THE village

of Ednam, or Eden

ham, is situated in the county of Roxburgh, on the north side of the river Eden, from which it derives its name, and which at a short distance falls into the Tweed. It lies a few miles to the north of Kelso, and of the English border, in the heart of the finest pastoral scenery in Scotland. Ednam, accordingly, has had the singular felicity of producing the first descriptive poet of which this country can boast. In this village, on the 22d of September 1700, was born James Thomson, whose name is so glorious to Scottish literature. It was in the scenery round Ednam and Kelso, that he formed those views of nature, which have been so exquisitely transcribed into his poem of the " Seasons." On the top of a beautiful hill near Ednam, the monument to his memory, the plan of which we some time ago presented to our readers, was intended to

be erected *.

It is remarkable that Ednam is now inhabited by a poet who has inherited some portion of the genius of Thomson. This is William Wight, several of whose ingenious pieces have been communicated to the public through the medium of this Miscellany.

* Query, Why is not this undertaking in greater forwardness?

tory.

October. THIS has proved to be

one of the finest months

in the year, a thing not uncommon in our climate. The nocturnal frosts have hitherto been only slight: the Indian cress, purslane, and love-apple, still (Oct. 20.) retain their verdure; many ash-trees have not yet lost their foliage; the bat is still seen flying about at night.

Oct. 12. Some herrings are now taken in the little bays and creeks near North Queensferry; but the shoal is inconsiderable. Farther up the Forth, Spirlings, or Smelts, are caught, but in small quantity. Some few gaudnooks or Saury Pikes (Esox. Saurus) are occasionally found, at ebbtide, with their noses stuck in the sludge. The garvie or sprat fishery at Kincardine is not so productive as formerly.

23. In the course of clearing out the foundation for the new prison, on the west side of the Parliament Square, near the top of the lane called Forrester's Wynd, some part of the native rock has been laid bare. A bed of highly indurated sandstone, is seen resting immediately on a bed of slate-clay, or argillaceous shistus, chiefly of a soft and friable nature. This is a fact deserving the attention of our controversial geologists. The strata dip to the north-east. The same sort of quartzy quartzy sandstone was exposed some years ago, at a very great depth, at the bottom of Bank Street, in laying the foundation of the new office of the Bank of Scotland.

FIORIN-GRASS. - The fame of this grass has now sounded forth from Clonfecle in the county of Armagh, to every part of Ireland, England, and Scotland; and Dr Richardson still continues to amaze agriculturists by accounts of its excellent properties and wonderful productiveness, attested by some of the magistrates and nobility of that part of Ireland. It is so tenacious of life, that shoots sent from Clonfecle by post, have vegetated upon being planted in gardens near this city. It is nothing else than the Agrostis stolonifera of Linnæus, or Creeping Bent-grass. It may be interesting to some readers of this journal to know, that it is by no means an uncommon indigenous grass in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, as well as in most parts of Scotland. It may very generally be observed sending down its stolones, or long trailing jointed shoots, along the moist sides of ditches or drains that have been rid in the summer. In the bottoms of ditches, it is often mixed with Festuca fluitans. In the winter it is most easily observed, maintaining, at that dead season, a more vivid green colour than most other grasses. From each joint proceeds an upright leafy shoot, and where the stolones happen to come in contact with the soil, two or three radicles are thrown out from every joint. The fiorin is apt to be confounded with the Agrostis vulgaris or common bent, which often likewise sends out trailing shoots from the root, especially in autumn. Where the remains of the flower can be found, the true fiorin may be distinguished by its having the florets much more cluster. ed than the common bent. The fiorin is the Red Robin of English farmers; and Dr Richardson considers it (perhaps without sufficient evidence,)

as synonymous with the famous Orcheston grass. The doctor is certainly wrong when he announces it as the same species with the celebrated Doob grass of India, the never-failing resource of our cavalry in that country. Had he consulted the 4th volume of the Asiatic Researches, he would have found that the durva or doob is a different plant. It is there described and figured by Sir William Jones. Dr Koenig considered it as a new species of Agrostis, and called it A. linearis: Its panicle bears much resemblance to that of the genus Panicum. The fiore-grass of Iceland, mentioned by Horrebow, is got only at the ebb, and seems to be the Zostera marina of Linnæus.

As to the habits and properties of fiorin: Dr Richardson affirms that it thrives in all soils, high or low, wet or dry; on bare peat-moss; on the flowbog, or on the pavé of a shut-up turnpike-road. It will grow, in short, on the very worst soils, and will from thence yield equally good hay as on the best. Unlike the common cultivated grasses, a crop of fiorin continues to vegetate, and to increase in bulk, by extending its stolones, long after flowering; so that fiorin hay may be made very late in the year: Dr Richardson affirms that he has made it with success in December. A soaking of rain does the hay no harm; the fiorin possessing so much of the vital principle as to hinder the fermentative process. The hay is of the best quality; horses, cows, and sheep, giving a preference to it. The produce is very great; equal to six or seven tons per English acre. If left uncut, it affords green food from November to May, excellent for milch cows; affording milk and butter free of any peculiar flavour, and in this respect superior to turnips. The fiorin is best propagated by strewing the stolones, or strings, over the surface of the land, and sprinkling a little earth over them. The seed might be sown; but the strings afford