able beeches are mentioned, of which one at Edenbarnet in the parish of Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire, is said to be 140 feet high; but the measurements of many of the trees in this compilation are so unreliable that I cannot believe them without confirmation.
J. Kay, in Scottish Arb. Soc. Transactions, ix. p. 75, mentions a tree in the Beech Walk at Mount Stuart in Bute, which in 1881 was 120 feet by 11 feet 9 inches, with a clean bole 60 feet high, and contained 450 feet of timber.
In Ireland the beech is probably not a native tree. According to Hayes[1] it was first introduced at Shelton, near Arklow, where, in 1794, there were beech trees as much as 15 feet in girth, and many carrying a girth of 10 feet for more than 40 feet high. Another growing at Tiny Park was 16 feet 3 inches in girth, and continued nearly of that girth for 36 feet. Hayes also mentions, as an instance of the rapid growth of the beech in Ireland, "several at Avondale, which were transplanted within thirty years on a swelling ground at that time much exposed to storm, are now (1793) from 7 feet 6 inches to 6 feet 6 inches at a foot from the ground, and continue nearly of that size from 8 to 20 feet in height. Of two which were planted in a richer soil near the river, and are now (1793) just fifty-four years from the mast, one measures 9 feet round, the other 9 feet 6 inches."
The finest beeches in Ireland, probably, are those occurring at Woodstock (Co. Kilkenny), the seat of E.K.B. Tighe, Esq.—a property which is remarkable all round for magnificent trees of many kinds, and which is in the possession of a family that for generations has been deeply interested in forestry and arboriculture. The measurements of many trees have been taken periodically for nearly a century. The best beeches on this beautiful property occur in the meadow land by the River Nore, close to the village of Inistioge. The following table gives an interesting series of measurements of these beeches:—
| No. | Girth | Height | ||||||||||||
| 1825. | 1830. | 1834. | 1846. | 1901. | 1904. | 1901. | 1904. | |||||||
| ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | |||
| A3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 81 | 86 |
| C7 | ... | ... | ... | 12 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 97 | 99 | |||
| B3 | ... | ... | ... | 12 | 5 | 14 | 0 | ... | 91 | ... | ||||
| B5 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 113 | 117 |
| B6 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 9 | ... | 108 | ... | |
| B2 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 112 | 109 |
| B1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 16 | 6 | ... | 106 | ... | |
| B9 | 11 | 9 | ... | 12 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 7 | ... | 120 | ... | ||
| B8 | ... | ... | 9 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 3 | ... | 100 | ... | |||
The measurements up to 1901 are from the foresters' records; those of 1904 were taken by Henry. The beech A3, has a great bole, dividing into three limbs at 18 feet up, and is a very wide-spreading tree. C7 is pressed on each side by two lime trees, and is narrow in shape. The most remarkable of all is B5, which is probably the tallest beech in Ireland.
- ↑ Hayes, A Practical Treatise on Planting (1794), pp. 109, 118.
