AUCHENDEANE AND ITS TREES. 231 



John Muirs great grandson, Pvobert Muir, studied medicine in 

 London, and graduated as M.D. He was born in 1736, and 

 apparently on coming of age in 1757 he planted a Silver Fir. 

 which in memory of him is known as '■ The Doctor/' It has 

 ilourished well, its height being over 101 ft., girth 15 ft., and 

 annual rate of increase in girth (1-22 in.) for whole life greater 

 than that of any of the other trees. 



Dr. Muir was survived by a daughter, Mary, who married 

 David L'athcart of Alloway, afterwards elevated to the Bench, 

 under the title of Lord Alloway. During their time many Oaks 

 were taken away, and many trees planted to replace these. Their 

 son, Elias Cathcart, graduated as LL.D. in the university of 

 Leyden in 1815, was married to Miss Dunlop in 1818, succeeded 

 to the property in 1829 on the death of his father, sold Alloway 

 in 1830, and in the same year, "under the old name of Aucheu- 

 draine, united his estate of Blairstoun, with the adjoining barony 

 of Auchendraine which he acquired from the parliamentary trustees 

 of Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran " (Paterson, Hist. Ayrshire). 

 This barony had been disponed by Hugh Mure of Auchendrane 

 in 1741 to Sir James Fergusson, second baronet of Kilkerran. 

 Hugh Mure was a descendant of the " Grey Man of Auchendrane." 



Elias Cathcart had a family of two sons and three daughters, 

 of whom the only survivor is the eldest daughter, the present 

 proprietor of the estate, Miss Jane A. Cathcart.* 



At the time of her marriage, Mrs. Elias Cathcart, or Miss 

 Dunlop, planted a Birch on the lawn in front of the house. In 

 looking over some old letters last year, Miss Cathcart discovered 

 that the Birch had been brought, with other rare plants, in the 

 year 1818, from Booth's gardens in Hamburg, as "The cut-leaf 

 Weeping Birch." It exhibits the pendulous habit to a slight 

 degree, but only in some of the young leaves does it show any 

 traces of cut leaves. It is now probably the finest tree of the 

 species in Scotland, and nearly the largest. It has a height of 

 67 feet, spread of 60 feet, girth 10 feet 8| inches, bole 13 feet. 



Another tree that seems to be one of the best of its kind in 

 the United Kingdom is a Western Arbor Vitae, Thuya 

 occidentalism L. In the first volume of The Trees of Great 



* I regret to note that Miss Cathcart died on 2oth January, 1909, when 

 in her eighty -ninth year. — J. R. , Jan., 1911. 



