THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



still mark the spots where great events have taken 

 place, and many are associated with the names of 

 historic personages. The Ankerwyke Yew at Staines 

 witnessed the conference between King John and 

 the English Barons in 12 15, and in sight of this tree 

 the Magna Charta was signed. This Yew is 30I 

 feet in girth of trunk at three feet from the ground 

 and is probably more than a thousand years old. 

 Under the Loudon Yew in Ayrshire it is said that 

 Bruce bestowed the ancient castle and estate on the 

 Loudon family, and on the same spot some centuries 

 afterward John, Earl of Loudon, signed the Act 

 of Union between England and Scotland. 



Up and down the length of England are ancient 

 churchyards famed for their magnificent old Yew 

 trees. The reason for the association of the Yew 

 with churchyards has been much debated, and in all 

 probability it is several-fold. It is by no means 

 confined to England but is a custom common in 

 Ireland, and also in Normandy, Germany, and else- 

 where on the continent of Europe. That it is a 

 very old one is proved by a statement of Giraldus 

 Cambrensis, who visited Ireland in 1184, and ob- 

 served the tree in cemeteries and holy places. It 

 has been stated that "the Yew was a funeral tree, 

 the companion of the grave, among the Celtic 

 tribes," but there is no reliable evidence of the abo- 



102 



