Old, living relics

On our way back home we stopped in Dunkeld to see the Birnam Oak, "an old, living relic of Birnam Wood, the medieval wood that once grew along the banks of the River Tay".  The oak is estimated to be 500 years old, so wouldn't have been amongst the trees that vanquished Macbeth, which is apparently set in the 1100s.  Andy's hugging the much younger (300 year old) sycamore tree that stands beside it, known as the Young Pretender.  The extra shows a much, much older tree we visited last week near Aberfeldy, the Fortingall Yew.  It may not look so impressive, but it's notice reads "Before you stands Europe's - and possibly even the world's - oldest living thing.  Under the dark veil of needles are two relic trunks of a huge, ancient yew tree.  Scholars believe the roots of this great survivor coil back some 5000 years."  Markers show the size of the tree in 1769 when it had a girth of over 17 metres.