134 ON THE OLD AND REMARKABLE ASH TREES IN SCOTLAND. 



tree that stood for centuries in the south-west corner of the 

 kirkyard of the parish of that name, and fell by a very high 

 wind on 1st November 1845, was presented to the Established 

 Church in that parish l)y the Kev. William Gregor, minister 

 thereof, on the 16th January 1847." The wood was sold to 

 more tlian one joiner, and was made into articles of furniture. 

 The lithograph of the tree referred to was sold in the parish, and 

 is still to be seen in several houses ; it was mounted in a frame 

 made from the wood of the tree itself. The ash, already referred 

 to, which grew at Castle Huntly, in I'erthshire, called the 

 " Glammis Tree," and which in 1796 girthed 17 feet at 5 feet 

 high, and 27 feet near the root, was overturned in a gale in 1864, 

 and was very much decayed. No precaution had been taken to 

 prolong its existence, or stay the course of nature's decay during 

 the latter years of its life. Many large old trees, the best on 

 this estate, have been felled during recent years. Two ash trees 

 on Inch Murin, Loch Lomond, are mentioned by Walker as 

 having been of considerable dimensions, and although in a. 

 decaying condition, from having been broken over about 8 feet 

 from the ground, they then still continued to throw out groups 

 of branches from their sides. The one girthed in 1784, at 3 feet 

 from the ground, 20 feet 8 inches, and the other, 28 feet 5 inches. 

 One of these trees, we have just ascertained from Mr Gordon, 

 forester on Luss estate, still exists, and is rather a curious 

 relic. It is quite hollow, and appears to have at some time been 

 liroken over about 7 feet above the ground, dust below the 

 Ijreak numerous shoots have, liowever, formed all round tlie 

 trunk, and are now from 10 to 18 inches in diameter, and have 

 established a connection with the old roots of the stump, which 

 appear still vigorous. A zone of fresh wood and bark has been 

 thus formed over the old hollow trunk, which now measures 

 25 feet in circumference. The thickness of this hollow shell is 

 from 6 to 16 inches, and the whole forms a sort of roofless 

 chamber, in whicli from four to six adults may stand without 

 inconvenience. The moist climate and humidity of the district 

 of Loch Lomond is very favourable for the development of tree- 

 life, and in the neighbourhood there are some very large thnber 

 trees. The old ash tree at Mellerstain, in Berwickshire, noticed 

 hj Walker as l)eing, in 1795, 80 feet in height, and then eighty 

 years old, with a girth of 8 feet 1 inch at 3 feet above ground, 

 which must have, however, consideraldy increased after he wrote, 

 for, on inquiry, we have ascertained that when it was broken 

 across about 6 feet above ground many 3'ears ago, it was of 

 "very extraordinary size;" and Lord Haddington had a paling 

 erected to protect the stump, which was covered over with ivy, 

 but by degrees it decayed entirely, and no trace of it now remains. 

 But, although we have thus traced tlie last days of so many of 



