- oddly enough, a Scottish forest does not necessarily contain a large number of trees. Since the eighteenth century, the word has had a specific meaning in Scots Law, referring to a large tract of ground which is not necessarily wooded, and is commonly bare and mountainous. Such lands were originally reserved for the hunting of deer and belonged to the Crown. In his Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1773), James Boswell remarked that the Cuillin Hills of Skye
make part of a great range for deer, which, though entirely devoid of trees, is in these countries called a forest.
He was not the only one to be surprised by this use of the term. A volume of the History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (1872) recounts a similar tale:
An Englishman, new to the Highlands, passing through a northern deer forest, remarked to his native companion that he was surprised to see no trees there. "Trees!" said the Highlander, with undisguised contempt, "wha ever heard tell o' trees in a forest?"
We should never underestimate the value of local knowledge.