34 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



of our Saviour eleven hundred and seventy-one.' 

 And he goes on to explain how the English dimin- 

 ished the woods, 'partly to deprive the Theeves 

 and Rogues of their refuge and starting-holes,' and 

 partly for turning the ground into good pasture 

 land. In later times they were destroyed, partly 

 for being made merchandise of in the form of pipe- 

 staves, and for making charcoal for ironworks. 

 And Hayes observes: 1 'The year 1692 intro- 

 duced into Shillela that bane of all our timber, 

 iron forges and furnaces, and as the parties were 

 allowed to fell for themselves several thousand 

 cords of wood yearly, and were only confined to 

 a particular district, they cut whatsoever was most 

 convenient for the purpose.' 



In a similar manner, Ralph Thoresby, writing 

 in 1703, accounts for the disappearance of the 

 woods in the Forest of Knaresborough. This, 

 he says, ' did abound with minera ferri. It was 

 once so woody, that I have heard of an old writing, 

 said to be preserved in the parish chest of Knares- 

 borough, which obliged them to cut down so many 

 yearly as to make a convenient passage for the 

 wool-carriers from Newcastle to Leeds. Now it 

 is so naked that there is not so much left for a 

 waymark.' And in his Diary (A.D. 1694) he says 

 that iron ore was taken from Cumberland to Ire- 

 land to be smelted. 



1 Treatise on Planting. 



