408 THE YEW TREE. 
cabinet-maker and turner in the manufacture of ornamental 
wares. In ancient times, previously tothe introduction of 
gunpowder, the tree was carefully cultivated for the manu- 
facture of bows, then the principal implement of war—an 
instrument fatal to some of the ancient British kings, among 
whom were Harold and William Rufus. It was to the skill 
of the English with the long-bow that the conquest of Ireland 
by Henry 11, in 1172, was attributed, and many subsequent 
victories; and some of the ancient statutes of British sove- 
reigns prohibited the exportation of yew-tree timber. In 
course of time, however, the reliance of our country descended 
from the English yew to the British oak. 
T. fastigiata (Lindley), the Upright or Irish Yew, is a well- 
known plant, of a shrubby habit of growth, and does not 
attain to the size of a timber tree. It is propagated by seed, 
or more frequently by cuttings, inserted in sand or sharp soil, 
in August or September, and covered with a hand-glass, and 
shaded. From a single stem at the surface of the ground, it 
sends out numerous tapering branches, richly foliated, of the 
deepest green ; forming an object always narrow at the sur- 
face of the ground, and broad at top, like the inverted figure 
of the common species. The peculiarity in the shape of the 
plant renders it conspicuous, and it is generally esteemed as 
one of the handsomest and hardiest of evergreens. Several 
varieties of variegated yews are cultivated as ornamental 
trees. 
