IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) k /, // ^ o^4i. <^ :/ i/.. ic -% 1.0 I.I |50 •"IE 1^ 12.0 11.25 ■ 1.4 1.8 1.6 % vQ ^h ''^i ^>/ 'V' V /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation V ^ >«^ iV d ntarii): a Kciiiiiiisci MciniirieH of a May Ardi'iiing .... AiiiitliiT May Morning Mort! Aliiiut My Kcatlicred Friends Tlif Kn^H'^li 'S|iarrow : a Di'fencH . Notes from My Old Diary . Tho Spider l'ro8])ecting, and What I Kound in My Dijfjfing The Kobin and tiie Mirror In the Canadian Woods Tiie First Death in the Clearing Alone in the Forest t)n the Island of Minnewawa . The Children of the Ff.rest . Thoughts on Vegetable Instinct Some Curious Plants . Some N^arieties of Polien . The Cranberry Marsh . Our Native Grasses . Indian (irass .... Mosses and Tiicliens .... The Indian Moss-bag . Something (lathers Up the J'ragmeuts I iii X X X V •M 4:? t'.l I 'id 71; 'Xt lltl 114 121 125 12s ir.o ItlO 17.S 17tt l^~ I'.r. 20--' 20" 21 21!t 224 232 23;-) ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Mrs. Traill . Gun Hill, Southwold Beach " Reydon Hall " . . . . " Westr 7e," Residence of Mn. Traill . "Polly Cow's Island" . Frontispiece vii . xvi no . 182 J INTRODri roRN' NOTIi. Mils. Traill's liook was ahvady in tin- press wlioii I was riMHU'stt'il l)y tlic |ml>Iislii'r to write a sliort liioi^raphical sketeli of the author's lilV' as an intro- duction. B!)th tiuu' and space were limited, and I undertook the task with much anxietv, knowinii' that with sucli and other limitatiouH I couhl scarcely expect to do the subject justice. I have endeavored to use Mrs. Traill's own notes and extracts from her letters, wherever available, hoping thus to draw a life-like picture rather than enumerate the incidents of lier lil'e or j)ut the ivcords of the past into '• cold type." I have dwelt particularly on the circumstances of Mrs. Traill's childhood and youth, which I believe went far to inlliience hei' later life and direct her literaiy laboi'S, and becuuse they are also likely to be of greater interest to the ])ublic and the readei's of her books than a mere di'tailed reco; 1 of her life. 11 IXTR()I)rfT( )RY XOTE. When asked some years ago by the editor of the Youru/ C(i/aad'mn to write a sketch of Mrs. Traill's life for its columns, tlie rider to the reijuest was added that she " wished tiie sketch to be written with a loving pen — one that would depict the Howers ratlier than the thorns that had strewn her path," and I have in these few lines kept that kindly wish in view. If I have failed to satisfy m^'self or others with my work, it has not been from lack of love for the honored and valued authoress of " Pearls and Pehrles." May we keep her lono- to bless us with her loving smile and happy, trustful spirit, and enrich our literature still further with the products of her graceful pen. Mary Agnes FitzGibbon. Toronto, December 4tli, 1894. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Altiioi(!II tlu! fmuily from wliich Catharine Parr Strickland (Mis. Traill) is (lesccndcd was one of consideraVjle note and standing in the northern counties of Enjj;l!ind, her innnediate ancestor was born and spent the «,neatei' pait of his life in London. The cause of the migration of this bianch of the Strickland house was the unexpected return of Catharine's great-giand- father's elder and long-lost brother. He had been hidden at the Court of the exiled Stuarts, at St. Germains, and returned, after an absence of upwards of twenty years, to claim the paternal estate of Finsthwaite Hall and its dependencies. He not o'lly established his claim, but, with an ungenerous hand, grasped all the rents and re\-enues accruing to the property, and his nephew, then a student at Winchester College, dis- daining to ask an}' favois of his uncle, left the now reduced comforts of Light Hall, his mother's jointure house, and went to seek his fortune in the metropolis. Being successful in the quest, he, after a time, married Elizabeth Cotterell, of the loyal Staffordshire family of that name, smd maternally descended from one of the honest Penderel brothers, who protected Charles II. in the oak at Boscftbel, and succeeded, through their intrepid loyalty to the house of Stuart, in effecting his escape. IV IMOCHArHICAL SKETCH. Of tills niarriin^t' tlicic wci-c (M;j;lit children : Tlioiiiiis, born in 17"i''^; Siunucl, in ITliO, iinped hedge and noble, wide-spreading oaks. The hou.se (pulled down only within the