By Robert Hutchison of Carlowrie.
[Premium— Ten Sovereigns.]
In discussing and passing in review the old and
remarkable elms in Scotland, we must follow the course adopted by Loudon,
and consider the various species or varieties of the Ulmus family
as referable to two distinct types, viz., Ulmus campestris and
Ulmus montana; the former being the variety popularly known as the
English or small-leaved elm, and the latter, the mountain wych or Scotch
elm.
To the arboriculturist the elm family has been a source
of much speculation and doubt, considerable uncertainty prevailing amongst
the best authorities in dendrology as to what should be regarded as
distinct species, and what only as varieties. As many as five species have
been suggested as forming distinct groups of the elm family in Britain,
viz., Ulmus campestris, Ulmus tuberosa, Ulmus major, Ulmus montana,
and Ulmus glabra. To distinguish between these is frequently very
puzzling; and as throughout Scotland the elm is popularly known where
planted, only as the Scotch or English elm, we may dismiss any attempt to
unravel from the statistics of the old and remarkable specimens, we are
enabled to describe and append to this chapter, whether they belong to any
of these doubtful sub-varieties, but treating them simply as old and
remarkably large or historically interesting trees, consider them as elm
trees of the two families we have indicated, and unless where in the
statistical table they are stated to be the Ulmus campestris or
English elm, mention in this chapter may be taken as being made only to
the Scotch or wych elm (Ulmus montana). Our thus ignoring as
distinct varieties the others we have named, is, in a paper dealing with
the old and remarkable specimens of elm throughout the country, of the
less consequence, when we state that much of the supposed difference in
species or variety, apart from the two distinct branches we propose to
adhere to, arises from the fact that the seed of the elm tree almost never
proves quite true to the parent from which it is taken, but produces
endless "sports," alike in leaf, habit, and colour of foliage from the
parent plant according to soil and situation.
In adhering to Loudon's two distinct types, their
differences may be popularly explained in very few words, and the
distinctions will be apparent at once to the most untutored eye in
arboriculture. The Ulmus campestris and its varieties are chiefly
remarkable for their smaller leaves, and by a persistent tendency to throw
up suckers from the roots, which is a very sufficient compensation, in the
propagation of the species, against the liability it has in many cases of
producing very imperfectly formed or immature seeds. On the other hand,
the Scotch elm (Ulmus montana) seldom produces any suckers from its
roots, and is almost invariably loaded every season with a profusion of
perfectly formed and prolific seeds. This distinction may lead to the
inquiry whether any or either of the two families of the elm tribe may be
considered as indigenous to the British climate.
On this point arborists are pretty well agreed, that
whatever doubt may be suggested regarding the indigenous origin of the
English elm (Ulmus campestris), there can be no hesitation in
pronouncing the Scotch elm, or wych elm, as it is frequently termed,—which
name is itself indicative, from its origin, of the tree's existence and
wide dispersion in this country in early Anglo-Saxon times,—to be a native
of the British islands. It is not so frequently found in the southern
parts of England, but its geographical area of cultivation increases as we
proceed northwards; and in Scotland in most districts, but chiefly in the
alluvial loamy straths, or in the sheltered glens of the higher altitudes,
it abounds in quantity, and forms in the more richly wooded districts of
Scotland generally a notable feature in most plantations. Ulmus
campestris, on the other hand, is more generally found in the southern
and midland counties of England, and in the neighbourhood of populous
cities or large towns, and along the banks of the Thames, Severn, and such
rivers, where probably its more upright and loftier head, and better habit
of growth, have recommended it in preference to, and probably to the
extinction of, the other species, whose habit of growth is much more
irregular and straggling—a characteristic which precludes its use in many
situations for ornamental purposes, although where space can be afforded
for its large spreading head, which frequently loses its central column or
bole at no very great height from the ground, there can be no doubt that
it becomes generally a far more picturesque tree than its English ally.
