98 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



Hawthorn, elder, common ash, birch, alder, hazel, oak, willow, 

 yew, and fir, all of which are, with the exception of the ash, 

 commonly regarded as indigenous to Scotland. In addition, 

 according to Dr James Geikie, the cones of the silver fir, 

 which is not considered a native, have been discovered in 

 Orkney {Great Ice Age, 3rd ed., p. 287).^ Several shrubs, 

 including the juniper and raspberry, as well as many flower- 

 ing plants, have also been unearthed. The localities where 

 the various trees have been found are marked on the 

 accompanying Map. 



The records, which have been obtained from references in 

 over seventy volumes on Scotland, are pi'obably not complete, 

 but those collected may be considered sufficient to show the 

 ancient distribution of the forest trees. On glancing over 

 the Map, it will be seen that there are few parts of Scotland, 

 however treeless at the present day, that were not, in remote, 

 and even in comparatively recent times, covered with a 

 considerable quantity of woodland. 



As the deposits are too numerous to describe in detail, a 

 few only will be mentioned, which will give an indication of 

 the nature of the records collected. Mr George Low, in his 

 Tour through Orkney ayid Shetland, published in 1774 (p. 

 146), states that he observed, when crossing from the parish 

 of Delting to Yell, in a bank where the sea had carried 

 away the loose earth, a layer of large pieces of wood in a 

 horizontal position, a few inches above the hard gravel, and 

 covered with about 10 feet of moss. He also further re- 

 marks, that this layer continued, so far as he could ascertain, 

 the whole length of the bank, and probably round the bay ; 

 it consisted of pieces from eight inches to half an inch in 

 diameter, roots, stock, and, in a word, all parts of a tree. He 

 was of opinion that the wood was hazel. From other records 

 I find recorded birch and hazel in the Shetland Islands, and 

 in the Orkneys fir, birch, and hazel. 



The Rev. Charles Thomson, minister of Wick, writing on 

 this parish in the New Statistical Account (vol. xv. p. 129), 

 dated 1841, mentions that "in the Bay of Keiss, between the 

 links and the sand, and running down under the sea, there 



\} Professor Geikie now thinks this determination is doubtful. It was 

 given by him on what was stated, in the work consulted by him, as "good 

 botanical authority,"' but he has mislaid the reference. — Ed. S.G.M,'\ 



