AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 205 



have more virtues than vices so far as the woods 

 are concerned; but here the gamekeeper and the 

 sportsman unite to talk down the forester, and he 

 must prudently retire before so strong a com- 

 bination against him. 



The Yew anciently spelled Vgh (as in Holin- 

 shed), and perhaps the only English word that 

 could ever be written without a vowel, for v and u 

 were then interchangeable it is no longer neces- 

 sary to grow in woods, because, as Evelyn puts it, 

 ' Since the use of Bows is laid aside amongst us, the 

 propagation of the Eugh-tree is likewise quite 

 forborn.' It is now mostly relegated to orna- 

 mental groves, where many historical trees of 

 great antiquity are to be found, and to church- 

 yards, for which its sombre aspect and vast 

 longevity specially befit it. In gardens it forms, 

 closely clipped, one of the most beautiful of 

 hedges, though in parks the toxic effects of the 

 leaves on horses and cattle render it most danger- 

 ous either as an ornamental tree or in a hedge. 

 Its fine dark wood used to be made into tankards, 

 yet even these were said to have had deleterious 

 effects, although Evelyn, who will have none of 

 this decrying of a tree which was once as valuable 



