The following memoranda respecting this celebrated tree, will doubtless be acceptable to thereader:120
“In Dunipace parish is the famous Torwood, in the middle of which there are the remains of Wallace’s Tree, an oak, which, according to a measurement when entire, was said to be about 12 feet diameter. To this wood Wallace is said to have fled, and secreted himself in the body of that tree, then hollow, after his defeat in the north.”—Stat. Acc.iii. 336.
“This oak is still dignified by the name ofWallace’s Tree. It stands in the middle of a swampy moss, having a causeway round its ruins; and its destruction has been much precipitated, by the veneration in which the Scottish hero has been long held; numerous pieces have been carried off, to be converted into various memorials of the Champion of Scotland.”—Kerr’s Hist. of Bruce, i. 127.
“Wallace’s Oak, as it has been called for ages, still remains in the Torwood near Stirling. The old tradition of the country bears, that Sir William Wallace, after a lost battle, secreted himself in this tree, and escaped the pursuit of his enemies. By this account, it behoved then, that is, about 500 years ago, to have been a large tree. Whatever may be its age, it certainly has in its ruins the appearance of greater antiquity than what I have observed in any tree in Scotland.
“At a very remote period it has separated in the middle, and the one half of it has mouldered entirely away. The other half remains, and is in one place about twenty feet high. But what the tree was above this height, is unknown. All the original part of the tree is putrid. Yet one may perceive that the whole of it, from the head to the very bark, has been red wood, and is so hard even in its putrid state as to admit of a polish.
“In this ancient Torwood, it stands in a manner alone. For there are no trees, nor any ruin of a tree, to be seen that is nearly coeval. Compared to it, even the oldest of them is of a very modern date. The memory of its having saved Wallace, has probably been the means of its preservation, when all the rest of the wood at different times has been destroyed. It has been immemorially held in veneration, and is still viewed in that light.
“There is a peculiar sort of renovation of an old tree that sometimes occurs, and has taken place in this. A young bark has shot upwards from the root in several places, which has formed fresh branches towards the top of the old trunk. This young bark has spread, and still spreads, likea callus, over several parts of the old tree that are dead; and particularly over a very large arm, which has had no bark on it in the remembrance of the oldest person alive.
“The tree stands in carse land, in a deep wet clay-soil. The road that passes by it in the wood is laid crossways with thick branches of trees, to prevent carriages from sinking to the axles in wet weather.”—Essays on Natural History, by John Walker, D.D.(1771.)
The ground on which this tree stood was elevated above the surrounding level, which appears at one time to have been a sort of swamp. Causeways of a rude construction led up to the oak on different directions; and as the first formation of these causeways is beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitants living, it proves that the sheltering place of the Defender of Scotland must have been an object of deep interest to his countrymen at a very early period. Although this ancient memorial of Wallace measured, in the recollection of people still living, 42 feet in circumference, not a vestige of it is now to be discovered. The veneration with which it was regarded, secured it from all human interference; and it was left to the winds of heaven, and the hand of time, till it reached that state of decay which indicated an approaching crisis. Its extinction was then hastened by an anxiety on the part of visitors to possess some portion of it, as a relict of one with whose name it had been so long associated; and so far was this feeling carried, that, after the trunk had disappeared, the ground was dug up to the extent of twelve feet round it, in order to get at any fragment of the root that might chance to remain.This grand search took place after the time was fixed for the visit of George IV. to Scotland; and Mr Craig, an artist residing at Helensburgh, of considerable taste in his profession, used a part of it which had then been found, in the formation of a snuff-box, ingeniously composed, besides, of various small pieces of wood, including portions of “the Elderslie Oak,” “Queen Mary’s Yew,” the “Bush abune Traquair,” and other celebrated inmates of the forest, which have been consecrated by the historical and poetical Muse of Scotland. This elegant little national gem was with much propriety presented to, and graciously accepted by, his Majesty, during his residence in Scotland. Thus, after a lapse of ages, the root of that oak which had preserved the houseless patriot when outlawed by the enemies of his country, has, by a strange vicissitude, been transplanted to the personal possession of the legitimate descendant of that race of kings for whose right he so nobly contended, and whose beloved representative now wields a sceptre over a countless accumulation of subjects, and a dominion from which the sun may be said never to withdraw his light.
The wood-cut which we are now about to introduce, shows the state of the tree in 1789, at which time it measured twenty-four feet in height. It is taken from a drawing with which the publishers have been politely favoured by the family of the late Mr A. Kincaid, a gentleman of literary attainments, to whom the public are indebted for a History of Edinburgh, and some other meritorious publications; and who visited the Torwood, and made the following sketch in the year above mentioned. Although exhibiting the same general appearanceas the drawing made by Mr Nasmyth eighteen years earlier, which forms the vignette to this volume, it will be observed that it was gradually hastening to decay; and, as partially filling up ahiatusin the history of the “august vegetable,” we have much pleasure in presenting it to our readers.
Tree stump
In the preceding year, at the depth of a foot from the surface, and about 30 feet west of Wallace’s tree, the head of an ancient Scottish spear was found, which was presented to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, by Mr Alexander Kincaid. By the kindness of that learned body, we are also enabled to give the following wood-cut of this antique and once-powerful weapon. It measures 8 inches in length, and, if not of higher antiquity, was probably one of those used in the fatal conflict which took place in the Torwood between James III. and his rebellious nobles in 1488.
Spear headLength 8 inches.
Length 8 inches.
Length 8 inches.