2 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



of the same character. Du Hamel du Monceau is 

 one of the few writers who takes a higher view of 

 its teaching : 



' Sa forme conique et 1'epaisseur de son feuillage, 

 toujours verd, mais sombre, insensible aux change- 

 ments des saisons et des annees lui donnent un 

 caractere de gravite qui dispose 1'esprit au recueille- 

 ment qu'exigent 1'etude et la meditation, inspire 

 des grandes idees, et rappelle de touchants sou- 

 venirs/ 



Notwithstanding the gloom which seems to sur- 

 round the yew, it is a tree of which Englishmen 

 may well be proud, as having served, equally with 

 the oak, to place England in her present exalted 

 position. 



Cre9y, Poictiers, Agincourt, and many other 

 hard-fought fields, tell of the one ; the defeat of 

 the Spanish Armada, the battles of the Nile and 

 Trafalgar, of the other. 



Then again, both trees have had a quasi-sacred 

 character ; the oak with its mistletoe having played 

 an important part in Druidical mysteries, and being 

 still regarded as emblematic of rugged strength 

 and endurance, while the yew, from its perpetual 

 verdure, the durability of its wood, and its power 

 of rejuvenescence, has from the earliest times 

 been used in funeral rites, and has been held to 

 symbolise the resurrection, and the immortality of 

 the soul. 



