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PLATE V.—THE WALLACE OAK. 
Tuerx is perhaps no name in the annals of Scotland more justly celebrated than that of Wallace; one of 
the bravest of her heroes, and most disinterested of her patriots. Hence his steps are pointed out, wherever 
they can be traced, with almost religious reverence; the mountain path which he may have tracked, the head- 
long torrent which he may have crossed, the rugged fastness in which he may have entrenched himself, still bear 
his name in many parts of the country, and still invite the wanderings and charm the imagination of those who 
are capable of feeling the force of the sublime sentiment— 
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” 
Among the memorials to the fame of Wallace which the gratitude of posterity has delighted to point out, 
the trees under which he is known to have reposed or encamped, have been treated with a degree of attachment 
which, defeating its aim in its excess, has ultimately caused the destruction of the object it wished to com- 
memorate. Hence the famous Oak in Torwood is no longer remaining. It stood in the middle of a swampy 
moss, having a causeway round it; but the last fragments of its ruins have been carried off by the pilgrims 
whom its fame attracted, and only the spot on which it stood now remains for them to pay their devotions to. 
Of Harnside Wood, where Wallace defeated the English, on the 12th of June, 1298, and which formerly 
stretched four miles along the shores of the Frith, not a vestige is left; and in the same manner, many other 
individual trees and woodland tracts, once rendered interesting by being associated with the valiant darings and — 
hair-breadth scapes of Wallace, have bowed before the warring elements, or the unpitying axe. One Oak which 
bears his name still however survives, and is perhaps more interesting than any of those we may otherwise 
lament, on account of its standing immediately at the place of his birth, which was Ellerslie, or Elderslee, three 
miles. to the south-west of Paisley, in Renfrewshire. It is mentioned by Semple, in his “ Continuation of Craw- 
furd’s History of Renfrewshire,” as “the large Oak tree, which is still standing alone, in a little enclosure, a few 
yards south from the great road between Paisley and Kilbarchan; being on the east side of Hlderslee rivulet, 
where there is a stone bridge with one arch, the manor of Elderslee being a few yards distant from the rivulet on 
the west side. They say that Sir William Wallace and three hundred of his men hid themselves upon that tree» 
among the branches (the tree being then in full blossom,) from the English. The tree is indeed very large, and 
well spread in the branches, being about twelve feet in circumference.” p. 260. 4to. 1782. The present dimen- 
sions of the Wallace Oak, as communicated by Mr. Macquisten, an accurate land-surveyor, are twenty-one feet 
in circumference at the ground; and at five feet from it, thirteen feet two inches. It is sixty-seven feet in height, 
and its branches extend on the east side to forty-five feet, on the west to thirty-six, on the south to thirty, and on 
the north to twenty-five, covering altogether an extent of nineteen English, or fifteen Scots poles, land measure. 
According to the testimony of aged residents in the neighbourhood, the branches of this tree, about thirty years 
ago, covered above a Scotch acre of ground; and one old person in particular, a lame man, who was present at its 
measurement, pointed out a spot on the ancient turnpike road, forty yards north from the trunk of the tree, where 
he said that, when young, he used to strike the branches with his stilt. This renders the account of the extent 
of ground it formerly covered worthy of belief; as well as the number of men which tradition reports it to have 
concealed, along with their brave leader, by whose name it is known. It is a peculiarity in the trees in this part 
of Renfrewshire, that their branches generally extend more to the south and east than to the north and west. 
The Wallace Oak seems destined, in sharing the fame of others of its brethren, who have been honoured by 
sheltering the hero Wallace, to share their fate likewise of despoliation: every year its branches pay tribute to 
its renown, and the western Highlanders, in particular, carry off relics from it in an abundance which threatens 
extinction, at no very distant period, to the parent stem, unless it be protected from further violence by its 
present owner, Archibald Spiers, Esq. of Elderslie, M-P. who may not be quite aware of the extent to which 
ravages are committed upon it through the good feeling, though mistaken judgment, of the majority of its 
visitants. 
STP a Neer soe alent a SS a eT a De Cini th all Cg ee a ae ee a ee ee ear ee | et Ta eee Severe 
