91 



interesting objea from the faft that in all pro- 

 babilit}- it is of great antiquity ; but a growing 

 vew has rather a gloomy look, and is not to our 

 thinking nearly so attradlive as a holly. Whether 

 the old specimens we find by some of our churches 

 were planted in the churchyards, or whether the 

 yew groves were regarded as fitting places in which 

 to build the churches, is not quite clear. 



" Beneath those rugged elms, that yew tree's shade, 

 Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, 

 Each in his narrow cell securely laid, 

 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 



Gray- 



T. b. fastigiata. — This well known variety, the 

 Irish yew, does not attain the size of much more 

 than a shrub. The leaves are of a much deeper 

 green than those of the common yew, and spring 

 from all round the branches. The tree takes a 

 peculiar cylindrical growth, with a disposition to 

 widen and flatten at the top ; in constitution it 

 is quite as hardy as the common yew. 