Gilpin and his cultured editor, Sir L. Dick Lauder, both considered the
wych elm as "one of the most beautiful trees in our British sylva. The
trunk is so bold and picturesque in form, covered, as it frequently is,
with huge excrescences, the limbs and branches also are so free and
graceful in their growth, and the foliage is so rich, without being heavy
or clumpy as a whole, and the head is generally so finely massed, and yet
so well broken, as to render it one of the noblest of park trees, and when
it grows wildly amid the rocky scenery of its native Scotland, there is no
tree which assumes so great or so pleasing a variety of character; our
associations with it in such scenes lead us to prize it highly." The wych
elm, like its fellow the English elm, is found to attain only its full
dimensions, and to thoroughly develop its peculiar
characteristics, in deep loamy soil with a cool, dampish subsoil, free
from stagnant water, and in such situations noble old examples may be
found, although in our investigations for old and remarkable specimen elms
we have been struck with the rareness with which really very large old
examples now occur, in comparison with the frequency with which many
similar instances of remarkable trees of other descriptions are to be
found and recorded in Scotland.
This scarcity of instances of old or remarkable elms
extant at the present day in Scotland, may perhaps be accounted for from
the fact of its being an indigenous tree of very rapid growth in suitable
soils and situations during the early years of its career in the
plantation, which, taken along with the value of its timber for so many
rural purposes when it has attained large size, may have proved
inducements to proprietors, in an age when less attention was paid to the
conservancy of fine old trees, to lightly estimate so common a tree as the
Scotch elm for ornament, and so to fell the most useful and matured
timber, relying on the rapidity of the early growth of the younger
individuals to fill its place within a reasonable period. Consequently,
during the past century very many noble examples throughout the country
have been lost to record, while in almost every mixed plantation in
Scotland formed within the past century, and without the slightest regard
to suitability of soil, subsoil, or situation, or the characteristic
habits of the tree, elms have been largely planted, many of which, from
circumstances inimical to their growth, have, after years of trial, failed
to supply worthy successors to the giants of a former period.
Another evil consequent upon such promiscuous planting
with trees unsuited to mixed plantations or to particular soils has been,
that by many planters the elm is now looked upon with suspicion, from its
unruly nature of growth in young woods, destroying, by its shadow and long
wide-spreading fan-like young limbs, the other varieties of hardwoods of
slower growth. Thus, the older trees of elm, when required for timber,
have had to be fallen back upon during the past half century, rendering it
at the present day comparatively difficult to find a stately tree of great
dimensions and scantling in many localities.
Our old friend Dr. Walker—whose subjects given in his
catalogue of old remarkable trees, issued about the beginning of the
present century, we have in these chapters on the existing old and
remarkable trees in Scotland, attempted most carefully to identify, and in
every instance, if possible, to record their present measurements at the
same points as those which he recites—only notices five old and
remarkable elm trees; and these he classifies as "Ulmus campestris"
or "Scots elm," which is an evident mistake for the Ulmus montana;
and, excepting in one case, none of these trees can be regarded as in any
way remarkable. The exception we refer to is the elm, in the parish of
Roxburgh, called the "trysting tree," which in 1796 was measured, and
found to be in circumference, at 3 feet from the ground, 30 feet. The next
largest elm he records is that at Newbattle Abbey, Mid-Lothian, which, in
July 1789, measured at the same point, 10 feet 4 inches in girth. The
other three elms recorded by Dr. Walker are two which grew in the old
College Gardens at Glasgow, and which girthed in 1764 8 feet 5 inches and
9 feet 5 inches respectively at 3 feet from the root; these are now no
more, though, when or how they succumbed and went over to the majority, no
one has recorded, and the remaining tree he mentions in his remarkable
group is the elm, "north from the house of Drumlanrig in Nithsdale,"
which, on 23rd April 1773, girthed 9 feet 4 inches. If our reverend friend
could only find such poor examples of elm trees to enrich his otherwise
admittedly very accurate catalogue, the absence of big elms in his day
must have been very marked indeed, as contrasted with the many more
interesting and larger specimens he cites of almost every other
description of hard-wooded trees in Scotland. It must also be borne in
mind that Dr. Walker was a very keen and vigilant observer, and his sharp
eye and ready pen could not fail to detect any unusual tree, which he
might happen to stumble upon or hear of, in his long and painstaking
investigation. That there were few notably gigantic trees of the elm tribe
in his day, may be inferred from the note he appends to the dimensions he
gives of the "trysting tree" in Roxburgh parish, viz.: "Though," says he,
"Scots elm abounds with us, both in natural woods and plantations, yet in
England, where it is called the Wych Elm, it is often to be seen of a much
larger size."
