His father was a stone mason, possessed of good abilities and a store of general information, rarely surpassed by persons in his sphere of life. His family consisted of three daughters and as many sons, of whom the subject of this notice was the second. At about three years of age he was sent to school in the village, where the good old dame,
"Gentle of heart nor knowing well to rule,"
soon found herself mastered by her high-spirited little scholar, who
"Much had grieved on that ill-fated morn,
When he was first to school reluctant borne,"
and took every opportunity of showing his dislike to the restraint by playing truant, or defying the worthy lady's authority. At the parish school of Kinnoul, kept by Mr. Wilson, whither he was soon sent, David Douglas evinced a similar preference to fishing and bird-nesting over book learning; he was often punished for coming late, not knowing his lessons, and playing the truant; but no chastisement affected him so much as the being kept in school after the usual hour of dismissal. His boyish days were not remarkable for any particular incidents. Like others at his time of life, he was lively and active, and never failed of playing his part in the usual sports of the village; a taste for rambling, and much fondness for objects of Natural History being, however, very strongly evinced. He collected all sorts of birds, though he often found it difficult to maintain some of these favorites, especially the hawks and owls. For the sake of feeding a nest of the latter, the poor boy, after exhausting all his skill in catching mice and small birds, used frequently to spend the daily penny with which he should have procured bread for his own lunch, in buying bullock's liver for his owlets, though a walk of six miles to and from school might, well have sharpened his youthful appetite. He was likewise much attached to fishing, and very expert at it, and when he
soon after arriving at a neighboring island, almost at the very same period as the subject of this memoir. It will be seen at once that I allude to Mr. Thomas Drummond.
