56 EXCURSIONS TO LOCH LOMONDSIDE. 



circumstances of the situation of Inchlonaig and the rocky nature 

 of many of the spots where the trees have found a lodgment, be 

 still further restricted, so that the trees may be relatively older 

 than others of like size which have had the advantages of shelter 

 and abundant nutrition. The largest trees noted, in the brief 

 time at the disposal of the Society, were in the neighbourhood of 

 the caretaker's house on the south side of the island, the trunks 

 measuring from twelve to fifteen feet in girth. Some of them 

 spread their roots over the rock surfaces and into the crevices, 

 enclosing as in a vice angular blocks of rock of considerable size, 

 recalling vividly the expression of Tennyson about the old yew 

 "that graspest at the stones." The collection suffered from fire, 

 but the western end of the island, which was bare of trees, was 

 partially replanted by the late Sir James Colquhoun. Besides 

 the yews there is much alder, and sometimes in summer may be 

 seen the picturesquely situated encampment of a number of 

 English clog-makers engaged in cutting and preparing the alder 

 for manufacture into clogs, for which purpose the wood is much 

 valued. 



So far as was observed, the campions, stitchworts, and speed- 

 wells which contribute so much at midsummer to the beauty of 

 our woods and waysides, were conspicuously absent from the 

 flora of the island, which is essentially a heath one. The follow- 

 ing plants were among the most frequently met with — Erica 

 cinerea, E. Tetralix, Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinium Myrtillus, V. 

 Oxycoccos, Narthecium ossifragum, Myrica Gale. Other plants 

 noted were Scutellaria galericulata, Ranunculus Flamviula, Gym- 

 nadenia Conopsea, and Nephrodium Oreopteris. 



At the time of the visit of the Wordsworths to Luss — in the 

 beginning of the present century — the village consisted of houses 

 of the most primitive construction, while the garden plots had 

 "potatoes and cabbages, but never a honeysuckle." Now all this 

 is altered, the houses being well built and having latticed windows 

 and projecting roofs, while the walls in every instance are covered 

 with honeysuckles, roses, tropseolums, escallonia, the purple clematis, 

 and many other beautiful shrubs and plants. From most coigns of 

 vantage in the vicinity, the village — owing to the noble growth of 

 the great maples, limes, and wych-elms which abound within and 

 around it and the church — is only partially visible. In the 



