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(Quereus Pedunculata et Sessiliflora), in
Scotland.
By Robert Hutchison of Carlowrie.
[Premium.—The Gold Medal.]
Although these two well-known varieties of the
British oak (Quercus Robur) are sufficiently distinct botanically
to be classed as separate species in a report like the present upon the
large and old oaks in the various districts of Scotland, it is necessary
to treat them indiscriminately, and, indeed, as it is not so much the
intention of this chapter of the old and historically remarkable trees,
to present any scientific or botanical description, or narrative of
their physiology or morphology, as to lay before the reader as accurate
and full a catalogue as possible of the many majestic specimens of this
monarch of the woods abounding in its native habitat, it is probably
quite pardonable to treat these two varieties together without
distinction, especially as it has been found extremely difficult to
obtain sufficiently reliable difference in each from the mass of returns
furnished by careful correspondents, whose kindness and trouble in
correctly furnishing minute data of dimensions and other details, it
would be quite unfair to tax by asking further information as regards a
purely systematic botanical distinction. Both varieties are found
growing together in Scotland in their natural condition, and both are
indiscriminately employed for commercial purposes when converted as
timber of home growth. Of the two it may be safely asserted that Q.
pedionculata is by far most generally met with, and the details in
the appendix to this chapter on oaks are mainly occupied with examples
of this variety. Quercus sessiliflora is much more commonly met
with in England than in Scotland, and there are some immense trees of it
in that country, but principally in the southern counties, as, for
example, in many parts of Kent, Sussex, and Devonshire; and on the
authority of Mr Bree, Q. sessiliflora is the almost exclusive
representative of the Quercus family in the lake districts of
England, in Westmoreland and Cumberland.
All former writers on arboricultural topics agree in
allotting the foremost rank, both in point of dignity, grandeur, and
utility, to the oak. Its beauty of outline when fully developed,
combined with its strength, and unyielding resistance to the effects of
the blast in exposed sites, are its chief characteristics of habit
during life; and when manufactured into timber, the wide and almost
universal purposes to which it may be profitably and suitably applied,
are as characteristic of it as are those of it during life which we have
referred to. "It is a remarkable circumstance," as has been well
observed by Sir Henry Stewart, "that the most ornamental tree in nature,
should also be the one the most extensively and strikingly useful."
It is thus seen that although Britain can only lay
claim to two species of the great genus Quercus as truly
indigenous to her soil, while the rest of the family, amounting (taking
evergreen as well as deciduous) to upwards of one hundred and fifty
distinct botanical species, are all of exotic origin, and are
distributed in both hemispheres of the globe, either in temperate zones,
rendered so by their latitudinal position, or in tropical climates by
their elevation,—yet these two are by far the most important, for they
surpass all others not only in majesty of proportions and duration of
life, but also in general utility, durability and strength of their
timber, so that for all uses to which these properties are absolutely
essential, the two varieties (or rather species) of the oak now under
notice, if equalled, are at all events not surpassed by any other tree
indigenous to Europe.
The oak being thus one of the few indigenous
hard-wooded trees in Britain, it appears, from ancient records and
references in old parchment deeds, to have had a very wide distribution
generally throughout the country. Indeed, before the clearing away of
the old forests had commenced in early historical times, it appears to
have been the chief, if not the only, component of these early forests,
and to have covered a very large area of the surface of Scotland.
Sufficient living remnants of these ancient forests still exist, and to
which reference will afterwards be made to show the wide area of the
distribution in Scotland of the oak, while in other districts, where
these natural or self-sown forests have disappeared, or are now only
rarely marked by a few straggling survivors, the remains of -noble and
massive trunks of oak trees are frequently stumbled upon, embedded
sometimes in the alluvial deposits along the banks of rivers, or in
bogs, submerged under deep layers of peat moss, the growth and
accumulated debris of centuries. In this manner, also, many oaks are
found where now no living specimens are to be seen within even a wide
range of the spot, and also where now no oak plantations are to be met
with ; especially near sea-water mark, stumps of large and old trees,
composing aboriginal forests now untraceable, are sometimes found in
situ standing erect, but quite concealed excepting at very low tide
ebb, near river mouths and along some of our coast line. For instance,
at Kirkconnell, Newabbey, Kirkcudbrightshire, some years ago, Mr Maxwell
Witham,—to whose courtesy we are indebted for interesting information
regarding many trees of other varieties in his neighbourhood,— recovered
from the sands opposite his property an "antidiluvian" oak tree,
broken at both ends and measuring 36 feet in length and
14 feet 8 inches in circumference at the middle of the trunk, thus
giving 484 cubic feet of timber. He further informs us that the whole
valley of the Nith at its lower end (about Kirk-connell and Newabbey on
the borders of the Nith, and Newabbey Poer or stream) is thickly
underlaid, at a depth of from 4 to 7 feet, with large oaks, which are
frequently exposed, and brought to light by the shifting of the river
Nith or its tributary streams. In this locality some large and fine oaks
still exist at the present day, and by reference to the appended returns
to this paper, it will be seen that they girth from 14 feet 9 inches to
20 feet in circumference at 1 foot, and from 13 feet 9 inches to 17 feet
6 inches at 5 feet above ground. Other submerged forests—if they may be
so called—of oaks exist on other parts of the coasts of Scotland ; while
in the Highlands, and the more remote northern counties, as well as in
several of the adjacent islands of the Hebrides, oak trunks are fallen
upon in cutting peats where now not a tree is to be seen. Were these
districts, and the Scottish islands generally, therefore, always
incapable of growing timber, as they are too generally supposed and
believed to be at the present day ? The evidence goes to prove that they
were not, and strong grounds for hope may be consequently entertained
that, with perseverance and the introduction of the suitable
descriptions of trees, these wastes may be again, through the energy of
their proprietors, replanted with success. Of course, it must not be
imagined that we advocate the planting, in sea-board situations, of the
oak, for although these remains of former oak forests, of which no
history save their gaunt stumps and fallen trunks now remain, are found
under sands, and even below the tide-mark in various localities, this
may be owing to the variations and upheavals of the beach, to inroads by
the sea upon the land, and to various causes of a similar nature having
altered the relative position of sea and land at the present day, from
what these occupied when these now submerged woodlands waved their
foliage and reared their gigantic trunks in pristine health and vigour.
