It stands on grassland said to be near the home of medieval Scottish leader William Wallace.

In more recent times, it has been damaged by fire and storms and is now dying of a Ganoderma fungus infection.

[1] The tree is described in a book of 1857 as bearing "the mark of great age", though the writer notes that it was still in good health and "supporting a progeny of spreading branches".

This left the tree open to infection by the untreatable Ganoderma fungus, which took hold by 2008 and will lead to eventual death.

[1][2] Renfrewshire Council took twelve cuttings from the tree with the intention of growing a replacement - these will all be clones of the original.