Pinus Sylvestris 589 



mouth, where forty-seven ships of upwards of 19,000 tons burden were built from 

 them at an expense for labour only of ^70,000 (cf. Loudon, p. 2 161). Glenmore 

 Lodge lies at an elevation of 1050 feet on the shore of Loch Morlich, where some 

 of the finest pines still stand. One of them (Plate 165) is interesting as having for 

 many years been the eyrie of an osprey whose nest is visible in the photograph, 

 which was taken in the interval between two snowstorms ; but the birds, though 

 carefully protected, have not bred there since 1900.^ This tree measures 56 feet 

 by 13 feet, and is very characteristic of the native Scots pine in its habit. But 

 perhaps the most interesting tree in this forest is one from which a plank, now 

 preserved at Gordon Castle, was cut and presented by Mr. Osbourne to the Duke, 

 in 1806, as a memento of the forest. I could not count the rings of wood in 

 it exactly, but the Duke of Richmond informs me that there are about 

 236. I measured the plank 5 feet 5 inches wide at the butt end and 4 feet 

 4 inches at the top. The sapwood is worm-eaten, and the colour of the wood 

 has become very dark. I saw still lying on the hillside above Glenmore Lodge, 

 near the upper limit of the Scots pine, at an elevation of about 1400 feet, a 

 huge top, over three feet in diameter where it was cut off, and was assured by 

 Francis M'Pherson, an old woodman, who showed it to me, that it was the top 

 of the identical tree from which the above-mentioned plank was sawn. Though 

 overgrown with moss and heather, much of the wood appeared to be still sound, 

 after lying for nearly a hundred years. In confirmation of this I may state that 

 Mr. J. Michie showed me, in Ballochbuie Forest, the remains of a pine which was 

 sawn up and found sound after lying seventy years on the ground. 



In Abernethy Forest there are also many fine old pines, one of which, Mr, 

 Grant Thomson's favourite, is shown in Plate 166. It measures about 60 feet 

 high by 14 feet 3 inches in girth, and, though it divides into five tops, is a most 

 graceful tree. Much of this forest was burnt down many years ago, but has become 

 self-sown with young trees, and is now open wood covered with long heather, and a 

 favourite wintering ground for deer. We measured a group of the best clean self- 

 sown trees supposed to be about 1 20 years old, and estimated them at about 1 20 

 per acre, with an average timber height of 40 to 50 feet and a cubic content of about 

 25 feet (Plate 167). Such trees, where they stand, are worth about 6d. per foot. 

 Many cones are gathered in this forest for seed, of which about 8 ounces from a 

 bushel is the average produce ; and there is a large nursery where they are raised, 

 the growth being very slow as compared to what one sees in England, on account of 

 the cold and damp situation, 



I next visited Ballochbuie Forest, by the kind permission of His Majesty, who 

 preserves this beautiful forest with great care. It is now perhaps the largest area 

 of natural forest in Scotland, extending for several miles along the south side of the 

 upper valley of the Dee. The photographs, Plates 168 and 169, give a good idea 

 of the picturesque scenery of this forest and of the fine trees in it, many of which 

 are 80 to 90, and some as much as 100 feet high, by 7 to 8 feet in girth. The 



' Mr. S. R. Clarke has sent me a photograph of a Scots pine at Fasnakyle, which is used annually as an eyrie by the 

 Golden Eagle. 



