ULMUS. 177 



being about the tbickness of a man's leg*. An elm in the Brewery 

 garden at Ednam is in girth, at the ground, 23 feet ; at the height 

 of 10 feet, where the first large branch springs, 10 feet ; and at the 

 height of nearly 25 feet, where the second large branch springs, 9 feet ; 

 it is nearly 60 feet in height, and the branches spread over a space 

 23 yards in circumference. The trunk is sculptured with deep ridges 

 like ^ cork-tree, and ornamented with some admirable tufts of 

 Polyporus squamosusf. — The 1§angtng-Crtt, or JSurroto'S Crct, at 

 Cowdenknowes, on which the Home of that ilk was wont to suspend 

 a refractory retainer, or hostile border marauder, was an Elm. 

 Chambers describes it as "a hard, knotty, ill-favoured piece of 

 timber, with a sullen look, as if oppressed with a bad conscience." 

 Pict. Scot. p. 29. It was cut down, I am informed, by a son of the 

 late Dr. Home of Cowdenknowes, on his sale of the estate, to be 

 made up into chairs and snuff-boxes ; and the present proprietor 

 completed the act by stubbing up the root ! J 



" Oak, ash, and elm tree. 

 The Laird can hang for a' the three ; 

 But fir, saugh, and bitter weed. 

 The Laird may liyte, but make naething be 'et." 



This popular rhyme affords data for ascertaining the comparative 

 value of our indigenous woods. The Bitter-weed is the Poplar, the 



* Mr. Smith informs me that a peculiar feature in all the trees at the 

 Hirsel is that they incline to weep. This is observed not only in the Elms, 

 but in the Oaks and Sycamores, &c. 



t I avail myself of this oppoitunity to give the facts on which it is men- 

 tioned, in the Introduction, that Ednam was the birth-place of Captain 

 Cook's father, and for which I am indebted to the Rev. Wm. Lamb. On 

 the 7th January of the present year a person called on Mr. Lamb, and 

 stated that he wished to have the parish register searched, with a view to 

 ascertain whether the birth or baptism of one James Cook was recorded ; 

 or, in other words, he wanted evidence that this parish was the birth-place 

 of Captain Cook's father. The person's name was Nicholas Cook — a 

 descendant of the voyager — and he told Mr. Lamb that it was always 

 understood in the family that the said James Cook came from this part of 

 the country. On leaving it he had taken up his abode at Ayton in Berwick- 

 shire ; from which place he went to Martin, Cleveland, where the famous 

 Captain was born. The following extracts confirm the family tradition : — 

 "Dec. 24, 1692: John Cooke in this pai'ish and Jean Duncane in the parish 

 of Smaillhume, gave up their names for proclamation in order to marriage : 

 a certificate produced of her good behaviour. John Cooke and Jean 

 Duncan were married Jan. 19, 1693."—" 1694. John Cook had a son 

 baptized, called James, March the 4th day." — Mr. Lamb also finds, in 

 the parish record, that John Cuke, the grandfather of the Captain, was an 

 elder in Ednam parish in 1692; Mr. Thomas Thomson, father of the poet, 

 being at the same time minister. 



I Writing in Oct. 1847 (Tait's Magazine, p. 657), Sir Thomas Dick 

 Lauder tells that this tree, " which is very unsightly, from its gnarled and 

 festered appearance, still remains." Here Sir Thomas, as is his custom, 

 copies from Mr. Chambers. He forgot that Mr. C. had pubUshed several 

 years previously. 



VOL. I. N 



