THE SYCAMORE, 



117 



Even when the wind blows strongly in one direc- 

 tion for nine months in the year^ this tree main- 

 tains its perpendicularity and symmetrical form."* 



Though a fast grower, the Sycamore does not 

 attain a remarkably large size, and it is as little 

 noted for its longevity. It does not materially 

 increase in size, after having reached the age of 

 sixty years, but requires from thirty to forty 

 years more to bring its timber to perfection. 



At the age of from one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred years, it usually closes its term of 

 life ; though much older trees are on record 



Sir Thomas Dick Lauder mentions a Syca- 

 more at Calder House, in the county of Edin- 

 burgh, standing on the pleasure-ground, on the 

 road from the house to the church, which, on the 

 4th of October, 1799, measured seventeen feet, 

 seven inches in girth ; at the ground it measured 

 twenty feet three inches. Its trunk is twelve feet 

 high, and it then divides into five great arms. Its 

 branches extend in diameter about sixty feet. 

 This tree is known to have been planted before 

 the Reformation, and is therefore not less than 

 three hundred years old ; yet it has the appear- 

 ance of being perfectly sound. It was the tree 

 to which, long ago, the iron jugs (a species of 

 pillory) were fastened. The tree came gradually 

 to grow over them, and they have now been com- 

 pletely enclosed in its trunk for a considerable 

 time. At the place where they are enclosed, 

 there is a great protuberance on the south side 

 of the tree, at the height of between four and five 

 feet. 



A Sycamore at Newbottle Abbey, situated 



* Loudon. 