We find similar traces of early indigenous oak plantations in Scotland
having existed in very remote times in far inland situations and even at
considerable altitudes. For example, at Dunkeld, in Lady Well Wood of
the Athole plantations, and upon a flat plateau in the upper part of the
wood, at considerable altitude, there is a curious formation of the
ground, —abrupt heights or knolls being interspersed with basin-like
hollows,—where, some years ago, in the course of draining these hollows,
the workmen came upon the remains of the trunks of many old indigenous
oaks embedded in the soil. They were of great size, and lay strewed in
one direction, as if at some remote period the whole had succumbed at
one time to some sweeping hurricane which had lashed across the
district, levelling whole tracts of wood before it, the soft nature and
dampness of the site in these hollows making the trees there a more easy
prey to its violence than in drier and firmer soils. Where these remains
interfered with the draining operations they were cut across and allowed
to lie. The wood was still hard and sound and of a black colour.
Of old and remarkable oaks in Scotland noticed and
recorded by earlier writers, several still exist, and have been
identified, and their present dimensions taken, for the purpose of this
report, and these will be found in the tabulated returns annexed. A few
of these early recorded trees may be here referred to, before passing on
to consider in detail many remarkably fine specimens of this noble tree,
not hitherto or only imperfectly noticed by former writers.
The old oak standing north from the Castle at
Lochwood in Annandale, recorded by Dr Walker as measuring, on 29th April
1773, at 6 feet above ground, 14 feet in circumference, and as being
then about 60 feet high, with a fine spreading head exactly circular,
and covering a space of about 60 feet diameter, still exists, though
evincing symptoms of extreme old age. Measured at the same point in
1873, it was found to be 16 feet, having only grown 2 feet in a century.
Measured carefully in October 1879 it was then 19 feet 8 inches at 1
foot;—18 feet 10 inches at 5 feet above ground, and its bole was 12 feet
10 inches in length. In Dr Walker's time this tree was supposed, but
upon what authority is not stated, to have been about 230 years old.
Walker cursorily notices another oak, inferior, he says, to the first
mentioned, growing near it, but in 1773 "measuring near 15 feet in
girth." In 1873 it measured at same point 17 feet, and at 2 feet above
ground it was 19 feet. Of this tree he gives no further details ; but we
find in 1879 that it girthed 24 feet at 1 foot, and 20 feet at 5 feet
above ground, and had a hole of 19 feet 2 inches in length. These trees
are still growing in comparative vigour; they are planted in a good dry
woodland soil at a high altitude, being not less than 900 feet above
sea-level.
The oak at Barjarg in Nithsdale, measured on 15th
July 1796, was 17 feet in circumference close by the ground. At a height
of 16 feet it measured 11 feet 11 inches, at 32 feet
it was 11 feet 7 inches, and at 46 feet from the ground it was 6
feet 8 inches in girth. Dr Walker further states that this tree on 13th
July 1773 measured 16 feet at the ground, and at 16 feet high it was
then 10 feet 3 inches. It had therefore increased 1 foot in hulk at the
base and 1 foot 8 inches at 16 feet from the
ground in these twenty-three years. More recent records of this oak,
undoubtedly the finest in Dumfriesshire even in its decaying state at
the present day, may prove interesting, as showing its waning progress
with the flight of time. In 1810 it was 17 feet 2 inches in girth at 4½
feet from the ground, and in 1879 it measured 19 feet 3 inches above the
conoidal base and 16 feet 3 inches at 6 feet above the ground. The bole
is straight in its timber to the height of 50 feet, and the spread of
the branches covers an area 60 feet in diameter. We have also
ascertained that this tree was measured by a carpenter in 1776, and was
found then to contain 250 cubic feet of timber in its stem. In the year
1762, the Lord Barjarg of that period was informed by some very old
residenters on the estate, that about 90 years previously (1670) it had
been "bored" with the design of cutting it down, if the wood in the core
had been sound. From the hole bored some branches sprouted, one of which
was then (1762) of considerable dimensions. From this it may be inferred
that it had then begun to wane; but it is another instance of very old
trees, which from some circumstance or another, after showing
considerable symptoms of decline, such as hollowness in the stump or in
the branch clefts, again putting on new vigour, and covering over
nature's incipient decay with rejuvenescence and new life. This oak
appears to have long enjoyed celebrity. It was called the Blind Oak of
Keir, [Keir is the
name of the parish in which it is situated.]
and is said to be mentioned by that epithet in some ancient title-deeds
pertaining to the district, written under the shadow of its umbrageous
boughs at least two centuries previous to 1810. It has made two narrow
escapes from being lost to its native county, of which we trust it may
long continue to be the boast, for besides being tested for soundness
with a view to sale as above stated in 1762, its proprietor was, about
the beginning of the present century, offered £30 for it as it then
stood!
Other notable oaks in this district will be referred
to subsequently in this report, when we come to describe specimens not
hitherto recorded by previous writers.
An oak growing on the roadside between Inversanda and
Strontian in Argyllshire was measured on 27th October 1764, and was then
at 1 foot from the ground 17 feet 3 inches; at 4 feet it measured 16
feet 3 inches; and at 15 feet, where the bole divided into branches, it
was 13 feet in girth. It is stated by Dr Walker to have been then in a
decaying condition, and from a careful investigation made in the
district recently, no trace of it has been found, nor can any one be
found who can tell the tale of its fall and removal or subsequent
history. Walker mentions the fact that the remains of many other great
oaks, approaching to the same size, were observed by him in this vale of
Morven, and were all situated among rank heather, in deep peat earth,
lying above banks of mountain gravel. This tree was probably, therefore,
the last survivor of one of Scotland's indigenous oak forests of very
early times in that district.
