RENFREWSHIRE EXCURSIONS. 1 9 



of shrubs and trees there. The result of the perambulation was 

 an added interest in a direction often neglected by botanists. 

 None but those who have taken the trouble to inquire can 

 appreciate the extent of the interest that attaches to such a collec- 

 tion as that in the Queen's Park. The educational possibilities 

 of this park seem to be scarcely dreamed of by our municipal 

 rulers. A handbook containing some information as to the native 

 country, economic uses, and morphology of the trees and shrubs 

 would surely be a great public convenience. To give here a list 

 of interesting trees in the park, or even of a selection of such, 

 would demand greater space than the scope of this publication 

 justifies. 



On the afternoon of the 6th of April, 1889, a series of 

 excursions was initiated to illustrate the notable trees of the 

 County of Renfrew, and the attendance and interest on this, the 

 first of the series, have been maintained in the subsequent 

 excursions. Cathcart was the rendezvous, and the party, number- 

 ing about thirty, had the advantage of being accompanied by the 

 late Mr. A. M. Scott, F.S.A. Scot., who has done yeoman service 

 in the elucidation of the history and antiquities of the parish. 

 The kirkyard was first visited, and here Mr. Scott — with the party 

 congregated round the Covenanters' Memorial Stone, which had 

 recently been raised from its former prone position — discussed the 

 circumstances attending the death of the martyrs, the ancient 

 foundation of the Kirk of Cathcart, and cognate matters. Atten- 

 tion was then directed to the four large ash trees in the old 

 portion of the kirkyard. Macdonald, in his Rambles, makes a 

 passing reference to these trees, but they are not mentioned in 

 either of the statistical accounts of the parish. The present 

 venerable minister of the parish, the Rev. Dr. James Smith, who 

 wrote the last statistical account, informs the writer " that there is 

 no notice of them in the ancient records either of the heritors or 

 kirk session, nor any tradition on the subject." He further states 

 that " but for the damage done to them by every severe storm for 

 many years past, they seem to me much as they were when I first 

 knew them sixty-eight years ago." Since the time of the Society's 

 visit the tree nearest the road skirting the north side of the kirk- 

 yard has been completely shorn of its fair proportions, having 

 suffered chiefly from the gale on the evening of 13th October, 1891. 



