Holly, Yew and Box 



for many years the castle of Tarnwara was 

 supplied with no other fuel than billets of Holly, 

 and yet the trees are still so numerous that, in 

 going through the woods in 1834, no one would 

 suppose that any such destruction had been 

 committed." 



In many parts of England Hollies are still 

 found in quantity in a more or less wild state, 

 the New Forest being worthy of special mention. 



London states that the Holly is not so common 

 in Ireland as u is, in England and Scotland, but 

 that large ones are to be found about Killarney, 

 and mentions one on Innisfallen Island with a 

 trunk 1 5 feet in circumference. He also mentions 

 a variegated Silver Holly at Ballygannon 28 feet 

 high with a trunk 5 feet in circumference. 



Medicinal and other Properties 



Although the Holly possesses some medicinal 

 qualities, and doctors and herbalists of two 

 or three centuries ago spoke in high terms of 

 the value of the fruits and decoctions of the bark 

 and leaves for various complaints, I am informed 

 that modern practitioners make absolutely no 

 use of it in medicines. 



Some of the virtues attributed to it by old 

 writers are truly wonderful. For instance Parkin- 

 son, in his Theatrum Botanicum, pp. 1486-7, 

 quotes as follows : " Matthiolus saith that a 



42 