last few years) stood on the slope of the hill, and below, at tlie foot of the old world gardens and meadows, the lovely river winds its silvery way to the sea. The green hills, the projecting headland.s, the tiny hamlets clustered about the ivy-covered church towers of fifteenth and sixteenth century architecture; the beauty of the velvet}' meadows and the hawthorn hedge.s ; the red-tiled cottages with their rose-clad porches, and beyond, against the sky, the old grey towers and massive walls of that grand old stronghold, the Castle of Bungay, where the fierce Earl Marshal of England had defied th(! might and menace of the " King of all Cockaynie and all his braVerie," altogether form a scene it would be difficult to eijual in any (juarter of the globe. Among other rooms in "Stowe House," there was a small brick-paved parlor, which was given up entirely to the chil- dren. Here tlilder sisters of the hours spent within the oak-panelled walls and by the great fire-place of the brick parlor, of the pranks and mischief hatched there against the arbitrary rule of a trusted servant who hated the " Lunnon children" in profjortion as she loved the SufFolk-born daughters of the house Here they learned and acted scenes from Shakespean*, poi'ed o^•er great leather-bound tomes of history, such as a folio erlition of llapin's " History of England," with Tyndalls notes, and 2 I VI IJIOUKAFUICAT, SKKTCH. ' printed in last century tj'pe. Here Aj^nes and Elizabeth repeated to the younger children Pope's " Homer's Iliad," learned out of Sir Isaac Newton's own copy, or told them stories from the old chronicles. Mr. Strickland was a disciple of Isaak Walton and a devoted folhjwer of the "gentle craft," but being a great sufferer from the gout, re(juired close attendance. Katie generally accom- panied him to the river, and though Lockwood, a man-servant who had been with him many years, was always at hand, Katie could do much to help her father, and became very expert in h mdiing his fishing-tackle, while still a very small child. One of Mrs. Traill's most treasured pt)ssessions now is a copy of the first edition of " The Compleat Angler," which formerly belonged to her father. When talking of her childhood, Sara (Mrs. Gwillyni) alway.s spoke of " the Katie " as the idolized pet of the household. " She was such a fair, soft blue-eyed little darling, always so smiling and happy, that we all adored her. She never cried like otlu'r children — -indeed we used to say that Katie never saw a sorrowful day — for if anythiiig went wrong she just shut her eyes and the tears fell from under the long lashes and rolled down her cheeks like pearls into her lap. My father idolized her. From her earliest childhood she always sat at his light iiand, and no mattei* how iri-itable or cross he might be with the others, or from the gout, to which he was a maroyr, he never said a cross word to 'the Katie.'" "Stowe House" was only a rented property, and when, in 1808, "Reydon Hall," near Wangford, fell into the market, Mr. Strickland bought it and removed his family to the new home at the end of the year. "Well do I remember the move to Reydon that bitter Christmas Eve," said Mrs. Traill, when speaking of it on last Thanksgiving Day, her eyes shining as bright as a child's with the recollection. " The roads were deep in snow, and we chil- dren were sent over in an open tax-cart with the servants and carpenter pelisse be as nu'i-ry my childi (J rave' to keep us Reydon t A fine dates back fipmi, ideal precious gil the road b in the couii gabled roo bers anfl lu fearless na the la\\'n, j BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Vll Elizabeth 's Iliad," old them SI dev()te«l erer from ly acconi- ,n-servant at hand, xn\e very ery small ms now is •r," which m) always lousehold. always so ever cried iitie never she just )n,i; lashes ap. My le always cross he 1 he was when, in irket, Mr. lew home at bitter it on last nild's with d we chil- vants and carpenters. Tt was .so cold they rolled me up in a velvet pelisse belonging to Eliza to keep me from freezing, but I was as merry as a cricket all the way, and kept them laughing ovei- my childish sallies. We stopped at a place called ' Deaflnian's Grave' to have some straw put into the bottom of the cart to keep us warm. No, I shall never forget that journey to Reydon through the snow." A fine old Elizabethan mansion, of which the title-deed ' ^ ; vv ■ ' J ' A. ,. ** ■ ".^^0._ ■•— ■ i»r-.t^.