40 
the ash tree. This was actually carried out, as was poetically 
set forth on a card which until recently hung around the tree, 
but has now disappeared— 
‘€ Donald’s dead, his troubles ended, 
From future drudgery set free, 
And now his body lies extended, 
To nurse his master’s foundling tree.” 
Of a second ash planted alongside of it in 1805, there is also 
a continuous record of its growth since 1811, when it was 
32 inches in girth at 3 feet up. The measurements since, 
as recorded in Mr Bishop’s book, are— 
Date. Girth. Date. Girth. 
ft. ins. fits fins: 
1821, . - c i +02 18455 - 5 Ze ab? 
1827, « : : a} 5s 1863, . - 5 Bio uis 
IRS VAY Ihe . : 1 7 1880, . - oy ee 
1834, . “ A Tha MSO C - Tees! 
1842,-. 3 ‘ 2 va 1892, e - Aas 
Crossing the burn by a rustic bridge, we are close to the 
largest, and possibly the oldest, tree in the place, the Pepper- 
well Oak, as already stated, which stands near the bottom of 
the slope below the mansion-house. The earliest authentic 
account of it which Bishop says he could get was in 1722, 
when David Smythe, then the laird of Methven, was confined 
in the Tower of London for his political opinions. Under 
these circumstances there came a man to Methven Castle, who, 
thinking that the wife of the imprisoned laird might want 
money, offered her for the tree 100 merks Scots, which was equal 
to £5, 12s. 6d. of our present currency. This, of course, was 
refused. In reference to its age, Bishop says that he attended 
an old man’s funeral in 1795, who had been heard to say that 
he knew a man who had repeatedly thought of cutting the 
tree down while young, as a supple for his flail, so that, Bishop 
remarks, “it may not perhaps be so old as it looks.” These old 
men’s stories regarding trees have always had to be received 
cum grano salis. Recalling the aspect of some of the Sherwood 
Forest oaks, one would say that the Pepperwell Oak was of 
considerable antiquity. The measurements of the tree from 
1795, at 4 feet up, are exceeding instructive. Here they are,— 
Date. Girth. Date. Girth. 
ft. ins. ft. ins. 
1/95, ve “ - 14 6 1847, . . of LS 
0 f23 {i ae 2 ci, LOU: 1850, . ° ° 19° al 
1830, . s ~ ti eel) 1880, . = >. sora 
1842, , = See ws 1892, . = » 29, 
