CHAP. CXII. 



TAXA^CE^. Ta'xUS. 



2077 



above that a pyramid, about 20 ft. high, surmounted by a globe 10 ft. high ; 

 and the globe was crowned by 



" A weathercock, who gaped to crow it. 

 This world is mine, and all below it." 



The tree ceased to be clipped, 

 we are informed by the present 

 clerk of the parish, about 1780 

 or 1790; and it is now suf- 

 fered to assume its natural 

 shape, as shown in the portrait 

 of the tree in our last Volume. 

 The Darley Yew. This an- 

 cient tree stands in the church- 

 yard of Darley in the Dale, 

 Derbyshire. It is a female, 

 with a solid trunk, forking, at 

 7 ft. above the ground, into 

 two nearly upright boughs, 

 which reach a height of about 

 55 ft. ; but its head has not the 

 breadth or luxuriance of the 

 Gresford Yew, mentioned be- 

 low. Its circumference at the 

 base is 27 ft. ; at 2ft. 4 in. above 

 the ground, 27 ft. 7 in. ; at 4 ft.; 

 31 ft. 8 in. ; and at 6 ft., 30 ft. 

 7 in. At 4 ft. high there are 

 excrescences which swell the 

 trunk beyond its natural size ; 

 but the mean of the three other 

 dimensions gives a circumference of 28 ft. 4 in., and a diameter of 9 ft. 5 in., 

 disregarding fractional parts. The mean diameter of the tree is, therefore, 

 1356 lines, which, according to De Candolle's method of calculating the age of 

 trees, would also be the number of its years. 



The Mamhilad Yew (Jig. 1987.) stands in the churchyard of Mamhilad, a 

 few miles north of Pontypool : it is a female ,- and, 2 ft. 6 in. from the ground, 

 where the trunk has a fair medium thickness, it measures 29 ft. 4 in. in cir- 

 ference. At about 4 ft. high, it divides into six main boughs, one of which 

 is quite decayed. The trunk is hollow ; and, on the north side, it has an 

 opening down to the ground, which is gradually contracting on both sides by 



1987 



annual deposits of new wood. Within this opening, and in the centre of 

 the original tree, is seen another, and apparently detached, yew, several feet 



