ON THE INDIGENOUS TREES OF NORTH BRITAIN.

WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY, Esq. M. A. &c.

By

It would appear from historical evidence, and the relations of

travellers who have visited countries that have received little modification from the interference of man, that the original and natural vegetation of nearly all parts of the globe, excepting such as are covered by shifting soil or perennial snows, consists chiefly of trees and shrubs, differing according to the climate. When the restless natives of Europe first visited the different regions of America, they found them overgrown with forests. In those regions of Asia, whether continental or insular, in which they have settled, the unreclaimed tracts were covered by impenetrable jungle. The Romans, in their European conquests, had to force their way, not with sword and spear only, but also with axes and firebrands; the maritime regions of Africa are still woody; and in all these portions of the globe, wherever the inhabitants have not betaken themselves to agricultural or civic occupations, woods and thickets spread on all sides. In Europe, the Hercynian Forest has been reduced within small limits, the Caledonian has disappeared, and its very roots have been grubbed from the soil; but Norway, Sweden, and Russia, are still to a great extent covered by natural forests. The parched and sandy deserts of Africa and Asia, the savannahs of America, and the grassy islands and coasts of the colder regions of both hemispheres, together with the more elevated parts of the great mountain ranges, some alluvial tracts along the course of rivers, and the frozen lands of the Poles, have perhaps been always destitute of wood, although in all cases as much may be said in favour of the one opinion as of the other. If, after the revolutions and catastrophes which geology so clearly indicates, the surfaces consisted partly of bare rock, and partly of debris, gravel, sand, and clay, whatever may have been the first vegetation by which these surfaces were covered, it is at least apparent that trees were abundant upon them at a period antecedent to the formation of peat and other soils of vegetable origin; for the decayed stumps and roots of the oldest trees which we meet with

may generally be traced to the subsoil, and in few cases occur in soil that is evidently of posterior origin.

A considerable portion of Scotland can hardly be supposed to have been covered with trees for many ages back; for in the soil and subsoil the operations of the agriculturist disclose no roots, which, had they once existed, could scarcely have been so entirely decomposed as to leave no traces behind. But the sides of all the Highland mountains, the glens and ravines, the margins of the rivers and lakes, and very extensive tracts of the low grounds, have at some period been covered by wood. With respect to the species of trees which occurred in those early periods, when the country presented an almost uniform continuity of forest, history affords little satisfactory information; for the accurate discrimination of vegetables has never formed part of the qualifications of the historian, and even at the present day, we find writers of celebrity committing the most glaring mistakes in every thing that relates to natural history. Beyond the mere fact, therefore, that, at a former period, Scotland exhibited extensive ranges of uninhabited forest, where corn-fields and pastures now surround the habitations of a crowded population, little is to be learned from the pages of our historians. They can only tell us at random of " noble forests of oak, ash, beech, and other hard timber," and to discover the species of which these forests were composed, we must have recourse to our peat bogs, and to the remnants of the ancient woods which still grace many parts of the country.

From the former source, little information is to be obtained, When trunks, branches, or roots are found in peat, they are generally so altered that the species to which they belong can only in few cases be discovered. The pine, the birch, the alder, and the oak, are all that can be made out with certainty, to which may be added the hazel, upon the evidence of its nuts, which sometimes present themselves.

In an insular situation like ours, it is evident, that, unless new species spring up spontaneously, no addition can by natural means be made to the original stock. The trees of England are the same as those of Scotland, with the exception of a few species which have not made their way to the latter country. Shrubs or young trees wafted from the European or American continents, would necessarily perish before arriving upon our coasts;

and the seeds of none of our present species of trees are fitted for long aerial voyages, and could scarcely arrive from the nearest point of Europe, even if whirled from thence by a hurricane. As to the dissemination of trees by birds, I have only to say, that I have never found an entire seed of any kind in the intestines of a bird, and that the hardest kinds are shattered by the least muscular gizzards. The present indigenous trees of the country are, therefore, very probably the species of which its ancient forests consisted. Some species may indeed have been lost, but of this there is no evidence. The beech, which Mr Tytler says existed in our ancient forests, is now nowhere to be seen wild; but what evidence is there that it ever occurred so? Even in England, its right to a place in the Flora is disputed; and although Ray says it was in his time common in the south of England, Cæsar asserts that neither it nor the fir (Abies) was observed by him there.

In examining a country with reference to its native trees, one would naturally betake himself to the wildest and least inhabited districts; for in those which have been reduced to a state of fertility, the woods, however much they may appear to be the unmixed produce of the soil, may have been modified by the interference of man. For this purpose, along with others of, a similar nature, I have traversed nearly all the most interesting districts of Scotland; and the result of my observations, I trust, may prove not unworthy of the notice of those who are interested in the natural history of this portion of Britain, There is, in reality, no distinction between trees and shrubs; but, as an enumeration of the latter would occupy considerable space, I shall defer it for the present. The species of trees which I have observed and examined in a wild state in Scotland and its islands are the following.

