OAK SUITED FOR SCOTLAND- 193 



are perhaps more indispensable than in any other, 

 have made use of any but the strongest and most 

 solid materials. 



It would appear, then, that in ancient times oak 

 was universally employed in the various branches of 

 carpenter and joiner work ; and if this was the case, 

 the quantity of it produced in Scotland must have 

 been immense ; as in those days there was no such 

 thing as importation of timber from abroad. And 

 it is proper to observe, before leaving this part of the 

 subject, that its abundance is not proved merely by 

 the common and extensive use of it, but by the 

 circumstance, that it could not, at least in inland 

 places, be carried to any considerable distance from 

 the forest where it was cut down ; for the means of 

 conveyance were then in a very imperfect state, the 

 roads being extremely inconvenient for draught, 

 and carts or waggons scarcely known. The wood, 

 as well as the stones of a building must, therefore, 

 have been found in its immediate neighbourhood, 

 or at farthest, within the compass of a few miles ; 

 and hence we are entitled to conclude, that it was 

 diffused as generally over the kingdom as were the 

 churches and feudal castles in whose construction it 

 was used. 



We have yet another source of evidence still more 



