sions in Galloway, from father to son, for upwards of 500 years. The only remaining known descendant of Heron of Bargally, in the male line, is Captain Basil Heron of the Royal Artillery, now (1835) on duty at Gibraltar; he married a daughter of Judge Mayne, in Ireland, and has three daughters; he is grandson of Dr. Heron, who sold Bargally, and great-grandson of Andrew Heron the botanist. The male heirs of all the branches of the family of Heron of Heron will be extinct on the death of Captain Basil Heron."

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Andrew Heron corresponded with Bradley on gardening subjects; and from this correspondence it appears that he had a curious water-clock in his grounds, that he trained his pear trees in a particular manner, and that he cultivated in his fields what he calls the "true Roman cytisus." (See Bradley's Treatise on Husbandry and Gardening, 1726, vol. ii. p. 169.) Mr. Maxwell, writing about the same period to Mr. Hope of Rankeillor, says, "I have of late been with Mr. Heron of Bargally, in whose garden there is a great variety of curiosities to be observed. He is, in my opinion, the most learned and ingenious gentleman, in the article of gardening, I ever conversed with." (Practical Husbandman, p. 179.) "The want of money, that great enemy to old timber," another correspondent informs us, "compelled Mr. Hannay, the purchaser of Bargally from Dr. Andrew Heron, who was otherwise a gentleman of fine taste, to cut down a great many of the largest trees, particularly four that grew one at each corner of Heron's tomb."

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We visited Bargally in August 24. 1831, and found a number of the trees planted by Andrew Heron still in existence. Having applied to the present proprietor, John Mackie, Esq., for the dimensions of some of these trees, the following is an extract from his letter, dated Bath, March 21. 1835: "I have now received the measurement of some of the old trees at Bargally, which is as follows, viz.: the circumference of a beech (usually denominated the large beech), at 18 in. from the ground, is 18 ft., and it is upwards of 90 ft. in height. This tree is in the most perfect health, and when in full foliage is truly magnificent. The circumference of an evergreen oak in the garden, at 14 in. from the ground, is 12 ft. and it is above 60 ft. high this tree is also in a very thriving state, and does not show the least tendency to decay. The circumference of a hop hornbeam (O'strya vulgàris), at 1 ft. from the ground, is 9 ft., and it is above 60 ft. high: this tree is particularly mentioned by Dr. Walker, as having been measured by him in 1780; it was then 4 ft. 1 in. in circumference at 4 feet from the ground, 60 ft. high, and considered the oldest and largest tree of the kind in Scotland. The circumference of a variegated

sycamore is 12 ft., and it is upwards of 70 ft. high. The girt of a sweet chestnut, at 18 in. from the ground, is 10 ft. 7 in., and it is above 80 ft. high. Mr. M'Nab, my factor, adds, 'Had I measured them at the surface of the ground, they would have been one third more, in consequence of the roots spreading so much as they do.' Mr. Hannay sold the property of Bargally to my father in 1792."

"It is recorded of Mr. Heron, that he went to visit a garden in the neighbourhood of London, and very much astonished the principal gardener, to whom he was a stranger, with the botanical knowledge he displayed; and the gardener having shown him an exotic, which he felt confident Mr. Heron had never seen, he exclaimed, on Mr. Heron's readily naming it, Then, Sir, you must either be the devil or Andrew Heron of Bargally;' thereby intimating that Mr. Heron was proverbial, in those days, as a botanist, even with those who had never seen him."

Dr. Walker, in his Essays (p. 32.), mentions several firs and pines at Bargally, of large dimensions, which no longer exist. A fir, he says, which was planted in 1697, measured, in 1780, 90 ft. in height. He states that the oldest and largest arbor vitæ in Scotland was at Bargally: it measured, in 1780, 5 ft. 4 in. in girt at 4 ft. from the ground, and was 40 ft. high. He also mentions a flowering ash (O'rnus europaea), which was cut down in 1780, and 7 ft. of the trunk quartered to make four axles to carts; it was a remarkably handsome tree, 6 ft. 3 in. in circumference at 4 ft. from the ground, and 50 ft. high. Dr. Walker mentions large evergreen oaks, horsechestnuts, and many other species, of extraordinary dimensions. The present proprietor is much attached to this beautiful place, takes the greatest care of the trees, and has lately repaired the tomb of their planter.

