ON THE OLD AND REMARKABLE YEW TREES IN SCOTLAND. 379 



XXIT. On the Old and Remarhahh Yew Trees in Scotland (Taxiis 

 baccata, L.). By Robert Hutchison of Carlowrie, F.R.S.E. 



Taxus, the Latin name of the yew, from the Greek rd^os (taxes), 

 which, from rdo-o-w, " to arrange," has probably reference to the 

 leaves being two-rowed or distichous on the branchlets like the 

 teeth of a comb; or probably from to^ov, "a bow," the wood 

 being much used in ancient times for making bows ; or from 

 " toxicuvi," poison, the common yew being considered poisonous. 

 Yew, or >/eugh, — in Chaucer and other old authors, eice ; in Aubrey's 

 '• Wilts," e7i(/h ; Anglo-Saxon, iio ; German, eibe ; Spanish, iva ; 

 French, if; Welsh, yw ; Media Latin, ivus, iva, or wa, an abbre- 

 viation of ajnga, which was a corruption or misspelling of abiga, 

 a plant mentioned by Pliny as being the same as yaixanTLTv^ 

 (chamaipitus), so called from its causing abortion. The yew has 

 an extensive area of distribution in the temperate regions of the 

 northern hemisphere. We find it as a large bush or small tree, 

 when fully grown 30 or 40 feet high, and frequently in suitable 

 localities assuming much larger proportions. It is found in most 

 parts of Europe at elevations of from 1000 to 4000 feet; is frequent 

 on the Apennines, the Alj^s, Greece, Spain, Piedmont, Great 

 Britain, the Pyrenees, the Caucasus, and even in Scandinavia, 

 but is wanting, or only rarely found, in Russia, a circumstance 

 accounted for by the level nature of the country. Preferring 

 elevated situations, often at a considerable height on mountains, 

 it very seldom forms a continuous forest like most of the coniferous 

 tribe, and even when plentiful in its native habitat, it is mixed 

 freely with other varieties of trees. It is not unfrequently solitary, 

 forming on downs or moorlands -a conspicuous object from afar, 

 and in its wild state in this country it is found more numerously 

 on the northern slopes of rising ground than on any other aspect, 

 and very frequently under the shade of deciduous trees. 



There can be no doubt the yew is indigenous to Great Britain. 

 If a proof were wanting of the indigenous growth of the yew tree in 

 Scotland, we may quote the fact that a very large and aged yew grew 

 about the year 1834,i high among the hills, far from any cultivation 

 and from any human dwelling, in the midst of the wild country 

 between Loch Ness and the sources of the river Findhorn. ]\Iiglit 



^ H. Everilied iu The Gardcnaa' Chronicle. ISTti, vol. vi., p. 99. 



