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The Country Gcnilcinaiis Magazine 



park, receding from the mansion in company 

 with their regal compeer. How beautifully 

 formal, and withal so graceful, did all these 

 fellows appear, looking at them from salient 

 points! The cattle cropped the branches 

 within their reach as formal as if it had been 

 done with a hedge knife, and what a triumph 

 for our great plant growers to exhibit their 

 specimens in such form, as while naturally a 

 little dressed like, withal not to trespass too 

 severely upon the bounds of elegance. Let 

 them open their eyes and take a lesson from 

 nature, as it is to be seen, after the fashion 

 described, not unfrequently in our parks and 

 pleasure-grounds. 



But while the grounds we are describing 

 prove a home for the purely forest denizens, 

 ii; also kindly influences the growth of certain 

 Coniferge. The spruce is very lofty and of 

 giant proportions, cultivated in quantities. 

 The larch is by no means numerous, although 

 it revels in great luxuriance where seen. In 

 making a remark of the kind to Mr Connon, 

 our respected cicerone, whose department of 

 management we shall presently enlarge upon, 

 that this tree seemed conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence, he rejoined, " the reason why, it has 

 been cut in quantities for the building — prin- 

 cipally the roofing of the new castle," which, 

 of course, satisfied our curiosity. The 

 Douglas fir (Abies Douglasi) is simply mag- 

 nificent, cjuite eclipsing for health and beauty, 

 and probably size, anything we have seen in 

 Scotland ; and what a noble tree it is, of rapid 

 growth and with such great lustrous fan-like 

 branches, spreading out in a style that is 

 superlatively captivating. There are a couple 

 far in advance of their fellows, the largest of 

 them measuring 80 feet in height by 8 feet 8 

 inches in circumference ! This is a marvel- 

 lous specimen, and so interested is the pre- 

 sent noble Duke in this tree, as being a 

 likely fellow to rank in value as a timber 

 tree, that he has given orders to plant the 

 estate in quantities ; so many, in fact, are to 

 be seen in the plantations, that they must 

 count by the thousands. Nor is the hemlock 

 spruce (Abies Canadensis), judging by the 

 specimens, less worthy of a place where 

 beauty is desired. The density of the 



branches, and their 

 gives the tree the 



fine depending habit, 



character of a huge 



adorned with its graceful leafy 



Adiantum 

 drapery. 



In and about the site of the old mansion, 

 which, like houses of old, was planted down 

 at a much lower level than is selected for our 

 palaces and castles and mansions of the pre- 

 sent day, the planting has been after the 

 antique fashion. Arborvitaes, and such like 

 formal shrubs, have been planted in quan- 

 tities, and many excellent specimens are 

 hedged in, falling a prey to the principle of 

 natural selection. Many of these, years ago, 

 would have made splendid individuals for 

 transplanting into proper quarters, but now 

 that they are so ensconced, and the roots gone 

 beyond bounds, it would be no easy matter 

 to transfer them safely and successfully, how- 

 ever well prepared. Tiue, a Barron or a 

 M'Nab might make an effort, but cautious, 

 let-well-alone people would tremble to incur 

 the responsibility of moving these Oriental 

 Thujas, quite 40 feet high, and of propor- 

 tionate circumference. 



Ascending the rising ground, the present 

 castle comes within view. It is a capital 

 specimen of the Scotch baronial, and on as- 

 cending to its summit we find the following 

 inscription on the copestone of the square, 

 from whose base the four towers spring : — 

 '• Erected for James, Duke of Montrose. 

 Peter Manuel, Clerk of Works, Edinburgh, 

 1857. William Burn, Esq., Architect, Lon- 

 don ; Thomas M'Cafiie, Contractor, Glas- 

 gow." From this point the landscape is 

 wonderfully diversified with the beautiful 

 foreground of the woods and parks we have 

 been endeavouring to describe, the famous 

 Benlomond range, with its classical loch 

 on the one hand, and the Fintry range 

 on the other in the far background ; in- 

 deed, such a site for beauty and interest 

 as seldom falls within the province of 

 even the lordly owners of broad acres to 

 select. But what is the monument that we 

 see standing out in the distance in the front 

 of a cosy-like belting of trees ? " It is," says 

 Mr Connon, " that of George Buchanan, the 

 historian and preceptor of James I. of Eng- 



