RENFREWSHIRE EXCURSIONS. 33 



possession of that family still. There is near the house a widely- 

 spreading yew tree of considerable age, which is still vigorous, 

 although much broken away on one side. Ramsay claimed for it 

 that it excelled " in size and beauty any other tree of the same 

 kind in this quarter of the country," an opinion which we cannot 

 from our knowledge of the yew trees of the county endorse. 

 The spread of the Dargavel tree south-south-east to north-north- 

 west is 60 feet 9 inches, and the trunk measures at the narrowest 

 part 8 feet 7^ inches. In a letter from the late Mr. J. M. 

 M'Phedran, of Craigbet, to the writer, dated 29th March, 1890, that 

 gentleman states that Bailie Caldwell, of Paisley, had informed 

 him quite recently that he remembered first seeing the Dargavel 

 Yew in 1828, and at that time the public road passed between 

 the tree and the mansion. There is a very fine yew-hedge in 

 the gardens at Dargavel. In a paper in the " Transactions of the 

 Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society," Vol. XII., 1890, this hedge 

 is described as being "37 years old, 10 feet high, 3 feet broad at 

 base, and 1 foot broad at top." An elegant hornbeam on the 

 lawn and a beech of great size outside south-west corner of garden 

 (girth of trunk, 10 feet 9 inches) were much admired. 



Bishopton House, which has passed through several hands in 

 the past two centuries and is now the property of Lord Blantyre, 

 was next visited. This old mansion house, which is beautifully 

 situated on rising ground overlooking the Clyde, is approached 

 by a long broad avenue of limes. The house has fallen on 

 decadent days, and is now chiefly attractive from having near it 

 on its western side, on a sloping bank, a remarkably fine example 

 of the great maple, of which there is a beautiful figure in the 

 Scotch section of Strutt's Sylva Britannica (folio edition). This 

 tree is probably the best-known large tree of this species in the 

 West of Scotland, but it is neither the largest nor most sym- 

 metrical. It is remarkable for its great top and the size and 

 number of its branches. At present it seems in vigorous health. 

 The measurement of the trunk, taken at the time of our visit, was 

 15 feet s| inches, and it shows little variation in size from the 

 ground to the first great branch. This tree is frequently referred 

 to in English publications, apparently following Strutt, but his 

 measurement of over 20 feet is incomprehensible. 



c 



