CHAP. II. 



BRITISH ISLANDS. 



89 



that at Kippeiifoss, in Perthshire. In 1823, it measured 28 ft. 

 9 in. in circumference, at a foot from the ground. It appears, 

 from a statement made by the Earl of Mar to Mr. Monteith, 

 that this tree went by the name of " the big tree in Kippenross" 

 in the time of Charles II. {Monteitlis Forester's Guide, 2d edit, 

 p. 394.) In the grounds of Callendar House, near Falkirk, 

 there are sycamores and other trees of great size, which must 

 have been planted at the commencement of the 18th century, if 

 not in the latter part of the 17th century. Dr. Graham states, 

 on authority which he considers almost approaching to a cer- 

 tainty, that these trees were planted by the Earl of Linlithgow 

 and Callendar, who had accompanied Charles 11. in his exile, 

 upon his return from the Continent, after the Restoration. The 

 dimensions of these remarkable trees are given in the appendix 

 to the General Report of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 482. 



We are not aware of any elder trees in Scotland of any great 

 size or indicating great age. The tree is so completely natural- 

 ised there, more especially about houses and places where culti- 

 vation has long existed, that, if it were not for Dr. Walker's 

 statement, we should never have supposed it to be otherwise 

 than an indigenous tree. 



The sweet chestnut and the beech, producing seeds easily 

 portable from other countries, were in all probability introduced 

 into Scotland by the Romans, and, perhaps, reintroduced by the 

 religious establishments in the middle ages. According to Dr. 

 Walker, " a few chestnuts and beeches were first planted in 

 gardens not long before the middle of the seventeenth century, 

 some of which have remained till our own times. Such was the 

 chestnut at Finhaven ; another at Levenside in Dumbartonshire, 

 which was thrown down by the hurricane in 1739; and two or 

 three, which were alive and vigorous, at Kinfauns in Perthshire, 

 in the year 1761. Such was the great beech at Tay mouth, 

 overturned by a storm some years ago ; the beech at Oxenford ; 

 that at Newbattle in Mid Lothian ; and another at Ormiston Hall 

 in East Lothian." 



The two last-named beech trees, we conclude, from Sir Thos. 

 Dick Lauder's notes respecting them in his edition of Gilpin's 

 Forest Scenery, vol. i. p. 266., are decayed; and we believe that 

 the largest beech trees now existing in Scotland are at Ardkin- 

 glass in Argyllshire, and one mentioned by Mr. Sang [Plaiiter's 

 Calendar, 2d edit. p. 52.) as growing at Panmure in Forfar- 

 shire. The latter is 26 ft. 6 in. in circumference, at the surface of 

 the ground ; and the former as large, with a longer stem and a 

 finer head. {Gilpiii, Sj-c, p. 267.) One of the largest sweet chest- 

 nuts in Scotland is at Cairn Salloch in Dumfriesshire; at 2 ft. 

 from the surface of the ground it measures 26 ft, in girt ; and it 

 is divided into four large arms, 26 ft., 35 ft., 31 ft,, and 28 ft, in 