Recent inquiries at the parish minister of Roxburgh, as
to the existence and condition at the present day of the well-known
"trysting tree" there, elicits the reply, that upon inquiry he has been
able to state that this tree no longer exists except in the memory of some
old people, but how or when it disappeared, he has not been able to
discover.
The earliest, and probably the most generally adopted,
mode of planting the elm in Scotland, appears to have been in hedgerows
for shelter and along roadsides. Its rapidity of growth in its early
years, and its capability of being cut in with impunity when its large
branches interfered in any way with adjoining objects, rendered it
desirable in such situations, and for the same reasons its use as an
avenue tree in many localities became generally adopted. Indeed, in other
countries as well as in our own, the suitability of the elm for avenue and
roadside planting was at an early period recognised. In France, it was
known and used as an ornamental tree as early as the time of Francis I.;
and it was first used there to adorn the public promenades about 1540.
Afterwards we find it used, in the reign of Henry IV., as a churchyard
tree to a large extent, though why, does not appear, unless its
selection for such situations was only for the replacement of older trees
which had probably perished; or perhaps from old associations with such
sites, for we know that in the early ages of Christianity, the hunters
were accustomed to hang the skins of wolves they had killed in the chase
upon the elms in the churchyard, as a kind of trophy. [The
planting of the elm trees around churchyards in the Middle Ages may have
some reference to the old mythology of the Greeks and Romans, who looked
on all barren or non-food-producing trees as funereal trees.
Thus, we find ash, elms, lime, &c, used in such situations, but never
beech, walnut, or even oak.] According to Evelyn, it appears
that Henry IV. of France expressed a wish that all the highways in that
country should be planted with rows of elm trees, and thus it soon became
the favourite tree for planting along promenades and hedgerows. Its use
for this purpose probably was to afford shelter and concealment, in its
umbrageous head and wide-spreading limbs and dense leafage, to soldiers
during warfare or foray; for Bosc mentions elm trees in Burgundy of
immense size, which, though hollow and decaying in their trunks, "yet
supported heads capable of sheltering some thousands of men." For town
planting the elm is very often used, even at the present day in Scotland,
but it is not so well adapted for introduction with success in the smoky
atmosphere of large cities or towns as the plane or sycamore.
From reference to the accompanying appendix of
statistics of old or remarkable elms, it will be observed that the tree
accommodates itself and thrives in many different soils and situations,
and although it does not attain the same dimensions as a timber tree at
lofty altitudes, still even in these it does well, and may be seen
flourishing, although, of course, of less noteworthy size than in lower
and more congenial sites. The soil in which its timber attains most value
is a sandy deep loam, overlying a cool rock or gravel subsoil. Although it
is very impatient of stagnant or water-logged substrata, it is often seen
in Scotland of large dimensions by the banks of streams, which almost lave
its very roots. In wet, or tilly clay, it will not succeed, but it is
often found, in a natural self-sown state, thriving, and of considerable
girth, amongst rocky "denes" or "glens," where there is almost no depth of
soil to mention, overlying the porous rock.
Loudon mentions that the largest trees which are known
certainly to belong to the species Ulmus montana are supposed to be
in Scotland; and before referring more particularly to those now measured,
and given in detail in the appendix to this chapter, as existing large
trees at the present day, we may notice those given by him as being
notable examples of large elms in 1836, or about that date; several of
which we have again identified, re-measured, and referred to in the
present appendix. On the estate of Castle Huutly, Perthshire, Loudon
notices several fine Scotch elms, which then, at 3 feet from the ground,
girthed 11 feet. These have now, unfortunately, along with most of the
fine old timber on this estate (many of the trees having been very fine
specimens), been ruthlessly cut down for sale. They have been recorded
in regard to dimensions during their life, but no information now exists
of their sizes at the time of their assassination and premature death. At
Aberdour, Fife, on 10th March 1812, a fine elm girthed 11 feet 6 inches at
3 feet up, and had 40 feet of clean bole. Two elms at Yair, Selkirkshire,
girthed at the ground 13 feet. At Taymouth Castle, Perthshire, in
September 1814, an elm measured 15 feet 9 inches, at 3 feet from the
ground. A curious fantastic elm tree, remarkable for its quaint and
weird-like boughs, grew at Touch, Stirlingshire, but has since,
unrecorded, we have ascertained, been allowed to depart this life. At
Polloc, in Lanarkshire, there are some fine wych elms referred to by
Loudon, and still extant. One of these, figured by Strutt in 1812, was
then 86 feet high; but in October 1839, when again measured, was found to
be 90 feet high, and to have a circumference of 12 feet at 5 feet from the
ground. Other three trees growing there were then nearly as large, and one
of them, which tradition asserts to have been planted by Sir Thomas
Maxwell, Lord Advocate of William III., and one of the commissioners of
the Union, was planted in commemoration of that event. At Kinfauns, in
Perthshire, is a fine elm (says Loudon) 70 feet high, with a circumference
of trunk of 19½ feet, and with a spread of branches covering a diameter of
60 feet. At Airthrey Castle, Stirlingshire, Loudon found a fine tree 63
feet high, 12 feet in girth at 3 feet; and again at Callendar Park,
Stirlingshire, he records one 46 feet in height, with a circumference of
trunk at 3 feet, of 15 feet, and with a spread of branches of 66 feet
diameter.
