1 8 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Hamilton is " in all respects for woods, pastures, corn, etc., 

 the best we saw in Scotland " (3). An earlier writer, Bishop 

 Leslie (157S), says — " Cludisdal amang fair forrests and schawls 

 schene ; with thiker wods some are decored " (14). In an 

 Act of Parliament of 1641 parks and plantings are described as 

 "decorementes," so apparently the bishop knew or had heard 

 of planting in the Clydesdale of his day. Timothy Pont^ 

 gives a detailed description of the district of Cuninghame in 

 Ayrshire in 1604-8. The tract near the sea coast is described 

 as well planted, especially about .Stewarton and Irvine. Many 

 other places are named with the same characterisation ; for 

 instance, Auchinhervie, Blair, Corsehill, Craufurdland, Cuning- 

 hamehead, Fairlie, Hasilhead, Knock, Kelburne, Kilbirnie, 

 Kilmarnock, Montgrenan, and other places (22). In no case, 

 however, are the kinds of trees mentioned ; so that while 

 Font's survey is one of the first indications of general planting 

 in Scotland, it stops short of giving specific information 

 regarding the trees. It seems unlikely that any of the trees 

 seen by Pont are in existence at the present day. The great 

 Spanish Chestnut at Blair, of which some particulars are given 

 by Dobbie in his edition of Pont's work (22), is now gone. 



In more northern parts, some of the earliest systematic 

 planting in Scotland was done by Sir Duncan Campbell, who 

 succeeded to the Breadalbane property in 1583, and died in 

 1 63 1. Amongst the planting carried out by him was part of 

 Drummond Hill (10). In the Baron Court books of Bread- 

 albane in 162 1, ordinances occur requiring tenants and cottars 

 to plant young trees, "aik, asch, or plane." In the same year, 

 a Court was set at Finlarig to try numerous persons accused 

 of cutting "aik, asch, birk, alrone, hassell, and sauch " (13). 

 Other kinds of trees were seen in 1629 by an English traveller 

 at Gallowshields (Galashiels), who praises Sir James Pringle 

 for his planting there, and names "cherry trees, great store 

 of sycamores, trees he calleth silk trees,- and fir trees" (16). 



In 1632-1634, the Earl of Mar, in reserving rights to the 



' For an account of this rL-maikable Scots worthy see The Fi'st Topo- 

 graphical Survey 0/ Scotland, by C. G. Cash {Scottish Geographical Alaga., 

 vol. xviii., pp. 379-414, 1901), and Macfarlane's Geografhical Collections, 

 vol. ii.. Introduction, 1907 (17). 



- A name now used for Albizzia Julihrissin, not known in this country 

 before 1745, so some other tree must be meant ; perhaps the Mulberry. 



