch from West China is often seen in modern gardens. It was first introduced into cultivation by English plant collector Ernest Henry 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 1904 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 and founder of Ness Botanic Gardens Arthur Kilpin Bulley and estate owner J.C. Williams.

He collaborated with Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853-1922) and Sir William Wright Smith (1875-1956), who were both Regius Keepers of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Balfour and Smith described many of the new plant introductions made by Forrest which included primulas, meconopsis, lillies and rhododendrons, many of which were new to science.

Forrest employed indigenous collectors to assist him and the contributions made by them to both science and the modern garden is enormous as they introduced innumerable new species of these genera and lilies to cultivation. They 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 Forrest and his correspondence and photographic collections still exists in the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh today.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Ornamental Birch. Image credit: wlcutler, Flicker. CC license

Birch (Silver)

Betula pendula, family Betulaceae
Season: 
all year

Birch appears in Celtic tradition as a symbol of the awakening of new life. This was once reflected by the use of birch twigs for creating corn sheaf bridal figures used in the celebrations surrounding St Bridget’s Day each spring. Saint Brigid was the Celtic goddess of rebirth. In the language of flowers birch represents modesty and grace, hence it was referred 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 such as fish barrels, carts and ploughs. During the height of the textile industry in Scotland, bobbins for spinning were made from birch. The bark was used for candles, paper and tanning. A tea was produced from the leaves and used medicinally; 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. An especially fine example is the portrait of Mrs Downey of Prestonpans (c1787-1790). We see her in an imaginary mixed woodland of birch and beech.

Mrs Downey by Henry Raeburn. Tate. Creative commons

Mrs Downey by Henry Raeburn. 
Tate ref. N01146. Creative commons

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Birch. Image credit: Bernard Spragg, Flickr. Public Domain

Bell Heather

Erica cinerea (C.D. Eason) and Erica cinerea (Hookstone White), family Ericaceae
Season: 
June to September

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 both the 1715 and 1745 rebellions.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Bell heather. Image credit: Will_wildlife, Flickr. CC license
Bell Heather. Image credit: amandabhslater, Flickr. CC license

Bear's Breeches

Acanthus spinosus, family Acanthaceae
Season: 
July to August

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 General Register House and the 'Old Quad' at the University of Edinburgh, is the vast oval staircase at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.

General Register House, Princes Street, South Elevation, 30 July 1772. NRS, RHP6082/7
General Register House, Princes Street, South Elevation, 30 July 1772. 
Crown copyright, National Records of Scotland, RHP6082/7

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

Robert Adam attributed to George Willison oil on canvas, circa 1770-1774, NPG 2953, © National Portrait Gallery, London

Robert Adam attributed to George Willison oil on canvas, circa 1770-1774
NPG 2953, © National Portrait Gallery, London

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Bear's Breeches. Image credit: Luc Coekaerts from Tessenderlo, Flickr. Public domain
Bear's Breeches. Image credit: Luc Coekaerts from Tessenderlo, Flickr. Public domain

Almond

Prunus dulcis, family Rosaceae
Season: 
March to April

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.

Archivist Garden Item Image: 
Almond blossom. Image credit: lightups, Flickr. CC license
Almond tree. Image credit: calafellvalo, Flickr. CC license

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