THE YEW. 123 



larger limbs, probably torn away for petty purposes, 

 to which meaner wood might have been applied with 

 equal utility. 



It is unfortunate for the Yew tree that " the days 

 of chivalry are past." A pure native of Britain, it 

 was formerly that basis of its strength which the oak 

 is now. It was the boast of the old English yeoman, , 

 that his long-bow, made from its branches, could be 

 bent by none but an English arm ; and we find it 

 mentioned by all our older poets with the respect 

 due to its being associated in their mind with ideas 

 of knightly valour, 



" Of sallies and retires; of trenches, tents, 

 Of palisadoes, fortins, parapets ; 

 Of basilisks, of cannon, culvenir, 

 Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain." 



But now its " occupation's gone !" the " cannon " 

 and the " culverin " have superseded the arrow's 

 fateful flight, and the Yew, no longer called for in 

 the field of battle, takes peaceful refuge in the 

 library, or the boudoir, under some of the orna- 

 mental forms for which it is peculiarly fitted by its 

 susceptibility of polish, and the variegated beau- 

 ties of its surface. 



