in the Frith of Forth . 23 



rooters thereof, the lichens and mosses, multiplied, until the 

 whole was transformed into a bed of peat. Subsequent to 

 this period, that remarkable change took place, by which this 

 laminated clay, with its ancient forest, and more recent peat, 

 became subject to be covered at every tide with the waters of 

 the sea. 



The existence of these remarkable strata, and even in some 

 degree their value, were found, upon inquiry, to be known in 

 the neighbourhood. The peat had been carted off many years 

 ago, in considerable quantity, to serve as a compost, or manure, 

 to the corn lands in the neighbourhood. The clay, however, 

 has hitherto been permitted to retain undisturbed possession of 

 its bed, though apparently well adapted for the purpose of 

 brick or tile-making, and certainly most suitable for fertilizing 

 the neighbouring sandy plains or downs, at present consigned to 

 the purposes of a rabbit-warren, but which might soon be 

 rendered fit for supporting better stopk, if the resources at 

 hand were suitably employed. 



The occurrence of a bed of peat, with the stumps of trees 

 in the clay, and their prostrate stems in the mass of vegetable 

 matter above, had not failed to give rise to speculations on the 

 subject, so that even the voice of tradition has not been silent. 

 The late Rev. Spence Oliphant, minister of the parish of 

 Largo, has recorded the leading features of the tradition in 

 the history of the parish, published in the ^' Statistical Account 

 of Scotland," vol. iv., p. 537. *' Largo Bay extends from 

 Kincraig Point, to that of Methul, making a diameter of nearly 

 seven miles in length, and marked by a ridge of sand. The 

 included bay forms a semicircle of about ten miles of sea 

 coast. The above ridge is called by fishermen, the Dyke. Of 

 this there is a tradition, although probably not well founded, 

 among the oldest inhabitants of Largo, that there was formerly 

 a wall or mound, running from Kincraig Point to that of 

 Methul, containing within it a vast forest, called the Wood of 

 Forthy In spite, however, of the doubt expressed by the 

 author just quoted, concerning the value of the voice of tra- 

 dition, regarding the ** Wood of Forth," the phenomena still 

 visible on the shore attest its authenticity. But how can we 

 account for the existence of a tradition on the subject ? Has 

 the record been handed down through a succession of ages 



