CHAPTER VIII 



Character of Yew wood Uses Manufacture Value 

 ' Saint's Yew. 3 



THE wood is hard, close-grained, of a deep red 

 brown colour, and finely veined ; the sapwoocl is 

 yellowish white. It was formerly much used in 

 the manufacture of Tunbridge ware. It is con- 

 verted into ' cogs for mills, posts to be set in the 

 ground, and everlasting axle-trees ' ; for these, says 

 Evelyn, * there is none to be compared with it.' 

 Bows also are made from it, and spoons, cups, and 

 'flood-gates for fish-ponds, which hardly ever 

 decay.' l 



A remarkable property possessed by it is given 

 on the authority of Boucher, that the wooden part 

 of a bed made of yew ' will most certainly not be 

 approached by bugs.' ' Cabinet-makers and in- 

 layers (particularly for parquetry floors) most gladly 

 employ it.' 2 



Evelyn continues : ' likewise for bodies of lutes, 

 theorboes, bowls, wheels, and pins for pulleys ; yea, 

 and for tankards to drink out of.' 3 He denies 



1 Withering, British Plants. 2 Selby, Brit, Forest Trees, p. 371, 



3 Evelyn, Sylva, vol. i. p. 258, 1776. 



