	Believe it or not, the dried flowers shown on this page are over 150 years old. Gathered by the early 19th-century Dundee botanist, William Gardiner, they now form part of The Lamb Collection, which is held in the Local Studies Department of Dundee Central Library, in Scotland, together with several editions of his two most celebrated publications, and correspondance concerning posthumous reprints. The following information comes from one of the standard textbooks for anyone interested in the history of Dundee, William Norrie's Dundee Celebrities of the nineteenth century: being a series of biographies of distinguished or noted persons connected [...] with the town of Dundee; and who have died in the present century, published in 1873 by Norrie (Dundee), R. Park (Broughty Ferry), J. F. Hood (Arbroath) and John R. Norrie (Perth).
William Gardiner William Gardiner, the poet botanist, was born in Dundee in 1809. Like most Scotch boys whose parents were in humble circumstances, he got a very small share of schooling, it consisting in little more than learning to read and write. At the early age of 10, he was apprenticed to an umbrella maker, in whose employment he remained five years. When his apprenticeship was completed, he removed to the shop of Mr George Robertson, hosier and umbrella maker, where he remained till 1844. Possessed of an indomitable spirit of perseverance, he set himself, by study and the attendance at evening classes, to make up for his early lack of education; and his after publications show how successful he had been in accomplishing his object; while his poetical effusions, scattered through his writings, indicate his refined taste. He very early commenced the study of botany. Indeed, from his earliest years he had been familiarised with plants. His father, as well as his uncle, had a love of botanical pursuits, and they endeavoured early to instil into his mind a love for their favourite science. Frequently he accompanied them in their botanical rambles, and through them was introduced to others of kindred tastes.
	Amongst these William Jackson, Jun., with whom a lasting friendship was formed, which was terminated only by death. To these causes may be traced much of that enthusiasm which afterwards distinguished him. He took an interest in all departments of natural history, but his chief study was botany, and to his this latterly he gave his undivided attention. His frequent visits to the various localities in the neighbourhood of the town, had made him familiar with their botanical treasures. The Den of Mains, Hare Craigs, Baldovan Woods, and Will's Braes were often visited in the early summer mornings, or after the work of the day was over, in search of wild flowers. This latter place especially was a favourite resort both for its botanical treasures and its scenery. He not only loved flowers, but also the associations with which they were surrounded. The singing of birds, the chirrup of grasshopper, or the hum of the bee, were delightful sounds to his ears, and sometimes he would embody his feelings in verse.
As an illustration of this, we may quote his lines 'To the Laced-winged Fly,' introduced by him in the course of a lecture ' On the Transformation of Insects,' which he delivered at the Watt Institute on the evening of Wednesday, March 9, 1836 :- TO THE LACED - WINGED FLY Bright fly! thou recallest the sweet days of my childhood, When wand'ring alone through the green sunny wildwood, To pull the fresh cowslips all drooping in dew, And list to the ring-dove so plaintively coo. I there first beheld thee, in happy repose, - Thy pillow the half-opened leaves of a rose, How enraptured I stood, and in silent surprise, Viewed thy fair pearly wings and thy bright golden eyes! And how with delight my young bosom did glow, When thou mountedst aloft to the cherry-tree's bough, And then, in the wake of a clear sunny ray, Rose far in the blue sky, and vanished away ! And still, when I visit the woodland's green bowers, To quaff the rich of the gay summer flowers, And hear the sweet birds in their happiness singing, Till all the glad echoes with music are ringing, I love to behold thee on rose-blossoms sitting, Or under the fragrant trees merrily flitting, Thy beauty-the pleasure thou seem'st to inherit- Imparts a pure ray of delight to my spirit; For who can be sad while a creature like thee, With so fragile a form, yet so happy can be? Does He who has clothed thee in vestments so fair, And fed thee, and watched thee with tenderest care, Not watch over all with unwavering eye, And pour, from a fountain that never runs dry, His kindness unbounded, on great and on small, And His power and His love, that sustaineth them all! Then welcome, bright fly! for a teacher thou art, That can win, with thy gentle persuasion, my heart; No anger-no threat'nings-thou usest to awe me; But with Love's silken cord dost more easily draw me, To willingly offer, at Gratitude's shrine Thy spirit's pure praise to thy Maker and mine.
	When a holiday occurred, the botanical rambles were extended to greater distances - the Deerhill Woods, Auchmithie, Red Head, Sidlaw Hills, &c. - and specimens of their various botanical productions secured. The writer well remembers how graphically he described his first visit to the Red Head. Being too poor to purchase a vasculum, he procured a basket, and covered it with some old oil cloth; and after his day's wanderings, what was his mortification to find that many of the valuable and rare plants he had collected had shrunk up and been destroyed by the heat of the summer's sun - his psuedo-vasculum proving to thin to withstand its rays! Those short excursions but increased has ardour; and the desire to visit our Scottish mountains - to climb Ben Lawers, Ben-na-bourd, or loch-na-gar - and examine their floral productions, rose depressingly upon the mind. By the kindness of his employer, he was allowed a few weeks of leisure in the summer of 1838, to prosecute his botanical pursuits; but then he was without the means, his wage at this time being only 10s. a week. It occurred to him, however, to propose to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh to collect Alpine plants for them; and the offer being accepted, he made a regular excursion into the Perthshire Highlands, collecting many rarities, and greatly increasing his knowledge of the vegetable kingdom; and so well pleased were the society with the collection made for them, that he was elected an associate member. He was also, some years afterwards, elected an associate of the Linnćan Society. Next year, he spent several months in collecting coast plants, and in 1840 he visited Clova Mountains, and made a collection of rare and interesting plants to be found there, for the Botanical Society of London.