Another of the early Scottish recorded oaks growing
on the island of Inchmerin in Loch Lomond, has either so altered by its
decay as to be now unrecognisable, or has disappeared entirely. An
examination of the island last year failed to lead to the identification
of "Jack Merin," as this oak was called, although several very
interesting and hoary veterans were found, and are now recorded in the
appended returns. "Jack Merin" stood near the middle of the island
towards the east side, and measured, on 22d September 1784, 18 feet 1
inch. It was then "fresh and vigorous, and remarkable for its fine
expanded head, without any appearance as yet of the stag horns." The
only oak tree now corresponding with the position in the island ascribed
to Jack, is a most magnificent specimen of a short-stemmed spreading
tree. Measured on 15th August 1878, the indefatigable forester who
explored the island to endeavour to identify and measure Jack's
dimensions at that date, reports this tree to be 22 feet 6 inches in
girth at 2 feet from the ground, and divides into several heavy limbs at
4 feet from the ground. He estimated that the bark of this tree alone
would weigh about 3 tons, and that he had nowhere seen such a weight of
oak timber growing from a single trunk. This description is not quite
incompatible with the meagre account handed down to us of "Jack Merin,"
with whose site it corresponds, and although Walker states the soil in
1784 to be "a moorish, weeping soil," this also may hardly be considered
as differing essentially from the soil as stated in 1878, when it was
described as being " deep, humid soil." At all events, if this tree be
not the veritable "Jack Merin" of 1784, it occupies as nearly as
possible the same site, so that if Jack has since " gone aloft," to use
the words of Mr Gordon, who measured this and the other Loch Lomond oaks
in 1878, this veteran must have been his contemporary and neighbour, and
as such deserves notice, as being now, perhaps, the only living witness
of his "ascent"! The next oak in point of size on the island, in 1784
measured 11 feet 2 inches in girth. Such is all the description handed
down to us. Of course, from such meagre evidence it is now impossible to
identify this tree at the present day; but we may give the particulars
here of the only other very venerable and hoary relic of an evidently
far distant century growing near the northern shores of the island. At 4
feet above ground it girthed, in August 1878,
17 feet 6 inches, and at 7 feet the bole divides into three huge limbs,
the two largest of which measure respectively 12 feet, and 6 feet 9
inches in girth. A branch springing from the largest limb measures 9
feet in girth, and the diameter of the spread of branches is 111 feet.
"Several branches of large dimensions appear to have been wrenched off
at various times in its history, while its lean foliage and numerous old
unrecuperated saw draughts tell of its vigour having been spent." Other
large and old oaks still thriving on this island will be found on
reference to the appended returns.
As we have already seen in considering the old
sycamores in Scotland, that many fine specimens are either ascribed to
the planting by the hand of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, or as
commemorating eventful incidents in her history; so in like manner, we
find that the oak has also its appropriate patron, many trees in
different parts of the country being called "Wallace's Oaks," and
associated in tradition with incidents in the life and chequered career
of Scotland's great liberator. Sir William Wallace's oak in Torwood near
Stirling, has been in the annals of Scotland immemorially held in
veneration. In this ancient Torwood, it stood in a manner alone, there
being no trees, nor even the ruined remains of any tree to be seen near
it, or that could be said to be coeval with it. The tradition of its
having afforded shelter and security to Wallace when he had lost a
battle, and was escaping the pursuit of his enemies, probably served to
secure its preservation, when the rest of the wood at different periods
had been destroyed. In 1771 it had fallen into a state of advanced
decay, having at some previous date separated clown the middle, and one
half having entirely mouldered away. The other half, however, remained,
and was then at one point about 20 feet in height; what the tree ever
was above this is lost in obscurity. From the peculiar mode of
renovation of old trees already referred to, a young bark had shot
upwards from the root in several places, which had thrown out fresh
shoots developing into branches, towards the upper part of the old shell
of the trunk. This healthy young bark spread like a callus over several
dead parts of the old trunk and over an old arm. It measured then, so
far as the girth of the tree could be estimated from the size of the
half that remained, about 22 feet. It had never been tall, having forked
into several large limbs about 10 feet from the ground, thus affording
at the division a very likely and convenient place of concealment for a
fugitive. From information kindly furnished by the Rev. J. M'Laren of
Larbert, we further learn regarding this historical and interesting
tree. He writes as follows:—"The real Wallace oak is gone for ever. It
stood in what was a part of the Torwood some centuries ago, but the
knoll which it occupied has been long separated from what is now called
the Torwood by ground which has been cleared, and is quarter of a mile
from the present wood.. The old forester (ætat
72), who has lived nearly all his days in the Torwood, cannot remember
ever having seen the veritable tree; but Mrs Stirling of Glenbervie, who
is also of a similar age, remembers well having accompained her late
husband and a young Oxonian, who was filled with zeal about Wallace, to
see the oak, on a bright day in May 1835, and that then the old tree
stump had sent forth a young shoot. Since then the copse has been
rampant, and quite obliterated the old tree. The knoll is still called
'Wallace's Wood;' a small plantation it is, and a field adjoining it,
'Wallace's Bank,' and another field near by is 'Wallace's Kail-yard.'
There is, however, an innocent imposter, which the people about insist
on calling Wallace's oak. It stands within the policies of Carbrook,
close to Torwood, and is evidently some two or three hundred years old.
But though a respectable tree, it is far too young to have been
connected with Wallace." Near the latter tree is an old thorn, which is
called "Cargill's Thorn," from the circumstance that that renowned
Covenanter is said to have stood under its branching head, when he
excommunicated Charles II.
About a mile south-east, close to Glenbervie House,
stands a small but evidently very old oak tree, about 7 to 8 feet in
girth, called the "Jowg Tree," from the fact that a pair of "jowgs" were
in olden times fastened to it for the temporary exposure of delinquents.
There is a tree bearing a similar name at Ochtertyre in Perthshire, and
the appellation is not uncommon in other places.
