38 



Oniiiston Hall: its Yezu-Tree 



[Sess. 



I can tell nothing about its age. I am glad to say it is in 

 good health : in seven years the bole has increased in cir- 

 cumference 2 inches, and the outside branches 8 ft." As there 

 was no mention here of tbe height of the tree, I asked Mr 

 Hamilton for this measurement, and received the reply, dated 

 Jan. 7, 1887, that it was at that date 35 ft. 3 in. high. I have 

 drawn iip in tabular form authentic measurements of the tree 

 for periods stretching over nearly a century. The first is from 

 Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account, of date 1792 ; the 

 second, from the ' New Statistical Account,' 1824 ; the third 

 from Croal's 'Sketches of East Lothian,' in 1864; and the 

 fourth, Mr Hamilton's measurements of December last. The 

 only uncertainty is regarding the girth, which is not in every 

 case at exactly the same distance from the ground ; but the 

 variation is slight, and the height may be taken in each instance 

 as 3 ft. 9 in. The following are the fig-ures : — ■ 



It will be seen from this comparative statement that the 

 Ormiston yew is still enjoying the vigour of youth ; and with 

 the careful attention which for long has been, and still is, paid 

 to it, the tree may yet reach a " green old age," which, in the 

 case of a yew-tree, is very much of an unknown quantity. 



Any one who has had frequent occasion to consult the Old 

 or the New Statistical Account of Scotland, cannot but have 

 noticed the meagre references to the flora and fauna of some 

 parishes, as contrasted with others. This, indeed, is just what 

 we might expect, when we consider the different tastes or pre- 

 dilections of the various writers ; and especially when we 

 remember that Natural History was not then the popular study 

 which it is now. Yet there are instances where the geology, 

 botany, and zoology of a district are all very fully described, 

 either by the minister of the parish or by some scientific 