1st, The Scotch Pine (more commonly, but less correctly, called Scotch Fir), Pinus sylvestris, named by the Highlanders Craobh-ghiubhais, is the largest of our native trees. No idea can be formed of the native pine of this country from the samples one sees in plantations; but in the remains of the great natural forests, especially when it grows in dense masses, as it generally does, to the exclusion of other trees, it presents a magnificent spectacle. In its perfect state, the pine is straight, and attains a height of from 50 to 80 feet or more. The trunk does

trees.

not send off permanent branches excepting towards the summit, unless when the tree happens to grow in an open place, when it forms arms like the oak, but does not attain its usual height. The bark is pale brownish red, and scales off in thick irregular pieces. The leaves remain during the winter. They grow in pairs, forming tufts or bundles, and are linear, straight, smooth, channelled and dark green above, convex and somewhat glaucous beneath. The cones are about two inches long, egg-shaped, pointed, and tuberculated. The wood in most situations is whitish, but in dry and elevated places reddish or yellowish, and resinous. Its qualities and uses are well known, as are those of the turpentine and resin which it yields. The bark has been used for tanning, but is inferior to that of several other native This fine tree was formerly very generally distributed in the Highlands; but wherever the forests were near the sea, as on Loch Maree, they have been cut down, and in many places there only remain of them a few straggling and diminutive individuals. In various parts of Aberdeenshire, along the course of the Dee, as well as on the Spey, in Glenmorison, Strathglass, and a few other places, great woods of this tree are still to be seen. In the forest of Glenbeg, according to the Rev. Mr Farquharson, there are many individuals upwards of 10 feet in girth. Dr Hooker, in his British Flora, says, a plank from the largest tree that was cut down in the Duke of Gordon's forests of Glenmore measured 5 feet in diameter (or 16 feet in girth). In shallow soil, where the roots are unable to penetrate, it is surprising to what extent they sometimes spread. The roots, in some parts of Scotland, are split into thin pieces, and used in place of candles.

2. The Common Oak, Quercus Robur, named vernacularly by the Lowlanders in some parts Aik, by the Highlanders Darach. In Scotland, the oak, in its native stations, is generally an insignificant tree, seldom attaining a diameter of a foot and a half, or a height of forty. It is only when planted in rich soil, that it makes some attempt to rival the gnarled oak of England. The trunk rises to a considerable height before branching, and is frequently straight, with longitudinally fissured dark The branches are smooth, the leaves alternate, grey bark. smooth, bright green, unequally cut into obtuse, entire, parallel lobes. The barren catkins are pendulous and stalked; the fertile flowers few, sessile, on long axillar stalks. This species is

very common in the Highlands and Inner Hebrides, where it forms extensive woods, which are cut down at regular periods for hoops and poles, and more especially for the bark, which is perhaps better than any other for tanning. A decayed oak, by the road between Inversanda and Strontian in Argyleshire, was found by Dr Walker, in 1764, to measure in circumference near the ground 17 feet 3 inches. Wallace's Oak in the Torwood is stated by the same author to have been in circumference, four feet from the ground, 22 feet. On the north side of Loch Arkeg in Lochaber, he also found an oak which was 24 feet 6 inches in circumference, at the same height. These, however, are the giants of the land, and for every oak two feet in diameter there may be found a thousand not more than one. In the days of Ossian, the oak was probably of larger size than it is now, for he mentions it as an emblem of strength and stability.

3. The Common Birch, Betula alba, named by the Lowlanders Birk, by the Highlanders Beithe, is a tree of great beauty. Its trunk is seldom straight, but frequently attains a considerable height before branching. The outer bark is white, and naturally bursts in large scales or patches; but in old trees it disappears, and the bark is deeply divided by irregular dark-coloured clefts. The branches are slender, and the twigs in old trees always drooping at the extremities. A variety with the branches more pendulous than usual, is called the Weeping Birch. The leaves are egg-shaped, pointed, unequally serrated, and deep green. The catkins, which appear before the leaves, are stalked and pendulous; the fertile ones short and oval. The usual height of this tree is from 30 to 40 feet. It seldom exceeds two feet in diameter, although I have seen very old trees in LochCarron and other districts which were upwards of twelve feet in circumference. In the forest of Darnaway, in Morayshire, there were many birches nine feet in girth; (Stat. Hist. vol. viii. p. 557). This species is very extensively distributed. Of many large woods in the Highlands it forms the sole constituent, as on the northern side of Lochlagan, in the braes of Loch Carron, the upper part of Glenmorison, &c. It grows at a greater elevation than most others, and descends along the rivers to near the level of the sea. The bark is used for tanning. The wood, which is hard and white, is employed by the wheelwright and turner in