Another famous "Wallace Oak" grew near the village of
Elderslie, Renfrewshire. In 1825 the trunk of this oak measured 21 feet
in circumference at the base, and 13 feet 2 inches at 5 feet from the
ground. It was then 67 feet high, and the branches covered altogether an
area of 495 square yards. In 1854 this sylvan giant and land-mark of the
past had become the merest wreck of what it was even a few years
previously. Time and the storms of centuries had done their work, but
worse than all, the relic hunters had been unceasingly nibbling at this
once majestic trunk. Little more than a blackened torso then, this oak
remained, with only a few straggling shoots showing any symptoms of
vitality. The dreadful storm of February 1856, completed the
destruction, for by it this grim old sylvan veteran, with thousands of
his less remarkable compeers, was levelled with the dust, Hundreds of
relic hunters in the district, hearing of Wallace's overthrow, hurried
to the spot, and soon accomplished with bowie knife and gully a thorough
dissection of the prostrate hero. Mr Spiers of Elderslie, however,
hastened to the rescue, and had the mangled and mutilated remains of the
trunk conveyed and safely lodged in his residence at Renfrew, where they
have since found a fitting resting-place. Several articles of furniture
have since been converted out of portions of this tree by the proprietor
of Elderslie and Houston, and when a few years ago the foundation stone
of Houston parish church was laid, the mallet used on the occasion was
made from a piece of Wallace's Oak. Two vigorous and thriving oaks in
front of Houston mansion-house were reared from acorns of this famous
tree, and so eager were the inhabitants of the district to secure some
mementos of Scotland's liberator, that some of them even collected the
sawdust in bottles for preservation when the stump was cut up! The
tradition lending interest to this historical tree is, that Wallace and
several followers on one occasion, when hotly pursued by the vindictive
Southerns, found welcome shelter and safety among its umbrageous
foliage.
The largest oak tree of which we have any record in
Scotland grew in the very old oak wood on the north side of Loch Arkeg
in Lochaber, where we learn from Walker, that in 1784 there were many
trees from 10 to 14 feet in girth at 4 feet from the ground. This one,
however, measured at 4 feet above ground in that year, 24 feet 6 inches.
He does not state the condition in which the tree then was, but all
trace of it has now disappeared. From these records it will be observed
that even the largest oaks of which any record has come down to us in
Scotland, probably from the difference of soil and climate, are greatly
inferior in dimensions to the large oaks in Southern Britain; for such
well-known trees as the Wetherby Oak, which Mr Beevor informs us
measured at 4 feet from the ground 40 feet 6 inches,—while there are
others in England which are said to have been still larger,—quite
eclipses those found in our more northern climate. Nor do any of the
remains of indigenous oak forests, found either submerged or embedded in
peat in Scotland, lead to the supposition that their denizens had
attained to greater sizes than those we have mentioned. In
Inverness-shire, at the head of Loch Garry, Sir T. Dick Lauder found the
remains of a prostrate oak forest upon the surface of the solid ground,
among which he found one tree with a clean stem, 23 feet in length and
16 feet in circumference at the butt end and 11 feet towards the smaller
end under the fork. The stock whereon this oak had grown and close to
which it lay, was quite worn away in the centre, and so hollowed out as
to encircle a large and thriving self-sown birch tree of more than 3
feet in girth.
Of other oaks still existing in Scotland, and
remarkable for age and size, but probably little, if in some instances
at all noticed, we find notable examples in a few remaining trees of the
Jed Forest, in Roxburghshire, where there is still to be seen "The Capon
Tree." It is a short-stemmed but very wide-spreading oak, with a
circumference at the base of 24 feet 3 inches. The legend attached to it
is, that it formed the trysting-place for the muster of the border clans
in bygone times; although probably, from its name "Capon"—and of which
there are other trees similarly styled in different parts of
Scotland,—it served another purpose also, having probably been the
selected spot, and under the shade of whose umbrageous head, the early
border chieftain attended to receive the rents or tithes of his vassals,
many of the lands being held of their superior by an annual payment of
fowls, cattle, corn, &c, and frequently we find the reddendo of a
"capon" was a common act of fealty. Not far from the capon tree stands
another oak, probably also a relic of the ancient Forest of Jed. It is
called the King of the Woods, and is a beautiful and vigorous tree, with
a trunk 43 feet in height, and a circumference of upwards of 17 feet at
4 feet above ground. Other interesting old oaks are still found in the
remains of the Caledonian Forest in the park of Dalkeith, in Cadzow
Forest, at Lochwood in Dumfriesshire, and in single trees in many parts
of Scotland. These are given in considerable detail in the appended
returns to this paper, and reference will accordingly now only be
briefly made to some of these of most interest.
The returns contain no examples of oak from
Aberdeenshire, where its presence seems to be somewhat rarer than that
of other descriptions. At Keithhall in that county, although planted in
the most suitable soils and sites, the oak does not appear to thrive.
The soil, too, is a deep loam, which is generally favourable to oaks,
and in the higher parts of the estate it is a light black soil on a
stiff clay or "pan." In Morayshire, along the banks of the Findhorn,
there are a great number of fine oaks, one of the specimens given in the
schedule girths at 1 foot from the ground 27 feet 9 inches, and has
evidently sprung from an old oak stool, for it divides into seven limbs,
which, growing together for about 3 feet from the base, divide, and form
as it were seven separate trees, each limb being the size of a good
useful tree. At Brodie Castle, Morayshire, there are some very good
oaks, growing in a sandy loam soil upon a subsoil tending to clay. One
given in our returns is a very massive tree, girthing 16 feet at 1 foot,
and 12 feet 11 inches at 5 feet from the base. It carries a good girth
well up its bole, which is 35 feet in length. This and the other oaks
returned from Brodie Park were planted between the years 1650 and 1680.
On the estate of Gray, Forfarshire, there is a noble oak tree, supposed
to be about two hundred and fifty years old, and girthing 26 feet 2
inches and 17 feet 2 inches at 1 and 5 feet respectively, growing in a
black deep clayey loam upon a sandy and gravelly subsoil, and containing
by the forester's measurement 623 cubic feet of good measureable timber.
