KEMARKABLE YEWS. 135 



In the churchyard of Tisbury in AYiltshire is an enormous Yew over 

 30 feet in circumference with large limits 20 to 25 feet long. The 

 trunk is now hollow and is entered by means of a rustic gate. The tree 

 is believed to be over one thousand years old. 



( )ther venerable Yews associated with places of worship are standing in 

 the churchyards of Boughton in Kent, Crowhurst near Battle, Hanibledon 

 near (irodalming, Hurstmonceux in Sussex, Iffley near Oxford, Loose near 

 Miiidstone, Manhilad near Pont-y-pool, Tandridge in Surrey, and other places. 



The association of the Yew with early English history is varied and 

 important. Venerable trees still mark the spots where great events have 

 taken place, and others are associated with the names of historic 

 personages. The Ankerwvke Yew, near Staines, witnessed the conference 

 between King John and the English Barons in 1215, and in sight of 

 which Magna Charta was signed. It is 30J feet in circu inference at 

 three feet from the ground, and most probably its age exceeds one 

 thousand years. . Under the London Yew, in Ayrshire, it is said that 

 Bruce bestowed the ancient castle and estate 011 the London family, and 

 on the same spot, some centuries afterwards, John, Earl of London, 

 signed the Act of Union between England and Scotland. This tree is 

 over 40 feet high, with a trunk 4^ feet in diameter at twelve feet from 

 the ground. 



In a much wider bearing the Yew played a prominent part in our 

 early history as supplying the wood of which the bows of the archers 

 were made* and on that account it was the subject of many statutes 

 of our early kings, and afterwards of Parliament up to the time of 

 Elizabeth which made provision for the preservation and planting of 

 Yews for the supply of Yew-wood, regulating the export and import 

 of it, etc., so great had been the destruction of the trees in England 

 during Norman and Plantagenet times. Every student of English 

 history can point to great events in which the Yew bow played a 

 foremost part. It was essentially the Saxon weapon both for warfare 

 and the chase ; and during the earlier part of the Norman supremacy 

 was often used with deadly effect by the oppressed natives to rid 

 themselves of their tyrannical masters. Deeds of daring were per- 

 formed, attesting the extraordinary prowess and skill of the Saxon 

 archers ; deeds that were long kept in remembrance by tradition, 

 celebrated in song and verse, or preserved in legends which afterwards 

 .supplied subjects for modern romance. The Yew bow was fatal to 

 several English Kings, to Harold at Hastings, to William Kufus in the 

 Xew Forest, and to Richard Coeur de Lion at Chaloux, in France. 

 It was the skill of the English archers that enabled Henry II. to 

 gain a footing in Ireland, and the name of Strongbow, borne by the 

 leader of the expedition, attests the high repute in which the weapon 

 was held. Cressy, Poictiers and Agincourt were won chiefly by the 

 Yew bow ; it was the most popular weapon through the long civil 

 strife between the rival houses of York and Lancaster ; and both in 

 warfare as well as in the chase, it was held in estimation long after 

 the invention of gunpowder had prepared the way to a complete change 

 in the system and science of war. 



* The bow continued lor ages to be the favourite national weapon of the Saxons. They 

 practised archery incessantly in their amusements and regained by its importance on the 

 field of battle their due weight in the government of the country. Alison's History of 

 Europe, ed. IX. Vol. I. p. 34. 



