2082 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



two old yew trees at Mamhilad and Llanthewy Vach will survive as indepen- 

 dent trees when, centuries hence, the surrounding walls of their original boles 

 shall have completely disappeared ; and, should no record of their true history 

 exist, an observer then will be quite unconscious that they are but portions 

 of some former trees, the germ of which existed, perhaps, 3000 years ago ; 

 for the lateral scar, which would for a while mark the point of union, would, 

 in time, be closed up and buried beneath new deposits. (Abridged from Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., vol. i. new series, p. 90.) 



The Ribbesford Yew stands in the parish of that name, near Bewdley, in 

 Worcestershire. This yew grows out of a hollow pollard oak, the circum- 

 ference of the trunk of which, at the ground, is 17ft., and its height 20ft. 

 In this hollow cylinder the yew has not only established itself, but grown to 

 such a size as completely to fill up the cavity; and it will doubtless, in a few 

 years, increase to such a size as to burst asunder the oaken shell which now 

 encloses it, and ultimately to stand alone, as if it had sprung up from the 

 ground. At present, both the oak and the yew have numerous spreading 

 branches, which make a fine appearance ; the dark green foliage of the yew 

 " towering above the boughs of its aged companion." There can be no doubt 

 that the seed of the yew was deposited in the decaying crown of the pollard, 

 and that its roots gradually penetrated downwards till at last they reached the 

 soil. (The Analyst, vol. i. p. 81.) 



The Glendalough Yeu>, in the county of Wicklow, was an immense 'tree, 

 and shaded from the sun and the storm, not only the ruins of a small church 

 under it, but the greater part of the churchyard. Hayes was informed, on 

 undoubted authority, that on one hot summer's day, when this tree was in its 

 full beauty, the agent for the bishop to whom the church belonged had all its 

 principal limbs and branches cut off close by the trunk and sold. About 40 

 years afterwards, when Hayes saw it, the trunk was decaying at the heart, 

 and a hoily was growing up through one of the fissures. (Treat, on Plant., 

 p. 144.) 



The Wcstfelton Yew (fig. 1990.) stands in the grounds of J. F. M. Do- 

 vaston, Esq., at Westfelton, near Shrewsbury ; and the following account 

 has been sent to us by that gentleman : " About 60 years ago, my father, 

 John Dovaston, a man without education, but of unwearied industry and 

 ingenuity, had with his own hands sunk a well, and constructed and placed 

 a pump in it; and, the soil being light and sandy, it continually fell in: he 

 secured it with wooden boards ; but, foreseeing their speedy decay, he planted 

 near to the well a yew tree, which he bought of a cobbler for sixpence ; 

 rightly judging that the fibrous and matting tendency of the yew roots 

 would hold up the soil. They did so; and, independently of its utility, the 

 yew grew into a tree of the most extraordinary and striking beauty ; spreading 

 horizontally all round to the diameter of (now, 1836) 56ft., with a single 

 aspiring leader to a great height; each branch in every direction dangling in 

 tressy verdure downwards, the lower ones to the very ground, pendulous and 

 playful as the most graceful birch or weeping willow ; and visibly obedient to 

 the feeblest breath of summer air. Its foliage is admirably adapted for re- 

 taining the dew drops ; and, in consequence, it makes a splendid appearance 

 at sunrise. Though a male tree, it has one entire branch self-productive, 

 and exuberantly profuse in female berries, full, red, rich, and luscious ; from 

 M^tich I have raised several plants, in the hope that they may inherit some of 

 the beauty of their parent. The circumference of the tree now, at 5 ft. from 

 the ground, is 5 ft. 1 in. ; and it is in a growing state, quite healthy and 

 vigorous. The drawing which accompanies this (see Jig. 1990.) was made 

 by one of the ingenious children of my friend Bowman. J. .F. M. D. 

 Westfelton, July, 1836." 



Poetical and legendary Allusions. The yew has afforded numerous images 

 to the poets, from the time of Homer, who speaks of the ancient inhabitants 

 of Crete as being "dreadful with the bended yew," to the poets of the 

 present day. Virgil notices the elasticity of the yew in the Eneid : 



