It is perhaps unusual for two books to be reviewed together. However,
Henry Noltie of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), has
written these volumes as companion pieces, even though they can be
enjoyed independently of each other. Henry has worked for many years
as a botanist at the RBGE. He has a wide knowledge of South Asian
plants, and is very familiar with the herbarium and archives at Edinburgh. Consequently he is particularly well qualified to write about
a significant nineteenth century botanist like Hugh Cleghorn (1820-95).
In his introduction he says that his prime motive for writing on
Cleghorn was to further elucidate the history of the botanical
collections at the RBGE, but there was an additional, academic,
purpose. That was to investigate the original and creative ideas about
the history of conservation put forward by the well-known historian,
Richard Grove, particularly in his book Green Imperialism. Henry
Noltie argues strongly for examining chronologies and documents in
detail - from which he concludes that there is limited justification for
Grove's case that Cleghorn and his colleagues should be seen as early
environmentalists; his view is that the conservation efforts of the
nineteenth century surgeon-botanists were dictated mainly by a desire
to make sure that economic resources were exploited efficiently. The
balance in the title Indian Forester, Scottish Laird is significant:
although Cleghorn made his reputation in India he was only forty-seven
when he retired. Unlike many of the Scottish-born botanists who
worked in India but retired to southern England, Cleghorn spent his
twenty-seven years of retirement as a Scottish laird and public figure,
based at Stravithie, his family's estate near St Andrews. Henry Noltie
brings both the spacious house and modest estate to life very well, and
makes clear that what he did in his retirement was significant, showing
how a provincial laird related to intellectual life in Edinburgh and
London. The book starts in a traditional way by explaining Cleghorn's
family background and the process of Scottish medical training. Like
most nineteenth century botanists in India, Cleghorn went out as a
surgeon in the East India Company's Medical Service. However, he
soon developed an interest in India's plant life, and his career gradually
moved away from medical responsibilities. Before he retired from India
in 1867 he acted as Inspector-General of Forests and he was one of the
founders of the Indian Forest Service.
Indian Forester, Scottish Laird is illustrated, though in some cases the
quality of the pictures leaves something to be desired. However, the
companion volume. The Cleghorn Collection, is beautifully produced
and a remarkable bargain for anyone with an interest in Indian botany.
Although it is full of fine botanical illustrations it is much more than a
botanical coffee-table book. Cleghorn was not an artist himself but he
employed several talented people who produced illustrations for him.
The Cleghorn Collection starts with an excellent summary of the
history of western-style botanical painting in India, and of the schools
and castes involved in producing the drawings. The book also has a
chapter on the importance of the Madras School of Art and its role in training artists in western techniques from the 1850s. By circuitous
routes most of the Cleghorn's botanical drawings ended up in the
herbarium at the RBGE, filed in botanical order with the herbarium
specimens, so Henry Noltie has had to devote much time and effort to
identifying Cleghorn's drawings and cataloguing them. Putting them
together and reproducing them in The Cleghorn Collection has,
however, been well worthwhile: the drawings have detailed notes,
giving the names of the plants in various languages, an account of their
uses and a summary of where they grow. Those who know India will
spot many old friends - teak, water lily, tamarind, red cotton-tree,
pomegranate, neem, pepper and coffee, to name but a few.
Writing Indian Forester, Scottish Laird was a challenge because
Cleghorn left no diaries and not many letters. However he comes over
as a diligent man with a satisfying public career that brought him
wealth and status. As was the case with many colonial servants his
personal life was less happy: he married late and his wife was sickly.
She did however come from an enterprising and well-established
Scottish family, the Cowans, and the book sets out in detail the
connections she brought, as well as making it clear how important were
shared religious values amongst the Scottish professional classes.
Cleghorn's close relationship with his in-laws compensated to some
extent for his disappointment in his own siblings who were less worthy
and dutiful than he was.
In his introduction to Indian Forester, Scottish Laird Henry Noltie
discusses whether Cleghorn was 'important' enough for a biography.
But he rightly justifies the effort by making it clear that objective
history must be based on detailed research, and we can only assess the
overall effect of British imperialism by looking at the work of the
doctors, scientists, engineers and missionaries, and their networks, as
well as the soldiers and administrators. The Indian Forest Service is still
a very important organisation; it was no small thing to have been one of
its founders. We can therefore conclude that these very carefully
compiled volumes make a valuable contribution to the history of
colonial science. But they will also be of interest to anyone who wants
to understand more about the Scottish role in the British imperial
project, because they place Cleghorn so firmly and expertly in his
Scottish setting.
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