NORTH DURHAM AND BERWICKSHIRE. 323 



anti-magical virtues *. I cannot but think that the gooseberry 

 has a good claim to be reckoned a native of the south of Scotland. 

 There seems no climate so well suited to its disposition, for it 

 thrives neither in colder nor in warmer latitudes ; it is still to be 

 seen in as I think a wild state in our deans, as in the ravine 

 south of Fast-Castle, in the wood below the Pease-Bridge, and 

 about the Retreat ; and when planted out in woods, it endures 

 long, and withers not away as if it were an alien. None of the 

 currants, however, are met with unreclaimed in Berwickshire, 

 although both the red and black may occasionally be seen linger- 

 ing near the almost obliterated ruins of mills in remote deans. 



Of the trees which are certainly aliens, and with which the 

 modern plantations are in a great measure formed, the " heavy- 

 headed plane" (Acer pseudo-platanus) is one of earliest naturaliza- 

 tion. The time of its introduction is uncertain, some time cer- 

 tainly before the Reformation ; but it is now common, and attains 

 a great size. There are some very fine trees of it at Foulden, 

 and in various other parts of the county ; but the largest, if per- 

 chance they still exist, are those mentioned by Dr WALKER at 

 Nisbet ; one on the south side of the walk in the shrubbery, lead- 

 ing to the garden, which, in September 1 795, was about CO feet 



* There are some large bushes of elder on Holy Island, where, I think, no other 

 tree grows. The sloe and the burnet rose occur in a much dwarfed state, and per- 

 haps there is little more than a bush of each. The black poplar and a willow have 

 been planted at the Lough, and annually put forth leaves in their struggle for ex- 

 istence. An anonymous writer asserts, " that there are no parts of the coast of 

 Great Britain better adapted for the growth of the fir-tree than the northern shores 

 of Holy Island ; and where, at the same time, their plantation would be attended 

 with more benefit, and, finally, with more profit to the proprietor: the quantity of 

 land which, by a little industry, might be gained is very great, and many ad- 

 vantages to the climate, vegetation, and soil, would flow from a change in the geo- 

 graphical relations of the island. We hope that our having mentioned the practica- 

 bility will call the attention of others to the execution :" Edin. Journ. of Nat. and 

 Geograph. Science, ii. 43, and realize the fanciful creations of Miss PORTER * 

 In her pages such speculations may not be out of place, they seem to us unsuitable 

 to those of a Journalist whose pretensions to science are something of the highest. 



For the following curious extract relative to the Farn Islands, I am indebted to 

 Mr WEDDELL. " Insula Fame quae hinc altissimo, inde infinite clauditur ocea- 

 no, tune aquae prorsus inops, frumentis quoque et arboris, malignorum etiam spi- 

 rituum frequentia humanae habitatione minus accommoda. Verum> illo quoque 

 virumf Dei comitante Miraculorum gloria, derupe saxosa precibus fontem elicuit, 

 de tellure durissima segetem produxit, hoste antique cum satellitum turba fugato, 

 locum ipsum habitabilem fecit." Simeon of Durham, p. 39 and 40. 



f The pious monk speaks of St CUTHBERT, who entered the monastery of Lie* 

 disfarne A. D. 676 (WeddelL) 



