162 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



Yew (female), to east of House — 



Girth— 25th March, 1893, 1 1 f t. 8 ins. at ground. 



5th May, 1900, 11 ft. 10^, ins. at ground on S.W. 

 Yew (male), to north of House — 



Girth— 25th March, 1893, 6 ft. 8' ins. at 1 ft. 3 ins. on S.W. 

 6 ft. 2h ins. at 3 ft. 6 ins. on S.W. 

 5th May, 1900, 7 ft. at Tft. 3 ins. on S.W. 



6 ft. 51- ins. at 3 ft. 6 ins. on S.W. 

 Oak, to south of House — 



Girth— 5th May, 1900, 1 1 f t. 9 ins. at 3 ft. G ins. on S.W. 

 Beech, to north of House — 



Girth— 5th May, 1900, U ft. 5 ins. at 4 ft. 2 ins. on S.W. 



The party was conducted through the gardens and greenhouses 

 by Mr. Fraser, the Head Gardener. 



Leaving Dougalston, the road was taken to the Parish Church 

 of Baldernock, in the graveyard of which are two fine Wych 

 Elms. The one in the south-west corner had a girth in January, 

 1899, of 13 feet 5 inches at 4 feet 10 inches on south-west and a 

 height of 82 feet ; the other on the east side had a girth of 12 

 feet 8 1 inches at 3 feet 6 inches on north, 12 feet 1| inches at 6 

 feet, height 83 feet. 



The " Auld Wives' Lifts " were then visited, situated as they 

 are in a slight depression on the open moor. The three great 

 stones in the form of a massive trilith have been the occasion of 

 much controversy, opinion being much divided as to whether they 

 represent (1) the artificial burial cairn of an ancient chief, (2) the 

 altar of sacrifice for a tribe, or (3) are simply the product of 

 geological denudation. The members had an opportunity of 

 testing all these hypotheses on the spot, but were not able to 

 cast any further light on a problem which seems destined to 

 remain for ever in obscurity. Opinion tended, however, to reject 

 the supposition that the blocks were artificially placed in their 

 present position, seeing that the topmost stone weighs upwards of 

 1 00 tons ; and the geological members of the party rather inclined to 

 see in this striking monument an illustration of the working out 

 of natural causes. (For a discussion of the question, see further 

 Ure's History of Rutherglen and East Kilbride, who maintains 