Having thus far noticed the recorded elms in Scotland
of a past date, we hasten to consider those of the present day throughout
the country, many of which are tabulated in the appendix, and shall notice
in passing such as may still be identified as trees already mentioned in
these pages, and referred to as belonging to Walker's or Loudon's
catalogue.
In the more northerly counties of Scotland we find many
fine examples of the elm, growing in luxuriant vigour and of notable
dimensions. At Darnaway, in Morayshire, Brodie Castle, Dalvey, and other
places in the same county, there are splendid specimens of this, as of
most other hard-wooded trees. In addition to the tree recorded in the
appendix from Brodie Castle, there are to be seen many other even more
imposing trees growing in the park, but unfortunately no very accurate
measurements of them could be obtained, owing to their having thrown out
such masses of suckers around their trunks, and owing to their being
otherwise much swollen in the root-cuts of their boles by immense
burr-like excrescences. The examples given from Darnaway, and which girth
about 15 feet at 1 foot from the ground, and from 12 to 14½ feet at 5 feet
from the base, cannot be more than about 210 years old, for in August last
we had an opportunity of carefully examining and counting the annular
rings upon the section of a root-cut of one of the trees cut in the
plantation where those are growing, which are referred to in the appendix,
and it was found to contain 207 annual rings. This section measured 3 feet
6 inches in diameter in one direction, and 3 feet 10 inches in the other.
From a meteorological point of view, this inspection of the tree section
was very interesting, the narrow or broad width of annual rings in each
successive year clearly showing the dry or non growth-producing
summers, as contrasted with those seasons favourable to annual growth
of wood. Beckoning back from the date of the tree's fall, the various
seasons might be found from these rings to compare most minutely
and accurately with the most carefully prepared calendar of the seasons by
the most intelligent meteorologist.
On the estate of Gordon Castle, Morayshire, are some
very interesting and remarkable trees of many varieties, but amongst the
elms may be noted a fine old avenue of this variety running through the
park to the front of the castle, the space between the stems being 74
feet. It is generally considered that this avenue is upwards of 300 years
old, and that the trees composing it are amongst the oldest in the
grounds. The following are some of their average girths:—
22 feet 3 inches, at 1 foot from ground.
16 feet 2 inches, at 5 feet
from ground.
60 feet height.
Circumference of spread of branches, 243 feet.
The scarcity of groups or masses of remarkable elms in
Scotland is nowhere more conspicuous than in the northern districts, for,
while in Aberdeenshire, Inverness, Sutherland, Boss, Moray, Banff, and
Nairn, a single fine and majestic tree may be stumbled upon now and again,
it is impossible to find them of any noteworthy size in quantity, while in
some of those counties named it is often a long day's journey from one
good specimen before the investigator can find another. As an example of
the weeping elm variety, no doubt the finest tree in Scotland exists at
Black-friars Haugh, in Morayshire; its height exceeds 30 feet, while in
circumference it is 4 feet 6 inches at 1 foot from the ground, with a
diameter of spread of branches of 108 feet. Other fine specimens of this
variety exist in Ayrshire, but although perhaps somewhat thicker in girth,
they cannot compare in point of symmetry, height, or general outline with
the Morayshire specimen. They are to be found at Orchardhill Nurseries,
Kilmarnock, where it is 4 feet 6 inches in girth; and at Kinyeancleuch,
Ayrshire, where the specimen has attained a circumference of stem of fully
5 feet. These, however, cannot boast the same tall head or umbrageous
diameter of branches of the northern tree.
