98 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



dant, silent expressions of their surviving hopes,' 

 the planting of yews in churchyards may have 

 originated from these ancient funeral rites, or as 

 an emblem of the resurrection. The tree is held 

 in great veneration in some parts of the N.W. 

 Himalaya; it sometimes is called Deodar (God's 

 tree) ; the wood is burnt for incense, branches are 

 carried in religious processions in Kamaon, and in 

 Nepal the houses are decorated with the green 

 twigs at religious festivals. 1 



Mr. Charles Coote says: 2 'But of these old- 

 world Roman superstitions that connected with the 

 yew-tree is the most interesting. For as of old 

 it was connected with the passage of the soul to 

 its new abode, so ever since the introduction of 

 Christianity into this country it has continued to 

 adorn the last resting-place of the body, which 

 the soul has left.' . 



Statius says : 3 ' Necdum ilium (in Amphiaraum) 

 aut trunca lustraverit obvia taxo eumenis.' 



Amphiaraus had descended into Hades so 

 abruptly that the Eumenis had no time to purify 

 him by a touch of the holy yew branch. 4 



That the sombre 'and gloomy character of the 

 leaves, and their poisonous nature, are suggestive of 

 death, is scarcely, as has been alleged, a reason for 

 these trees being planted in churchyards, but it is 



1 Brandis, Forest Flora of India. 2 The Romans in Britain, 1878. 



3 Thebcud\i\i. 9 and 10. 4 6 Ser. ii. 1880, p. 256. 



