THE COMMON YEW 



riginal tribes or the Druids holding the Yew in any 

 esteem. On the other hand, it has been surmised, 

 and with some show of truth, that it was used by the 

 early Roman invaders of Britain in their funeral rites 

 in lieu of their accustomed Cypress and Pine, and it 

 was thus associated with the passage of the soul to 

 its new abode. Certain it is that from very early 

 times it has beep used at funerals for the practice is 

 mentioned by many early English writers. Evelyn 

 in his "Sylva" says "The best reason that can be 

 given why the Yew was planted in churchyards is 

 that branches of it were often carried in procession 

 on Palm Sunday instead of Palms." As a confirma- 

 tion of this it is said that the Yew trees in the church- 

 yards of Kent are to this day called Palms, as also in 

 Ireland, where it is still the custom for th^ peasant- 

 ry to wear in their hats or buttonholes from Palm Sun- 

 day until Easter-day sprigs of yew, and where the 

 branches are carried over the dead by mourners and 

 thrown beneath the coffm into the grave. The Yew 

 being evergreen was in old times considered typical 

 of the immortality of man. Having in mind prim- 

 itive man's reverence for trees there is good reason 

 to believe that the Yew tree had a part in the Pagan 

 religion of our remote ancestors and that Christian 

 monks later engrafted it on .Christianity. While 

 admitting this and other probable causes, a more 



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