1 82 THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN 



three of the greatest mythological deities, it is small 

 wonder that the pine has been held in special 

 veneration by mortal men, through all the changing 

 vistas of the centuries. 



The pine, and all the allied coniferous tribe, are 

 usually regarded as funereal trees, and symbolise 

 immortality, hence the reason for planting them 

 in churchyards and round about the church. Es- 

 pecially is this the case v^ith the yew, which from the 

 remotest past has been always associated with the 

 shade and solitary quiet of the churchyard. Far 

 from adding an air of sombreness, as is suggested 

 by some writers, the presence of these calm sentinels 

 gives an extraordinary air of quiet peace, of something 

 perpetually alive, though at rest. 



The Egyptians regarded the yew as a symbol of 

 mourning, and the idea descended to the Greeks and 

 Romans, who employed the wood as fuel for their 

 funeral pyres. 



The ancient Britons probably learnt from the 

 Romans to attach a funereal significance to the yew, 

 and hence in course of time it came to be planted 

 in churchyards, and on account of its evergreen 

 nature was considered as a symbol of immortality 

 and resurrection. 



Virgil attributed the notoriously unwholesome 

 quality of the honey of Corsica, to the bees feeding 

 upon the yew flowers, and cautions bee-keepers 

 to be careful that no yew trees grow near their 

 hives. 



The Cypress is another tree that in all countries 

 from the very earliest times has been regarded as the 

 emblem of woe. Gerarde tells us that it had the 

 reputation of being deadly, and that its shadow was 