«».t.-/..rA»' (il'N HILL, SOUTHWOLD UEACU. dates back to the reign of Edward VI., "Reydon Hall " was a fipau idi'al residence for the V>ringing up of a family of such precious gifts as the Strickland sisters. Ft stands back fi-om the road behind some of the finest oaks, chestnuts and ashes in the county. Built of dark brick, its ivy-covered wall, its gabled roof, tall chimneys, stone-paved kitchen, secret cham- bers and haunted garrets suited both their imaginative and fearless natures. A magnificent sycamore in the centre of the lawn, a dell at the end of " the plantation " (as a wide ' <^^\ ' Vlll BIOGRAPH IC A L SKETCH . i t»pen Henii-cii'fular belt of oaks was callerl), and the beautiful Reydon Woorl to the north, on the Eai'l of Stradbroke's property, formed a grand envii'onment for the development of thiMr several characteristics. Air. Stiickland educated his elder daughters himself, and having a fine library, they were given an education far superior to that which generally fell to the lot of the daughters of that date. He had purchased a house in Norwich, anfl always spent some months of the year in tlia,t b(!autiful old cathedral city, and as the attacks of gout increased in frequency, was obliged to reside there (hning the winter. He was generally accompanied by one or two of his daughters, his wife dividing her time as much as possible betwetm the two houses. During her absence from Reydcm, the care and educati(;n of the younger children devolved upon their eldest sister Elizabeth. That the literary bent showed itself early will be seen by the following account, which I cannot refrain from giving as much in Mrs. Traill's own words as possible : " We passed our daj's in the lonely old house in sewing, walking in the lanes, sometimes going to see the sick and carry food or little comforts to the cottagers; bu!" reading was our chief resource. We ransiicked tlie libraiy for books, we ' dipped into old magazines of the last centui'V, such as Chris- topher North styles ' Ijottled dulness in an ancient bin,' and dull enough much of their contents proved. We tried history, the drama, voyages and travels, of which latter there was a huge folio. We even tried ' Locke on the Human Under- standing.' We wanted to be very learned just then, but as you may imagine, we made small progress in that direction, and less in the wonderfully end)ellished old tome, ' Descartes' Philosophy.' We read Sir Francis Knolles' 'History of the Turks,' with its curious wood-cuts and cjuaint old-style English. We dipped into old Anthimy Hoi-neck's book of 'Divine Morality,' but it was really too dry. AVe read Ward's ' His- tory of the Reformation in Rhyme,' a book that had been 4^-r 1!1<)<;hai'Iii(;a[. skktch. IX [> l)eautit'ul triidbr()ke'.s ■li){)ment of iinself, and :'ar superiijr bers of that md always cl cathedral [uenc}', was s generally ifc dividing 's. During the younger n. be seen by ra giving as le sick and ■eading was books, we ' 1 as Chris- t bin,' and led history, ihei-e was a an Under- len, but as b direction, Descartes' tory of the 'le English, of 'Divine ard's ' His- had been condemned to be burnt by the common hangman. Mow this co{)y had escaj)ed 1 never learned. 7 remembei" how it began : " ' I King tlie (IcoiIh (»f good King Harry, And Ned liis soil and dauglitei- Mary, And of a nhort-livod inter-rcign Of one fair (lueen hight Lady Jam.'.' • "We tuinc.l to t\w Asfro/<)(/i'r'n Mdi/n-inr and so frightened the cook and hous«'inaid by reading aloud its iiorrible tales of wit(!hcraft and apparitions that they were afraid to go about after dark lest they should meet the ghost of old Martin, an eccentric old bachelor brother of a late proprietoi- of i\w. Halh who had lived the last twenty yeai's of his life secluded in the old garret which still bore his name and was said to be haunted by his unlaid spirit. This garret was a (juaint old place, clo.seted round and papered with almanacs bearing dates in the middle of the past century. We childi-en used to puzzle over the ni3'stical signs of tlu^ Zodiac, and try to comprehend the wonderful and mysterious predicticjns printed on the old 3'ellow paper. Thei-e was, too, a tiny iron gratt^ with thin rusted bars, and the hooks that had held up the hangings of the forlorn recluse's befl. On one of the panes in the dormer windows there was a rhyme writti>n with a diamond ring, and p made the olfl chest a receptacle for extra stoi-es of house-linen, and underneath