We took notes ourselves (in 1831) of several remarkable trees at Bargally, including a large lime tree and a number of beautiful variegated hollies from 20 ft. to 26 ft. in height, and with trunks from 15 in. to 2 ft. in diameter. Altogether the place is one of very great interest, not only on account of its venerable foreign trees and the tomb of Heron, but from the romantic beauty of the situation, and from the district in which it lies being one of the finest, in point of scenery, in the west of Scotland.

Dunkeld, where, it appears, the Weymouth Pine was first introduced into Scotland, was, in 1727, the property of James Murray, Duke of Athol; the friend and distant relative of John and Archibald, Dukes of Argyll. Dunkeld is celebrated for having been one of the first places where the larch was planted in Scotland; the plants of which, it is said, were sent from

Sir Thomas Dick Lauder,

London in pots in the year 1741. as we have seen, however, says the larch was first planted in Scotland, at Sir James Nasmyth's, at Dawick, in 1725. The Rev. James Headrick, in his Survey of Forfarshire, gives another account of the introduction of the larch into Scotland. He says, "It is generally supposed that larches were first brought into Scotland by one of the Dukes of Athol; but I saw three larches of extraordinary size and age, in the garden near the mansion house of Lockhart of Lee, on the northern banks of the Clyde, a few miles below Lanark. The stems and branches were so much covered with lichens, that they hardly exhibited any signs of life or vegetation. The account I heard of them was, that they were brought there by the celebrated Lockhart of Lee (who had been ambassador from Cromwell to France), soon after the restoration of Charles II. (about 1660). After Cromwell's death, thinking himself unsafe on account of having served a usurper, he retired some time into the territories of Venice. He there observed the great use the Venetians made of larches in ship-building, in piles for buildings, in the construction of their houses, and for other purposes and when he returned home he brought a number of larch plants in pots, with a view to try if they could be gradually made to endure the climate of Scotland. He nursed his plants in hot-houses, and in a green-house sheltered from the cold, until they all died, except the three alluded to; these, in desperation, he planted in the warmest and best sheltered part of his garden, where they attained an extraordinary height and girth." (Headrick's Forfarshire, p. 374.)

The estate of Dunkeld now contains the most extensive plantations of the larch in the island, spreading over several thousand acres. A copious and most valuable account of these plantations will be found in the Transactions of the Highland Society, vol. íx., and an abridgment of that account in our Encyclopædia of Gardening, § 6579. edit. 1835. Dunkeld has long been celebrated for its scenery. Dr. Clarke, the traveller, says, the scene that opens before you, after going through the pass, perhaps has not its parallel in Europe. "The grounds of the Duke of Athol," he continues, "I do not hesitate to pronounce without a rival." Gray, the author of the Elegy, was overcome and almost lost" by the beauties of Dunkeld. Gilpin called it the "portal of the Highlands," and Dr. Macculloch has nearly filled a volume on the subject. The house at Dunkeld is a plain large building, erected in 1685, but it has long been in contemplation to remove it, and to build one of superior architectural pretensions. John Murray, the present Duke of Athol, has lately constructed a magnificent public bridge over the Tay at Dunkeld, government assisting His Grace with one sixth part of the expense. The bridge was constructed on dry land, and

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the course of the river was afterwards turned to it. It is greatly to the honour of this family, that for a century past their improvements, such as roadmaking, bridge-building, and planting, have been made more with a view to the general benefit of the country than to lodging themselves sumptuously.

New Hailes, near Musselburgh, was a seat of Baron Dalrymple, a celebrated lawyer and improver, and is now the property of Miss Dalrymple.

Arbigland, in Dumfriesshire, was the property of William Craik, Esq., a contemporary of Maxwell and of Fletcher of Saltoun, and one of the original members of the Society for the Improvement of Agriculture in Scotland. He was one of the first to study the works of Tull, and to adopt the drill system. He died in 1798, at the age of 95 years. We visited Arbigland in 1804, and again in 1806, and found the place still celebrated for its old silver firs. A life of this distinguished agriculturist will be found in the Farmer's Magazine, vol. xii. p. 145.

