46 ON THE OLD AND KEMAEKABLE 



trees, so that the catalogue may, at a future time, be rectified and 

 largely added to. 



Before proceeding to describe the various old and remarkable 

 Spanish chestnuts in Scotland which have come under notice, it 

 may perhaps be proper to make a few remarks generally regard- 

 ing this tree and its distribution in the country. 



By some early authors the Spanish chestnut {Castanea vesca) 

 was considered to be indigenous to Britain, but this will, on the 

 slightest rellection, be seen to be a mistake, for no tree which 

 does not readily ripen its seed in this country can be said to be 

 indigenous. In very favoured situations, and in particularly 

 favourable seasons, the Spanish chestnut occasionally does ripen 

 its fruits, but such instances are rare, and form the exception 

 to the rule. It was more probably introduced into Britain by the 

 Eomans, who probably also, on account of its value as a fruit 

 tree, had previously carried it with them from Italy into France 

 and Spain and other countries of Europe at a very early date. 

 In a paper proposing to deal with the old and remarkable chest- 

 nuts of Scotland, it would be out of place to refer to the well- 

 known and gigantic specimen trees of this species to be found at 

 the present day in Italy, Naples, and on the Apennines. The 

 chestnuts of Mount Etna have already passed into a household 

 word for their colossal proportions and magnificence even in 

 decay. The famous Castagno di Cento Cavalli girths, at a few 

 feet from the ground, 180 feet, and its companion tree, Castagno 

 di Santa Agata, upwards of 70 feet. From these and other well- 

 known chestnut trees in Italy, Spain, and Southern Euro]3e, but 

 most probably from such well-known and world-wide renowned 

 trees as have been named, have many, if not almost all of the 

 old and remarkable Spanish chestnuts in Scotland sprung. In 

 monastic times the monk was the chief gardener and arboricul- 

 turalist ; and in his frequent pilgrimages to holy shrines did not 

 fail to carry back with him, to his less hospitable climate of 

 Britain, seeds and plants as mementoes of trees held almost 

 sacred in the sunnier lands of the South. It is a remarkable fact 

 that at almost every old abbey -ruin, or site of any rehgious house 

 of Scotland, are there to be found several Spanish chestnut trees, 

 whose well-selected sites and chosen exposures evince the favour 

 in which they were held, and betray the desire of the old monk 

 probably to acclimatize, if possible, under his own personal care 

 and nurture, the seeds of some well-known tree of his boyhood, 

 gathered by his own hands, and carefully preserved during his 

 pilgrimage to his new home. It does not appear that the Spanish 

 chestnut was generally planted as a timber-producing tree in 

 Britain during the Middle Ages, although in some localities, and 

 notably in church lands or surrounding feudal and baronial 

 castles, it seems to have been more generally introduced. In the 



