io ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



with caution, until others are sought for, as we presently shall 

 proceed to do. 



THE FORESTS. It is not necessary in this place to go 

 into full proof of the wide extent of pine and oak-woods which 

 at one time covered great portions of Scotland, as much has 

 already been recorded in numerous volumes. Suffice it to 

 say as regards Scotland generally, that even at the present 

 day evidence remains of pine and oak in almost all the old 

 peat mosses, and even beyond the limits of the present dry 

 land, submerged remains of forest ground still appear 

 within view, in many parts of Scotland, north, south, east, and 

 west, notably in the Moray Firth, in shallow water, between 

 Findhorn and Burghead in Elgin. Evidence still remains also, 

 high up the slopes of our mountains, here and there, notably 

 in Argyll and Moray : as for instance on Ben Cruachan, 

 and high up the haunches of Ben Muichdhu, Cairngorm, 

 and Glen Guisach ; reaching far up Glen Derry of Dee, 

 and Tromie and Feshie of Moray. Evidence, we say, still 

 remains in living giant pines, which are still numerous in 

 the sheltered valleys of Moray, some measuring 16 feet in 

 girth, five feet from the ground. Such are " Porter's Pine " 

 in Abernethy, and " The Queen of the Forest," also in Aber- 

 nethy, and a pine by the roadside, of the same name as the 

 last, in the old Crannich Wood of Duthil ; and many more. 

 The old wood still occupies literally thousands of acres along 

 Speyside, Dulnain, and Findhorn. Remains now are fewer 

 in Guisachan, Inverness-shire, and Glen Affaric, but at this 

 latter locality, it is believed, are the largest existing speci- 

 mens of individual trees in Scotland, some of which are still 

 in vigorous old age. 1 



Of the gradual decrease at times, and the rapid destruc- 

 tion at others, of the greater part of these extensive 

 forest-tracts, the history is well known, though no perfect 



1 By the kindness of Lord Tweedmouth we have had the great pleasure of 

 inspecting a handsome folio volume of drawings, by Kilgour and Mr. Wilson, of 

 Guisachan, Glen Affaric, and the old pines of the forests there. We give the 

 measurements of two taken from Lord Tweedmouth's notes. 



The "Mammoth," blown down in February 1889, measured- 

 Girth at I foot from the ground 19 ft. 

 ,, 3 feet ,, ,, 17 ft. 4 in. 



,, 6 ,, ,, ,, 22 ft. 



It stood near Plodda on the banks of Garvagh. 



