100 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the peat, as the trees are usually found many feet below the 

 surface, but this is now almost impossible. 



Around Edinburgh, the lake deposits of Corstorphine and 

 Hailes, the raised sea-bottom of Fillyside, and the peaty deposits 

 of Gayfield and Redhall, have been carefully examined by 

 several authorities, including the late Mr Bennie of the Geo- 

 logical Surve3^ In them the following trees have been reported : 

 — Hawthorn, elder, birch, alder, hazel, 3'ew, and fir. It should 

 be mentioned that the Corstorphine deposit is considered by 

 some authorities to belong to the late glacial period. 



In the extreme south of Scotland, close to Monreath at the 

 Mull of Galloway, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P., has ob- 

 served fir and oak trees. In this county, Wigtownshire, Sir 

 Arthur Mitchell has made the following observations on the 

 ancient forest of Cree, which may be of interest. "The trees, 

 which as far as I know are all oak, are found in two distinct 

 positions, first, in the channel of the Cree, or projecting into 

 its channel from the banks at the side, many of these last 

 having 10 to 15 feet of sandy clay above those parts of them 

 wliich are on the bank, and an unknown number of feet of clay 

 below; and secondly, under the peat on the surface of the clay. 

 The existence of this ancient Cree forest does not rest on our 

 finding some half dozen trunks. You may count them by the 

 hundred, exposed in the bed of the river, between Newton- 

 Stewart and Barsalloch, and you may reckon roots by the score 

 where the moss has been cleared away near the mouth of the 

 Lome Burn. I say roots in this case, because such trunks as are 

 discovered in peat castings are carted off at once. The trees 

 are described as of great size, and specimens measuring 15 feet 

 in girth and 50 feet in length are not uncommon " [Proc. Soc. 

 Ant. Scot., vol. V. pp. 20-29). 



With those short notices of a few of the deposits, I will 

 now sum up briefly the general distribution of the trees as 

 shown by the deposits in general. 



The oak is very widely distributed. Its most northern 

 occurrence is Caithness-shire, and it is recorded in every other 

 county. It has even been found in the now treeless islands of 

 Lewis and Tiree. We have already noticed its occurrence at a 

 height of 800 feet, where no oak can flourish now. It is 

 interesting to notice that many of the oaks are of enormous 

 size. Sir John Clerk reports having seen an oak 70 feet in 

 length at Drumcriefi" (Eeliquice Galeance, p. 333). 