Upon Lord Mansfield's estate of Innernytie la Perthshire, in the
Craigbank Oak Wood, in a secluded dell on the brink of the river Tay,
stands a venerable aged oak, which has hitherto escaped the notice of
the arboriculturist, and judging from its ancient appearance, there
seems no reason to doubt that it has weathered the blasts and tempests
of at least five hundred winters. At 5 feet above ground it measures 20
feet 10 inches in girth, and is still growing vigorously, and making
wood annually. Many other magnificent oaks throw a mantle of hoary and
honoured antiquity around the woods and policies of the royal palace of
Scone. Near the two-mile stone from Perth, near Balboughty plantation,
stand three fine specimens, which are remarkably large for their age.
The first two (see returns) are Quercus sessiliflora, and the
other Q. pedunculated The first were planted in 1808, and the
other a year later. Measured in August 1878, the first has a fine bole
of 56 feet in length, and is 80 feet high. It girths 5 feet 7 inches at
5 feet above ground, and contains 76 cubic feet of timber. The second is
about the same height, is 7 feet in girth at 5 feet, and has 93½
cubic feet of timber. The third (Q. pedunculata) has a clear bole
of 57 feet, girthing 6 feet 11 inches, and contains 114 cubic feet of
timber. In the policies at Scone, near the river Tay, and in a hollow,
stands a majestic wide-spreading oak, planted by King James
VI. of Scotland and I. of England. The
diameter of the spread of its branches covers 75 feet. It is now 55 feet
in height, 15 feet 3 inches at the base, 14 feet 2 inches at 3 feet, and
13 feet 4 inches at 5 feet from the ground. Not far distant stands a
sycamore, also planted by the same monarch, and girthing 12 feet 3
inches at 4 feet from the base. North of the old Scone burying-ground,
in which are some stones of the early part of the fifteenth century,
including that of Alexander Mar, sixteenth Abbot of Scone, who
flourished when the battle of Flodden was fought, is an oak of great
symmetry and vigour, planted in 1809. It is now 70 feet in height, with
40 feet of straight clear stem, and is at the root 10 feet 4 inches in
girth, and 8 feet 4 inches at 5 feet. Although at Castle Menzies the
soil is light, and resting on pure gravel or sand, at no great depth,
there are some fine oaks. In our returns, two specimens are described
which grow there. The first is near the pond, and is a noble tree,
girthing 15 feet 6 inches at a foot, and 12 feet at 5 feet from the
ground. This tree is 70 feet in height, and but from the fact that it
has had one large limb near the top broken off some years ago,
would have been much taller at the present day. This untoward
accident befel it in 1858, which was in the district a very late and
backward season, snow falling heavily before the leaves had been shed.
The superincumbent weight of snow on the topmost branches and foliage
broke off many branches about Castle Menzies policies, and sadly
disfigured some of the fine trees there. At the east gate of the park of
Castle Menzies stands a remarkable oak (see returns). The peculiarity of
this tree is, that it presents on one of its large limbs, about 25 feet
from the ground, a curious branch about 6 feet long, with pure white
foliage, densely matted and quite distinct from all surrounding and
adjacent branches. The white variegation, though completely local, is
very persistent, and has continued now for years. The interest in this
odd freak of nature is further increased by the presence (gradually
disappearing) of an old bell, which, in former times, was suspended
between two of the limbs, but which is being stealthily and quietly
overgrown, and embedded in the development of the limbs, and must ere
long be entombed in its living sepulchre ! But in no part of the
tree-growing and tree-loving county of Perth are better examples to be
found of the oak as well as of other hard-wooded trees than at the
Athole woods surrounding Dunkeld. Although the ancient forest of Birnam
Wood has never quite recovered the famous march of its ancestors to
Dunsinane, many thriving plantations are rapidly clothing the hillsides,
while still a few remnants of the old aboriginal trees, and others
planted fully two centuries ago, remain to testify to the magnificent
proportions of those early plantations, which in the course of time and
nature have gradually given way to younger followers. Near the river Tay
at Birnam, and behind the hotel, may still be seen two immense trees, an
oak and sycamore, popularly credited as being the sole remnants of that
celebrated forest. Both are in full foliage and green vigour at the
present day, and likely to live for many years to come. The sycamore
having been already noticed in the foregoing chapter on that tree, we
now briefly refer to the oak. It is 19 feet 7 inches in girth at 5 feet
from the ground, and grows in a good deep alluvial loamy soil, on gravel
subsoil, quite close to the river Tay. Other remains of decayed oak root
stumps have been frequently found in the vicinity, no doubt relics of
that great primeval forest which so disturbed the peace of Macbeth.
Within the Dunkeld policies are many large and interesting examples of
oak trees, and of these we are able, from personal observation, to give
a few records. In the "King's Park" in the policies at Dunkeld, an oak
flourishes near the river side which girths at its narrowest point, 4
feet from the ground, 15 feet 2½ inches, and
at 3 feet from the ground, it is 15 feet 8½
inches in circumference. It has a fine bole of 12 feet, and then
branches into five huge limbs, each of them being the size of any
ordinary tree. Its spread of branches measures 99 feet in diameter. On
the opposite bank of the Tay from the point where this oak grows, is
seen the famous oak under whose kindly shade the celebrated Neil Gow was
in the habit of retiring with his violin, and where tradition reports he
composed some of his finest pieces. This tree is pointed out as "Neil
Gow's Oak."
"Famous Neil,
The man that played the fiddle weel."
This celebrated fiddler died in 1808, in the romantic
little hamlet of Inver, not far westward from the site of the oak now
identified with his name and fame in song. Another magnificent specimen
of the Quercus pedunculata at Dunkeld is given in our returns,
and is very characteristic of the growth and habit of this variety under
favourable auspices. Another picturesque oak at Dunkeld stands on the
terraced bank on the opposite side of the Tay to "Neil Gow's Oak," and
in full view of that tree. It is called the "Duke and Duchess Oak." It
is a huge massive stump, 16 feet in girth, dividing into two large limbs
quite near the ground, the cleft being fitted up as a seat. It is
evidently a fresh growth from one of the aboriginal oaks of the
district. The grounds of Moncrieffe and Moredun Hill, Perthshire, are
rich in old and stately hard-wood trees, and amongst these are many fine
oaks. One comparatively young tree of great promise and vigorous habit
may be noted. It was planted in January 1822, on the occasion of the
rejoicings in connection with the natal day of the late Sir Thomas
Moncrieffe. It stands in the centre of the fine old avenue of beech
trees already referred to in the chapter on that tree, and is surrounded
by the small Druidical circle which had existed there long prior to the
planting and laying out of the grounds. It is now 72 feet in height,
with a remarkably tall, straight, and clean bole, and is 10 feet 6
inches in girth at 1 foot, and 8 feet 4 inches at 5 feet from the
ground. In cursorily noticing the many fine specimen trees in
Perthshire, we must not omit to notice those at Methven, where there are
some splendid examples of the oak as well as of other descriptions.
