190 THE OLD AND EEMAEKABLE 



find it in the park of Dunkeld House assuming quite a pendu- 

 lous or weeping habit. This specimen is a very handsome and 

 vigorous tree. It is now 71 feet high, and girths 16 feet 4 

 inches at 3 feet above ground. One or two other trees in the 

 district, but not so tall or noteworthy, present a similar aspect. 

 At Biel, in East Lothian, in a low-lying but open site, we find a 

 very handsome tree, on the other hand, with a peculiarly distinct 

 fastigiate habit of growth. It is 102 feet in height, with a clean 

 and handsome bole 40 feet in length, and girths 10 feet 10 inches 

 and 9 feet 11 inches, at 1 and 5 feet respectively. While such 

 extreme and opposite eccentricities are not so common in the 

 case of horse chestnut as in the beech and some other hard- 

 wooded species, we find the round dense " parabola " form of 

 head of the horse chestnut frequently presenting peculiar 

 " sports," and distinctly peculiar growths. Sometimes the form 

 of outline is flat, at other times pyramidal, but densely clothed 

 with branches, and again its contour assumes that of a complete 

 globe. The bark of the bole, also, not unusually resembles, in its 

 curiously regular and spiral twistings, the stem of the Spanish 

 chestnut. An instance of a densely rounded head may be given 

 of a remarkable tree growing at Skene House, Aberdeen. By the 

 kindness of Mr Hamilton, residing at Skene, we are enabled to 

 give details of this curious tree. It is 13 feet 3 inches in girth 

 at 2 feet from the ground, 11 feet 5 inches at 5 feet. The space 

 covered by the branches is 90 feet by 70 feet, but heavy 

 branches have been lopped in from time to time to prevent the 

 tree encroaching on the walks in the garden and surrounding 

 flower beds. About twelve branches or limbs touch the ground, 

 but a clear space is left round the trunk of 22 paces, without 

 obstruction for walking, and a table could be placed to accom- 

 modate a very large company, without any obstruction or 

 difficulty, under its umbrageous shade. This old veteran 

 flowers annually, and appears vigorous ; but alas ! recently only, 

 in taking the measurements of the tree for this paper, a split 

 has been discovered, by which two large limbs have been torn 

 from the main trunk, the split reaching down almost to the 

 centre of the bark and bole, and water is observed to be oozing 

 out on both sides, within 4 feet from the ground. Measures are 

 to be taken at once to retard further decay. 'No historical 

 reference to this fine old specimen can be found, although 

 evidently its site, appearance, and care bestowed upon its prun- 

 ing, lead to the conclusion that it has probably been a memorial 

 tree. The place belonged to an old family named Skene, who 

 held it since 1317. The last of the direct line died about fifty- 

 five years ago, when the property went by the female line to the 

 Earl of Eife, The lat-e Earl of Eife boasted of being the " 34th 

 laird of Skene." No record of any sale of the property could 

 be found in the Eegister House, Edinburgh, till about three 

 years ago, and all documents of ancient date or ancestral estate 



