SYCAMOKES IN .SCOTLAND. 153 



sycamore. This tree puts forth its Ijuds and yomig fohage 

 ten iluys or a fortniglit earlier tlian any otlier sycamore, of 

 which there are many in the immediate vicinity. Its young 

 fohage — wliich is very dense, from the compact, chjse, round- 

 lieaded liahit of the tree, and which lias caused Sir Walter Scott 

 to remark a]ipro])riately of the " ( "orstorphine I'lanc," that it 

 " lias no iraitl'ir side," although exposed in the middle of a wide 

 o]ien strath — is at first of a ])eculiarly rich yellow or golden 

 la-onze tint, attracting the eye of the most unohservant visitor 

 to the district. The history of this tree is unrecorded, but tra- 

 dition reports that it was br(jught from the East by a monk 

 when it was a mere sa])ling, and ])lanted where it still stands, 

 the site Iteing then within the church lands, and ])robably 

 garden grouutl, of the provostry (U- collegiate church founded 

 l»y Sir -lolin Forrester there in 1429. The trees in its innne- 

 diate vicinity indicate the presence of an old garden liaving at 

 one time existed around the spot, there being still some remains 

 of large and old yew and holly trees, and also a few fruit trees. 

 The present dimensions of this remarkal)le and noteworthy tree 

 are as follows : — 73 feet in height ; length of bole, 22 feet ; and 

 13 feet in girth at 5 feet from the groimd. It has recently been 

 1 Kinked up with earth round its base to form a rockery for 

 Alpine plants and ferns by tlie villa ])roprietor, in whose garden 

 it now stands, and no measurement at a lower ])oint is obtain- 

 al)le. Many young trees have been propagated from this parent 

 tree by grafting and budding, and have all maintained the 

 peculiar golden foliage in si)ring, tpnte distinctly ; but plants 

 raised from seeds shed by the tree, of which there are very 

 few, the parent being a shy fruit-bearer, vary much, some being 

 blotched and sometimes streaked with lighter variegation, while 

 others have shown no apparent ditterence from an ordinary 

 sycamore in foliage. They all, however, retain the parent's 

 habit of being in leaf in s])ring considerably earlier than the 

 other varieties around them.* We ought, perhaps, here to notice 

 another sycamore which presents the same early bronze golden 

 foliage as the Corstorphine tree : it grows in the manse garden 

 at Liberton, near Edinburgh, in the south-west corner, and is in 

 spring quite conspicuous at some distance off by its rich and early 

 bronze foliage and dense round head. It is also evidently an old 

 tree, but it is not so tall or wide-spreading as the Corstor]ihine 

 tree, apparently owing to its having Ijeen placed in a crowded 

 situation, for it seems to be of a similar age to the Corstorphine 

 sycamore. It is remarkable that I)r Walker, in liis industrious 



* TJmlei- this tree, on 2(3th August ll)79, Lonl Forrester fell, iiiunlered liy liis 

 niece by a first marriage, Mrs Christian Nimnio, daughter of Mr Hamilton of 

 Grange, by tlic Hon. Mary Forrester, ami wife of James or Amlrew Ximmo, mer- 

 chants in lulinbnrgh. — R. H. 