Especially to be noted is the "Pepperwell Oak." It stands in the park in
front of the castle, and is said to derive its name from its proximity
to a refreshing spring so called. This tree is noticed in the New
Statistical Account of the parish published in 1837. It is therein
described tree of great picturesque beauty, and contains 700 cubic feet
of wood. The trunk measures 17½ feet in
circumference at 3 feet above the ground, and its branches cover a space
of 98 feet in diameter. It has attained an increase of girth of 3 feet
since the year 1796. In the year 1722, 100 merks Scots were offered for
the tree, and tradition reports that there is a stone in the heart of
it, but, like the Golenas oak, it must be cut up to ascertain this." In
1867 the tree girthed 21 feet 7 inches at 1 foot from the ground, and 19
feet at 6 feet from the ground. It has, however, considerably increased
in bulk since these measurements were taken, and is now at 1 foot from
the ground no less in girth than 23 feet, and at its narrowest part,
about 5 feet from the ground, it girths 19 feet 5 inches, being thus 2
feet more at this point A
count in 1837. It stands by the side of a steep bank, so that the
length of the bole is somewhat irregular. On the higher or upper side,
it measures only about 8 feet in length, while on the lower it is nearly
12 feet long. Four immense limbs spring from the bole, and a fifth was
wrenched off several years ago. This tree is about 80 feet in height,
and is positively known to be at least four hundred years old. An
interesting relic of the old Strathallan Forest remains there in the oak
given in the returns. This tree is called "Malloch's Oak," from the
tradition of a man of that name having been in olden times summarily
hanged upon it for storing up and hoarding meal during a time of
scarcity. There is still extant the contract of the sale of oak trees in
the Castle Wood, where this tree stands, and in which "Malloch's Oak" is
strictly reserved. This document is two hundred years old. The tree must
then have been a familiarly known old tree, and it is popularly supposed
to be from five to six hundred years of age. It is much decayed on one
side, but still flourishes in a green old age, the decayed part, which
is at a point where a large limb has at one time been taken off, being
plated over with iron. It girths 19 feet at 1 foot, and 14 feet 8 inches
at 5 feet from the ground. A large horizontal limb, which may have
formed a very convenient gibbet if the legend be true, extends 56 feet
outwards from the trunk, and is now supported by two posts. Not far from
this tree another remarkable and noteworthy oak grows in "the birks of
Tullibardine," near the spot where the old castle of that name stood.
Tradition reports that under this tree, which is known by the name of
"The Chair Tree," the family of Tullibardine, in feudal times, dined and
held high revelry on special occasions. It is surrounded by a ring of
earthwork resembling an old "feal dyke," which is 28 yards in
diameter, and in this circus arena it is said the castle horses were
formerly trained and exercised. It girths 17 feet at a foot from the
ground, and carries this circumference throughout nearly the entire
length of its bole, which is 20 feet high. It is apparently not so old
as "Malloch's Oak," but apparently also an old "Forest" relic. Near the
roadside on the property of Dollerie, and near the right bank of the
river Turret, about a third of a mile above its junction with the river
Earn, stands a remarkable oak called "Eppie Callum's Oak." The head is
wide for its height, and the trunk is very round. It girths 19 feet 8
inches at 1 foot, 15 feet 10 inches at 3 feet, and 15 feet 3
inches at 6 feet above ground. The legend of the name of this free is
that a certain "Eppie Callum," who lived at the place, planted an acorn
from some celebrated oak in an old teapot (she must have been a
civilized old woman for her day), and when the acorn had produced a
rather inconveniently large young plant she planted it, teapot and all,
in her kailyard, which occupied the spot at the roadside where the tree
now stands. The story will only be verified by futurity, when the oak
comes to be removed, and the remains of the veritable teapot are found
embosomed in its trunk ! On an oak in the vicinity on the Crieff and
Comrie highroad, just opposite Ochtertyre West Lodge, there is a very
curious growth or huge wart-like excrescence on an oak tree, worthy of
note from its size. It is spheroidal in shape, slightly oblate, with a
short axis in supporting branch,—inclination of branch about 45 degrees,
girth of the branch 14 inches, and girth of the growth at its widest
circumference 6 feet 3 inches.
The oaks in the returns from Glendevon, Perthshire
(900 to 950 feet altitude), and from Moreland, Kinross-shire (900 feet
altitude), are good specimens for so high a site above sea level, and
although the oak is thereby seen to develop less timber-bulk at such a
height than in lower situations, it is proved to grow timber there of
fine quality, and the constitution of the tree for hardihood to exposure
is satisfactorily tested.
The many districts in Perthshire, besides Athole and
Dunkeld already referred to, where buried trunks of huge oaks have been
found and exhumed, all point to the inference that its entire area, and
that of neighbouring shires also, was at an early period one huge
impenetrable forest. In the days of the aborigines such vast forests
extended all over Scotland, giving to the inhabitants, indeed, their
name, for Caledonia originally means the country of "the people of the
coverts." These native forests appear to have consisted principally of
fir, birch, and oak. In Balquidder large stumps and trunks of a defunct
forest of oak are frequently found. In Strathtay fossil wood is often
met with, and in the gardens at Murthley Castle, from the bottom of a
lake in the American garden, several large oaks have been discovered
above 6 feet in girth. Remains of birch, alder, hazel, were also found
in a tolerable state of preservation in this lake bottom. Glen-more, a
narrow valley in the parish of Fortingall, was in early times part of
the extinct Forest of Schiehallion; and for a long period the stumps of
fir trees, and large trunks of oak, furnished the inhabitants of the
district with a profitable product,—the fir being used as fuel, when it
is stated to have "emitted a light more brilliant than gas," while the
oak wood, on being dried and exposed, proved so hard as to be
manufactured into sharpening tools for scythes which were readily
marketable. In the bed of the Tay frequently large oaks have been found
in situ, and in good preservation.
