LANARKSHIRE RAMBLES. 7 



the east face of the castle hill and on the steep banks of the 

 Nethan grow, besides many of the commoner plants of the district, 

 the cuckoo-pint (Arum maculalum), alkanet (Anchusa semper- 

 virens), the giant horse-tail (Equisetum Telmateia), and the 

 pendulous carex (Carex penduld). There is a group of three yew 

 trees (Taxus baccatd) near the ruins. Though reputed very old, 

 none of them is very large. There is an alleged tradition about them 

 which is somewhat tangled and inconsequential. On the occasion 

 of the Society's excursion upwards of a score of species of birds 

 were seen, including the cole tit and the grey wagtail. 



The Clyde now flows on peacefully through holm and lea, 

 woodland and orchard, amid varied and picturesque scenery, by- 

 Milton Lockhart, Mauldslie Castle, Garrion Gill, and on. There 

 is a beautiful park at Mauldslie with some fine trees, especially 

 wych-elms (Ulmus montand) and great white poplars (Papains 

 alba). 



To the north-west is Cadzow Forest, with the deep ravine of the 

 Aven hid in its heart (Excursions 2\st August, 1886, and 12II1 

 September, 1891). This grand gorge is about three miles in 

 length, and appears, like those at the Falls, Cartland, and 

 elsewhere, to have been hollowed out by erosive action since the 

 glacial period. The river views, the charming variety of prospect, 

 the delightfulness of rock and woodland, the suggestions of the by- 

 gone, lure us with their wondrous glamour. Here are remnants 

 of the forest primeval, curious cattle of an ancient breed, ruins of 

 a feudal fortress with a tale sad as the story of the deaths of kings. 

 The old oaks and the "white kye" — Plate I. — are the most 

 distinctive living antiquities of Clydesdale. I forbear to quote 

 from Sir Walter Scott's powerful ballad of " Cadzow Castle," 

 which refers both to the huge oaks and the mountain bulls, as it 

 is familiar to all. 



These oaks are not indeed, strictly speaking, remnants of the 

 Caledonian Forest, for that was further north, but of the great 

 primeval forest lands stretching through Lanark and Peebles 

 into England. There are some alleged traditions that they were 

 planted about 1140, by David, Earl of Huntingdon, afterwards 

 David I. of Scotland ; but I think we may dismiss these got-up 

 stories, for their appearance and habit indicate natural sowing 

 and wild-forest growth probably of a time remoter than that of 



