Trysting tree

It was a well known, well recognised and easily located 'marker' on the Scottish Marches and where a number of functions were performed prior to the Union of the Crowns, such as arranging truces, exchanging prisoners, etc.

Many trees have through their isolation, appearance or position been chosen as popular meeting places for young courting couples, soldiers called to gather at a distinctive venue prior to battle, etc.

In Sir Walter Scott's Waverley the large decaying trunk of a trysting tree lies on Tully-Veolan moor and is still used as a meeting place.

[6] The 'Colliers' Oak' near Dailly in Ayrshire was the meeting place of the Laird of Dalquharran and the local colliers regularly met to discuss business matters.

The Covin Trysting Tree, Bemersyde, Melrose, Grid Ref: NT 593 334, is a Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) with a height of 12.6 m and a diameter of 252 cm and is 500–800 years old.

The tree has long been a feature of Bemersyde, appearing in many paintings of the house including a sketch by Turner, located in the British Museum, London.

The locally famous trysting place of the 'Three Thorns of Carlinwalk', this being an old name for Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, are recorded in the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland.

Another version told that couples must hold hands through the loop, then kiss and pledge undying love, hoping the tree would bind them to it with its magic.

His gang raided pueblos, stole cattle, and even held up the Seely and Wright stage coach that travelled between Santa Ana and San Diego.

The Trysting Tree at Oregon State University, in the US, was a large Gray Poplar (Populus × canescens) located southeast of Benton Hall, and was a popular gathering spot on campus.