1 88 Yew-Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



them was uprooted ; leading branches of the others 

 were wrenched from the main stem, and although 

 three still remain, the solemn majesty of the grove 

 is gone.' 



' " Produced too slowly ever to decay," they have 

 not proved in "aspect too magnificent to be de- 

 stroyed." . . . Mr. Goodwin's sketch represents 

 the erove as it was before the tornado shattered 

 it. In Modern Painters Mr. Ruskin speaks of the 

 high action of the imagination in this poem, and 

 says, " It is perhaps the most vigorous and solemn 

 bit of forest landscape ever painted." ' 



Boughton-under-Blean, Kent. — In the Church 

 Register, a Memorandum in the handwriting of 

 the Rev. John Johnson, Vicar, states that 'the 

 little yew-tree by the south door was sett 1695.' 



The dimensions of this tree (19th October 1894), 

 taken by the present Vicar, the Rev. J. A. Boodle, 

 are as follows : — ' Height about 50 feet ; the girth 

 3 feet from the ground, 9 feet 9 inches ; the 

 branches begin about 4 feet 3 inches from the 

 ground, and here the girth is 1 1 feet ; the branches 

 spread to a distance of 22 to 30 feet from the 

 trunk in different directions. The tree presents a 

 thoroughly healthy appearance.' 



We have here a good instance of rapid growth 

 within a known period of time. A diameter of 

 3 feet 3 inches in 199 years shows an increase of 

 I foot of diameter in 61 years. 



