326 PLANT LIFE. 



of trees in places is obvious from the use of chariots, 

 which in themselves imply a considerable advance in 

 civilisation. 



From the landing of the Romans until the com- 

 mencement of scientific observation and proper records 

 about 1750, there are very few distinct and definite 

 accounts of the alteration of the flora. 



A network of roads overspread the country ; and 

 towns and villages sprang into existence at cross-roads, 

 at the heads of river navigation, at most river fords, and 

 especially at places which were capable of easy defence 

 against all enemies, such as Dumbarton Rock and 

 Edinburgh Castle. Even in the time of Canute it was 

 necessary to regulate the grazing of cattle, and artifici- 

 ally enclosed deer-forests were formed. Later on, in 

 almost every century, there is a continual outcr}^ against 

 the destruction of the timber. The national import- 

 ance of Oak, Ash, and Yew for shipbuilding, and for the 

 manufacture of spears and bows, can be distinctly 

 traced in various legal regulations, and sometimes also 

 in the condition of the modern country side. Certainly 

 many districts seem to have been almost cleared of 

 timber, and replanting had to be attempted. The eight 

 or nine Ash-trees round so many old farms, and the 

 Yew-trees in the churchyard, represent this period of 

 denudation, when it was recognised as essential that a 

 supply of wood for bows and spears should be always at 

 hand. In some districts trees of any size have been 

 almost invariably pollarded. The branches must have 

 been regularly cut down, and employed probably for 

 firewood, or for foddering cattle. 



Cultivation seems to have been very primitive until 

 within the last 200 years. The old statistical accounts 

 of Scotland, drawn up by parish ministers during the 