Loudon Castle, in Ayrshire, was one of the first places in the West of Scotland where foreign trees were planted. "John Earl of Loudon," Walker observes, " formed at Loudon Castle, in Ayrshire, the most extensive collection of willows, that has been made in this country, which he interspersed in his extensive plantations. Wherever he went during his long military services, he sent home every valuable sort of tree that he met with. All the willows he found cultivated in England, Ireland, Holland, Flanders, and Germany, as also in America and Portugal, where he commanded, were procured and sent to Loudon. (Econ. Hist., &c., p. 161.) In 1806, and again in 1831, we found a number of fine old trees at Loudon Castle; we recollect, in particular, robinias, gleditschias, American oaks, hickories, walnuts, taxodiums, acers, poplars, and a variety of others. Some are recorded by Dr. Walker as having been remarkably fine specimens in 1780.

Dalmahoy, near Edinburgh, is the property of the Earl of Morton, and there are still a few specimens of old trees there. Mount Steuart, the next place mentioned in the list, is situated in the Island of Bute, and was built in 1718 by James Earl of Bute, father of the celebrated earl of that name, who was minister to George III. The plantations there, according to Dr. Walker, were begun in the same year. Speaking of them in 1780, he says, "They are equal, if not superior, to those of the same age in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. The Oriental plane grows here almost like a willow; is never hurt in winter, and forms a fine dressed shady tree." The Marquess of Bute's family have planted from 200,000 to 300,000 trees every year since the beginning of the present century. The place contains many remarkably

fine specimens, which will be severally noticed in the course of this work.

Hopetoun House, the property of the Earl of Hopetoun, is still celebrated for its cedars. According to a letter, dated November, 1834, which we received from Mr. Smith, the gardener there, the cedars alluded to by Dr. Walker were brought from London by Archibald Duke of Argyll, and a number of other exotic trees, such as tulip trees, evergreens, oaks, &c., appear to have been planted about the same time. It is remarkable, Mr. Smith observes, that these cedar trees are the fastest-growing trees on the estate. The largest, in 1834, measured nearly 15 ft. in girt, at a foot from the ground, and was 68 ft. high. The silver fir there was 90 ft. high; the tulip tree 60 ft. high; the Carolina or evergreen birdcherry, mentioned by Dr. Walker, 70 ft. high; the sweet chestnut 75 ft. high; the arbor vitæ 35 ft. high; the common holly 44 ft. high; and the common yew 28 ft. high. On the whole, Hopetoun House is one of the most celebrated places for foreign trees and shrubs in Scotland. (See Encyc. of Gard., § 1225. edit. 1835.)

Carmichael was, we believe, situated in Clydesdale, and belonged to the Earl of Hyndford. Mellerstane, in Berwickshire, was the seat of George Baillie of Jerviswood. The mansion is magnificent, and the grounds extensive. Elliock, in Dumfriesshire, belongs to the Veitch family, some of whom were formerly Lords of Session. It has very extensive plantations.

By Leith, where the balsam poplar was first planted, we find, from another passage in Dr. Walker's works, was meant a nursery in Leith Walk; in all probability that of Mr. Richmond, who was the first to establish a nursery there, which, about 1780, merged in that of Messrs. Dickson and Co.

It is observed by Dr. Walker, that most of the foregoing trees were only planted in gardens and pleasure-grounds as objects of rarity or beauty. Planting on a large scale, for profit, was chiefly performed, as may readily be imagined, with indigenous trees. The father of this description of planting in Scotland was, according to the same undoubted authority, Thomas Earl of Haddington, who began to plant Tyningham, near Dunbar, in the year 1705. He enclosed 1000 acres, called Binning Wood, and wrote a Treatise on Forest Trees, which was printed in 1733. The earl died at New Hailes near Edinburgh in 1735, and was succeeded by his grandson, to whom he had addressed the letters which compose the treatise. The earl informs us in his treatise, that when he came to live at Tyningham, in the year 1700, there were not above fourteen acres set with trees. The earl's grandfather, he tells us, after the civil wars in the time of Charles I. were over, "tried to raise some trees," and for that purpose planted two rows round the