Ohferuatmt to pftvf a Change of Climate in Ireland. 38 J 



Hod of their defl:ru£lion to the age of James the firft of England. In fhofe reigns, rewards 

 ^wcre held out for fettling the kingdom, and clearing its furface of forefts, which under fa- 

 vour of inceffant wars and negleded tillage, during a period of eight centuries, had over- 

 fpread the face of the country*. 



The harfti and furrowed bark of this pine has occurred to me in fuch a perfeft ftatc of 

 prefervation as almoft alone to determine its fpeciesf. 



The cones have been found by me at a depth of many feet from the furface of the earth, 

 in fuch condition as almoft to give hope of raifing plants from their feed J. Marks of the 

 woodman's hatchet on their trunks ; veftiges of fire applied for their deftruftion ; and pieces 

 of charcoal into which many of them have been burnt § -, palelngs and fmall enclofurcs found 

 at the level where they have formerly grown 1]. 



Leathern flioes, wooden veffels filled with butter and other light fubftanccs found at con- 

 fiderable depths In turf bogs**, and not likely to have defcended through the matted texture 

 of that fubftance, give additional teftimony to the opinion that the exiftence of thefe bogs, 

 and of courfe that of the trees which they contain, is not of an extremely ancient date. 



It is necdlefs to recall the attention of the Academy to the difficulty of raifing trees, at 

 prefent, in many of thofe fituatlons where the ancient pine and oak of Ireland have within 

 the period of human exiftence flouriflied with luxuriance. 



The labours of the farmer, the refources of wealth and information, the rewards of 

 patriotic focletles, and even the liberal encouragement of the leglflaturc itfelf, have in vain 

 ftruggled againft the weftern ftorms during the latter part of the prefent century; and the 

 planters of our age, wearied with combating the tempeft, have generally found it neceflary 

 to fly from all elevated and expofed fituatlons, and to abandon the pleafing idea of covering 

 the nakedncfs of mountains, the fterillty of rocks, and the bleak uniformity of bogs, with 

 the luxuriant foliage of the oak and the pine. 



Of all the foreft trees which in later times have been cultivated for general ufe, there is 

 none higher in the eftimation of our farmers than the afli. It is a tree which buds late, but 

 finally ifiucs forth ftrong and fucculent Ihoots : fecure by its deciduous nature from wintry 

 hlafts, it is neverthelefs extremely fenfible to the efforts of fummcr ftorms ; and becomes 



• " In this reign ipe-ftaves was one of the ordinary exports of Ireland ; fo that a mighty trade was driven 

 with them, and thoufands of trees ^frere felled every year for this piirpofe. A multitude of iron-mills were 

 erefted; and it is incredible how much charcoal a fingle iron-mill will confume in one year. So that all the 

 oreat woods which the maps flicw us, on the mountains between Dundalk and Newry, are quile vaniflied, ex- 

 cept one tree clofc to the highway, at the very top of the mountain, which, as it may be fcen a great way oft, 

 therefore ferveth travellers for a mark.'' 



«' Yet there are ftill great woods remaining in Dunnagall, in Tyrone, in Antrim, &c." See Nat. Hift. of 

 Ireland, by Boates, Molleneux, and others, written about tlie middle of the laft century. 



■(• In Bracknaiwevlin bog, county of Weftmeath. 



% In Lackbcg oog, near Rutland, county of Donegal. ; 



§ Found in k bog in the liberties of the city of Londonderry. 



II In a bog near Surock, county of Weftmeath; near Kilrulh, couaty of Clare; at Carnilk, near Ramelton, 

 county of Donegal. 



*'* Omitting other inftances, two wooden veffels containing butter were very lately found deep in a turf hog, 

 in the Fews Mountains, near Ballymoire, the feat of Sir Walter Synnott. The veffels were extremely inartlfi- 

 -«ial, being little better than the hollow trunks of fome large fpecies of willow : the butter was infipid, inodo- 

 rous, colo\irlefs, fomewhat refembling unftuous white fteatitcs in its touch and appearance; but its inflamma- 

 *ility remained fo perfcft, as to admit «f its being made into candles, to which ufe much of it was applied. 



3 D 2 a faithful 



