130 EXCURSIONS IN STIRLINGSHIRE. 



(Sedum Telephium) and a few plants of columbine {Aquilegia 

 vulgaris), evidently garden escapes, were noted on the side of the 

 line. The scarlet elder (Sambucus racemosus) was the only plant 

 which attracted any attention in the glen. Near Cumbernauld 

 House a large bed of Arum maculatum was seen, and close 

 beside it the hop {Hamulus Lupulus) had been carefully trained. 

 The attention of the party was turned chiefly to the trees of the 

 estate, and a number were measured. In the Mains Park a wych- 

 elm ( Ulmus montand) girthed 7 feet 6 inches at 2 feet 3 inches 

 north. This was one of the two trees planted in the kitchen- 

 garden of the old castle, which was burnt to the ground by a party 

 of Highlanders during the Rebellion of 1 7 15. Outside this park a 

 horse-chestnut {^Esculus hippocastanum) measured 1 1 feet 4 inches 

 at 2 feet 8 inches south. In the Home park, north of the garden- 

 wall, another wych-elm girthed 12 feet 7 \ inches at 3 feet 3 inches 

 south-west ; a great maple {Acer pseudo-platanus) near measured 

 12 feet i\ inches at 4 feet 9 inches north, and a beech {Fagus 

 sylvatica), opposite the Bowling Green, was 14 feet 3 inches in 

 circumference at 5 feet 1 inch south. Mr. John Boyd, who 

 acted as conductor, had measured this tree in December, 1889, 

 when its girth was 14 feet at 5 feet south, and 15 feet 4 inches 

 at 3 feet. In Bell's Bank Park, on the other side of the stream, 

 a beech girthed 14 feet 2\ inches at 4 feet 9 inches west. On 

 the north of the glen drive, the " Lover's Oak," a tree said 

 to have been used as a letter-box by one of the daughters 

 of the house, measured 10 feet 9 inches at 2 feet 6 inches 

 north. A yew tree {Taxus bacalta), north of the house, was 

 6 feet n inches in circumference at 2 feet 6 inches west. 

 Two larches (Zarix europaa), which are said to have been planted 

 among the earliest in Scotland, measured respectively, 7 feet 

 8 inches at 3 feet 2 inches north, and 9 feet 10 inches at 3 feet 

 south. Probably the soil and exposure account for their slow 

 growth. In the same park a Spanish chestnut {Castanea vulgaris) 

 girthed 13 feet ni inches at 1 foot 6 inches north, whilst a walnut 

 {Juglans regia) east of the house girthed 10 feet 6^ inches at 2 feet 

 5 inches north. To the south of the house a Spanish chestnut 

 measured 14 feet 4 inches at 2 feet 8 inches west, and in the 

 avenue near the lodge a beech on the south side girthed 1 1 feet 

 6| inches at 4 feet 1 inch west, while one close to the wall was 



