OAKS m SCOTLAND. 207 



bably been the selected spot, and under the shade of whose 

 umbrageous head, the early border chieftain attended to receive 

 the rents or tithes of his vassals, many of the lands being held 

 of their superior by an annual payment of fowls, cattle, corn, 

 &c., and frequently we find the reddendo of a "capon" was a 

 common act of fealty. Not far from the capon tree stands another 

 oak, probably also a relic of the ancient Forest of Jed. It is 

 called the King of the Woods, and is a beautiful and vigorous 

 tree, with a trunk 43 feet in height, and a circumference of 

 upwards of 17 feet at 4 feet above ground. Other interesting 

 old oaks are still found in the remains of the Caledonian Forest 

 in the park of Dalkeith, in Cadzow Forest, at Lochwood in 

 Dumfriesshire, and in single trees in many parts of Scotland. 

 These are given in considerable detail in the appended returns 

 to this paper, and reference will accordingly now only be briefly 

 made to some of these of most interest. 



The returns contain no examples of oak from Aberdeenshire, 

 where its presence seems to be somewhat rarer than that of other 

 descriptions. At Keithhall in that county, although planted in 

 the most suitable soils and sites, the oak does not appear to thrive. 

 The soil, too, is a deep loam, which is generally favourable to 

 oaks, and in the higher parts of the estate it is a light black soil 

 on a stiff* clay or " pan." In Morayshire, along the banks of the 

 Findhorn, there are a great number of fine oaks, one of the 

 specimens given in the schedule girths at 1 foot from the ground 

 27 feet 9 inches, and has evidently sprung from an old oak stool, 

 for it divides into seven limbs, which, growing together for about 

 3 feet from the base, divide, and form as it were seven 

 separate trees, each limb being the size of a good useful tree. 

 At Brodie Castle, Morayshire, there are some very good oaks, 

 growing in a sandy loam soil upon a subsoil tending to clay. 

 One given in our returns is a very massive tree, girthing 16 feet 

 at 1 foot, and 12 feet 11 inches at 5 feet from the base. It 

 carries a good girth well up its bole, which is 35 feet in length. 

 This and the other oaks returned from Brodie Park were planted 

 between the years 1C50 and 1680. On the estate of Gray, 

 Forfarshire, there is a noble oak tree, supposed to be about two 

 hundred and fifty years old, and girthing 26 feet 2 inches and 

 17 feet 2 inches at 1 and 5 feet respectively, growing in a black 

 deep clayey loam ui)on a sandy and gravelly subsoil, and con- 

 taining by the forester's measurement 623 cubic feet of good 

 measurealile timber. U])on Lord Mansfield's estate of Innernytie 

 in Terthshire, in the Craigbank Oak Wood, in a secluded dell on 

 the brink of the river Tay, stands a venerable aged oak, which 

 has hitherto escaped the notice of the arboriculturist, and judging 

 from its ancient ap])earance, there seems no reason to doubt that 

 it has weathered the blasts and tempests of at least five hundred 