all she had depctsited many reams of paper, blotting-paper, and dozens of i-cady-cut quill pens which had been sent to our father on the death of his brother, who had been a clerk in the Bank of Ensrland. Here was treasure trove. We pounced on the pa' er and pens — -their being cut adding much to their value — and from some cakes of Indian ink we contrived to manu- facture respectable writing fluid. Among the old V)ooks in the library there was a fine atlas in two .raarto volumes, full of maps anfl abounding in the most interesting geograj)hical hii-tories of the European countries, legends, the truth of which we nevrr (|uestioned, and flourishing descriptions that just suited our "omantic ideas of places we had never stjen but had no difficulty in picturing to ourselves. I chose the period of my hero William Tell, intending to write an interesting love tale ; Vjut I soon got my hero and heroine into an inextri- cable muddle, so fell out of love adventures altogether, anfl altering my plan ended by writing a juvenile tale, which I brought to a more satisfactory conclusion. Every day we wr()t# a porti(m, and at night read it sdoud to 8ara. She took a lively interest in our stories and gave us her opinion and advice, of which we took advantage to improve them the following day. Not feeling quite sure of our mother's approval, we kept our manuscripts carefully concealed after her i-eturn, but we were in even greater dread of our eldest sister, knowing that she would lecture us on the waste of time. " Que morning I was sitting on the step inside our dressing- room door, reading the last pages of my story to 8ara, when the door behind me opened and a small white hand was fjuietly placed on mine and the papers extracted. T looked at Sara in dismay. Not a word had been spoken, but I knew my mother's hand, and the dread of Eliza's criticism became an xu 1H(HJ|{AI'III('AI, SKKTCII. I ! instant reality ; and licf ' I tliink you had In-cn Ix-tter <'ni])l<)yi>d in inipi'ovin;^ youi' ^^i-ainniai- and .spcllin^r than in .sci'il)l)Hnji( HU(;h trash,' sounded ccuclly siiiritstic to my Hcnni- tivc cars. I, howcvci', l)('<,'<^e-d, London." Thus was Mrs. Traill the first of the Strickland sisters to enter the ranks of literature, as she is now the last survivoi- of that talented coterie. The unex[)ected success of Katie's first venture no doubt induced her sisters to send their MSS. to the publishers. How their work has been recognized is matter of history. "The Blind Highland Piper, and Other Tales " was so well received by the public that Katie was employed by Harris to write another for his House. " Nursery Tales " proved a greater success, although the remuneration she received was not increased. She next wrote for the Quaker House of Messrs. Darton &■ Harvey, "Prejudice Reproved," "The Young Emigrants," " Sketches from Nature," " Sketch Book lUOOKAI'HICAL SKK'n II. XV ut' a Young Naturalist," and "The St('|tl)r<.th('r.s." This finii paid her more lilwrally than Harris, and it was with tin* utmost delight and phmsurc that she sent the jiroceeds of her [ittn to her mother at Ueydon, grateful that she was able to lielp everj in so small a way t(» eke out the \u>w reduced ineome of the home. >[essrs. Dean it Mundy puhlished "Little T)\} Diitact, and \Mie could have appeared in worse plight to captivate unknown relatives than she did that morn- ing, wet from the sea spray, weary and weak from the effects of the stormy passage. One of these sisters. Miss Fotheringham, is still living in London at the advanced age of ninety-one, and 1 have sat beside the beautiful white-haired old lady and listened with delight to her description of the arrival of the English bride their brother-in-law brought so unexpectedly to their house at Kirkwall. '* We were not altogether pleased at the tidings of his mar- riage, but we fell in love with his second wife before she had been a day in the house ; and truly she was a lovely, bright sunny creature to take out to the untracked wilds of a colony." After a stay of some weeks in the Islands they returned to Scotland to sail from the _ Clyde in the last vessel of the season bound for Quebec and Montreal. The following word-picture of the parting at Kirkwall is descriptive of the tenacious affection felt by the tenantry and dependents for their feudal lairds, who hold rank and titles peculiar to the islands, and which are derived from their descent from the Norse Vikings who in former