'20SO AKHOKKTl'M AM) 1 H t'TlCKIT M . 1'AltTIII. 



it 5^ ft. in circumference ; anil, some years afterwards, by Mr. Pennant, when 

 the circumference had increased to 56ft. 6 in. Dr. Neill visited the tree in July, 

 1833; and a notice of it by him will be found in the Edinburgh P/iilo- 

 sujitiicdl .fourndl for that year, from which we make the following extract ; 

 premising that, when Daines Barrington measured the 1 tree, he found one side 

 of the trunk a more shell of bark, all the interior having decayed. " Con- 

 siderable spoliations," Dr. Neill observes, " have evidently been committed 

 on the tree since 1~(>9; large arms have been removed, and masses of the 

 trunk itself carried off by the country people, with the view of forming (/HCC/IS, 

 or drinking-cups, and other relics, which visitors were in the habit of pur- 

 chasing. What still exists of the trunk now (1833) presents the appearance 

 of a semicircular wall, exclusive of the remains of some decaved portions of 

 it, which scarcely rise above the ground. Great quantities of new spray have 

 issued from the firmer parts of the bark, and a few young branches spring up- 

 wards to the height, perhaps, of 30 ft. The side of the trunk now existing 

 gives a diameter of more than 15ft., so that it is easv to conceive that the 

 circumference of the bole, when entire, should have exceeded 50 ft. Happily, 

 further depredations have been prevented by means of an iron rail, which now 

 surrounds the sacred spot ; and this venerable vew, which, in all probability, 

 was a flourishing tree at the commencement of the Christian era, may yet 

 survive for centuries to come." 



The Loch Lomond Ycir. According to Sir Thomas Dick Lander, a yew in 

 the Island of Inch Lonach, or what is commonly called the Yew Tree Island, 

 in Loch Lomond, measured on the ,'Jd of August, 1770, was 10ft. 7 in. in 

 circumference. This tree was about 40ft. high ; but another tree, which was 

 the largest in the island, though not so tall, measured 13ft. in girt. It is 

 uncertain whether these trees were sacrificed among the 300 vew trees which 

 were cut on this spot. There has been, for many years, a herd of deer in the 

 Yew Tree Island, which has prevented young trees from rising from the seed; 

 but many of those which have begun to decay have sent up shoots from 

 their roots, close to the old trunk. After a time, a number of these shoots 

 coalesce, and form at last a complete new trunk, at the side of which the old 

 one continues to decay. In this way the tree comes to be regenerated from 

 the root. 



The Berncra Yen*. According to the same authority, in the Island of 

 Bernera, adjacent to the Sound of Mull, the late Sir Duncan Campbell cut 

 down a yew of vast si/e. Its precise dimensions were not preserved, but the 

 timber of it deeply loaded a highland 6-oared boat, and was sufficient to form 

 a large eleirant staircase in the house of Lochnell, which was afterwards 

 destroyed when the house was burned down. (Laud. (i//j>.) 



The Or mist on Yen'. One of the most beautiful yew trees in Scotland is 

 that growing in the garden at Ormiston Hall, a seat of the Karl of Hopetoun, 

 in Haddingtonshire. It throws out its vast limbs horizontally in all directions, 

 supporting a lame and luxuriant head, which now (1834) covers an area of 

 irround of 58 ft. in diameter, with a most impenetrable shade. Above the 

 roots it measures Ir^f't. f)in. in girt; at 3 ft. up, it measures 13ft. Gin.; at 

 4 ft. up, it measures 14ft. 9in.; and at 5ft. up, it measures 1 7 lit. 8 in. It is 

 in full health and vigour. (I/nil., i. p. 279.) 



In Ireland, the \ew tree, as already observed, can scarcely be considered as 

 to be found any where now in a wild state; though, as we have seen, p. 106., 

 trunks of very lar^c yew trees have occasionally been dug out of bogs. 



Tin- ,Miier<ixx AI>/ i/ Yni' stands in the centre of a cloistered court, now in 

 ruin-, and is supposed to be coeval with the abbey. As the abbey \\as in ex- 

 istence, and celebrated as a sanctuary, in the year I ISO, the tree must be up- 

 wards of 700 years old. -Arthur Young saw it about I < 80, and states it to lie, 

 without exception, the mo-t prodigious yew tree he ever beheld. Its trunk, he 

 f-avs, ii :<Mr. in diaiii"ter at ! I ft. high, whence a vast head of branches spreads 



{ c\i. ',.'. !o the whole space. (Tour in 

 [IIII!:T informs us (\\ntnr_; in lS3(i) that 



