2 1 6 Yew- Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



No. 3 is a much smaller and younger tree, but it 

 also has a central dead trunk. Near them 



No. 4 and No. 5 lie prostrate. It was impossible 

 to measure them with any accuracy, as they lie some- 

 what deep in the soil and a measuring-tape could 

 not be passed under them, but as nearly as I could 

 determine they were both fully 30 feet in girth at 

 4 to 6 feet from the base. Above this they narrowed 

 rapidly to half that circumference. They have three 

 or four main branches measuring 20 to 24 inches in 

 diameter at 1 2 feet from the base. 



Judging from these dimensions there is every 

 reason to suppose that the tree figured in Strutt's 

 Sylva represents one of these two, but which, it is 

 impossible to say. The one he figures measured 

 27 feet in girth in 1837, and therefore cannot be any 

 of the other three which are now standing, as they 

 do not come near to this in circumference. It is 

 remarkable that in figuring the one, he should make 

 no mention of the other equally large tree. 



The name of Fountain's Abbey is derived by 

 some from Fountaines in Burgundy, the birthplace 

 of St. Bernard ; by others from the word shell 

 (whence Skelldale), which, signifying a fountain, 

 was written in Latin by the monks, fontibus, and 

 thence corrupted into the present name. 1 



The account of these trees given by Mary 

 Roberts 2 betrays a fine flight of imagination. She 



1 Sopwith, Fo^lntairfs Abbey, p. I. 2 Ruins and Trees, etc. 



