54 The Yew. [Sess. 



The Whittinghame yew, another remarkable and historic 

 tree, but neither so old nor so large as the Ormiston one, is 

 situated in the grounds of the Eight Hon. A. J. Balfour. 

 There is only one point where it is possible to creep below 

 the branches and get under its shade. Here, it is said, 

 Bothwell, Morton, Euthven, and other Scottish nobles op- 

 posed to Darnley, met to plot his destruction, and entered 

 into a compact which accomplished his death. The age of the 

 tree and the fact of Bothwell being often in the neighbour- 

 hood immediately before the murder may have given rise to 

 the tradition which still haunts the tree. Under the shade of 

 the Cruxton yew, which grew close to Cruxton Castle, tradi- 

 tion says Queen Mary gave her consent to marry Darnley, 

 to perpetuate the memory of which she had the figure of a 

 yew-tree stamped upon her coins. Beside the ruins of the 

 old church of Forgan, near St Andrews, are five fine yews. 

 They have been planted so as to form a St Andrew's Cross, 

 but there seems to be no tradition regarding them. Another 

 yew of historic interest is the remarkable old tree at Loudoun 

 Castle. One of the Loudoun family charters was signed 

 under it in the time of William the Lion, and here John, 

 Earl of Loudoun, signed the Act of Union between England 

 and Scotland. 



Varieties of the common yew are many. The Neidpath 

 yew is an upright growing variety, said to have been propa- 

 gated from an old tree of very distinct and peculiar habits, 

 growing at the old castle near Peebles. Another variety with 

 yellow berries is a beautiful object when in fruit, contrasted 

 with the common yew with its bright red berries. The 

 golden yew, so much prized by the ornamental planter, and 

 the pendulous yew, which makes such an effective contrast 

 with the erect growing kinds, are among various other varieties 

 employed in the decoration of lawns and shrubberies. 



[It may be of interest here to refer to two papers read to 

 the Society by Mr J. Lindsay — the one entitled, " On Yews, 

 with Special Eeference to the Fortingall Yew " ('Transactions,' 

 vol. i. pp. 218-227), and the other, "Ormiston Hall: Its 

 Yew Tree and Other Antiquities " (' Transactions,' vol. ii. 

 pp. 30-41).] 



