CHAPTEE III. 



EARLY MODES OF CULTURE. 



Three larch trees, locally called " the mothers," were 

 planted at the west end of the cathedral at Dunkeld, 

 part of which now constitutes the present parish 

 church. Mr. M'Crosty, gardener and forester to the 

 Duke of Athole, was, it appears, a man of hasty temper, 

 yet, moreover, one of those men whose evil deeds are 

 so absorbed in their good qualities as to be almost 

 lost sight of, if not forgotten. The Duke, Duchess, 

 factor, and every one had to give way to the redoubt- 

 able M'Crosty, and with His Grace he was to the end 

 of life a much esteemed and favoured servant. On one 

 occasion M'Crosty mentioned to His Grace that the saw- 

 mill at Inver, Little Dunkeld, required a new axle ; and, 

 His Grace, having at the time some friends with him, 

 sent for M'Crosty — probably as a joke and to show 

 him off — and requested him in their presence to cut 

 one of the "mothers." This so enraged the veteran 

 forester, that he made a desperate effort to strike the 

 Duke, being only restrained by the noblemen present 

 and the opportune shutting of the door. While 

 thus baffled in all his efforts to strike, he made the 

 next best of it by throwing his shoe at His Grace, 