But returning from this digression, and having in
considerable detail noticed the remarkable oaks of Perth and the more
northern districts of Scotland, we hasten briefly to direct attention to
the trees in other counties further south. At Tullibody House,
Clackmannan, there is a very handsome oak of immense trunk, girthing 21
feet 11½ inches at 1 foot, and 18 feet
3 inches at 5 feet from the ground. It is acknowledged to be by far the
largest tree of the kind in the parish and district around. This tree is
quite vigorous, and has grown 7 inches in girth at 3 feet from the
ground since October 1870. The oaks at Pollok, in the parish of
Eastwood, Renfrewshire, are notable examples, and have been carefully
measured from time to time since 1812, and the following results of
their growth ascertained at 5 feet above ground.
Ayrshire can boast many fine examples of the oak, and
there also it appears to have flourished at a very early period in great
luxuriance and forest grandeur. In Galston parish, in that county, good
trees appear to have covered the area of the country at a remote age,
and many fine specimens exist at the present day. An oak trunk was some
years ago found embedded in the ground, about 500 feet above sea level,
having a straight massive bole, 48 feet in length and 10 feet 6 inches
in girth at its upper extremity. Lanfine
Woods, Barr Castle, Cessnock Castle, Auchans Castle, Loudon Castle and
woods, Auchinleck, and Sorn Castle still maintain, by their many lordly
trees, the reputation of the county.
In Lanarkshire there are many interesting and
remarkable old oaks. We may first notice "The Pease Tree," growing on
the estate of Lee in the parish of Lanark. It stands in a hollow,
originally the outlet of the burn or rivulet, which has formed in the
soil and subsoil a deep ravine, or gill as it is locally termed.
The soil is a medium loam with beds of sand and gravel resting on the
usual sandstone, shale, &c, of the coal formation. The trunk of this
veteran is now quite hollow, and, at the height of about 8 feet from the
present surface of the ground, forms itself into three branches,
girthing respectively 16 feet 8 inches, 15 feet, and 11 feet 4 inches.
Parts of these massive limbs are more or less decayed, and standing
boldly out as they do, weather-beaten and divested of their bark, from
amongst the living branches when clothed in their summer greenery, give
to this noble tree a reverential dignity and grandeur well befitting an
artist's study, and carrying the mind of the beholder back through long
centuries of changes and revolutions which have taken place
in the history of Caledonia, since the genial sun and rains first
called forth the nature-sown acorn to send down its tiny rootlets into
mother earth. "The Pease Tree" is said to be one of the few remaining
scattered remnants of the great Caledonian Forest, which stretched
across the centre of the lowlands of Scotland from Ayrshire to St Abb's
Head on the German Ocean, and in which it is said the Roman Emperor
Severus kept 50,000 men for seven years cutting down trees, in order to
prevent the forest affording shelter to the natives. The name "Pease
Tree," is popularly and locally believed to have been given to this tree
from the pease grown on the adjoining farm being annually stacked around
and upon it for the purpose of being winnowed; but the name more
probably derived its origin from the situation in which the tree grows,
from paes or pis, an old British word signifying a rivulet
or spout. Tradition says that Oliver Cromwell and a party of his
followers dined in the hollow part of the trunk, and also that in a
former era a lady of the family of Lee was in the habit of plying her
spindle and distaff there. It is satisfactory to record that this
venerable tree appears to be growing more luxuriantly than it did some
years ago, from the fact that an oak was planted merely to occupy its
place when the hand of time or the blasts of winter should have
completed their work. This tree is now 7 feet in girth at 3 feet from
the ground, and the entrance to the hollow butt of the old tree is
yearly growing smaller, so that in a few years a man will have great
difficulty in getting an entrance. The dimensions of this remarkable
tree are as follows:—Height 68 feet; circumference at 1 foot 28½
feet, at 3 feet 23 feet, and at 6 feet 28½
feet. It appears to be Quercus sessiliflora, while the oak
planted to occupy its place is Quercus pedunculata. The most
interesting and important groups of old oaks in Lanarkshire are the
trees remaining in Cadzow Forest, near Hamilton Palace. The forest is
the property of His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, and lies in a gently
sloping position towards the north. The two enclosures now known as the
Lower and Upper Oaks, the former containing 70 acres, the latter 83
acres, form together part only of the old forest, because adjoining
these remains on the south and west are old pasture fields and
plantations, surrounded by a stone wall 6 feet high and about 3 miles in
extent, which was most probably the boundary in feudal times, when
Cadzow Castle was the scene of many stirring and knightly events. On the
east side the forest is bounded by the river Avon, and on the left bank
of this river are the moss-covered crumbling ruins of Cadzow Castle. The
soil is admirably adapted for the growth and development of oaks, being
a clayey loam resting on a subsoil of clay. In some places the trees
stand quite close together, while in others they stand singly, or seem
to surround large open patches covered with rich natural pasture, on which the famous breed
of native wild white cattle browse, and form an appropriate association
with this ancient relic of Caledonian forest life. The principal
characteristic of all these trees is their shortness of stature,
combined with great girth of trunk. The dimensions of ten of the largest
and best specimens are given in the appended returns. Most of the trees,
and even the healthiest amongst them, are fast hastening to decay. No
planting, pruning, nor felling is allowed within the forest. Tradition
states that these oaks were planted about the year 1140, by David Earl
of Huntingdon, afterwards king of Scotland; but this cannot be looked
upon as a fact, for their appearance and habit clearly point to their
self-sown existence, and, moreover, in the remote period assigned to
them by the legend, little if any attention was paid to the planting of
trees, and the clearing of the native forests was held in far higher
importance than the planting of them.
