CHAP. cv. CORYLA^CE^:. QUE'RCUS. 1773 



neglected and ill pruned, the size has been for many years diminishing, though 

 the marquess is now having every possible care taken to keep the tree alive. 

 The circumference of this tree, at 2 ft. from the ground (for it is all root under 

 that height), is 24 ft. 6 in. ; and the whole height is 56 ft. : the space the 

 branches overhang is above 92 ft. in diameter. This last tree is said to have 

 been the place where the border clans met in olden times ; and hence the 

 name of Capon, from the Scotch word kep, to meet. It stands in a haugh 

 (meadow) close by the side of Jedwater; and the King of the Woods on the 

 top of a bank, about 300 or 400 yards south of it, and both near the old Castle 

 of Ferniherst, and about a mile and a half above the burgh of Jedburgh." 

 We are indebted for the above account to Mr. Grainger of Harestanes, through 

 the kindness of the Marquess of Lothian, to whom he is agent. 



Stir/ings/iire. Wallace's Oak, in Tor Wood, the dimensions of which are 

 given by Dr. Walker, is said by some to have been the tree under the branches 

 of which Wallace and 300 of his men concealed themselves, instead of the 

 oak at Ellerslie ; while others assert that Wallace concealed himself, after a 

 lost battle, among its boughs. Even in 1771, when Dr. Walker saw it, this 

 tree was in a state of great decay. It had separated in the middle, and one 

 half had mouldered entirely away. " The other half," continues Dr. Walker, 

 " remains, and is in one place about 20ft. high." The whole of this remnant, 

 Dr. Walker adds, was red wood, from the heart to the very bark, and was 

 " so hard, even in its putrid state, as to admit of a polish. In this ancient 

 Tor Wood it stands, in a manner, alone." Compared to it, even the oldest 

 tree near it " is but of very modern date. The memory of its having saved 

 Wallace has, probably, been the means of its preservation, when all the rest of 

 the wood, at different times, has been destroyed." Dr. Walker concludes by 

 stating his opinion, from the remains that existed in 1771, that the Wallace 

 Oak had once been about 22 ft. in circumference at 4 ft. from the ground. 

 " Its trunk has never been tall ; for at about 10ft. from the ground it has 

 divided into several large arms. The tree stands in coarse land, in a deep 

 wet clay soil." (Essays, &c., p. 9.) 



Ireland. There are no very old trees in this country, though there are 

 some very large ones in a state of vigorous growth, as will be seen by our 

 Statistics. On the subject of the old or celebrated trees of Ireland, we have 

 received the following communication : " Generally speaking, no timber is 

 suffered to attain any tolerable age now in Ireland ; which is much to be re- 

 gretted, as, judging from the remains found in great abundance in the bogs, 

 which now occupy the place of the ancient forests, the oak and Scotch pine 

 formerly grew to an enormous size here. I have been assured, by a person of 

 credit, that he has repeatedly found them 8 ft. in diameter, and hopes soon 

 to obtain a specimen of that size." 



Celebrated Oaks in France. The Chapel Oak 

 of Allonville (jf%. 1622.) measures, just above the 

 roots, 35 ft. in circumference j and at 5 ft. or 6 ft , 

 26 ft. A little higher up, it extends to a greater 

 size ; and at 8 ft. it throws out enormous branches, 

 which cover a great extent of ground with their shade. 

 The trunk is low, and quite hollow ; but the branches 

 produce abundance of leaves and acorns. The lower 

 part of the trunk has been, many years since, trans- 1622 



formed into a chapel, carefully paved and wainscoted, and closed with 

 an iron gate. Above is a small chamber, containing a bed; and leading to it 

 there is a staircase which turns round the body of the tree. At certain 

 seasons of the year, divine service is performed in this chapel. The summit 

 of the tree has been broken off many years ; and over the cavity is a pointed 

 roof, covered with slates, in the form of a steeple, which is surmounted by an 

 iron cross. The cracks which occur in various parts of the tree are ' 

 covered with slates. Over the entrance to the chapel there is an inscm, 

 stating that it was formed by the Abbe du Detroit, curate of Allonville, in th 



