ON THE OLD AND REMARKABLE YEW TREES IN SCOTLAND. 383 



for such treatment, led to the introduction of the fashion of clipi)ii)g 

 it into artificial shapes, which soon became prevalent, and under 

 the fostering care of Evelyn, a perfect revolution in the pre- 

 vious style of gardening quickly obtained. Geometric figures, the 

 artificial forms of birds, beasts, and every conceivable object in 

 nature, were fashioned by clipping this most tonsile of all trees, 

 which was thus subjected to many indignities, and so clipped 

 and metamorphosed into such a variety of deformities, that 

 one could hardly bring themselves to conceive that it had any 

 natural shape, or the capacity which other trees possess of hanging 

 their branches naturally with freedom and gracefulness. Notwith- 

 standing such treatment, and the marvellous distortion of its natural 

 features thereby, the yew is perhaps one of the most beautiful and 

 graceful evergreens we pcjssess, when left to Nature. It is even 

 superior to the Cedar of Lebanon in the opinion of Loudon ; for 

 the same soil which cramps the cedar is congenial to the yew and 

 its development. We seldom see the yew tree in this country at 

 the present day in perfection. In many parts of England, such as 

 in the New Forest where it formerly abounded, it is now getting 

 scarce. It is not so extensively planted as in former times, and 

 as it does not now rank as a timber tree, it is thus, in a certain 

 degree, unprivileged and unprotected by forest laws, so that it 

 is not unfrequently marked out for booty by those who durst 

 not lay violent hands on the oak, ash, elm, or other useful timber 

 trees. 



Having cursorily noticed the yew generally, and its characteristics, 

 we may now turn to the list of old and remarkable specimens 

 which we have been able, after considerable trouble and research, 

 to tabulate and lay before our readers, as one of the most interesting 

 records hitherto collected of the old and remarkable trees still 

 extant in Scotland. In glancing over the Table, tlie first feature 

 with which one is struck is the very general distribution over 

 the country of the specimens recorded. No doubt it will be 

 found that they more frequently occur in the South-Western 

 counties of Scotland, and even in some of the Western Islands, but 

 this is not to be wondered at, as the yew from the peculiarity of 

 its root formation prefers and luxuriates in damp situations, such 

 as we find in the districts referred to. For in the case of the yew, 

 the plexus of fibrous rootlets is always very great, even at an 

 advanced age of the tree, so that the absorbent powers of a large 

 yew must be enormous. This is, doubtless, one of the causes that 



