OAKS IN SCOTLAND. 199 



circumstance," as has been well observed by Sir Henry Stewart, 

 " that the most ornamental tree in nature, should also be the one 

 the most extensively and strikingly useful." 



It is thus seen that although Britain can only lay claim to two 

 species of the great genus Quercus as truly indigenous to her 

 soil, while the rest of the family, amounting (taking evergreen 

 as well as deciduous) to upwards of one hundred and fifty dis- 

 tinct botanical species, are all of exotic origin, and are dis- 

 tributed in both hemispheres of the globe, either in temperate 

 zones, rendered so by their latitudinal position, or in tropical 

 climates by their elevation, — yet these two are by far the most 

 important, for they surpass all others not only in majesty of pro- 

 portions and duration of life, but also in general utility, dura- 

 bility and strength of their timber, so that for all uses to which 

 these properties are absolutely essential, the two varieties (or 

 rather species) of the oak now under notice, if equalled, are 

 at all events not surpassed by any other tree indigenous to 

 Europe. 



The oak beim^ thus one of the few indi^^enous hard-wooded 

 trees in Britain, it appears, from ancient records and references 

 in old parchment deeds, to have had a very wide distribution 

 generally throughout the country. Indeed, before the clearing 

 away of the old forests had commenced in early historical times, 

 it appears to have been the chief, if not the only, component of 

 these early forests, and to have covered a very large area of the 

 surface of Scotland. Sufficient living remnants of these ancient 

 forests still exist, and to which reference will afterwards be made 

 to show the wide area of the distribution in Scotland of the oak, 

 while in other districts, where these natural or self-sown forests 

 have disappeared, or are now only rarely marked by a few 

 strajTGflinf' survivors, the remains of noble and massive trunks of 

 oak trees are frequently stumbled upon, embedded sometimes in 

 the alluvial deposits along the banks of rivers, or in bogs, sub- 

 merged under deep layers of peat moss, the growth and accumu- 

 lated debris of centuries. In this manner, also, many oaks are 

 found where now no living specimens are to be seen within even 

 a wide range of tlie spot, and also where now no oak plantations 

 are to be met with ; especially near sea-water mark, stumps of 

 large and old trees, composing aboriginal forests now untraceable, 

 are sometimes found in situ standing erect, but quite conceded 

 excepting at very low tide ebb, near river mouths and along 

 .some of our coast line. For instance, at Kirkconnell, Xewabljey, 

 Kirkcudbrightshire, some years ago, ]\Ir jMaxwell Witham, — to 

 whose courtesy we are indebted for interesting infornuition 

 regarding many trees of other varieties in his neighbourhood, — 

 recovered from the sands opposite liis property an " antidiluvian" 

 oak tree, broken at both ends and measuring 36 feet in length 



