AMONG THE PINES AND FIRS 205 
have more virtues than vices so far as the woods 
are concerned; but here the gamekeeper and the 
sportsman unite to talk down the forester, and he 
must prudently retire before so strong a com- 
bination against him. 
The Yew—anciently spelled Yghk (as in Holin- 
shed), and perhaps the only English word that 
could ever be written without a vowel, for v and u 
were then interchangeable—it is no longer neces- 
sary to grow in woods, because, as Evelyn puts it, 
‘Since the use of Bows is laid aside amongst us, the 
propagation of the Eugh-tree is likewise quite 
forborn.’ It is now mostly relegated to orna- 
mental groves, where many historical trees of 
great antiquity are to be found, and to church- 
yards, for which its sombre aspect and vast 
longevity specially befit it. In gardens it forms, 
closely clipped, one of the most beautiful of 
hedges, though in parks the toxic effects of the 
leaves on horses and cattle render it most danger- 
ous either as an ornamental tree or in a hedge. 
Its fine dark wood used to be made into tankards, 
yet even these were said to have had deleterious 
effects, although Evelyn, who will have none of 
this decrying of a tree which was once as valuable 