These mountains had been rendered classic ground to the botanist by the researches of George Don, of Forfar, who had explored and made known their rich treasures to the botanical world - several of the plants discovered there not having been found anywhere else in Britain. It was with some degree of enthusiasm, therefore, Mr Gardiner set out to visit the locality; and he used to speak ever after with rapture of the collections he then made. The plants gathered by him in these excursions being distributed by the societies amongst their members, spread his name over the country. The result was, that he received orders from various individuals to collect plants for them. This suggested an idea that he might prosecute his favourite pursuits, and at the same time make a living by collecting and distributing Scottish plants. In this idea he was not mistaken; for from this time, up to the date of his last illness, he continued to make a trade of collecting and selling botanical specimens, many thousands of which he distributed to all parts of the country, as well as the Continent. There are few British botanists whose collections have not been enriched by some rarities gathered by Mr. Gardiner. Besides the orders for specimens, he likewise received from various individuals orders for volumes of dried plants illustrative of the British Flora. One such order, extending to sixteen volumes, he received from Mr Stephenson, the celebrated engineer; and in addition to the thirty-two guineas charged for the work, so well pleased was Mr Stephenson with its execution, that the remittance included an extra five guineas as a gift.
	In 1842, he visited the Reekie Linn and Den of Airlie. An account of this excursion was read at a meeting of the Edinburgh Botanical Society on April 13, 1843, and is printed in the first volume of their Transactions. In June 1844, Mr Gardiner made an extensive botanical tour among the mountains of Aberdeen and Perth shires, an account of which was published by him in 1848 under the title of Botanical Rambles in Braemar, and shows how richly poetic his style of composition was. He commences by saying: A June morning in the country, to one who has just escaped from the noise, and smoke, and bustle of a populous town, is a luxury indeed. It is like entering upon a new state of existence, where all is changed to purity and peace. The air one breathes is fresh and sweet with the perfume of flowers; the verdant hue of the fields and woods invigorates and delights the eye; the ear is soothed with the happy sounds of innocence and love; and all around are thousands of blossoms arrayed in their varied robes of loveliness, to gladden the heart, and awaken its holiest thoughts and feelings; for A flower is not a flower alone - A thousand sanctities invest it: And as they form a radiant zone, Around its simple beauty thrown, Their magic tints become its own, As if their spirits had possessed it.
Such a delicious morning was the 24th of June; and I could have lingered by the fragrant hedge-rows, where the merry bee was sipping the honeyed treasures of the wild-rose, to admire the beautiful structure of Flora's more common productions, and hold sweet converse with such humble gems as the daisy and the violet; but as the purpose of my present mission was to search for rarities, all tendency to loitering, where these were not to be found had to be subdued. His next production was a small work entitled Twenty Lessons on British Mosses, illustrated with real specimens of the plants, instead of engravings. This speedily ran through three editions, and a fourth was in the press at the time of his death. The success of this led to a second series, which was speedily bought up. He also issued a work over 300 pages, entitled The Flora of Forfarshire, giving an account of the localities of all the various plants found in the country, interspersed with graphic descriptions of the more interesting localities of the rarer plants - forming, indeed, a guide for the country. In this work, he notices some of the original discoveries he himself had made - such as the discovery, for the first time in Britain, of the Buxbaumia aphylla, the discovery of the fruit of the Alectoria jubata, and the discovery of a new sphśria, which, in compliment to him, was named by Mr M J Berkley, S Gardinerii. At the formation of the Watt Institution, Mr Gardiner was chosen a member of committee, and took a warm interest in its promotion. He contributed a very complete collection of British mosses, arranged in a tabular form for easy reference - a work of immense labour. Many insects, shell &c., in the Museum were collected by him, and he took great pains in assisting to arrange its once valuable collection. On several occasions, he delivered short lectures to the members of the Institution; and by special request he delivered a series of public lectures on botany, illustrated by numerous diagrams, mostly of his own drawing. These lectures were so well received, that he was induced to deliver a similar course some years afterwards. Mr Gardiner died as he had lived - a poor man. He never seemed to have any great ambition to rise above the position in which he was born. He loved science for its own sake, and pursued it for the pleasure it yielded. At one time, he was offered a botanical appointment by Sir William J Hooker; but having then an aged mother to support, he declined the offer. Mr Gardiner had been indisposed some time previous to his death, but had so far recovered as to be able to look over his collections for specimens to illustrate the new edition of his Mosses; but having gone a short distance to breathe the fresh air, he caught fever, which completely prostrated him, and terminated his earthly career on June 21, 1852, at the age of 43. * [ Thanks to Marion Buick for typing this text! ] *

These dried specimens are not the only Gardiner holdings in Dundee Central Library's Lamb Collection. There are also Letters, Publications, Manuscripts and Tributes to William Gardiner. You can contact the Local History Centre if your would like to view them.