LITERATURE OF SCOTTISH AKBORICULTUKE. 215 



they sung. They were themselves practical arboriculturists, and in 

 their villas and suburban domains they gathered together choice 

 collections of many of the novelties of their day, quite as eagerly 

 as we now-a-days draw into intimate fellowship, in one shrubbery 

 or plantation, the newest acquisitions sent to us by collectors 

 from various and wide-spread climes and habitats. The cause of 

 arboriculture, however, notwithstanding such favourable circum- 

 stances, in these classic times, and afterwards for centuries, did not 

 flow on in a prosperous, unchequered tide of continuous develop- 

 ment, for the constant thirst for conquest which prevailed in the 

 aggrandising mind of the Koman not only diverted his attention 

 away from peaceful occupations, but tended to foster animosities, 

 and to carry destruction of forests and waste of lands into the ter- 

 ritories of the savage inhabitants of these islands. And the pro- 

 gress of conquest led to extensive and widespread devastation of 

 much of the forest land in them. For as the woods were convenient 

 refuges for the natives when attacked, and from whose shelter they 

 might harass and annoy the invading army, retreating again to their 

 cover when retribution was likely to follow, the Eomans naturally 

 cut down and destroyed many of the forests ; and the same policy 

 was, for similar reasons, adopted by the Saxons and Normans during 

 the periods of their occupation of Britain. Thus we find at the 

 present day, occasional traces of plantations having existed upon 

 hill sides and lofty elevations where now no tree is to be found, 

 and the destruction of which may be traced to the times we refer 

 to. So then it came to pass that, after centuries of denudation, it 

 became absolutely necessary, for many reasons, to plant young woods 

 to replace the old trees which had been destroyed; and from the 

 particular kinds or species of trees so replanted, we may decipher 

 much of the habits, necessities, and modes of life of our mediaeval 

 forefathers. The " Saxon Chronicle," remarkable as it is for the 

 minuteness of detail with which it narrates many of the doings and 

 customs of that period, tells us how the Conqueror, not finding land 

 sufficient for his pursuit of sport, cleared " the New Forest" and 

 certain other districts with a high hand. " He planted a great pre- 

 serve for deer, and he laid down laws therewith."* We also find 

 forest laws marked out, and exacted with great stringency. Charters 

 of the Forest, as they were called, were passed or granted, and thus, 

 probably unintentionally, by the highdianded arrogance and pre- 

 rogative of the Norman monarch and his successors, the wooded 

 * Saxon Chronicle, 1087. 

 VOL. VII. PART III. Q 



