BEECHES IN SCOTLAND. 1 





YJ inches at 5 feet from the base. The fine beech avenue at 

 Inveraray Castle is too well known to require more than a passing 

 reference. As a single tree in the park at Inveraray Castle, the 

 beech girths in some cases 14 feet 3 inches at 5 feet from the 

 ground. The soil is a brown loam over a sandy gravel subsoil. 

 Another picturesque beech avenue existed formerly at Braid, near 

 Edinburgh, but has unfortunately been suffered to pass away 

 unrecorded, having been cut down several years ago. Handsome 

 lines of beeches also may be noticed at Blairdrummond, Perth- 

 shire, where one beech measures 90 feet in height, 20 feet of 

 bole, and girths 16 feet 10 inches at 1 foot, and 15 feet 9 inches 

 at 3 feet above ground. Also, at Ardkinglas, Argyllshire, 

 where a beech girths 16 feet 8 inches at 3 feet from the base. 

 Many other fine specimens are to be found at Ardkinglas ; 

 some of the finest of these are given in the appended returns. 

 This splendid tree is 92 feet in height, and girths at 3 feet 

 from its base 18 feet 10 inches, and 18 feet 9 J inches at 5 feet. 

 It grows in black loam upon a gravelly till subsoil, and has 

 a diameter of spread of branches of 108 feet. It is locally known 

 by the name of " Prince Charlie's Beech." Why it has been 

 •so called, there are no reliable data to show, — but, although 

 there is no historical record of the young Chevalier having 

 •ever resided in the neighbourhood, or even having passed 

 through it in his w^anderings, the tree may have probably been 

 so christened by a Highland chieftain and follower of Prince 

 -Charlie, who is said to have sheltered a number of the Prince's 

 adherents under its umbrageous foliage, accommodation for them 

 being otherwise unobtainable. Such, at all events, is the legend 

 of this truly majestic specimen. In Bute, one of the most 

 attractive objects to arboriculturists, is the " Beech Walk." It is 

 situated at Mountstuart, in the parish of Kingarth ; and, from 

 the account of the district and its trees, kindly furnished by Mr 

 Kay, the estate forester, we learn that it lies at the bottom of 

 the ancient sea-cliff, and extends to 570 yards in length, with a 

 width of 12 yards. The average space between the trees is 11 

 yards, and their extreme height is 120 feet. These trees, in their 

 formal liabit of growth and planting, resemble a majestic colonnade 

 of architectural pillars, which, with their interlacing branches 

 overhead, })resent the appearance of a vast Gothic arch when 

 viewed from one end. Many of the trees are u])wards of 10 feet 

 in circumference at 5 feet from the ground. The largest is 11 feet 

 9 inches at 5 feet up, and is 60 feet in length of bole to tlie first 

 brancli, and will contain 450 cubic feet of timber. The soil is 

 sandy and subsoil sand, being an ancient sea-beach ; altitude of 

 the site 20 feet, and tlie exposure is to the east, but is somewhat 

 sheltered. This interesting " Beech Walk," shows the suitability 

 of this tree for planting in simihir sites along sea-margins, and 