Another interesting remnant of the old Caledonian Forest still
exists in Midlothian at Dalkeith Park. This portion embraces 130 acres,
and has been most carefully preserved for centuries, its hoary and
gnarled giants being still fresh and vigorous, and likely to flourish
for generations to come. The survival of this ancient tract of woodland
is all the more to be prized when it is recorded that, about one hundred
and fifty years ago, the then owner of the ducal demesne had determined
that the trees should be cut down, and accordingly most of the old trees
still standing were marked for the axe, but by the sudden death of their
owner, the intended improvements were stayed, and the forest thus
providentially escaped annihilation. The mark or "blaze" then cut on
the sides of the trees in the course of years healed over, and became
invisible, but its position is still distinctly seen upon the rugged
bark of these hoary monarchs after the lapse of a century and a half;
and the figures scribed on the "blaze" in lotting and numbering the
trees were still quite legible upon the removal of the superimposed
bark, in cutting up one of the trunks recently blown down. The
dimensions of the "King of the Forest," the largest survivor in the
group, are given in the appended returns. Many other trees closely
approach this monarch in size,—some of the specimens having straight
clean stems, others having no hole to speak of, and all with rugged,
swollen, and curiously knotted trunks, with fantastically twisted,
gnarled, and contorted gaunt-like arms and branches. The timber of these
trees is remarkably rich in colour, and beautifully grained, and even
trunks blown down—no felling being permitted—fetch high prices, so
eagerly sought after is their timber by cabinetmakers for decorative
furniture.
Remains still may be traced in Selkirk and Peebles-shires of the old
Ettrick Forest, which formed another division of the great
Caledonian Forest. In the still richly wooded lands of
Castlecraig, Dalwick, and Posso, in reclaiming land, oak trunks are
still dug out, and are found strewn together as if they had been
overthrown by some flood or angry tempest. The
remarkable oaks at Lochwood, and in other places in Dumfriesshire and
south of Scotland, have already been noticed, and reference to others of
equal interest may be permitted to the appended returns; but before
concluding this report on the old oaks of Scotland, it would be
unpardonable if we did not notice one still existing at Moffat, and
interesting from the fact that we owe its existence at the present day
to that eminent and enthusiastic tree-lover, whose early records and
notices of trees we have so frequently quoted and referred to. This tree
stands upon a slope on the west side of the Annan, near the Dumfries
road, to the south of Moffat. It is a fine old oak, massive, knotted,
and gnarled, with wide-spreading branches, and head finely foliaged in
summer. It is called "The Gowk Tree," and Dr Walker, with true affection
for its associations, in the early part of this century secured its
preservation by a considerable money payment, when the whole of the
forest trees on the bank were cut down by the curators of the Marquis of
Annandale, because it was in that tree the cuckoo annually first
heralded the advent of spring in the parish. Although it lost a great
limb about twenty-five years ago,—almost as large as many a well-grown
oak tree,—it is still fresh and vigorous.
The returns appended to this report will be found to
describe the particulars of many trees which have not been referred to
in this paper, nor, indeed, previously recorded at all; they are stately
and noble specimens, in their different localities, of "the forest's old
aristocrats," each of which
"Takes back
The heart to elder days of holy awe.'
To give a detailed account, or even to name the
various oaks in England, remarkable for their size or for their
historical associations, many of which still exist, would occupy more
space than the limits of a chapter devoted to the old remarkable oaks in
Scotland would allow; but it may render this chapter more complete if a
brief reference is made to some of the most important of them. They are
" full of story, and haunted by the recollections of the great spirits
of past ages." In Norfolk, "the country of oaks," is still to be seen
the ruined relic of Winfarthing oak, which in 1820 is said to have
measured "70 feet in girth at the root and 40 feet in the middle." It is
said to have been known in the time of the Conqueror as "the Old Oak,"
and its age is popularly believed to be over 1500 years. The largest and
oldest oak tree in Windsor Forest, "the King Oak," measures 26 feet in
circumference at 4 feet from the ground. "The Great Oak" of Thorpemarket,
still in healthy vigour, but evincing great age, girths at 1 foot from
the ground 22 feet, and has a bole 42 feet in length, and is 70 feet in
height. In Kent, "the Majesty Oak," at Fredville, girths 28 feet 6
inches at 8 feet above ground. In Nottinghamshire, "the Parliament Oak"
in Clipstone Park, is 28 feet 6 inches in girth at 4 feet from the
ground. Under this tree, in 1290, Edward I. held a parliament, whence
its name is derived. "The Shelton Oak," near Shrewsbury, still exists,
and is fully 26 feet in girth at 5 feet from the ground. This tree is
celebrated from its having been climbed by Owen Glendower on 21st June
1403, that he might reconnoitre the battle of Shrewsbury on his arrival
with supports. In Bagot's Park, Staffordshire, is a majestic oak tree,
28 feet in girth at 5 feet from the ground. The celebrated "Cowthorpe
Oak" in Yorkshire, said to be the largest tree in England, still lingers
on in hoary grandeur. Near the ground the stump girths no less than 78
feet, while it is 48 feet in girth at 3 feet above ground. It is quite
hollow—in fact a mere shell, uncared for, and tenanted by cattle in
their quest for shade or shelter. Eighty-four persons are stated on one
occasion to have stood within its hollow trunk, and it could have
accommodated a considerable number more. Many fine majestic oaks still
thrive at Chats-worth, in Derbyshire, and at Lyme Hall, in Cheshire.
These are relics of the old High Peak forest. Some of the measurements
made by us in 1876 were as follows:—
These data may be interesting, as the trees last
referred to do not appear to have been hitherto recorded.
In conclusion, we would merely refer those interested
in comparing the other remarkable oaks in England with those we wave
herein recorded in Scotland, to the interesting and valuable Pages of
the Amoemtates quernoa of the late Professor Burnet, in which the
historical facts, legends, and traditions connected with the history of
individual oaks of ancient date are fully given.
Appendix
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