The Rev. Hugh Mackay Mackenzie, Minister
I - Topography and natural History
Botany:
The flora of this parish is not known to contain any plants peculiar to itself, or such as are very rare in other places. Perhaps the following are among those most deserving of notice. Some of them, though rare in this parish, are common in other parts of this country.
| Betula nana |
Fragaria vesca |
Nymphaea alba |
| Carex hirta |
Habenaria viridis |
Oxytropis uralensis |
| Carex incurva |
Hyacinthus non-scriptus |
Primula Scotica |
| Carex limosa |
Juniperus communis |
Saxifraga oppositifolia |
| Cherleria sedoides |
Lamium album |
Silene inflata |
| Cynoglossum officinale |
Listera ovata |
Veronica serpyllifolia |
| Digitalis purporea |
Lycopodium clavatum |
Vicia Cracca |
| Dryas octopetala |
Lycopodium alpinum |
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| Festuca bromoides |
Melampyrum pratense |
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None of the native plants are now employed for culinary purpose, though formerly mugwort and nettle were made use of in this way. Ragwort is sometimes used as an emollient; and the leaves of ribwort plantain are successfully applied to fresh wounds. Heather is employed to dye green; ragwort to dye yellow; the lichen obtained on stones, to dye red-brown and alder bark, to dye black, which, by the addition of copperas, is effectually fixed, and made to assume a still deeper hue. The native arborescent species now to be met with, are not numerous, and for the most part rather stinted in their growth. Betula alba (birch) predominates. Salix alba, Salix cinera, (white and grey willow,) Corylus Avellana (hazel.) and Pyrus aucuparia (the mountain ash, come next, in nearly equal quantities. Alnus glutinosa (alder,) and Prunis spinosa (sloe,) fringe the water courses. Ilex aquifolium (holly) is frequent in rocky burns and cascades. Quercus robur (oak) is to be seen in a few places, but, from its being exposed to be trodden down by cattle, it only attains the size of a trifling shrub.
It may be mentioned, that Ulex Europaeus (whin) and Cytisus Scoparius (broom) grow freely in several places; but both were probably introduced about sixty years ago. The natural wood, which, for a long time, was neglected and destroyed, and in consequence fast dwindling away, has of late years been well kept and thinned. The only plantations of any extent in the parish are those around the House of Tongue. There are specimens to be seen here of beech, elm, ash, and lime, which, for size and beauty, may vie with any in the north. The greater part of these plantations are of recent date, composed of a mixture of hard-wood, fir, and plane tree, for all of which the soil seems well adapted. Larch and spruce fir thrive much better than the Scotch. Altogether the plantations are in a most flourishing condition, and prove beyond a doubt the advantages that would accrue to such a country as this from their greater extension. Besides beautifying the scenery, they would ameliorate the climate, and become a fruitful source of revenue. The ordinary fruit-trees thrive well when they obtain the support and shelter of a good wall.
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