II. 



THE POLLOK WYCH ELMS. 



(Ulmus montana.) 



By John Boyd. 



(Paper read 4th April, 1894.) 



The " VVych Elms of Polloc, Renfrewshire," as they are called in 

 Strutt's Sylva Britannica, have without doubt been looked upon 

 as remarkable trees of their kind for the last century at least. 

 This is all the more evident from the fact that they are figured 

 in the Scottish part of the above work — Sylva Scotica, published 

 in 1822. They are also mentioned in Loudon's great work, 

 Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, published sixteen years 

 later. In Hugh Macdonald's Rambles Bound Glasgow the writer 

 says that — " Old Evelyn would have travelled a long summer 

 day, and reckoned himself amply repaid for his labour by the 

 sight of a single group of wych elms which grace the bank of the 

 river (White Cart) a little to the east of the mansion-house." 



The four great trees which stood so many storms have now 

 been reduced to two, the largest pair having been blown down 

 during the storm which visited us with so many disastrous results 

 on the morning of the 12th February last (1894). 



The following facts about these fallen veterans will no doubt be 

 interesting to all, and give those who have not visited Pollok 

 some conception of their dimensions. Before going into figures 

 it may be worth mentioning that when the trees were blown down 

 they were considerably past their best, decay having set in, both 

 in roots and stems, and the main roots were completely decayed 

 away to within from three to five feet from the stem. In fact, 

 when one saw them uprooted, the marvel was that they had stood 

 so long, for they must, for a few years back at least, have been 



