Stitchers: Sheila Baird & Carol Pitcairn – Aberlady
Robert Wight was the greatest botanist in South India in the first half of the nineteenth century and followed the example of William Roxburgh of using local artists to draw plants. 2,101 of these drawings were published in Madras between 1838 and 1853 in his six-volume Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis. In addition to describing 1,267 species new to science, Wight’s work attempted to persuade Indian farmers to grow long-staple American cotton (shown on the right) which could be exported for spinning and weaving in England. The genus Wightia, named for him by his friend Nathaniel Wallich, includes the gigantic Himalayan climber shown on the left.
IN05 Raibeart Wight
B’ e Raibeart Wight an luibh-eòlaiche a b’ ainmeile ann an ceann a deas nan Ìnnseachan anns a’ chiad leth den naoidheamh linn deug, agus lean e eisimpleir Uilleam Roxburgh ann a bhith a’ cleachdadh luchd-ealain ionadail airson deilbh nan lusan a tharraing. Chaidh 2,101 de na deilbh sin fhoillseachadh ann am Madras eadar 1838 agus 1853 anns na sia leabhraichean Icones
Plantarum Indiae Orientalis. A thuilleadh air iomradh a dhèanamh air 1,267 seòrsaichean a bha ùr do shaidheans, dh’fheuch obair Wight ri ìmpidh a chur air tuathanaich Ìnnseanach gus cotan Aimeireaganach fad-stìnleag fhàs (a chithear air an làimh dheis) a dh’fhaodaist às-mhalairt airson a shnìomh agus fhighe ann an Sasainn. Tha an gnè Wightia, air ainmeachadh dha le a charaid Nathaniel Wallich, a’ gabhail a-steach an sreapadair àibheiseach beanntan Himalaya a chithear air an làimh chlì.