mouth, where forty-seven ships of upwards of 19,000 tons burden were built from them at an expense for labour only of £70,000 (cf. Loudon, p. 2161). Glenmore Lodge lies at an elevation of 1050 feet on the shore of Loch Morlich, where some of the finest pines still stand. One of them (Plate 165) is interesting as having for many years been the eyrie of an osprey whose nest is visible in the photograph, which was taken in the interval between two snowstorms; but the birds, though carefully protected, have not bred there since 1900.[1] This tree measures 56 feet by 13 feet, and is very characteristic of the native Scots pine in its habit. But perhaps the most interesting tree in this forest is one from which a plank, now preserved at Gordon Castle, was cut and presented by Mr. Osbourne to the Duke, in 1806, as a memento of the forest. I could not count the rings of wood in it exactly, but the Duke of Richmond informs me that there are about 236. I measured the plank 5 feet 5 inches wide at the butt end and 4 feet 4 inches at the top. The sapwood is worm-eaten, and the colour of the wood has become very dark. I saw still lying on the hillside above Glenmore Lodge, near the upper limit of the Scots pine, at an elevation of about 1400 feet, a huge top, over three feet in diameter where it was cut off, and was assured by Francis M'Pherson, an old woodman, who showed it to me, that it was the top of the identical tree from which the above-mentioned plank was sawn. Though overgrown with moss and heather, much of the wood appeared to be still sound, after lying for nearly a hundred years. In confirmation of this I may state that Mr. J. Michie showed me, in Ballochbuie Forest, the remains of a pine which was sawn up and found sound after lying seventy years on the ground.
In Abernethy Forest there are also many fine old pines, one of which, Mr. Grant Thomson's favourite, is shown in Plate 166, It measures about 60 feet high by 14 feet 3 inches in girth, and, though it divides into five tops, is a most graceful tree. Much of this forest was burnt down many years ago, but has become self-sown with young trees, and is now open wood covered with long heather, and a favourite wintering ground for deer. We measured a group of the best clean selfsown trees supposed to be about 120 years old, and estimated them at about 120 per acre, with an average timber height of 40 to 50 feet and a cubic content of about 25 feet (Plate 167). Such trees, where they stand, are worth about 6d. per foot. Many cones are gathered in this forest for seed, of which about 8 ounces from a bushel is the average produce; and there is a large nursery where they are raised, the growth being very slow as compared to what one sees in England, on account of the cold and damp situation.
I next visited Ballochbuie Forest, by the kind permission of His Majesty, who preserves this beautiful forest with great care. It is now perhaps the largest area of natural forest in Scotland, extending for several miles along the south side of the upper valley of the Dee. The photographs, Plates 168 and 169, give a good idea of the picturesque scenery of this forest and of the fine trees in it, many of which are 80 to 90, and some as much as 100 feet high, by 7 to 8 feet in girth, The
- ↑ Mr. S.R. Clarke has sent me a photograph of a Scots pine at Fasnakyle, which is used annually as an eyrie by the Golden Eagle.
