They are free forcible men, in a country where life is safe, and has reached the greatest value.

They give the bias to the current age; and that not by chance or by mass, but by their character, and by the number of individuals among them of personal ability."-- Emerson: English Traits.
From Belfast to the Highlands of Scotland is an easy route by steamers and railways.

While at Birnam, near Dunkeld, I was reminded of some remarkable characters in the neighbourhood.

After the publication of the 'Scotch Naturalist' and 'Robert Dick,' I received numerous letters informing me of many self-taught botanists and students of nature, quite as interesting as the subjects of my memoirs.

Among others, there was John Duncan, the botanist weaver of Aberdeen, whose interesting life has since been done justice to by Mr.Jolly; and John Sim of Perth, first a shepherd boy, then a soldier, and towards the close of his life a poet and a botanist, whose life, I was told, was "as interesting as a romance." There was also Alexander Croall, Custodian of the Smith Institute at Stirling, an admirable naturalist and botanist.