12 LANARKSHIRE RAMBLES. 



been about Cadzow from very remote times, with an occasional 

 break and re-introduction, and that they are a fancy breed that 

 have been kept for their beauty in a half-wild state in this forest 

 as elsewhere in the parks of the great nobles. 



Among herbs, alkanet is not uncommon in some of the 

 ravines, and may probably be a remnant of former cultivation. 

 The hart's-tongue (Scolopendrium vulgarc) occurs along with 

 the commoner ferns of the district. On walls are found the 

 wall-rue (Asplenium Ruta-muraria) and the black spleenwort 

 (Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum). About Chatelherault the musk- 

 mallow (Malva moschata) and dropwort (Spircea Filipenduld) are 

 to be found, while the ivy-leaved toadflax (Linaria Cymbalaria) 

 grows profusely on the walls. The hairy St. John's-wort is still as 

 common here as further up the valley of the Clyde. 



At the mouth of the gorge is Barncluith (Excursions 2is( 

 August, 1886, 1 5 //I September, 1888, and 12th September, 1891), 

 where, high above the Aven on a bold bank, are houses and 

 terraces built about the close of the 16th century. It is a charm- 

 ing old-world place with delightful outlooks over the wooded 

 depths. The terraced gardens are picturesque on the steep and 

 gracious in their antiquity. The yews and box-trees clipped into 

 fantastic shapes, the fountain basin overgrown with moss and 

 liverwort, are of the delights of the place ; but for the 

 naturalist the old-fashioned garden flowers growing with the 

 wild plants of the district have most interest. The place is a 

 botanical treasury. On the crannied walls is a profuse vegeta- 

 tion including, among ferns, hart's-tongue, maidenhair spleenwort, 

 and bladder-fern. There and elsewhere about grow the great 

 mullein ( Verbascum Thapsus), the celandine ( Chelidonium majus), 

 yellow fumitory (Corydalis luted), hop (Hamulus Lupulus), teasel 

 (Dipsacus sylvestris), heart-leaved valerian ( Valeriana pyrenaica), 

 astrantia (Astrantia major), lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis), 

 Jacob's ladder (Polemonium cozruleum), and a host of others of the 

 same old garden type. 



There are some fine trees in the grounds. On one of the lower 

 terraces is a false acacia (Robinia Pseud-Acacia) — -Plate II. — prob- 

 ably the finest in the West of Scotland, measuring 5™ at 4! feet, 

 a beautiful and interesting tree. This species is a native of North 

 America, and was introduced into Europe in 1640, the name 



