Spruce with WW1 link makes top tree shortlist
Family members of Lt McCabe next to David McCabe’s tree A Perthshire tree is in the running to be named Scotland’s Tree of the Year 2017.
David McCabe’s spruce in Crieff, which was pulled from no-man’s land at Passchendaele during the First World War, is one of six trees that could take the title.
Whichever tree wins the competition, which aims to celebrate the country’s best trees, will receive a £1000 care package, which can cover an expert health check, provide interpretation or educational materials, or go towards holding a celebration in honour of the tree.
The Strathearn tree was nominated by David Parker from Abercairny Estate and Crieff Remembers, after Lieutenant David McCabe pulled the tree’s saplings from no-man’s land.
Lt McCabe sent the saplings home to his father in an ammunition box. Lt McCabe died from his wounds in 1917, and was never able to see the tree grow into maturity, which now stands as a permanent memorial at Crieff’s Abercairny Estate.
During the Crieff Remembers memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele 1917 earlier in the summer, a wreath was made from the spruce’s cones, which was taken by a team of cadets cycling from Crieff to Passchendaele, where is was laid on the grave of Lt McCabe.
David McCabe’s spruce will need to see off competition from The Beauly Sycamore, The Big Tree in Orkney, The Carnegie Oak in Dunfermline, The Greenock Cut Oak in Inverclyde, and the Old Holly Bush in Aberdeenshire’s Castle Fraser to win the title.
Voting for Scotland’s Tree of the Year opened yesterday (Monday, September 11) and will run for a month, with the winner being announced in December at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. To vote, visit woodlandtrust.org. uk/treeoftheyear