ages so often defied the power of the Scottish kings : "Assembled on the Kirkwall pier we found about twenty- five of the Westove tenantry. They had come down to take leave of their old master. Among them was auld Jean Scott, the nurse or moome of my husband. He, wishing to propitiate her in my favor, had provided me with a handful of coins to BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XIX give her. Thoush her hand closed over the silver, she con- tinued to regard nie with a stern and forbidding countenance, — I was a stranger and a foreign body, not one of their island folk. In wild, impassioned tones she entreated the master to stay in his ' ain countrie an' amang his ain people and kin.' Then turning to me she said angrily, • An' It is ye that are takin' him awa' frae us. Ye are bonnie eneuch, an' if ye wad but speak the word he maunna deny ye ; but ye wauna, ye wauna dae it,' and flinging back my hand she threw herself on her knees at her master's feet, sobbing out, ' Ye will gae awa, an' these e'en that see ye tlie noo wull see ye nae mair.' " My husband lifted and tried to soothe her, but she would not be comforted. Ah, Jean I you spoke truly ; the master you so loved and honorerl lies in the little churchyaid on the Ijanks of the Otonabee, far from the Lady Kirk of his Orkney Island home." At Inverness, Mrs. Traill first saw a Highland regiment "all plaided and plumed in their tartan array," and heard the pipes j-laying the grand Highland " March of the Cameron Men." Her enthusiasm, as well as her intimate knowledge of the Scottish writers, won her golden opinions, and the English bride received much attention from the Highland descendants of the men who had striven to the death for the cause of the Stuarts. " I was far from (juite well when we left Inverness by the little passenger steamer Highland Chieftain, 3'et not too ill to find myself, in company with others of the passengers, climb- ing the steep winding path which led from the waters of Loch Ness to the Falls of Foyers and 2)lucking many sweet wild- Howers by the way. My love for flowers attractecFuie atten- tion of two of my companicms, a Mr. Allen, of Leith, and a Mr. Sterling, of (Masgow, both of whom I found were horti- culturists and well acquainted with the flora of the country. We entered into conversation, and they added much to the I XX mOGllAl'HICAL SKETCIf. pleasure of the journey by pointing out to nie the interesting objects along our route. At (ilen Morrison, a fine old gentle- man with his fishing-basket and tackle was rowed out to the boat by two barefooted Highland lassies, stout girls who plied the oars with as jiowerful a stroke as any of the fisher lads of Croniai'ty. [ must have e3'ed the fishing-basket with a longing glance (it reminded me of my childh(»od days on the bank of the Waveney), for the old laird noticed me and we became (piite friendly. He talked of salmon fishing and Highland U)chs, and pointed out the wild opening of Lochiel's (j!len. Then wo spoke of the Camerons and the INIacflonells, the Stewarts and Glencoe, the Highland chiefs and Highland feuds and emigration, and I tokl him we were bound for the far west. Before he left tlu; boat at a point leading to Tnverar}^, he held my hand a few seconds and said : ' If you should ever be near the Highland settlement of Glengarry, and need help or shelter, say that you have seen the MaalowU, and every d»)or will })e oj)ened to you, every Highland hand held out in token of friendship.' "That night we spent in a clean little public-house within sight of the giant Ben Ness, the hostess of whicl talked much of 8ir Walter Scott, whom she had known wed. The illness I had felt coming on when in Inverness \sas only stayed, and it now overtook me, robbing me of all the pleasure of tlie lovely scenery of the Clyde, and by the time we reached Greenock I was (completely prostrated. Skilful treatment and careful nursing, however, enabled me to recover sufticientlj' to be carried on board the brig Laurel, in which our passage had been taken and paid for, and which it would have l)een a serious loss to forfeit." Mrs. Traill speaks of this brig iis being the last of the season sailing from that port to Quebec. They sailed on the 7th of July, a fact and date which bear interesting compari- son with the carrying trade of the present time between the Clyde and Canada. Ill :lli BIOOUAPHICAL SKETCH. XXI The passa<^e was a j^ocxi one, unbroken l)y storms or f