At Brahan Castle, Boss-shire, where we have had
occasion in previous papers to notice the salubrity of climate, soil, and
exposure as most conducive to tree development, and where many noble
specimens of hard-wooded giants exist, we found an elm growing at an
altitude of 110 feet, 85 feet in height, with a girth of 19 feet 8 inches
at 1 foot and nearly 13 feet at 5 feet above ground. This tree has made 8
inches of wood since its previously-recorded measurement in 1869.
At Strontian, in Argyllshire, is a very noteworthy
Scotch elm, planted, it is said, by Lady Janet Cameron of Dungallon. It is
only 6 feet above sea-level, and stands in a light clay soil, upon a sandy
subsoil, and has attained a height of 63 feet, with a circumference of 21
feet and 15 feet 2 inches at 1 and 5 feet respectively, and has a diameter
of spread of branches of no less than 120 feet. The tree is locally known
by the name of its noble planter, "Lady Janet." The name is at all events
not very common, and history records no other distinction of this noble
lady. Can she have had anything to do with the planting of another Scotch
elm at Carronhall, Stirlingshire, which also bears the soubriquet of "Lady
Janet," and is a tree of about the same age apparently as that at
Strontian, being now 85 feet high, and girthing 18 feet 2 inches at 5 feet
from the ground, in a clay loam soil, or clay subsoil ? This point the
family historiographer, and not the arborist, alone can decide. The
Kinnaird elms, growing on the South Esk estates in Forfarshire, are
notable specimens. Reference to the appended details will show that four
of these trees give an average girth of 13 feet 6 inches at 5 feet above
ground, while two of the four exceed 14 feet at that point.
In Perthshire, as might be expected, many noble elms
are met with. Those in the park of Castle Menzies are in no way inferior
to the other varieties of splendidly developed hard-wooded trees which
have been already noticed in that locality. At Dunkeld there are perhaps
fewer elms of large size than may be seen of other hard woods; but two are
notable examples of finely grown Scotch elms. These will be found in the
appendix, and one is styled "The Highlandman's Bonnet" and is said
to have received this name from an enthusiastic son of the north having
fetched it, when a seedling, as a sprig in his glengarry bonnet, and
planted it on the occasion of his taking service in the Dunkeld woods or
gardens. It is now 73 feet in height, and nearly 13 feet in girth at 5
feet from the ground. The other fine elm in this site is between the
entrance gate from Dunkeld and the gardens, and is 15 feet 4½ inches in
circumference at 5 feet from the ground. It is a most imposing and
majestic tree. At Strathallan are some interesting and large old Scotch
elms, one of which is 19 feet 2 inches in girth at 1 foot above ground,
and 15 feet 9 inches at 5 feet. It grows in black loam on a sand and
gravel subsoil. At Moncrieffe, near Perth, there are some fine large elms.
One given in the appendix is 20 feet 6 inches in girth at 1 foot, and 14
feet 10 inches at 5 feet from the base. The difference in girth between
these points is largely accounted for by a good deal of vacant space about
the lower part of the base of the trunk and roots. Another remarkable
Scotch elm there should not be overlooked, not only on account of its
great dimensions, but also for the peculiarity of its assumed form and
growth. At some early period of its youth, it appears to have been rent
through the centre, and formed a sort of archway through which a
full-grown person could easily pass. Thus weakened, the tree was unable to
bear the superincumbent weight of the head when in foliage, and toppled
over. Notwithstanding this mishap, the tree has continued to flourish on
as luxuriantly as ever, and, banyan-like, has fixed and rooted many of its
drooping branches in the soil, thus presenting a most remarkable and
picturesque effect.
At Kinfauns Castle, Perthshire, growing in a light loam
upon a gravelly clay subsoil, upon a sloping bank at an elevation of 72
feet, there is a very picturesque rugged Scotch elm. It is now 23 feet 2
inches in circumference at 1 foot, and 19 feet 3 inches at 5 feet above
the ground. Its beauty consists not only in its curiously gnarled trunk,
but also in the wonderful formation of all its branches, the smallest of
which forms a perfect model of the whole tree. At about 7 feet from the
ground, it branches out into two large limbs, the circumference of which
are 11 feet 6 inches and 9 feet 9 inches respectively.
