HAMPSHIRE YEWS 41 



the north of England the ash, the lime and the horse- 

 chestnut are more frequently found in churchyards, 

 but in Hampshire there is hardly a churchyard without 

 its yew-tree, sometimes of the most venerable antiquity. 

 Many are the theories as to why our forefathers planted 

 yew-trees in churchyards. It has been suggested that 

 the custom arose in order to supply material for the 

 manufacture of bows, or to screen the churches from 

 the violence of storms, or to afford shelter to the con- 

 gregation waiting for the service on Sundays. But 

 these theories are, in the highest degree, unlikely. 

 Other antiquarians have seen in the churchyard yew an 

 emblem of mortality, from its sombre and funereal 

 appearance ; others, like the illustrious John Ray, an 

 emblem rather of immortality, from its ever-green foli- 

 age and the immense age to which it will attain ; while 

 other authorities assert that in mediaeval times the 

 branches were commonly used instead of palms for the 

 processions on Palm Sunday and on other occasions. 

 There is much to be said for these latter suggestions. 

 The yew-tree clearly had some religious significance. 

 Shakespeare speaks of a " shroud of white, stuck all 

 with yew." But the religious significance doubtless 

 went back, as we have seen, to pagan times. Later 

 on, it would seem, when Christianity was introduced 

 into England, the good monks, mindful of the in- 

 structions of Pope Gregory, and desiring to deal gently 

 with their new converts, enriched the pagan conceptions 

 with Christian ideals. In some instances there is 

 reason to believe that a Christian church was intention- 

 ally erected by the side of a " sacred tree " ; in other 

 cases a yew was deliberately planted at the time of the 

 erection of the building, and when at length a Christian 



