160 ox THE OLD AND EEMAEKABLE 



doubt whatever that it was phmted a long time subsequent to the 

 date of the erection of the prioiy on the island in a.d. 1238, for 

 along with several others, notably old trees, it and others have been 

 I^lanted and arranged in lines to suit the walls and gateways of 

 the buildings. The one given in our appendix with a peculi- 

 arly rich red scaly bark, stands opposite to an old Spanish 

 chestnut and walnut, which is 80 feet in height, and 10 feet in 

 girth at 1 foot, and 8 feet 1 inch at 3 feet high, and 8 feet at 

 6 feet hi^ii, and whose foliage is liealthv, but the stem of which 

 is deca}dng, and oozing a good deal near the root. The sycamore 

 seems perfectly vigorous and sound, is now 13 feet 5 inches at 

 1 foot, 11 feet at 3 feet, and 11 feet 7 inches at 5 feet from the 

 ground, and 80 feet in heiglit. It is called " Queen Mary's 

 Tree," and near to it, is Queen Marys Boxoer. The quaint and 

 simj)le arrangements of this mediaeval garden are still quite 

 apparent and visible. There are to be seen three straggling 

 boxwood trees, — evidently grown from the boxwood edgings of a 

 former oval flower-bed still discernible, and whose lineaments are 

 still visible. These trees are now 20 feet 6 inches in heioht, 

 and girth upwards of 3 feet at 1 foot from the ground, where 

 they diverge int<j several stems, proljably the result of early 

 pruning, and from being kept dipt into form for edgings. In 

 what has apparently been the centre of the plot in this " bower," 

 is a ^'ery quaint old thorn tree, about 22 feet in height, and 

 16 inches in girth, but it is much destroyed by the prevalent 

 west winds that sweep across the island, and to whose influence 

 it is much exposed. 



From a glance at the appendix it will be apparent how 

 generally diffused has been the introduction of the sycamore in 

 Scotland. The list might have been increased, for there is 

 hardly a parish in which good specimens are not to be found ; 

 but we think enough has been tabulated to give a very fair idea 

 of the sycamore in Scotland at the present day, and of the 

 condition now of those old and formerly recorded trees we have 

 been able to trace, while not a few of goodly size, and which 

 hitherto have been unknown or imnoticed, have been registered 

 for preservation and future observation. 



Of the few reported from England, and which have only been 

 taken by way of contrast, we should notice the tree at Cleeve 

 Abbey near Dunster, in Somerset. It is a strikingly picturesque 

 old tree, growing out of the base of a cross, wliich had belonged 

 to the old Cistercian Abbey there ; the stones showing octagonal 

 sides being still visible at its roots. It is nearly 60 feet in 

 height, and measures 18 ft. 3 in. at 1 foot from the ground. 

 Near by stands a very handsome and venerable walnut, probably 

 of the same age, and now 19 ft. 8 in. at 1 foot, and 16 ft. at 

 5 feet from the ground. 



