T. baccata 



yard and wood-grown Yews conies as a relief. 

 It is rather amusing to find from Martyns 

 edition of Miller a table taken from the ancient 

 laws of Wales, in which it states that a conse- 

 crated Yew was worth a pound, whilst a wood 

 or lay grown specimen was worth but fifteen 

 pence. The wonder is that the dignitaries of the 

 Church did not think it worth while to consecrate 

 a well-stocked forest or two. 



One would naturally expect that Sir Walter 

 Scott, if he wrote anything about the Yew at all, 

 would put it in a pleasing manner. 



In The Lord of the Isles, canto v. st. xix., the 

 following lines occur : 



" And all around was verdure meet 

 For pressure of the fairie's feet, 

 The glossy Holly loved the park, 

 The Yew-tree lent its shadow dark, 

 And many an old Oak, worn and bare, 

 With all its shiver'd boughs was there." 



A curious, if rather horrible legend centres 

 round a clergyman, a pretty maid, a Yew-tree, 

 and the town of Halifax in Yorkshire. The 

 story goes that, "a certain amorous clergyman 

 fell in love with a pretty maid who refused his 

 addresses. Maddened by her refusal, he cut off 

 her head, which being hung upon a Yew-tree till 

 it was quite decayed, the tree was reputed as 

 sacred, not only whilst the virgin's head hung on 

 it, but as long as the tree itself lasted ; to which 



169 



