y£I!^ 73 



because some man planted it there, another man denounces 

 it for being found amidst such surroundings ! With 

 Fletcher it is the " dismal yew," while Blair roundly 

 denounces it as the — 



Cheerless, unsocial plant, that cares to dwell 

 'Midst skulls and cofSns, epitaphs, and worms ; 



Moir points out how — 



Yon dark, sepulchral yew-trees stand 

 O'er many a level grave ; 



and Stanley, writing in 1551, wishes strewn upon his 

 " dismall grave " such offerings as " forsaken cypresse and 

 sad yewe." Dryden, in like manner, calls it the " mourner 

 yew," and it would be easy enough to quote much more 

 in the same lugubrious strain. 



The good folk of Sunbury-on-Thames are doubly proud 

 of the fine old yew which stands in their churchyard ; for 

 its own sake, and for its association with Charles Dickens. 

 It is mentioned in Oliver Twist, m the chapter which 

 describes the journey of Sykes and Oliver one Winter's 

 night through Sunbury on their way to Chertsey on a 

 burglarious expedition. 



" As they passed Sunbury Church," says Dickens, " the 

 clock struck seven. There was a light in the ferry-house 

 window opposite, which streamed across the road and threw 

 into more sombre shadow a dark yew-tree with graves 

 beneath it. There was a dull sound of falling water not 

 far off, and the leaves of the old tree stirred gently in the 

 night wind. It seemed like quiet music for the repose 

 of the dead." 



One hesitated to dismiss consideration of the yew with 