At Blairdrummond there is a group of trees, which,
although not remarkable for size, are worthy of notice from their
association with the name of their eminent planter. The group consists of
two sycamores, a laburnum, and elm, and are called "Franklin's trees,"
having been planted by the hands of Benjamin Franklin himself, when on a
visit to Lord Karnes at Blairdrummond. The elm is now 60 feet high, with a
fine bole of 22 feet, and girths 9 feet 10 inches and 7 feet 10 inches at
1 and 5 feet respectively. Lord Kames died in 1782, so that this tree is
at least over 100 years old. Many other interesting elms in Perthshire
might be referred to, but notice perhaps had better be confined to three
only. The first is an old elm at Balthayock, near Perth, which gives a
very striking representation of the proneness of the elm when injured in
the upper stem to any severe extent, or when pollarded, to throw out huge
wartlike excrescences, or "burrs," from its trunk. The measurements of
this tree are not stated. The next is a fine and picturesque Scotch elm of
characteristic type and habit, growing in healthy vigour at Freeland,
Perthshire. It girths 16 feet 2 inches at 1 foot and 14 feet 9 inches at 5
feet above ground, and is only one of many others of similar dimensions
growing in that locality. The habit of the elm to assume often a pendulous
or weeping habit, is well shown in this tree. This remarkable and very
distinct habit could hardly be better illustrated than in the case of this
specimen, which stands on the roadside near Dunkeld,and is in a very
healthy and thriving condition. This tree must not be considered an
example of the variety usually known as the "weeping elm" {Ulmus
montana pendula), but rather as an instance of the aptitude of the elm
in its different species to vary from seed, to which reference has already
been made in the commencement of this chapter. Good examples of the
suitability of the elm to thrive at lofty altitudes in Scotland are given
in the cases enumerated in the appendix, from Cleish Castle,
Kinross-shire, where we find it growing at from 550 to 600 feet above
sea-level, in a clayey soil, and attaining 86 feet in height, with a bole
of 18 feet, and girthing 12 feet 8 inches and 10 feet 10 inches at 1 and 5
feet above ground.
At Grangemuir, in Fife, there is an interesting group
of trees, composed of ash and elms. One average elm there girths 10 feet 7
at 1 foot from the ground. It stands near the old ash, about 100 yards
from the site of a former mansion-house, and is popularly believed to be
haunted by a ghost called "Baff Barefoot." Whose spirit this weird
apparition was supposed to be, tradition has not preserved ; but it must
be an old story, for it was narrated by the father of the ex-curator of
Kew Gardens, who was gardener at Grangemuir in 1812 to 1815, to his son
many years ago, and who in his own quaint way said, "By all young folks o'
the place it was reckoned unco' uncanny to pass by thae' trees after 12
o'clock at nicht!" The ash tree was particularly looked upon as the haunt
of Baff Barefoot. It is older than the elms, and for many years was
falling into a state of gradual decay, until Mr. Rose, the present
gardener, wisely had a mound of fresh soil formed over its exposed roots
and round the base, which has resuscitated its failing energy, and many
fresh young twigs thus encouraged are now forming into branches, and
clothing the veteran with healthy foliage.
South of the Firth of Forth, and generally in the
southern counties of Scotland, there are more large elm trees to be found
than in the northern division of the country. This probably arises from
the more general custom of planting mixed plantation of hard-wood timber
which is practised. In the north the Firs, or Coniferae, alone usually
prevail, this system having proved more remunerative and better adapted to
the physical features of the Highlands. In many of the fertile and rich
heavy loam districts bordering on the Firth and Clyde, fine majestic elms
may be found. At Airth Castle, Stirlingshire, there are some noble
specimens. One of these, mentioned in the appendix, is 80 feet in length,
and measures 14 feet 2 inches and 12 feet 10 inches in girth, at 1 and 5
feet up, and 11 feet 2 inches at 20 feet from the base. It is only 60 feet
above sea-level. At Carronhall, also in Stirlingshire, "Lady Janet,"
already referred to in connection with an elm bearing the same name at
Strontian, is 85 feet in height, and girths 18 feet 2 inches at 5 feet
from the base. The elm at Polloc (Renfrewshire), given in the appendix, is
perhaps one of the tallest and most perfect specimens in Scotland. It has
long been a well-known and universally admired tree. It is figured by
Strutt in his admirable and beautiful Sylva Britannica. This tree
stands in a group of equally remarkable wych elms; and, thanks to the
intelligent and praiseworthy interest taken in his ancestral trees by the
late Sir John Maxwell, we have accurate records of its progress in growth.
