2080 ARBORETUM AND FKUTICEIUM. PART 111. 



it 32 ft. in circumference ; and, some years afterwards, by Mr. Pennant, when 

 the circumference had increased to 56 ft. 6 in. Dr. Neill visited the tree in July, 

 1833 ; and a notice of it by him will be found in the Edinburgh Philo- 

 sophical Journal for that year, from which we make the following extract ; 

 premising that, when Daines Barrington measured the tree, he found one side 

 of the trunk a mere shell of bark, all the interior having decayed. " Con- 

 siderable spoliations," Dr. Neill observes, " have evidently been committed 

 on the tree since 1769; large arms have been removed, and masses of the 

 trunk itself carried off by the country people, with the view of forming qiiechs, 

 or drinking-cups, and other relics, which visitors were in the habit of pur- 

 chasing. What still exists of the trunk now (1833) presents the appearance 

 of a semicircular wall, exclusive of the remains of some decayed portions of 

 it, which scarcely rise above the ground. Great quantities of new spray have 

 issued from the firmer parts of the bark, and a few young branches spring up- 

 wards to the height, perhaps, of 30 ft. The side of the trunk now existing 

 gives a diameter of more than lo ft., so that it is easy to conceive that the 

 circumference of the bole, when entire, should have exceeded 50 ft. Happily, 

 further depredations have been prevented by means of an iron rail, which now 

 surrounds the sacred spot ; and this venerable yew, which, in all probability, 

 was a flourishing tree at the commencement of the Christian era, may yet 

 survive for centuries to come." 



The Loch Lomond Yew. According to Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, a yew in 

 the Island of Inch Lonach, or what is commonly called the Yew Tree Island, 

 in Loch Lomond, measured on the 3d of August, 1770, was 10ft. Tin. in 

 circumference. This tree was about 40 ft. high ; but another tree, which was 

 the largest in the island, though not so tall, measured 13 ft. in girt. It is 

 uncertain whether these trees were sacrificed among the 300 yew trees which 

 were cut on this spot. There has been, for many years, a herd of deer in the 

 Yew Tree Island, which has prevented young trees from rising from the seed ; 

 but many of those which have begun to decay have sent up shoots from 

 their roots, close to the old trunk. After a time, a number of these shoots 

 coalesce, and form at last a complete new trunk, at the side of which the old 

 one continues to decay. In this way the tree comes to be regenerated from 

 the root. 



The Bei-nera Yew. According to the same authority, in the Island of 

 Bernera, adjacent to the Sound of Mull, the late Sir Duncan Campbell cut 

 down a yew of vast size. Its precise dimensions were not preserved, but the 

 timber of it deeply loaded a highland 6-oared boat, and was sufficient to form 

 a large elegant staircase in the house of Lochnell, which was afterwards 

 destroyed when the house was burned down. {Laud. Gilp.) 



The Ormiston Yew. One of the most beautiful yew trees in Scotland is 

 that growing in the garden at Ormiston Hall, a seat of the Earl of Hopetoun, 

 in Haddingtonshire. It throws out its vast limbs horizontally in all directions, 

 supporting a large and luxuriant head, which now (1834) covers an area of 

 ground of 58 ft. in diameter, with a most impenetrable shade. Above the 

 roots it measures 12 ft. 9 in. in girt; at 3 ft. up, it measures 13 ft. 6 in.; at 

 4 ft. up, it measures 14 ft. 9 in. ; and at 5 ft. up, it measures 17 ft. 8 in. It is 

 in full health and vigour. (Ibid., i. p. 279.) 



In Ireland, the yew tree, as already observed, can scarcely be considered as 

 to be found any where now in a wild state ; though, as we have seen, p. 106., 

 trunks of very large yew trees have occasionally been dug out of bogs. 



The Mucrms Abbey Yew stands in the centre of a cloistered court, now in 

 ruins, and is supposed to be coeval with the abbey. As the abbey was in ex- 

 istence, and celebrated as a sanctuary, in the year 1 180, the tree must be up- 

 wards of 700 years old. Arthur Young saw it about 1780, and states it to be, 

 without exception, the most prodigious yew tree he ever beheld. Its trunk, he 

 .says, is 2 ft. in diameter at 14 ft. high, whence a vast head of branches spreads 

 on every side, so as to form a perfect canopy to the whole space. {Tour in 

 Ireland, 1780, L p. 443.) Percival Hunter informs us (writing in 1836) that 



