48 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



common " in the more northern district of Appin, and more 

 restricted area of " the woods around Appin House " of the 

 old man, interviewed by the Eev. A. Stewart, that we may 

 safely, I think, consider that they lingered at least till 1839 

 or 1840, when Ewen Cameron of Shean Ferry captured or 

 killed his specimen which the Kev. A. Stewart saw at the 

 inn — and this conclusion, perhaps, in the face of the evidence 

 offered by the " Old Statistical Account," with its " now rare, 

 if not totally extinct, in Lismore and Appin " in 1793. We 

 cannot, however, I think, put aside the evidence of the " New 

 Statistical Account" with its "but now extinct" in 1842. 

 It is a positive statement, and we have no other later dates 

 which will confute it. Our next date evidently belongs to 

 the history of the extension from centres of introduction, as 

 will be shown in the second part of this essay {vide under 

 Argyleshire, next part, infra). 



Perthshire. 



The squirrel is referred to in our oldest and most popular 



Gaelic song, viz. — " The Lament for MacGregor of Euaro," 



which may safely be dated as before 1650, or the middle 



of the seventeenth century. Mr James MacPherson, to 



whom I am indebted for calling my attention to this, states : 



" That the ' Lament ' was composed during the proscription 



of the hapless Clan Gregor, is proved beyond dispute by the 



words of the ' Lament ' itself ; and their proscription dated 



from 1603 ; but we know, moreover, from other sources, that 



the MacGregors of Euaro, commemorated in the song, have 



been extinct for at least two centuries, so that the date of 



its composition may be pretty confidently set down as before 



1650, or the middle of the seventeenth century." The bard 



says: 



" Ge ralamh an fheorag, 

 Gheobhar seol air a faotuinn." 



Tho' nimble the squirrel, 



It may be captured with patience. 



lines composed, be it remembered, a century before there was 

 a thought of the artificial planting of trees on a large scale ; 



