Fountains Abbey 213 



Abbey, and this is detailed with some minuteness 

 by John Burton : l ' At Christmas, the Archbishop, 

 being at Ripon, assigned to the monks some land 

 in the patrimony of St. Peter, about three miles 

 west of that place, for the erecting of a Monastery. 

 This spot of ground had never been inhabited, 

 unless by wild beasts. This was called Skeldale, 

 from a rivulet of that name running through it from 

 the west to the eastward part. The prior of St. 

 Mary's, at York, was chosen Abbot by the monks, 

 being the first of this monastery of Fountain's, 

 with whom they withdrew into this uncouth desert, 

 without any house to shelter them in that winter 

 season, or provision to subsist on, but entirely 

 depending on Divine Providence. There stood a 

 large elm-tree in the midst of the vale, on which 

 they put some thatch or straw, and under that they 

 lay, ate, and prayed ; the Bishop for a time supply- 

 ing them with bread and the rivulet with drink.' 



' But it is supposed that they soon changed the 

 shelter of their elm for that of seven yew-trees, 

 growing on the declivity of the hill on the south 

 side of the Abbey, all standing at this time (1658), 

 except the largest, which was blown down about 

 the middle of the last century. They are of in- 

 credible size ; the trunk of one of them is 26 feet 

 6 inches in circumference at 3 feet from the ground ; 

 and they stand so near to each other as to form a 



1 Monasticon Eboractnsc, 1758, p. 141. 