At 5 feet from the ground it measured in circumference, in 1812, 10 feet
10 inches; in 1836, 12 feet; in 1842, 12 feet 4 inches; in 1858, 13 feet;
in 1862, 13 feet 4 inches; and in 1872, 13 feet 10 inches; and in 1881 it
girths 14 feet 8 inches at the same point. In 1824 Strutt records its
height as being then 88 feet, and he states that the tree then contained
669 solid feet of timber. The Barr Castle elm (Ayrshire) has long been
distinguished as the largest elm and indeed the largest tree in Ayrshire.
The last records of its dimensions show it to be then (1879) 27 feet in
girth at 1 foot, 16 feet 4 inches at 5 feet, and 16 feet at 6 feet from
the ground. Its bole is not long, but very gnarled and knotty, presenting
a very picturesque appearance. Its branches in its pristine vigour seem to
have been numerous, and apparently very large. One of them, it is
recorded, was broken off by a heavy gale of wind in 1801, and was sold for
five pounds sterling! This veteran, though still alive, is showing every
symptom of extreme old age. It is locally known as "the boss tree."
Turning to the eastern districts of the lowland counties, we find many
massive specimens of Scotch elms, but in these districts there is a larger
sprinkling of the English elm (Ulmus campestris) than in the other
parts of Scotland, and many of these are also worthy of notice for their
huge proportions and healthy vigorous growth. Some years ago a Scotch elm
was blown down at Blackadder (Berwickshire), which was 24 feet 3 inches in
girth at 5 feet from the base, and this tree by popular report was
generally admitted to be the largest tree in the district. On Marchmont (Berwickshire),
there are many fine elms near the famous Spanish chestnuts, which are so
conspicuous a feature in this well-wooded estate; several of these are
given in the appendix. They grow at a high altitude (viz., 500 feet), in a
strong red clay soil, upon hard till. On the estate of Ninewells,
adjacent, there is a magnificent tree 13 feet 7 inches in girth at 5 feet
up; and at Duns Castle, not far distant, there are several handsome and
large specimens also. At Kimmerghame (Berwickshire), we have recorded some
large trees, and in the appendix will be found a noble specimen of the
English elm (U. campestris), girthing 13 feet at 3 feet from the
ground. This tree has unfortunately perished in the recent memorable gale
of 14th October 1881. Very many other magnificent tress of all varieties
of hardwood in this district have been totally destroyed and overturned by
the same sad hurricane, which seems to have inflicted more calamitous
injury upon Berwickshire and East Lothian than upon any other locality. In
East Lothian, at Yester, Biel, Whittinghame, Belton, and Tynninghame,
along the valley of the Tyne, there are many large and noble elms, several
of which will be found on reference to the Appendix of Returns, but of
which space will not permit our giving more detailed notice at present.
There is a fine mixed avenue of elms and beeches at Ormiston (East
Lothian). These trees were planted in the beginning of last century by the
celebrated John Cockburn. He was proprietor of Ormiston, and one of the
first improvers of Scottish agriculture. He was born about 1685, became a
member of the Scottish Parliament, and took an active part in the
proceedings connected with the Union of Scotland and England. He
afterwards represented Haddingtonshire in the British Parliament from 1707
to 1741; and these elms and beeches are said to have been planted to
commemorate the Union of the two countries. This style of disposing elms
in long colonnade-like rows is frequently met with in this and adjoining
counties. It was very common about the beginning of last century. A fine
example of it may be seen in the parks around Seton Chapel (East Lothian),
where some of the old and stately elms so planted still survive, and
continue to flourish, under whose leafy canopy, perchance, lofty and
ambitious resolves were cherished, while still the name and fame of the
house of Winton was unsullied, and its wide and fair possessions held in
sway.
Appendix
